Marketing for Group Travel: Building Solid Relationships with Tour Operators

Marketing for Group Travel: Building Solid Relationships with Tour Operators

Group travel is a significant segment of the tourism market, and if you want to see those buses pulling up to the curb and filling your destination or attraction with excited travelers, you’ll need to know how to market effectively to tour operators.  According to ABA Foundation (American Bus Association) the most recent statistics (2022)…

Read More

Are DMOs Evolving into Placemakers?

Are DMOs Evolving into Placemakers?

I have been exploring the changing role of destination marketing organizations (DMOs) through conversations with guests on my podcast Destination on the Left. My interest revolves around DMOs taking a more holistic approach to managing a destination’s brand and story by engaging with locals and serving the community in addition to focusing on attracting visitors.…

Read More

Collaboration Thrives in Travel & Tourism

Collaboration Thrives in Travel & Tourism

The travel and tourism industry was indisputably one of the hardest hit during the past two years. Staying in business meant being innovative, flexible and responsive to change. To be successful, it also meant a willingness to collaborate, sometimes with a perceived competitor. Connecting and embracing collaboration with others in the industry, despite being in…

Read More

Destination Marketing: Welcoming Visitors Again

Destination Marketing: Welcoming Visitors Again

Throughout the summer months, states across the US have been loosening restrictions as they reached “phase 4” where most establishments could re-open. After about five months of cabin fever, people are not only eager to leave their houses, but are open to traveling. At this point in time, studies show that most people are comfortable…

Read More

A Decade of Tourism Marketing – 10 Key Changes Making an Impact

A Decade of Tourism Marketing - 10 Key Changes Making an Impact. And Break the Ice Media turns 10!

And Break the Ice Media turns 10! It has been a decade of tourism marketing! The official date of incorporation for Break the Ice Media is October 14, 2009 which makes October officially our “birthday month”. As the marketing and tourism industries have changed, we have evolved right along with them. When we started our…

Read More

Photos, Food & Formulas: Destination Marketing to Millennials

Photos, Food & Formulas: Destination Marketing to Millennials

In 2017, Break the Ice Media attended the Empire State Tourism Conference in Lake Placid. This information-packed conference was the perfect place to pick up new trends and learnings- and nothing was a hotter topic than marketing to millennials. The Wild Center held a session all about this topic, called “Marketing the Adirondacks to Millennials:…

Read More

Marketing Tactics for Small Budgets and Big Reach

Marketing Tactics for Small Budgets and Big Reach

When it comes to destination marketing, most tourism organizations are working with limited budgets, small staff size and big goals. In order to reach, engage and encourage large audiences to visit your destination, you have to be strategic with your marketing plan and spend. That means choosing marketing tactics that provide the biggest bang for…

Read More

How Association Management Companies help multi-stakeholder tourism marketing programs

How Association Management Companies help multi-stakeholder tourism marketing programs

Multi-stakeholder entities and collaborative partnerships are pervasive in the world of tourism. When DMOs, TPAs, counties and other representatives of regions come together, their marketing and economic impact exponentially increases. A new approach to serving the travel and tourism industry goes beyond the typical agency/client relationship. They are called association management companies. According to AMC…

Read More

Museum Marketing – Beyond Cultural and Heritage Tourism

Museum Marketing – Beyond Cultural and Heritage Tourism

Museums and cultural institutions are proactively changing to expand their reach and appeal to new audiences, strengthening their role beyond cultural and heritage tourism.  I recently attended the 2018 Museum Association of New York annual conference to learn what is happening in the industry. The theme of the conference was “Visioning Change,” and I was…

Read More