TRAVEL WISCONSIN NEWSAugust 4, 2004In this issue:Top Stories Travel News Briefs
Travel Wisconsin News Features
TOP STORIES Multi-media Approach Heads Fall Campaign Line-Up This fall's campaign covers off on many tried and true marketing strategies as well as introduces some new concepts to the mix. Television and print advertising, a sweepstakes promotion, fall media kits and our popular travel guides are old stand-bys to the campaign that kicks off in August. In addition, a new approach to the direct mail program and an improved online Fall Sampler round out the Department's strategy to reach potential fall travelers. Beginning in early September, the second edition of the popular Fall Sampler "eGuide" will be available for viewing or downloading on travelwisconsin.com. The electronic publication is being produced by Mobular Technologies, Inc., the same company that helped the Department roll out the online version of its Official Travel Guide earlier this year. Like its predecessor, the Fall Sampler eGuide will mirror the printed guide while adding extra features like a keyword search, an interactive Table of Contents, and more than 50 direct links to area-, city-, and activity-specific information. These features also feed into a robust tracking system, providing valuable research information for the planning of future printed and electronic publications. Industry partners are welcome to link to the one or both of the Department's electronic publications. For more information, please contact John Kuehl. About 20,000 customers from the Department's database will soon receive a new-look Fall/Winter Event and Recreation Guide with the Fall Sampler inserted inside. A special banner printed directly on the cover of the Event and Recreation Guide will direct customers to sign up for weekly fall color and snow condition reports by e-mail on travelwisconsin.com. This replaces a written response card, which required costly processing and return postage. A multi-market newspaper promotion is heading up communications efforts. The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Journal Sentinel, and Star Tribune will run a sweepstakes ad driving readers to travelwisconsin.com to enter to win a Wisconsin getaway. Wisconsin Dells, Milwaukee, Waupaca, La Crosse, Superior, and Lake Geneva are participating in the boat tour-themed sweepstakes with overnight getaways combined with boat tours. Newspaper and magazine media kits went out this summer and will soon be followed by media outreach to promote coverage of the fall color reports. The fall color reports are expected to begin the first week of September. Fall email newsletters are tentatively scheduled for Sept. 7 and 28. The advertising campaign kicks off in August with 10-second traffic TV in Chicago followed by 30-second spots in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Other television spots include Discover Wisconsin and Water & Woods. Chicago Tribune Magazine, AAA Home & Away and Midwest Living head the magazine print ads. Newspaper ads will run in Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, Journal Topics, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Shepherd Express, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Isthmus Annual Manual. A four-color co-op insert will be positioned in Chicago Tribune, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Green Bay Press Gazette, Appleton Post Crescent, WI State Journal and the Oshkosh Northwestern. Finally, the online media list features chicagotribune.com, startribune.com, jsonline.com, lake-link.com and trail-link.com. Wisconsin's Northwoods headlined not one but two of the top daily newspapers in the nation this past month. The Chicago Tribune's story, "Lure of the Northwoods," featured a number of destinations north of Hwy. 8 while Vilas County's Manitowish Waters was the setting for a feature story in the Sunday New York Times travel section. In other national news, Copper Falls Park made the list of the top ten places in the nation to pitch a tent by USA Today. In the world of national magazines, Lake Geneva and the Abbey Resort were in good company when it recently made Boating World's top 10 list of boating resorts. Bayfield and the Apostle Islands was the darling of the food world in a recent Bon Appetit magazine spread written by Raphael Kadushin. Family Fun magazine will mention Eagle River's Cranberry Fest, Horicon Marsh and La Crosse's Oktoberfest in their September round up of top Wisconsin fall family events. Timms Hill made the Backpacker magazine's list of "High Points USA," which ran in August. In regional travel stories, Chicago's LaRaza ran a general Wisconsin feature for its Hispanic audience. Wisconsin lighthouses received attention from West Surburban Living article "Guiding Lights" while Wisconsin waterfalls was the focus in Chicago Magazine. Minnesota Monthly did an article on Frank Lloyd Wright sites including Wingspread, SC Johnson and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. Finally, on the international front, the German magazine Reise Blick ran a two-page article by Bruno Abegg with seven full color photos of New Glarus. Travel News Briefs Over the past couple of years, the Department's research has revealed an unmistakable trend in the growing use of recreational vehicles for leisure travel. The trend is confirmed by news from the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association which forecasts a nearly 8% increase in deliveries of the vehicles this year to an industry record of 347,000 units. The Association also reports the number of RV-owning households will rise by 15% this decade, with the quickest growth coming in the 35-54 age group. View more RV research online. In order to learn more about this growing market segment, the Department is conducting a campground research project, distributing 30,000 surveys to campgrounds and state parks. This cooperative research effort with the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners and the Department of Natural Resources will last through the end of October. The Department anticipates the surveys will yield valuable information, which will be analyzed in an effort to determine how to best reach and market to this growing segment of the traveling public. Look for study results at the 2005 Governor's Conference. In the meantime, the Department has printed a new brochure, which notes the location of RV waste handling locations throughout the state. It's not an exhaustive list, but a good representative sample. The guides are available at Wisconsin Travel Information Centers. In addition, travelwisconsin.com has added a RV feature to its Great Wisconsin Tours section. Here travelers can download and print the RV Waste Handling Brochure or get travel ideas customized specifically for the RV customer. View the RV feature online. In other outreach efforts to reach the RV travel, the Communications team is working with Dee Reed, editor of Highways magazine, on a press trip this fall to southwestern Wisconsin. Highways is published for members of the Good Sam Club, an international organization comprised of recreational vehicle owners. The magazine has a circulation of 1,000,000 and features travel stories and outdoor recreation activities such as camping, boating, fishing, hiking and cycling. * * * * * Be a Part of "Where in Wisconsin is Jessica Doyle" The "Where in Wisconsin is Jessica Doyle? online game will kick off its second school year in September. Over 9,000 kids played the game and 18 Wisconsin newspapers covered the weekly mystery city and clues during the last school year. The upcoming school year brings an expanded game that will include fourth and fifth grades in a separate weekly prize drawing. There are still plenty of opportunities for the tourism industry to participate by donating prizes. If you have an idea for a prize you would like to include in the game, we would love to hear from you. Prizes need to appeal to 4-8th graders and not be limited to a specific weekend or one-time event. Prizes in the past have included passes to mini-golf, historic attractions, canoe or bike rentals. Contact Lisa Marshall at 608-267-3773, if you are interested in donating. * * * * * Two Wisconsin Weekly Newspapers Added to Co-op program Milwaukee's Shepherd Express and the Madison Isthmus have recently been added to the Department's Co-op Advertising Program. Both weekly papers are distributed free and are popular sources for news, arts and entertainment in their respective communities. The Shepherd Express has a circulation of 72,000 at 1,200 pick-up locations in the five county Greater Milwaukee area. The Isthmus publishes 61,000 copies, distributed weekly at 600 locations in Dane County. Readers of both papers are urban, well-educated and enjoy travel and entertainment. Both papers are published on Thursdays and if you choose to run your ad in either you'll share the low 52-week frequency rate no matter how many times you place your ad. For more information on the Department's co-op ad program contact Stephanie Redeker at Boelter + Lincoln, 414-271-0101. * * * * * WACVB Fall Conference Scheduled for Nov 11-12 Nearly 200 tourism industry representatives will gather at the Racine Marriott November 11 and 12, 2004 for the tenth annual Wisconsin Fall Tourism Convention to learn ways to stay competitive in today's tourism economy. The highlight of the convention will be the keynote address by Laila Rach, Associate Dean of the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University in New York City and a nationally recognized tourism educator and industry leader. For more information on the fall convention, visit www.escapetowisconsin.com/fallconvention. * * * * * Upcoming Tourism Council and Committee Meetings August 25: Marketing Committee Meeting. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Madison Tourism Office. September 24: Meetings and Conventions Committee. Time TBD. Madison Tourism Office. Next Governor's Council Meeting will be in early September. Two new magazines and a golf television program cap this issue's media leads.
MARKETING TIPS: Nature Based Tourism "Learn who you are - and sell it!" That's the powerful and succinct marketing advice from Ted Eubanks, who bestowed the tip during the seminar on nature-based tourism during the 2004 Wisconsin Governor's Conference on Tourism. Eubanks contends Wisconsin should know that it's perfectly poised to capitalize on experiential tourism. Eubanks defines "experiential tourism" as something that attracts people to places and markets to merchandise. Experiential tourism, he says, is everything visitors touch, feel, see and do. (Think "Door County cherries," "Santa Fe turquoise, etc.) And, he says, people are craving experiential tourism now more than ever. As the U.S. population grows and rapidly urbanizes, travel consumers increasingly favor experiences over traditional goods and services. According to Eubanks' research, 87 percent of Americans live in an urban area. The so-called "creative class," especially, prefers active, authentic and participatory experiences that provide a taste of nature, the outdoors and rural living. So, how does that translate into growing tourism in Wisconsin? Eubanks says it's up to people in the tourism industry to create and facilitate experiences for visitors, to create travel "packages." Those travel experiences can revolve around historical, cultural or natural resources, for example. He points to one recent success in Wisconsin: The Great Wisconsin Birding Trail. Travel trend research shows people who used to travel to exotic locales are now more likely to stay close to home as long as they can find something transformative or experiential. Consider these recent research findings presented by Eubanks when you're developing travel packages: - 76 percent of U.S. travelers say they "would like to visit someplace they have never visited before." - 48 percent say they are interested in an area that is "remote and untouched." - 57 percent say they are attracted to an area's culture. - 44 percent say they would like to "learn a new skill or engage in a new activity" during a trip. - 41 percent complain of "time poverty." - 56 percent complain of "vacation time poverty." In other words, visitors are looking for vacations and travel opportunities that are shorter, flexible, impulsive and, of course, experiential. technology tips: Making Permission E-mail "Filter Friendly" It's no secret that e-mail has changed the way the world communicates, informs and even sells. E-mail marketing has been around since the early days of the Internet, selling everything from diet pills to world travel. Although the initial uniqueness of e-mail marketing spurred its early success, people quickly realized that junk mail is junk mail, whether it is printed or electronic. Then came permission-based or "opt-in" e-mail. Permission-based e-mail revolutionized the field of e-marketing with its paradigm shift from filling vast numbers of electronic mailboxes hoping to get one or two hits per thousand, to marketing directly to those who had a distinct interest in a given product or service. A prime example of the success of opt-in marketing is found within the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's e-newsletter. Jumping from 5,000 subscribers in the first year, to over 110,000 nearly three years later, the e-newsletter succeeded in reaching people with the information they wanted, enjoying delivery, open and click-through rates that consistently beat industry standards and an unsubscribe rate of less then 1%. Be careful though. Just because you have jumped on the opt-in bandwagon, doesn't mean the troubles of spam mail are behind you. Everyday, up to 75 percent of friendly e-marketers are mistakenly blacklisted by e-mail filters, even though the messages they are sending have been asked for by the customer. How big is the problem? According to MarketingSherpa.com, nearly every single major filter company, including AOL, acknowledges that a percentage of the mail they block is actually legitimate e-mail that has been stopped by mistake, blocking tens of billions of permission e-mails every year, at a cost of $3.5 billion. Those of you eyeing the delete button of your e-newsletter program can take heart, however; making permission e-mail "filter friendly" is easy. Most filters work on a scoring system, looking for key phrases, setups and triggers to recognize spam. Tally up enough points, and in the digital garbage you can go. Here's some pitfalls and common traps to avoid plus some good advice to make sure your emails get through:
A little attention and vigilance to these common filter triggers can take an opt-in e-marketing program from struggling to successful in no time flat. For more consultation on email marketing, contact John Kuehl, Technology Marketing Coordinator, at 608-266-8767. Travel Tracker: LAND OF OUTDOOR OPPORTUNITIES A new study, Exploring the Active Lifestyle, conducted by the research firm Harris InteractiveŽ and released by the Outdoor Industry Foundation (OIF), shows that outdoor activities greatly enrich lives by reducing stress levels and connecting people with family and friends. The report goes on to say that "the outdoors is a natural cure for the blues." Close to 90% of Americans 16 and older feel that the outdoors reduces their stress levels and gives them a sense of accomplishment, which is significant given that many experts believe high stress and low self-esteem can lead to depression. The results of this study show 88% enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when participating in an outdoor activity, 88% feel they can escape pressures of everyday life when in a natural setting, and most believe outdoor activities keep them young and allows them to connect with themselves. These results support Wisconsin's competitive distinction, which reads: Wisconsin offers visitors a change of pace, breathtaking natural beauty and a wide variety of year-round urban and rural activities for every budget and lifestyle. Over 11 million acres of public land, a multitude of local festivals, events and attractions and thousands of businesses dedicated to providing superior value and service are all accessible through a highly developed road and trail system. This diversity, availability and affordability make Wisconsin a unique and memorable destination for outdoor recreation. The OIF study indicates that if a person is involved in outdoor recreation they get the same emotional benefits regardless of their age. Younger participants, those 16-24, are likely to be involved in more physically challenging activities; while older participants are driven to participate in activities not as much for the challenge but rather to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Respondents in this study participated in an average of 6.1 outdoor activities compared to 4.3 for the overall US population. The report further mentions that because of the emotional benefits of outdoor activities, people want to share these experiences with others -particularly family members. Close to 80% of the 2,045 respondents who qualified as outdoor recreational activity participants felt outdoor activities strengthened their family relationships and led them to rely on each other for motivation. Forty-one percent cited their parents, guardians or family members as the number one influence for getting involved in outdoor recreation and an additional 33% cited friends and peers. The most popular, affordable and easily accessible activities consistently cited in the Harris study are those that have stood the test of time, hiking, biking and camping. They also have the greatest longevity of any of the human-powered outdoor sports. In addition, the study found that people who enjoy these activities are more likely to also try other sports like climbing, downhill or cross-country skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, trails running and snowshoeing. In a four-season study conducted by the Department of Tourism last year, Wisconsin leisure travelers ranked outdoor recreation in the top three responses when asked why they chose their particular destination. Twenty percent of the visitors surveyed in an urban setting and 15% in a rural area indicated outdoor activities as their driving force behind choosing the destination. Wisconsin and outdoor recreation are synonymous with one another. With more than 1,000 miles of rail to trails, mountain biking in 26 state parks and forests, and more than 5.7 million acres of public land, Wisconsin is a haven for bicycling enthusiasts. And Wisconsin is no stranger to hikers. Experienced and novices alike will find a variety of terrain in the more than 2,730 miles of hiking trails in the state. Campgrounds are as unique as the people who frequent them. From the smallest (13 sites) to the largest (250+ sites), state-managed to privately-owned, Wisconsin is a campers paradise. Marketing Recommendations
For more information on the report, "Exploring the Active Lifestyle," visit www.outdoorindustry.org or contact Sue Hamilton at 608-266-6792. |