CLEVELAND (May 17, 2018) - Destination
Cleveland, the only organization in Cuyahoga County responsible for growing
the travel and tourism industry, announced at its annual meeting today two
significant efforts to help the community speak with one voice, thrive together
and collaboratively transform from a visitor destination to a destination city.
The first effort expands Destination Cleveland's organizational focus to include the role of destination management for Greater Cleveland, confirming a transition from a Destination
Marketing Organization (DMO) to a Destination Marketing and Management Organization (DMMO) previewed at the organization's 2017 annual meeting.
The DMMO transition is in support of Destination Cleveland's development and implementation of a Destination City Action Plan (DCAP), the second effort announced at the meeting. The DCAP is the
blueprint of strategies and tactics that Destination Cleveland will pursue by engaging other community organizations to ultimately accelerate and enhance
Cleveland and its economy.
The impetus for the efforts is
rooted in the combination of:
-
a 2017 research study by Longwoods International
that showed that those who had seen Cleveland's destination advertising were
more likely to consider Cleveland as a good place to live, work, attend college
and retire than those who had not seen our advertising
-
the
organization's track record for success and
-
the
fact that Destination Cleveland is consistently being approached by nonprofits,
corporations, small businesses, educational institutions with requests to use
Cleveland's brand in their efforts.
FROM VISITOR
DESTINATION TO DESTINATION CITY
The goal of transforming Cleveland from a visitor
destination to a destination city was solidified through a year-long discovery
process that included a listening and learning tour in 2017 and early 2018. The
effort resulted in 100 conversations with more than 400 stakeholders and
leaders representing more than 250 organizations. The tour helped Destination
Cleveland understand what stakeholders think are the priorities for advancing
Cleveland into becoming a destination city and what Destination Cleveland's
role is and should be within the community. The process also illustrated the
need for Destination Cleveland to work together with a more diversified group
of community organizations to better Cleveland and, ultimately, the region's
economy.
DMMO Transition
As it evolves
into a Destination Marketing and Management Organization, Destination Cleveland
will work more closely with current partners and begin to work with additional
civic organizations to better leverage the Cleveland visitor brand and the organization's
expertise to impact the economy further.
David Gilbert,
president and CEO of Destination Cleveland, shared that many cities use this
model to drive synergies and to ensure they are delivering a consistent message
and destination experience to non-residents and residents alike.
"A visitor is so
much more than just a visitor. They are potential residents, students,
investors, etc," said Gilbert. "And while destination marketing changes
perceptions and helps attract people, organizations like ours do not do the job
of site selection, recruiting students, attracting talent or attracting venture
capital. Instead, DMMOs help to improve a city's narrative, which makes it
easier for other organizations to do their work. As a DMMO, we will do this by
getting more visitors to the city and working with our local partners to
provide experiences that deliver value and differentiate Cleveland from other
cities."
Destination City
Action Plan
Based on the insights from the listening and learning
tour, Destination Cleveland identified five themes of opportunity in which the
community is asking the organization to use its brand marketing and expertise
to further advance Cleveland in becoming a destination city. Those themes are:
1.
COLLABORATE TO DRIVE ECONOMIC SYNERGIES: Working
with other economic development organizations and corporations to leverage Destination
Cleveland's expertise in changing perceptions and attracting people and
companies to the region through both leisure and meetings marketing.
2.
MANAGE DESTINATION EXPERIENCE: Looking at all
aspects of a destination's needs and overall development by playing a more significant
role in managing the guest experience within the destination. This goes way
beyond staffing a visitor center and should consider how tourism affects the
experience of residents as well.
3.
INCLUSIVE RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT: Spending as much
time communicating with, monitoring and measuring resident satisfaction as
Destination Cleveland does with visitors and remaining steadfastly focused on
ensuring that the engagement is inclusive.
4.
DESTINATION BRAND MANAGEMENT: Expanding
Destination Cleveland's role by partnering with other organizations as it
becomes a steward and manager of the city's brand.
5.
ENHANCE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH BIG DATA:
Deepening Destination Cleveland's connection to and knowledge of visitors on
the ground, leveraging big data, and modifying existing digital channels such
as apps and booking systems for visitors to access upon arrival so they can
better manage their own experiences.
Destination Cleveland will ensure focus and action behind
these themes as part of the organization's strategic plan. For each of these
themes, Destination Cleveland received specific feedback on how to engage with
the community, and the organization developed specific plans of actions by
launching pilots in partnership with other organizations. (See attached list of pilot projects)
"While Destination
Cleveland will remain focused on its mission of changing perceptions and
attracting people to Cleveland, there are opportunities to accelerate and
enhance our impact on the area's economy," said Gilbert. "We must begin to act
as one city with one voice to make Cleveland a destination city."
2017 STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
In addition to Gilbert's presentation, Dan Walsh, founder
and CEO of Citymark and chairman of Destination Cleveland's board of directors,
provided an update on the organization's progress toward achieving the goals of
the strategic plan it launched in 2017. Developed under the guidance of Ernst
& Young's Travel and Tourism consulting team, the plan outlines efforts to
drive the attraction of 20 million visitors by 2020. Walsh shared the following metrics as part of his update:
Convention Sales
Destination Cleveland's convention sales team continued
to generate increases resulting from ongoing efforts to attract conventions and
business-related events to Cleveland. The sales team achieved a 30 percent
increase in lead volume and bookings in 2017 over the prior year.
Marketing
and Communications
In 2017, marketing and communications
efforts to support the Cleveland brand were bolstered to further change
Cleveland's narrative as a place to visit. The integrated efforts reached more
than
1.3 billion people through paid advertising, social media, digital outreach and
earned media stories.
Destination Development
& Community Affairs
Destination Cleveland launched its Experience Dedicated
Destination guest experience survey program last year to garner real-time
feedback from visitors on ways to improve the Cleveland experience. In the
program's first year, the organization collected nearly 1,500 responses per
month from guests. The insights gained help measure the impact of the industry
and are shared with hospitality partners to encourage collaboration that
improves experiences.
Walsh also presented three area residents with awards.
THRIVING TOGETHER
At the conclusion of the meeting, Gilbert called upon the
hospitality partners and stakeholders present to add their voice to the year of
learning by sharing thoughts on canvases placed throughout the venue. He
underscored Destination Cleveland's commitment to collaboration with current
and new partners and asked attendees to be willing to thrive together.
Held at Jacobs Pavilion at the Nautica Entertainment
Complex, guests were entertained by Falling Stars and
enjoyed a cocktail reception following the meeting. The organization is appreciative
of the support of all its partners, particularly those that worked together to
put on today's event. Destination Cleveland would like to thank Fox Sports Ohio/SportsTime Ohio for
serving as the presenting sponsor of the annual meeting as well as the other
event sponsors: Dominion Energy, Enterprise
Rent-A-Car, FERN, Howard
Hanna, Medical
Mutual, Northeast
Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio Business Machines, United
Airlines, Vitamix
and Watershed Distillery.
For more information, please visit thisiscleveland.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
and subscribe to our channels on YouTube
and Pinterest.
###
ABOUT DESTINATION CLEVELAND: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland's
convention and visitors bureau. This private, non-profit organization's mission
is to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality for Greater
Cleveland through leisure and business travel.
Cleveland welcomes 18 million visitors annually. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.