Action:
Work with local communities to develop marketing campaigns which will give residents and nearby travelers reasons to explore your destination’s “off the beaten track neighborhoods”.
Why:
Travelers’ inclinations and behaviors have been transformed because of the fear of getting infected, trapped, or quarantined. As a result, travelers are looking for opportunities to travel to destinations which are closer to home, familiar, predictable and low risk.
Background:
Travel restrictions to and from countries combined with insecurity regarding crowded airport terminals and flights mean that domestic tourism is likely to recover much more quickly, and local holiday options and weekend staycations are increasing in popularity.
Even before the pandemic, the U.S. domestic tourism market was worth nearly U.S.$ 1 trillion. Since 2020, many destinations have focused on growing domestic tourism, including programs to encourage residents to explore their own cities. These include initiatives focused on marketing and promotion, as well as financial incentives.
Examples:
- As part of its All In NYC campaign, New York City’s NYC&Co created weekend neighborhood guides, such as Exploring Black-Owned Harlem, and a Tour Your Own City program, to encourage residents to explore different parts of the city.
- London created “Because I’m a Londoner” citywide campaign to inspire a recovery in consumer spending by encouraging residents to responsibly rediscover the capital and support local businesses, organisations, areas and places. It also created the London Alliance, a community of 500+ businesses, which were provided with free assets to use as part of the campaign. The campaign increased consumer confidence by 5% and led to a 43% uplift in frequency of going out.
- Toronto, Canada created a program called Bag of Toronto, which encouraged residents to purchase goods from different city neighborhoods. Cleveland created a similar program, called Cleveland in a Box.
- Visit Houston marketed coupons and deals on its Houston Experience Marketplace to local residents. The marketplace is delivered in partnership with Bandwango’s technology platform, and generates income for the DMO.
- Geneva, Switzerland gave overnight visitors gift cards preloaded with 100CHF (~$110) which could be used at a range of hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars and on activities around the city.
- Explore France partnered with cities to create a campaign #CetÉtéJeVisiteLaFrance, to inspire its citizens to explore 21 city-regions across the country.
- Little Rock convention bureau partnered with the local historic association to create a series of audio guides for walking and driving tours. The tours have been enjoyed by students doing remote learning and will be marketed for visitors to come.
Guidance:
Bloomberg Associates has created a “how to” guide to create a neighborhood tourism campaign, which can be found at Appendix 2.
We have also created a “how to” guide to segment your target audience, which can also be found in the Appendix.
We are not, therefore, able to share a case study of emerging good practice by a DMO at this time.
Learn more about the Tactical Guide
