Opinion: CVB defends move to hire out-of-state marketing team

In response to the recent GWBJ article “S.C. Pitching Local Beaches” April 2-16, 2010, the Wilmington/Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau would like to present the big picture scenario.

As the official destination marketing organization for the county, we must have a big-picture vision in order to best serve our destination and the hundreds of  local constituents, travel partners and thousands of employees (more than 5,500 in the county) whose livelihood depends on a strong tourism economy.

The decision to hire LHWH, a SC-based marketing company with 20+ years of successful travel and tourism marketing experience, to handle social media efforts for Wrightsville Beach was actually very appropriate, given this day and age and the situation. We were in the middle of a fiscal year plan during a down economy. An RFP (request for proposal) process at this time would have been very disruptive to the work already in progress. Given the time and budget constraints, the efficiencies of bringing on an agency already familiar with the account and producing above-average results for other beach municipalities in our destination made for the best decision at the time. Fortunately the agency was willing to work within our budget  for the remaining four months of the fiscal year.

Social media is only one medium in our much bigger and integrated channel plan including SEO (search engine optimization), PPCs (pay-per-clicks), online, rich media, print, public relations, etc. To isolate a judgment on one particular agency decision that was made to address a social media need does not take into account how this decision ultimately impacts the plan. It is within this bigger, integrated channel plan where we work with five other NC-based agencies, including two in Wilmington.

It is important to note that real estate destination marketing is very different from travel and tourism destination marketing.  A tourism destination marketing organization must reach a wider range of leisure, business, convention, and group travelers in out-of-town and out-of-state markets. These travelers spend money in local hotels, attractions, tours, restaurants, and retailers that employ thousands of local residents. They also pay state and local taxes on the goods and services they purchase while visiting. A relatively small percentage of our total visitors are here for relocation purposes.

Travel and tourism social media messages are designed to move beyond awareness of the destination and audience engagement. The goal is to ultimately evoke a travel buying decision from very specific and targeted audiences. This requires experience in identifying and communicating with audiences comprised of out-of-town and out-of-state leisure, business, convention, and group visitors who are interested in traveling to our destination.

Marketing firms that specialize in travel and tourism are current with travel industry research and trends. They have also spent years developing relationships with key industry vendors and contacts, including travel publications and journalists.

To choose a local company that may not have the specialized qualifications or proven results specific to travel and tourism marketing would certainly help that single local business, but it could cause the destination to lose marketing momentum and valuable market share. Losing market share would negatively affect hundreds of local tourism businesses and more than 5,500 employees who rely on a strong local tourism economy.

The Wilmington/Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau will be conducting an RFP process for various services later this year. Announcements will be made during fall of 2010.

Connie Nelson is Communications/Public Relations Director at the Wilmington/Cape Fear Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau.