Why can't this region collaborate?
Take the 10% Tourism Challenge
by Barbara Oney

NEO/Cleveland - let’s take the 10% challenge to deliver $110 million dollars* for our community. What is this? This is collaborative economic development. It is a challenge to the Hospitality, Arts & Cultural community, the Tourism intuitions and businesses, the City - County and Regional planners and Public Officials to collaborate on strategies get 10% of our existing roomnight bookings (aka out of towners) to increase by 10%.

What will this mean to our community? In Cuyahoga County our hotels booked over 4.5 million roomnights in 2005. If we can get 10% of those roomnights to stay ONE-MORE-NIGHT we would see an additional 450,000 roomnights. That equates into over $110,000,000 in incremental revenues* to our community and over $6 million in prospective taxes. Imagine if this number were replicated across the region!

I can hear the universal NEO/Cleveland MOAN of DEFEAT already. Why would anyone want to stay longer here? Why would anyone want to vacation here? Why would anyone spend their weekend here?

Because NEO/Cleveland are pretty DARN WONDERFUL is why! Why go to Orlando or San Diego in the hottest summer months to vacation when Cleveland and NEO is lush with wonderful weather and has far more interesting offerings? Why go to New York or Chicago when you can get as much or more theatrical offerings without the haste and cost?

What’s it going to take? Collaboration!!! Our city and region are like an amusement park where all of the attractions work independently. Imagine if at Universal Studios (where I used to work) the Dr. Seuss attraction, the Batman Ride and the Island of Adventure all marketed themselves separately. What if they didn’t work with the hotels? What if they didn’t develop full packages that were customized for different groups? Well Universal Studios and all of the parts would be out of business!

Now what if we built a system that empowered our hotels to offer packages to booking customers that incented them to book an additional night or to stay the weekend? What if we built collaborative marketing strategies that enabled us to build stronger reach and impact on target visitor groups? What if we had services activated throughout our community to deliver hub-and-spoke visitor trips, thematic offerings like golf or spa vacations, spousal/partner vacations etc? The primary reason people don’t stay longer or visit more is a lack of knowledge of what we have to offer.

Positively Cleveland, Cleveland Plus and Team NEO are working hard but don’t have the resources to do the job. But together, we could do it. Collaboratively we could deliver an added 10% overnight volume. Hey Cleveland and Northeast Ohio – are you up to the CHALLENGE? Go to www.ClevelandTourism.blogspot.com to add your thoughts and comments to the challenge.

* based on Runzheimer’s Travel Management Network, Cleveland prices

Barbara Oney is the former Chief Marketing Officer for the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland (now Positively Cleveland). Her over 25-year career has included positions as Interim Executive Director Red {an orchestra}, Vice President, Universal Studios, President, BWA Inc., a full service marketing agency, Director, Worldwide Promotions, 20th Century Fox. She can be reached at 216-288-4442, bsissATroadrunner.com

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