Posts by Nicole
How Tourism Businesses Can Plan for the New Year in Collaboration With Staff
A 2024 Tourism Business Plan will set you up for success. I talk to a lot of business owners and organization leaders in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. There are always common threads with the conversations and many of these leaders are feeling multiple pressures including: With all these pressures, it is hard to…
Read MoreThe Business Case for Collaboration
I am a huge believer in co-opetition––where perceived competitors cooperate and come together to create something bigger together than they could do on their own. This type of collaboration makes the biggest impact. The guests on my podcast Destination on the Left believe it too. I have been learning from my guests with countless stories…
Read MoreMaking a Career in Travel and Tourism
I attended the Destinations International Annual Convention recently and talked to several members of the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. I wanted to know what they would tell future tourism professionals about working in the industry. What they shared is what many of us already know: the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry is vibrant and…
Read MoreTourism Marketing for a Milestone Event: Getting Ready for the 2024 Eclipse
Milestones are major events that mark significant change or a new development. Milestones are also markers along the way to know that you are progressing on your path or towards your goal. A milestone event such as a big anniversary historical event, or astrological event like the total solar eclipse offers a community the opportunity…
Read MoreAre 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 MoreGroup Travel Trends
Is group travel dead? My answer: yes and no! Group travel in its most traditional sense – loading 50 seniors on a bus and carting them around for several days on a sightseeing tour with stops for dining and maybe a show – is slowly going away. It is being replaced by smaller, more active…
Read More10 Must-listen Podcasts for Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Professionals
This week I celebrate 6 years since I launched my podcast, Destination on the Left, an award-winning show focused on creativity and collaboration in the travel and tourism industry. This week also marks the airing of my 300th episode and more than 75,000 downloads, more milestone markers crossed! Since launching one of the first podcasts…
Read MoreThe DMO of the Future
Everything we’ve gone through in the past few years has fast-forwarded the role of the DMO. It started to change shape, both to get through the pandemic and as a result of changes in our world. Many of these changes were already underway. We have been talking about place-making and destination management and cathedral thinking for…
Read MoreCollaboration is a Key to Improving Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Tourism
Collaborations will be more successful if we build our collaborative teams to be more diverse, equitable and inclusive. Further, collaboration itself is a key to helping our industry solve issues related to DEI. Collaboration by its very nature leads to more diversity. By partnering with other organizations and different types of collaborators, you will open…
Read MoreCo-opetition: Good For Business
I am a huge believer in co-opetition – where perceived competitors cooperate and together create something bigger than they could do on their own. It is this type of collaboration that I think makes the biggest impact and the guests on my podcast Destination on the Left believe it too. I have been learning from…
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