Avoid the Chicago ORDeal

In an effort to draw air travelers to Wisconsin from Chicago's overcrowded O'Hare Airport, Governor Doyle recently unveiled a new "Fly Wisconsin" marketing initiative, reminding flyers how easy it is to use Milwaukee's Mitchell International.

The Department developed some 10 second T.V. spots and print ads for the campaign, and we will be promoting the use of Mitchell International through our regular radio events broadcasts and other "earned" media.

Naturally the entire state benefits from more traffic through Milwaukee, so if there's any way our industry partners can help promote air travel using Milwaukee as an alternate to O'Hare, please contact us.

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You Needed New Stationery Anyway

ICANN…the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers…announced recently that it is close to launching the ".travel" domain name for the tourism industry.

"The .travel domain is being established to improve Internet identity, increase adoption of online technology and enhance links between suppliers and their customers, leading to greater consumer confidence and increased e-commerce activity," reads the ICANN news release.

ICANN goes on to point out that travel spending accounts for more than 28% of all online transactions and the travel industry accounts for more than 11% of the world's economy, all of which justifies a new "top level" domain name for the industry.

travelwisconsin.travel…here we come!

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Free Money

Grants of up to $10,000 are now available from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding is meant to assist with the cost of consultation and planning for museums, libraries, and historical or community organizations which want to develop a new public humanities project or change the direction of an existing program.

More information is available online.

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Glass Half Full

We wrote last time about efforts to establish a national tourism marketing budget and how Congress was considering a $20 million appropriation for that purpose.

Well, as it is with political negotiations, only $10 million was finally approved, but that amount added to a $6 million commitment last year will permit the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct an effective international tourism marketing campaign aimed at the United Kingdom.

The campaign was launched during a news conference at World Travel Market in London on November 8. The campaign's call to action will direct British travelers to a Travel Industry Association (TIA) website seeamerica.org.UK

The $16 million UK pilot program is an important first step toward the TIA's goal of substantial annual government support for international tourism marketing.

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What A Crock

Some of you may have seen the following item recently in the Zeitgeist Consulting monthly newsletter. Just goes to show you never know what might motivate travelers!

"Tourism officials in Australia's Northern Territory are cautiously optimistic that the crocodile mauling of a teenager earlier this year will result in increased tourism in the months ahead. This, after (an official at) Charles Darwin University pointed out that visitation increased after a crocodile killed a German tourist in Kakadu National Park in 2002. (Apparently) T.V. coverage of the attack increased interest in the Northern Territory by Europeans."

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Media Price Increases To Moderate in ‘05

As the chart below shows, the advertising boom of 2000 was followed by price declines attributable to the terrorist attacks, recession, a falling stock market and falling profits.

By 2003/2004 economic recovery combined with the Olympics and political campaigns drove advertising price increases.

While media "unit cost" (cost per minute or per column inch) increases were generally more modest, the true measure of media inflation is the "CPM" or cost per thousand impressions. That's because the size of the audience of an average unit of space or time constantly shifts, unlike most items which maintain the same weight or volume.

For 2005, average audience levels per media outlet are expected to decline again as newspaper readership continues to fall and as more T.V. and radio channels, along with a larger number of publications, fragment those markets.

Even so, the American Association of Advertising Agencies predicts that media prices next year will probably rise at a rate slightly higher than consumer prices.

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If you have comments about the newsletter, talk to Jim.

Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 201 W. Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703