Your No. 1 job in tourism:
Helping your guests relax

Americans are wacko-crazy about vacation – and in a bad sense.

Too many of us don’t take all the vacation that we’ve earned, and tons of us work while we’re on vacation.

The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety reports that 81 percent of employers and 47 percent of employees are guilty of working while playing. Talk about an oxymoron.

What does this mean to us in the travel industry? It means that making a profit isn’t our top job. Job No. 1 is making sure our guests relax and achieve their vacation goals. That way, they will return, and that’s where the profit comes in.

Laura Stack, who bills herself as “the Productivity Pro,” has strong feelings about vacation. Travel journalist Everett Potter drew her out in this interview.

Learn her perspective and see whether you fit the overworked mold she describes.

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Redeem this coupon: Groupon tourism twofers in Ohio

National Tourism Week 2011 is over and gone, but there are ideas still floating around worth stealing... uh, adding to your research files, that is.

Ohio’s state tourism department linked up with Groupon to offer statewide discounts on attractions, lodging, restaurants and events.

Might Groupon or its many imitators be a vehicle for your next promotion? Lots of websites have jumped into the social network discount game and some can be very focused. For example, Nashville’s alternative weekly newspaper has become an online deal broker.

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Move to alter Visit Florida sinks

Florida’s tourism industry was roiling last month over a bill in the state legislature that would fundamentally change Visit Florida, the state’s quasi-public tourism promotion agency.

Private sector businesses spoke up loudly, as the Gulf Coast Business Review reported, noting that Visit Florida’s model is one many states envy.

The bill’s unappreciated prospect would have had Visit Florida’s finances run by a board with little tourism experience, but legislation maintaining Visit Florida’s independence ultimately passed.

Visit Florida CEO Chris Thompson, perhaps diplomatically, observed that legislators “realized our cooperative marketing with the (tourism) industry was successful.”

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New Orleans tourism by the numbers

Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans CVB, is proud of these numbers:

Visitation up 10.7 percent in 2010 from 2009
8.3 million visitors in 2010 (the first time above 8 million since Katrina)
Visitor spending up 23.6 percent ($1.1 billion)
77.7 percent of visitors came as leisure travelers
22.3 percent came as business travelers, including conventioneers
47.9 percent of businesses travelers extended their stays for pleasure

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Don’t send that tweet!

You’ve probably never heard of a social media company called New Media Strategies (NMS), but one of its employees provided all of us with an object lesson.

NMS used to have an account with Chrysler. That’s right, used to have. One intemperate (OK, foul-mouthed) tweet prompted Chrysler to drop NMS quicker than Ford dropped the Edsel.

The lesson for everyone in business is clear – think before you tweet, blog, e-mail or leave a voicemail.

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Page doesn't look right in your e-mail browser? Visit:
southeasttourism.org/newsletters/ttt/2011/may/

May 2011

Severe weather

Please remember all who have been affected in the Southeast by the recent floods and tornadoes. Visit southeasttourism.org or escapetothesoutheast.com and click on the "Severe Weather" link for more information on how you can help.

A kind word about the TSA

Business traveler Doug Kennedy logs 100,000 airplane miles a year.

He used to think that lost baggage attendants had the worst job in travel – but that was before TSA screeners entered the picture. Still, Kennedy has some kind words for the folks standing between you and your flight.

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A billion here, a billion there...

Although Congressional scholars can’t verify that the late Sen. Everett Dirksen actually said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money,” everyone can attest that $11.3 billion is real money. Click here to see why Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has that “real money” figure on his mind.

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