One of my Tourism Currents business partner Leslie McLellan‘s favorite quotes is this one….
“It’s the CVB, Tourist Board, or Chamber’s job to get people to your town. It is YOUR job to get them through your door.”
Leslie and I are leading some social media workshops for Wisconsin Main Street this week, in downtown Kenosha (I’ve never been to Wisconsin, so I’m looking forward to exploring the area including a little bit of nearby Milwaukee, plus cheese and beer!)
One of our sessions will emphasize the need for everyone to not only develop his or her own expertise and effectiveness in social media, but also to help spread the word on social media about their partners next door, up the street, down the road, or in the surrounding region.
The destinations that are most effective at engaging visitors online are those that have partners who are social-savvy …. not just one or two, but most partners, and those partners take it upon themselves to champion one another whenever possible, online and offline.
They do not wait for the CVB, Tourist Board, or Chamber to do everything.
Top-level promotion efforts from the DMO should be icing on a very solid cake of self-reliant partners who take responsibility for their own marketing, and support one another, too.
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Sheila,
You make a good point during this article. It reminds me about the big mistake a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs make when thinking about business. A lot of people think that if they could reach one or two big partners, they will be all set. However, in business, this is never the case and working with a partner is a lot of work. Similarly, I think there needs to be an understanding between Tourism Boards and local destinations that neither party should become too reliant on the other.
Agree, Gregory. Good perspective!