CLEVELAND (Feb. 24, 2020) –
Destination Cleveland, the destination marketing and management organization for Cuyahoga County, shared today at its annual meeting the organization’s 2020 primary initiatives to deliver on its core mission of attracting visitors and to amplify the impact of their work by getting visitors to consider Cleveland as a place to live and work. The organization’s president and CEO, David Gilbert, also introduced the new Chairman of its Board of Directors and reported its 2019 organizational metrics.
“Destination Cleveland’s primary goal has been and always will be attracting visitors by improving Cleveland’s narrative and enhancing the customer experience, which leads to positive word of mouth and repeat visitation,” said Gilbert. “We are then able to amplify the impact of these efforts by harnessing the power of those visitors to consider Cleveland as a place to live and work through collaborations with community partners. When we grow the number of visitors to Cleveland, everything we do surrounding that grows, as well.”
PRIORITIES FOR 2020
The organization, which over the last decade became more consumer- and customer-driven, approaches visitor attraction from a research-based perspective, using insights to inform its out-of-market efforts as well as resident engagement. To further its focus of bringing more visitors to Cleveland and achieve its goal to attract 20 million visitors by the end of 2020, Gilbert shared the organization’s primary initiatives for 2020.
DESTINATION MARKETING
- Evolve the Cleveland brand to attract visitors to Cleveland with the understanding that visitors are potential new residents.
- Support, leverage and market the 2021 NFL Draft in partnership with Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
- Launch a new sales deployment strategy focused on booking larger conventions farther out into 2024-2027.
- Consider ways to improve Cleveland’s narrative on a more significant scale, including exploring additional video formats that reach national audiences and other avenues that reach a broad audience quickly.
- Get more residents to learn about and experience more of their hometown so that they can confidently recommend Cleveland as a place to visit, live and work as part of the Visit Me in CLE campaign.
DESTINATION MANAGEMENT
- Launch a destination assessment to further improve the way Cleveland looks, acts and feels as a visitor destination. This assessment will leverage community partnerships and yield tangible lasting impacts on the community and its vision for what the city looks like 10-15 years from now.
- Engage residents and community partners to develop authentic Cleveland experiences and bolster immersive offerings for consumers looking for memorable experiences.
- Leverage notable, consumer facing Cleveland-based brands to enhance credibility for Cleveland as a destination to bring a meeting/do business through brand alliance opportunities with companies like Sherwin-Williams, Vitamix and Cleveland Clinic at major meetings and conventions tradeshows.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF THE VISITOR: LIVE/WORK ECOSYSTEM
In 2019, Destination Cleveland shared its long-term vision of harnessing the power of the visitor to amplify the impact of the organization’s mission. The organization employed insights from Destinations Counsellors International (DCI) research to determine strategies on how to change perceptions of Cleveland as a place to live and work. Research results from the nearly 4,500 people surveyed included:
- Perceptions of Cleveland as a place to live and work lag compared to other Midwestern and mid-sized cities.
- Previous visitors to Cleveland rate the city 32 percent higher as a place to live and work compared to those who have not visited Cleveland before.
- 90 percent of people want to visit Cleveland before they would consider it as a place to live and work.
- The top source of information about Cleveland as a place to live and work is family and friends in or near the area.
- Rankings are an important source of information about Cleveland as a place to live and work.
In 2020, Destination Cleveland will focus on its expertise of attracting visitors and work with the community to develop an ecosystem and, ultimately, a plan for getting visitors to consider Cleveland as a place to live and work; and in 2021, it will share the initiatives that are developed.
“Improving perceptions of Cleveland as a place to live and work is central to our efforts to amplify the impact of visitors and realize our vision of harnessing the power of the visitor,” said Gilbert. “It’s that vision that led Destination Cleveland to get involved in leading community initiatives related to economic growth. With the right marketing and an ecosystem ready to help potential new residents, we can work as a community to get visitors to consider Cleveland as a place to live and work.”
BOARD OF DIRECTORS LEADERSHIP TRANSITION
Jon Pinney, Managing Partner of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP, was introduced as Destination Cleveland’s new Chairman of its Board of Directors. Pinney, who previously served as Vice Chair and Treasurer, shared his resolve to build upon Destination Cleveland’s success and the leadership of his predecessors and position the organization to have a continued positive effect on the community. Pinney and Gilbert recognized outgoing Board of Directors Chairman Dan Walsh, founder and CEO of Citymark Capital, for his leadership and contributions to the organization over the past five years.
2019 ORGANIZATION SUCCESS
Gilbert reflected on Destination Cleveland’s growth over the past decade and shared key metrics from the organization’s work in 2019.
DESTINATION MARKETING DIVISION
Convention Sales
Destination Cleveland’s convention sales team continued to generate results from ongoing efforts to attract conventions and business-related events to Cleveland. In 2019, the Destination Cleveland team, in collaboration with the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and the hotel community, hosted 113 site visits for potential meetings and booked two notable conventions, the 2025 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention and the 2024 American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) annual conference. Destination Cleveland also serviced 279 meetings in 2019 and welcomed approximately 232,000 meeting attendees.
Marketing and Communications
In 2019, marketing and communications efforts to support the Cleveland brand were bolstered to further change Cleveland’s narrative as a place to visit. The efforts included 11 integrated marketing campaigns that generated 4.8 million website pageviews and 1.06 billion earned media impressions.
DESTINATION MANAGEMENT DIVISION
Destination Development
To improve the visitor experience, Destination Cleveland expanded its pedestrian wayfinding system into the Shaker Square and Tremont neighborhoods. The destination development team also launched the off-road trails pilot project, installing wayfinding signs along the Cleveland Lakefront Bike Trail and planning for public art installations this year.
Customer Experience
The customer experience team launched the Cleveland Experiences program to assist residents in identifying and leveraging their own assets to create memorable experiences for consumers. In the program’s first year, more than 380 individuals participated in educational workshops to learn about this tourism trend. Destination Cleveland also partnered with the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate program to hear pitches from locals looking for seed money to start an authentic Cleveland experience of their own. After more than 2,500 residents and visitors redeemed Cleveland Brewery Passports for prizes in the program’s inaugural year, the team added four additional breweries to the 2019-2020 version and launched it on July 1, 2019.
CLE Rising Summit
Destination Cleveland also provided strategic and marketing support to the CLE Rising initiative, which engaged more than 600 Greater Clevelanders in identifying the priorities needed to stimulate economic growth in the region. On April 4, 2020, work groups will share their progress and plans with the community at a public meeting.
RESIDENT RECOGNITION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY
Gilbert also presented three area residents with awards. (See news release here.)
Held at Playhouse Square’s Mimi Ohio Theatre, guests enjoyed live entertainment and 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/ Fox SportsTime Ohio for serving as the presenting sponsor of the annual meeting as well as the other event sponsors:
Angstrom Graphics,
Dominion Energy Ohio,
Enterprise Rent-A-Car,
iHeartMedia,
International Live Events Association,
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District,
United Airlines and
Watershed Distillery.
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ABOUT DESTINATION CLEVELAND: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland’s destination marketing and management organization. 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 19.2 million visitors annually. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.