As the summer month’s arrive, 87 percent of Americans say they have travel plans within the next six months—the highest level seen since early March, 2020. But how are Destination Marketing Organizations adapting to changing traveler priorities in 2021, in an attempt to set themselves up for successful tourism recovery after a challenging 2020?
As the summer months arrive, and with vaccinations becoming more widespread, Americans are getting more comfortable with the idea of traveling (Learn more about how Gen Z and Millennials are planning on traveling again here).
Here are three examples of campaigns happening right now to bring back travelers at the county, city, and state level:
1. “Now is the Moment,” Monterey County
Playing off the existing Convention and Visitors Bureau slogan “Grab Life by the Moments,” Monterey just launched a new campaign called “Now is the Moment.” The national campaign targets a larger audience than any other previous campaign done by the county.
The campaign includes:
-
A National TV spot with streaming and digital media extensions
-
Satellite media tour garnering nationwide press coverage
-
Content/social media featuring themed point-of-view videos
Typically considered to be a destination for travelers within a three-hour drive, Monterey is working to expand its target market to include drive times of up to six or seven hours, hoping to include visitors from as far away as San Diego, in addition to their traditional metro feeder markets like the San Francisco Bay Area.
The campaign is also specifically targeting cities directly accessible via the Monterey Regional Airport including Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Tourism is the No. 1 industry on the Monterey Peninsula and the second largest industry in Monterey County. With the launch of the first phase in a multi-year recovery initiative, the county hopes to beat the projection for a full-recovery by 2025.
2. “All Inclusive Boston”
Building on Boston’s Mayor Kim Janey’s commitment to put equity at the center of the City of Boston’s recovery from COVID-19, the “All Inclusive Boston” campaign was launched earlier this year. The campaign touts Boston’s rich diversity of historic and cultural attractions and showcases the city’s neighborhoods beyond downtown, with messaging aimed at creating a welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds.
The city hopes this new multicultural narrative will make all the difference in attracting new visitors.
The campaign includes print, radio, video, and social media components. Also holding true to the diversity of the campaign, a diverse mix of small businesses worked on this project, including a significant number of Minority Business Enterprises (MBE’s), Women Business Enterprises (WBE’s), and companies with LGBTQ+ ownership. If the COVID-19 recovery campaign brings new attention to businesses of color, then the city’s tourism recovery could truly fulfill Mayor Janey’s mission statement.
3. “Say Yes to Connecticut”
After a year of saying “no” to so many things due to the pandemic, the State of Connecticut trying to flip the script with messaging that encourages resident and visitors to “Say Yes to Connecticut” and all of its unique experiences this summer.
The positive and affirming campaign messaging was born out of the Office of Tourism’s proprietary research that shows a growing sense of optimism among Northeast consumers amid the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and pent-up demand for travel, especially regional travel.