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Dave Mering is Vice Chairman of Shipyard, a destination marketing agency. He has been involved in building several top tourism brands including resorts, municipalities, provinces and island-nations.
With recession and potential recession on the horizon, travel and tourism marketers are turning to two diametrically opposed schools of thought: the glass half full and the glass half empty.
The glass-half-full approach may seem counterintuitive now. Consumers question whether travel is worth the effort and expense in the current economic and transportation environment: JPMorgan Chase & Co. With strategists predicting an 85% chance of a recession, we are seeing higher gas prices and inflation coupled with a pilot shortage. Other operational aviation failures are leading to unprecedented flight delays and cancellations.
Although many travel marketers feel inclined to curtail efforts during economic downturns, experience shows that optimism is especially prevalent these days. Marketers who pull back, who see the glass as half empty, often lose market share and suffer through tough and long recoveries.
In fact, the current climate is an opportunity to gain share and possibly increase it to the bottom line. Experienced, successful travel marketers — who have learned to stay the course through past failures — are seeing the glass half full, and their attitudes are backed by data and case studies.
Look no further than the pandemic that boosted overall travel activity. In the year
The view was not pretty.
Not being able to travel and losing human contact has hurt our happiness, but it has also increased awareness of the benefits of travel and made consumers less likely to re-experience it. People with half a full vision saw the opportunities created in the epidemic.
Demand for travel has increased since the country reopened. As of July this year, travel-related spending has recovered to about 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels. But those who are most benefiting at the moment started their work in the dark days of the epidemic.
Case Study: San Diego Tourism Authority
The San Diego Tourism Authority (STDA), a longtime client of my marketing website Cruises, received a glass-half-full spot at the start of the pandemic and has been reaping the rewards ever since.
Instead of pulling back, SDAA invested quickly and heavily within a week of the February 2021 travel ban.
As a result, San Diego became the top hotel market on the West Coast in terms of occupancy, and the city took first place in market share for the first time.
This early success was critical in getting San Diego’s tourism industry back on its feet and will remain a top travel destination in 2022.
Marketers like SDTA, who lean into the mirror with a half-full mindset and continue to build demand for their unique experiences, are more likely to win. And not only in the short term, but also in the long term.
Here are three proactive strategies and examples that can help travel marketers stay in a strong position regardless of economic conditions.
1) Think again Your message and focus: As the pandemic curtails travel, STDA has launched the “Stay Diagonal” campaign to drive hotel stays and encourage San Diegans to support the local economy, offering special discounts and promotions just for them.
In “WeekYays!” Shoppers are asked to wait until mid-week. campaign, taking advantage of the unique opportunity consumers can home-school or work from anywhere. With special offers and promotions, San Diego hotel luxury has encouraged mid-week hotel bookings when they’re most in demand.
Even as we head into recession, the commitment and desire among consumers to maintain a deep, meaningful and quality travel experience remains. Still, many travel brands feel the need to save money. SDTA shows that there are many different motivations to travel, and experimenting with different messages can help uncover different decision drivers.
More forums from Travel Weekly
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2) keep in mind Self-branding is fundamentally about differentiation: what makes your brand unique doesn’t stand still in tough times, and staying on message when others pull back during an economic downturn is a great opportunity to burnish your brand’s logical and functional attributes and avoid commoditization. With the best, most authentic self-preservation for your brand, you can differentiate yourself more effectively by relevance, giving your audience clear reasons to stay loyal.
SDTA lets those ready to travel know that San Diego is open, safe and looking forward to welcoming them back. Don’t hesitate to communicate that loud and clear. They stayed true to the established and well-known brand positioning by bringing innovation to the platform with the theme “Happiness is calling you back”.
Those who understand this and continue will eventually win. Trying to buy a stock later is a more expensive and difficult challenge.
3) Save again Where and how to invest: To drive travel during the pandemic, SDAA continues to invest $12.6 million in key markets nearby: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and others in the West. The campaign targeted awareness channels (TV and billboards) and digital media to capture active travel planners.
Those who continue to invest or grow their investments are buying future shares. Leveraging data and being creative with budgeting and prioritization is imperative for marketers. This may involve a purposeful shift to more economical and efficient strategies (such as local markets). It keeps the message going by investing in new areas that generate faster returns.
The payoff could be significant: The average daily rate for San Diego hotels in 2021 was $55 more than in 2019, and ultimately pushed hotel room revenue generated through July 2021 to more than $1 billion.
Evidence and lessons from the pandemic suggest that looking at the glass as half full and navigating tough economic times can prove to be successful in both the long and short term.
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