Guest Post: The Rewards of Regenerative Strategy
By: GDS-Movement A long-form look at the key to sustained positive change and profit for MICE and leisure Tourism A trade fair visitor walks into a bar and… the bar is empty. Or, too full, depending on lockdown restrictions. The bar’s broken glasses and used napkins pile up in the alley alongside the entrance, awaiting a […]
Guest Post: The Rise and Role of Regenerative Event Planning
By: GDS-Movement Gone are the days of business as usual; it’s business unusual as the events industry reopens and reassesses. The pandemic has put recovery and sustainability into all our minds and lives, and the data is showing that we want to do things differently – and better – in the “new normal”. The Global […]
Guest Post: New Skills for a Brave New World.
By: GDS-Movement If you’re re-evaluating your relationship to everything right now, you’re in good company. It’s high time for rising hopes as global Covid-19 vaccinations slow down and climate change speeds up. For the GDS-Movement, the real “code red for humanity” is that we need new narratives and fresh perspective so that we can unearth […]
EDA Releases Notice of Funding Opportunity for Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation
Yesterday, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) released its Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for destinations to secure American Recovery Plan Act funding. Through its Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Grants, destinations now have access to $750M in dedicated funding to help recover job and economic losses in tourism and outdoor recreation, broken down into two […]
White Paper: Securing Dedicated Funding for Sports Tourism
Sports tourism is a global business that creates jobs, stimulates local economies and benefits communities by creating positive economic impact through hosting sports events: in 2019, sports tourism generated $45.1B in economic impact in destinations around the United States. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, sports commissions and sports-focused destinations should look for creative […]
EDA Funding for DMOs – Action Items Today
By President & CEO John Lambeth Thanks to the hard work of many in the destination industry, DMO’s will have a new opportunity to secure EDA funding from the $3B American Recovery Plan Act. US Travel and Destinations International successfully advocated for a $750M dedication for destinations that have had job and economic losses in tourism […]
Revelations and Thought Leadership at the First Annual National TID Summit
Adam Sacks of Tourism Economics, presented never-before-seen data in his session: The Economic Case for Tourism Improvement Districts to Drive the Recovery, presented by STR. According to the results of this study, on average, TIDs produce a 2.1% lift on hotel room demand and a 4.5% lift in hotel room revenue year-over-year. To put this in perspective, lift on hotel room demand and revenue represented an increase in 150,000 room nights and $51M, respectively, for the average destination in 2019.
US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board: Letter to EDA
On April 23, 2021, the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (TTAB) submitted a letter to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) outlining three main recommendations for how American Rescue Plan funding can be used to stimulate local economies through tourism. TTAB explains that tourism is vital for communities working to rebuild their economies: three […]
2020 District of the Year
Feather River Tourism Marketing District Plumas County, CA What a year 2020 turned out to be! None of us expected to face the trials and tribulations that last year brought us, without a doubt. But we faced them and have continued to move forward! Persistence should be the word of the year for 2020. It […]
Massachusetts Passes New Tourism Marketing District Legislation
In 2017, Civitas joined forces with Mary Kay Wydra, President and CEO of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau to blaze a trail for tourism in Massachusetts. The goal: to pass State Tourism Destination Marketing District Legislation to enable Massachusetts to form TDMDs. In 2019, Martha Sheridan joined the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau […]
