TRAVEL WISCONSIN NEWS

July 6, 2006

In this issue:

TOP STORIES

Promote Yourself at the State Fair 

Here's your chance to get in front of thousands of visitors and potential Wisconsin travelers. The Department is setting up shop at the Wisconsin Products Pavilion, Aug 3-13, and industry partners interested in staffing the Tourism booth can also promote their attraction, event or destination.

The booth is located in a high traffic area with great exposure. The hours are 9 am to 10 pm. As with our other trade shows, the Department pays all space fees and booth expenses, you will be responsible only for your admission ticket, parking, meals and any other personal expenses you might incur while at the fair. In exchange, you display and distribute your materials while you staff the booth.

If you are interested, contact David Spiegelberg, Consumer Show Coordinator, at 262-279-6856. Call soon because openings fill up quickly. 

Crisis Communications: A Plan for the Travel Industry 

From terrorist attacks to avian flu, water contamination to a deadly tornado, things can happen that could have a direct, and perhaps devastating, impact on the tourism industry. The Governor's Council on Tourism has been discussing how to best prepare Wisconsin's travel industry for such events and a crisis communication plan is one of the tools needed.

The first step in developing such a plan is to perform a vulnerability study in order to determine what "could" go wrong and what scenarios are likely to happen. A plan will be developed, followed by training sessions for industry partners.

For the vulnerability study phase, the Department is looking for a dozen volunteers to participate in interviews or a round table discussion to research your concerns and what likely events the tourism industry in your area should be prepared for.

Also, we are interested in your feedback on the need for crisis communication training, once a plan is developed. Would you attend? Would you pay to attend? Do you think such sessions might be helpful, or do you have other sources of crisis management training?

If you would like to participate in the study or want to provide your thoughts on training, contact Jerry Huffman at 608-261-8195. 

Coming Soon Near You: Attraction Highway Signs 

Governor Doyle recently signed legislation authorizing blue highway signs for tourism attractions and now the Department of Transportation is drafting administrative rules to govern the program.

Applications for signs will not be accepted until the rules are finalized, and the rules are expected to be similar to those governing signs for gas, food and lodging. Yet, there will likely be some rule language that applies only to attractions. Businesses hoping to get a sign or be added to an existing sign should watch the rule-making process closely.

A public hearing on the proposed rules will likely be held sometime this fall. Contact Kim Chase at 608-261-8764, if you'd like to be notified in advance of the hearing date. 

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TRAVEL NEWS BRIEFS

Travel Green Wisconsin Certifies First 25 Businesses 

The first businesses to be awarded the Travel Green Wisconsin certification are now posted on TravelGreenWisconsin.com. 

Currently in a pilot phase, the Travel Green Wisconsin initiative is a voluntary program that reviews, certifies, and recognizes tourism businesses that have made a commitment to improve their operations in order to reduce their environmental impact. For more information, contact Will Christianson at  608-267-3686

Hanson Dodge Named Vendor for Web Redesign 

The Department awarded Hanson Dodge Creative contract to redesign and maintain the travelwisconsin.com website. The agency was awarded the contract following a state bidding process that attracted eight applicants. Hanson Dodge is a Milwaukee-based, full-service marketing firm with a history of partnering with "active lifestyle" brands such as Trek Bicycle Corporation. January 2007 is the expected date for the launch of the redesigned website.

 

Facts About the Wisconsin Tourism Federation 

If you're not familiar with the Wisconsin Tourism Federation (WTF) and the work they do to advance the tourism industry, then read on.

WTF is ten tourism industry organizations working together to protect and advance the legislative interests of Wisconsin's tourism industry to ensure its growth and prosperity. Members include:

  • Wisconsin Innkeepers Association (WIA) 
  • Wisconsin Restaurant Association (WRA) 
  • Wisconsin Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) 
  • Association of Wisconsin Tourism Attractions (AWTA) 
  • Wisconsin Dells VCB 
  • Outdoor Advertising Association of Wisconsin 
  • American Automobile Association-Wisconsin 
  • Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners (WACO) 
  • Wisconsin Bed & Breakfast Association 
  • Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce

Established in 1979, the WTF meets regularly when the state legislature is in session or when key tourism issues are under consideration. The WTF acts as an umbrella organization to determine and plan collaborative actions needed for some issues. Individual member organizations track issues specific to their industry, bring recommendations for collaboration forward when applicable, implement action, and advise their industry members of important developments as they occur to keep them abreast of what they need to know to operate their businesses and anticipate future developments.

For more information on the WTF and the individual industry associations in membership, visit www.witourismfederation.org.

Golf WI Weekend Wrap-up 

June's "Golf Wisconsin Weekend" received a tremendous amount of media attention. The promotion set a new record when more than 200 Wisconsin golf courses signed up to let kids play for free with a paying adult.

Staff promoted the event with live television appearances in Madison and Milwaukee, interviews on several statewide radio stations and in newspaper advertisements. A variety of newspapers including the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel also mentioned the statewide event.

The Department will also lend a hand for at least two other golf promotions. Rock County will host a special kids "Golf Wisconsin Summer" event in which kids play free all summer when accompanied by a paying adult at Krueger-Haskell Golf Course in Beloit and Riverside Golf Course in Janesville. The kid's golf free offer is good all day Monday through Friday and after 12 pm on weekends and holidays.

The "Golf Wisconsin" license plates will go on sale this fall. For an extra $25 per year, drivers will have the GW logo on their plates and a "Support Junior Golf" message at the bottom. The majority of the funds raised will go to the Wisconsin PGA section to support junior golf programs. The remaining 25% will be returned to the Department for future golf promotions.

What's Happening in the Welcome Centers 

The state's ten Welcome Centers have been rolling out the red carpet with a variety of promotions and events to make the centers a must-stop attraction for visitors and residents.

With the recent launch of the latest edition of the Wisconsin Biking Guide, the centers are currently offering free spoke reflectors and water bottle carabineers. Now through mid-July, each center will host a drawing for a Wisconsin State Fair Fun Pack that includes four admission tickets and complimentary cream puffs. Fairest of the Fair Kimberly Schoessow and Molly Moo Cow are making appearances at several of the centers to promote the State Fair. Looking ahead to fall, a golf promotion in all of the Welcome Centers is in the works.

In addition to the recent bevy of promotions, the centers also welcomed two new managers this spring. Candace Krall has taken over responsibility of the Hurley Welcome Center while Maria Garcia now has the reigns at the center in Prairie du Chien. The Department welcomes them both.

Upcoming Meetings 

  • Meetings & Conventions Committee: Friday, July 14 at 2:00 pm. Location TBD.

  • Sports Marketing Committee: Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 10:00 am. Tourism Offices.

  • Marketing Committee: Thursday, Sept. 7 at 10:00 am. Location in Milwaukee TBD.

  • Governor's Council on Tourism Meeting: Thursday, Sept. 21 from 10:00am - 2:00pm. Location TBD.

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WISCONSIN IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Highway 51 marketing project landed in national media outlets after a simultaneous ribbon cutting in all 15 communities and Sec. Holperin's two-day tour. Read the Associated Press article in USA Today.  Writer Mary Bergin traveled with Jim during the tour and covered the experience in her "Roads Traveled" syndicated weekly column appearing in 11 Wisconsin daily newspapers (combined circ. 250,000). After her trip, she also wrote a profile on Jim for The Capital Times, which you can enjoy here. 

Gas prices were a hot story in May and the Department countered by putting their own spin on the story with Gas Beater Getaways and AAA research that shows Wisconsin is a good vacation value. Here is just one of the articles that came out of that publicity effort. 

Biking and birding are two of the state's top recreation activities. Dennis McCann paid his tribute bicycling on the Pine Line Trail in a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel issue, while the Wisconsin State Journal pays homage to efforts by the DNR, Tourism and 150 other organizations to develop and promote the Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail. 

Milwaukee garnered great coverage in an article by Ted Loos for Budget Travel. The article was subsequently published on CNN.com.

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MEDIA LEADS

Linda Riley requests press kits and information about destinations for potential travel stories in the Times Herald of Norristown, PA and other outlets. Special interests include history, arts, photography, biking, theater, museums, gardens, and seniors. Mail information to Linda Riley, 266 Ashbourne Rd., Elkins Park PA 19027 or email rileyswords@yahoo.com.

Diana Rowe requests updates on conference centers for an article in a meetings and incentives publication. The story will also include a review of the latest trends. She is particularly interested in highlighting upcoming, new and/or newly renovated IACC conference centers.

TECHNOLOGY TIPS

How Do People Use Travelwisconsin.com? 

New research commissioned by the Department sheds light on how visitors to travelwisconsin.com use the site. With a site redesign beginning this summer, a survey was conducted to establish a baseline profile of the people who visit travelwisconsin.com and how they use it.

Chamberlain Research Consultants sent an online survey to existing travelwisconsin.com email subscribers that asked about current and future usage, frequency of visits, demographics, and more. Here are just a few highlights from the study:

  • Respondents are typically female (57%), married (78%), empty-nesters (70%), and white (91%). They typically surf on a broadband Internet connection (71%) from home (77%).

  • On average, respondents visit travelwisconsin.com occasionally, one or two times a month, up to nine to 10 times a year.

  • Almost exclusively (98%), these visitors are looking for information on leisure travel such as activities, recreation, and events.

  • Fifty percent say they come to "browse for ideas when I don't know exactly what to do or where to go." While, a little less than third report that they visit the site when they "know exactly what they want to do and need more details about things." Twenty percent visit now and then "just to see what's new with the site."

  • Respondents said they found travelwisconsin.com through Internet search engines (57%), state tourism publications (43%), and state or local travel information centers (32%). Notably, magazine articles (21%) and local tourism publications (21%) were reported more often than television advertising (17%), magazine advertising (15%) and articles in newspapers (9%).

Interested in reading more? View an Executive Summary of the survey online. For more information about the travelwisconsin.com redesign or other web research projects, contact John Kuehl at 608-261-8767. 

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MARKETING TIPS

Checking A Reporter's Authenticity: A guide to evaluating press trip and interview requests 

In today's media world - with its mind-bending explosion of cable TV programming, niche interest magazines, self-designed web sites and blogs - it is sometimes hard to know who is a legitimate journalist and who isn't. This is particularly true in travel journalism, which attracts a higher-than-average number of freelance writers and independent production companies. While accommodating press trip or interview requests from such contacts can lead to great coverage, marketers should do some screening before setting anything up to ensure the "journalist" isn't just someone looking for a free trip or, even worse, a disgruntled patron "fishing" for information to use against the organization in a chat room, blog or discussion board.

According to Fraser Seitel, author of The Practice of Public Relations, it should be standard operating procedure for a marketing or PR person to question a purported journalist before revealing information, arranging an interview or setting up a site visit. Several of Seitel's "foolproof methods" for checking a reporter's authenticity are very relevant to the travel industry where fam trips are a frequent part of doing business with the media.

1. Determine if the Story has Been Assigned 

Freelance writers often do research "on spec." That is, they use their own initiative to come up with story ideas, interview authorities, write the story and then submit it to determine publication interest. There is no guarantee that the article will ever see the light of print, so agreeing to spec interviews or press trips may just result in a big waste of time for you and your organization. Our suggestion is proceed with "spec" stories only if the journalist has a strong track record of getting published. If the reporter insists the story has "been assigned" by an editor, ask them to…

 

2. Name the Editor 

This is a legitimate request that helps to "smoke out" any deception or exaggeration on the reporter's part. If the reporter is legit, he/she will simply provide the name and you can call or e-mail to verify their assignment. In some cases they may already have a letter of assignment, specifically for this purpose.

 

3. Call the Editor 

Take the opportunity to confirm the story assignment. Most editors will appreciate your sentiment and either corroborate the reporter's claim or set the record straight. Your conversation with the editor is also a perfect opportunity to probe him/her for details on the story.

 

A Note About "Comps" 

Freelance travel writers and independent production companies frequently have to cover their own expenses, so many of them will ask for complimentary rooms and/or meals during their visit. While this doesn't necessarily make them illegitimate, keep in mind that most major publications (such as the Chicago Tribune) won't allow their staff writers or contributing freelancers to accept "comped" rooms. If the journalist says they are on assignment from a major pub and asks for a comp, it should raise a red flag. Smaller and more niche publications will allow their writers to accept comp's, however, and cable networks buying independently produced shows (like Travel Channel or Food Network) don't typically have rules against it.

 

Ask the Department of Tourism 

It doesn't hurt to get a second opinion. The Department works with a number of freelancers and might recognize the name or worked with the writer before. Give them a call and explain the situation.

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