Blog
A Tourism Marketer’s Perfect World
If you watch news on two different networks you might conclude that they are living in completely different worlds. Sometimes I like the idea of residing in a place where I make the decisions. In the ideal world that exists only in my imagination, here is how things...
A Possible Game-Changer for Mid-Atlantic Tourism Marketing
West Virginia gets it. Well, at least the governor and the author of this insightful editorial do. The governor proposes increasing the budget for the Division of Tourism from $6 million to $20 million. That's a bold move considering that states everywhere are...
A Business Idol — Creative, Witty, One-of-a-Kind
Many small business owners admire business giants like Bill Gates, Elon Musk or Richard Branson. Let me tell you about one of my business idols. Warren Miller is considered by many to be the father of adventure films. After growing up poor during the depression and...
Don’t give your destination brand a cheap haircut
Joe was a small-town barber. He had served the community and his customers for decades, always treating them well and charging fair prices. One day, a national chain opened just across the street. They offered haircuts for $10. Joe watched as traffic poured in to the...
Will your brand be thriving in five years?
While everyone else is reflecting on 2017 or predicting trends for 2018, let’s take a moment and think about something more important. How healthy will your brand be in two years? What about five years? Now is the time to think about it and steer the ship in the right...
Lessons from 2017
Never stop learning. That has been a guiding principle for me all of my life. There will never be a year when I am not taught or reminded about a valuable lesson. Learning a lesson is more valuable, and often more humbling, than learning facts from a book. Here are...
How can we talk about Virginia’s economy without mentioning tourism?
I recently read this month’s issue of a statewide magazine focused on the business community here in Virginia. This month features a look at the economic climate throughout the commonwealth. They asked five CPAs from different regions a series of questions about the...
Quit Wasting Money
"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." I don't know precisely when John Wanamaker uttered this famous quote. He built his retail empire in the late 1800s so he said it long before terms like content...
Insights about Building Strong Community and Destination Brands
Last week I had the pleasure of being in the beautiful central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia at Massanutten Resort, where I was the featured speaker at the Shenandoah Valley Partnership's Fall Forum. The partnership's efforts are mostly focused on economic...
Craft Beer – Expectation or Differentiator?
This morning I read a news story about yet another small community getting its first local craft brewery. Visitors definitely enjoy trying local beer just as they enjoy sampling local cuisine. It’s exciting to see the small brewpub scene thrive. It has exploded in...