Episode 1: Enhance the Visitor Experience, with Daniel Fenton

Oct 18, 2016

Daniel Fenton, a 25-year veteran in Hospitality and Tourism, discusses enhancing visitor experiences, technology in tourism, attracting millennial travelers, and delivering heritage tourism. He shares insights on destination master planning, collaboration in tourism projects, and navigating political and regulatory challenges.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Journey from Hotel General Manager to Leading Tourism Organization

01:51 • 3min

Enhancing Visitor Experiences and Competitiveness in Tourism

04:46 • 14min

Navigating Political and Regulatory Challenges in Client Projects

18:28 • 3min

Enhancing Destination Attractiveness through Collaboration and Co-opetition

21:05 • 14min

Managing Expectations and Collaboration in Tourism Projects

35:08 • 7min

Daniel Fenton is an Executive Vice President with JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group. He is a 25-year veteran of the Hospitality and Tourism industries. Daniel led a destination marketing organization that completed a highly successfully re-branding, re-structuring effort that is used as a cutting edge model for others. He is the past Chairman of the Board of Destination Marketing Association International where he launched several initiatives designed to drive more effectiveness in Destination Marketing Organizations nationally. He graduated with distinction from the Cornell University School of Hospitality Management.

Daniel has successfully completed and is currently the Project Executive for many tourism planning initiatives, most recently including Travel Portland; Visit Denver; Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau; New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau Miami Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau; Daytona Beach/Volusia County, Florida; Hawaii Tourism Authority; Visit Salt Lake; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County CVB, Florida; San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau and Charlotte NC.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

Daniel’s background and how he got into the hospitality and tourism industry
Destination Master Planning: enhancing the visitor experience
Maximizing technology to reach target audiences
What makes millennial travelers different from other generations
How to deliver heritage tourism in a way that isn’t a passive experience
How to work with regulatory agencies to overcome hurdles and find solutions
Why economic development leadership is now more engaged with tourism
How public-private partnerships are more effective than they used to be
How planning departments have become advocates for small businesses
Why density of activity leads to higher success for everyone
How additional funds can be raised for tourism through business improvement districts
Why an occupancy tax is not enough
Why you need to assume that everyone has some interest in an initiative

Ways to contact Daniel:

Website: us.jll.com/tourism