About that marketing plan

and other visitor attraction myths

I've been having a lot of conversations around destination marketing lately. I have heard the exact same ones in completely different contexts. The ultimate goal is to increase tourism. But is it? I think not. The last priority should be to "increase tourism".

The enemy of tourism is tourism management. Unless, of course, you're in the business of Location-Based Entertainment. That is, you run an amusement park, where everything is controlled and guided.

When you run a destination marketing office, you want to work on the place rather than on marketing. The place IS the marketing. Your work must focus on the quality of the streets, on the uniqueness of the offer and on the generosity of the people.

One other thing that should be the focus of destination marketing plans is building a spectacular environment for businesses and entrepreneurship. People flock to places with beautiful architecture and fantastic retail & restaurants. All because of how they feel while there.

We choose to spend our marketing money in ads telling people how fantastic our place is, and count as a blessing each dollar that visitors leave in downtown businesses. But the amount of work for each $1 spent downtown is staggering.

In amusement parks, "businesses operate regardless of revenue because they are props to support the experience. In cities, businesses must turn good profits to be able to afford good design. Until they do, the place won't be sexy enough to attract tourism.

My advise to DMOs, BIDs, Downtowns and Main Streets is to think of how to make the place sexy. Sexy so it attracts great businesses, fabulous places that in turn attract investors for new fantastic stores and restaurants. Call @civicbrand for help.

Build up on uniqueness, exclusivity and attractiveness. Work on the confidence and winning mentality of business owners. Work on locals loving the place and in making that love contagious. Call @jeff4place to build up pride.

Attractiveness and beauty go hand in hand. Do some #Placemaking. Set up benches, murals, outdoor dining, parklets, urban beaches, playgrounds, civic spaces and terraces with string lights. Plant a ton of trees, at least twice as many as you think are enough. Call @placemakingus to make that happen.

Takes some out-of-box thinking to build a marketing strategy that doesn't rely on marketing but on product. Yes, your city is a product. A product of the residents' pride, their relation with the city and their perception of opportunity and growth. Make the product spectacular.