Bringing In Visitors
Expanded Marketing Strategies to bring in visitors to the Mother Lode
The Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau (TCVB) is a member of an organization called DMAI – Destination Marketing Association International. Its membership includes visitor and convention bureaus from around the world.
Even though our area competes with other member tourism organizations, the members of this association are generous in sharing ideas and concepts with each other.
Last month, Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau Director of Sales & Marketing, Lisa Mayo, the Annual DMAI Convention in Las Vegas. More than 1300 Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) professionals were on hand for the event that celebrated its 100th year of being an organization.
For the first time ever, the convention held a Social Media Influencer Rally Day that Lisa participated in. It included attending a seminar on how best to reach out to social media influencers. This includes knowing the influencers audience so that only information of relevance to their audience is offered helping build relationships with these influencers.
Following the morning’s session was a two and a half hour “speed” session where influencers sat down with DMO representatives at eight-minute pre-scheduled appointments to learn all they could about the destination and the DMO got to learn about the influencer. “This was a terrific opportunity to get some new followers on our social media outlets and to build new relationships with those travel professionals on the front lines who are out there touting our destinations,” said Lisa. Influencers included media from the L.A. Times and National Geographic as well as a number of online outlets.
The remainder of the convention included a trade show floor where DMO professionals met with a variety of companies that are relevant to the DMO world, like digital marketing resources, content management companies and more. Additionally there were seminars throughout the convention. One that stood out to Lisa was one called “Global Marketing All-Stars” and it focused on the art of storytelling. The presenter showed “Yosemite Moon Walk” which featured a slackliner (Dean Potter), CathedralPeak in Yosemite and a full moon. (This can be viewed on line at http://vimeo.com/56298775).
The TCVB and its members continue to benefit greatly from industry events such as these providing us exposure on a global basis.
