Destination On The Left

On this episode, you’ll learn how the Motorcoach travel industry is changing and catering to individual needs – not just one-size-fits-all group packages, with Peter Pantuso. Peter Pantuso is the President, and CEO of the American Bus Association. ABA is the largest transportation, travel, and tour organization in the United States with nearly 4,000 members. It represents 65 percent of the nation’s private motorcoach fleet. The industry provides 600 million passenger trips annually. Peter oversees ABA’s government and regulatory affairs, membership, communications and marketing, meetings and conventions, finance, and publishing. He also serves as President of the National Bus Traffic Association and the ABA Foundation. The association also manages nine councils and affiliates. Peter has testified before US Senate and House committees and has appeared in a number of media outlets include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, The Hill, and Politico. He serves on the US Chamber of Commerce’s committee of 100 leading association executives, and is on the boards of the American Highway Users Association, the Roadway Safety Foundation, the Motorcoach Marketing Council, and the Boy Scouts of America National Capitol Area Council. He is also an appointee to the US Department of Transportation’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Council and to the National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/peter-pantuso/

In this episode, you’ll learn how to build strong community partnerships, with Eliza Kozlowski, Rachel Unger, and Hannah Barry. We recently attended the 2018 Museum Association of New York annual conference and spoke with attendees from all over New York State representing all types of museums and cultural institutions. I found the conversations enlightening and inspiring. Through this series, I hope you will find a new perspective on this important segment of the tourism industry and how museums and cultural institutions are working to build community, reach audiences beyond their local markets and creating new programming and events that enhance the visitor experience. In this episode, I share my conversations with: Eliza Kozlowski, Director of Marketing and Engagement at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester NY: https://www.eastman.org/ Rachel Unger, Director of Marketing and Engagement at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester:  https://mag.rochester.edu/ Hannah Barry, Digital Engagement, and Communication Specialist, Rochester Museum and Science Center: http://www.rmsc.org/ A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/museum-series-episode-2/

Today’s episode is all about destination marketing, and we’re learning from a master craftsman. Matt Stiker spent the first part of his career in advertising agencies running a wide range of accounts for highly creative and highly successful brands including ESPN, Coca Cola, Microsoft Windows, and X-Box. He also ran advertising and marketing for a diverse set of companies including Adidas and HP. Matt stepped into destination marketing ten years ago as the first-ever chief marketing officer for San Francisco Travel, formerly San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. And then, the same role for attractions and marketing company, City Pass. Now Matt runs his own marketing consultancy focused primarily on DMO’s and travel-related businesses. A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/matt-stiker/

In this episode, you’ll learn different ways you can understand your audience better from Rob Cassetti and Tom Schuler. We recently attended the 2018 Museum Association of New York annual conference and spoke with attendees from all over New York State representing all types of museums and cultural institutions. I found the conversations enlightening and inspiring. Through this series, I hope you will find a new perspective on this important segment of the tourism industry and how museums and cultural institutions are working to build community, reach audiences beyond their local markets and creating new programming and events that enhance the visitor experience. In this episode, I share my conversations with: Rob Cassetti, Senior Director of Creative Strategy and Audience Engagement at Corning Museum of Glass: https://www.cmog.org/ Tom Schuler, Chief Government Relations Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC: https://www.metmuseum.org/ A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/museum-series-episode-1/

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Joe Pulizzi, an expert in content marketing. You’ll learn how content marketing can not only generate leads but become a source of revenue in its own right. Joe Pulizzi is the founder of Content Marketing Institute, a UBM company, the leading education and training organization for content marketing, which includes the largest in-person content marketing event in the world, Content Marketing World. Joe is the winner of the 2014 John Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Content Council. Joe is the author of five books including his latest, “Killing Marketing.” His third book, “Epic Content Marketing,” was named one of five must-read business books of 2013 by Fortune magazine. A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/joe-pulizzi/

In this episode, you will learn about how Travel Oregon has helped the tourism industry in that state grow exponentially under the leadership of Todd Davidson. Todd was appointed Executive Director of the Oregon Tourism Commission, also known as Travel Oregon, in June 1996, and was named Chief Executive Officer in September 2004. Under Todd’s leadership, the tourism industry in Oregon has flourished into an 11.3 billion dollar industry that employs more than 109,000 Oregonians. In 2003, he helped lead an effort to establish dedicated and stable funding for the commission. This funding has been crucial in Travel Oregon’s ability to grow the state’s tourism industry through strengthening its base on international markets, leadership and sustainable tourism initiatives, and award-winning publications, niche-oriented websites, and advertising campaigns. Travel Oregon has garnered 20 Mercury Awards during Todd’s tenure, including two top awards for Best Overall State Marketing Program in 2010 and 2013. He has also served two terms as National Chair of the US Travel Association, from 2015 to 2017, and continues to serve on the US Travel Association Board, on the National Council of State Tourism Directors, and the Western State’s Tourism Policy Council. A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/todd-davidson/

In this episode, you’ll learn about how to stand out in a crowded market from choco-preneur, Ryan Novak. Ryan is the owner of Chocolate Pizza Company, central New York’s largest gourmet chocolate manufacturer. Starting as a dishwasher when he was 15 years old, Ryan had a vision to grow the business into a national brand. In 2010, at age 21, he became the owner, and has seen the company grow dramatically. He is a graduate of Syracuse University, with a bachelor’s in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises, and was a placekicker for the Orange football team. Novak is a 40 under 40 award recipient, and his company was selected by Centerstate CEO as business of the year in 2016, for companies under 50 employees. He lives in Marcellus with his wife, Christy, and enjoys travel, history and running. A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/ryan-novak/

In this episode, you’ll learn what’s so great about Britain, and how guest Gavin Landry targets potential visitors by tapping into what they love about travel. Gavin Landry serves as Executive Vice President for the Americas for VisitBritain. Gavin has a strong background in business and leisure tourism and has held several senior posts in the industry. Prior to joining VisitBritain, Gavin worked for New York State, where he was Executive Director of Tourism, having led the iconic I Love New York program, and where he developed and implemented strategies to support the growth of the tourism industry. During his tenure at I Love New York, Gavin, and his team increased visitation to New York State by 40 million and set a program record the total economic impact of $100 million. A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/gavin-landry-encore/

In this episode, you will learn about how the Bronx is growing into a global tourism destination in its own right. Olga Luz Tirado is the executive director of the Bronx Tourism Council, a division of the Bronx overall economic development corporation. In this capacity, she plays a significant role in creating a cohesive and symbiotic relationship between arts, culture and economic development while rebranding the Bronx, its rich history, institutions and diversity to a local, national and global audience. Since joining the BTC in 2012, Olga has developed and implemented a comprehensive and integrated marketing strategy by incorporating design thinking methodology into the overall planning process. She has spearheaded a successful campaign to increase the borough’s exposure within international travel guides, media and tour operators, utilizing a variety of marketing channels, including aggressive public relations outreach, van tours, digital content development and social media. Within one year of her appointment, tourism in the borough increased 14%. She serves as the official spokesperson of tourism for the borough, appearing on the cover of the August 2012 issue of Crane’s New York Business, and has been interviewed by various top-tier national and overseas broadcast, digital and print media. Olga is the recipient of several awards, and was most recently named one of the top 25 influencers in the Bronx by City and State Magazine. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/olga-luz-tirado/

In this episode, you will learn about using technology to develop a more engaging immersive creative from Julie Gilbert. Julie Gilbert is Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management for Destination Niagara USA where she leads the organization’s marketing, communications, and brand management functions to increase the visibility of Niagara and its assets as a leisure and meetings destination. With 25 years of tourism marketing experience, Julie joined Destination Niagara USA in 2014 and directed the initiative of repositioning the globally recognized Niagara Falls USA brand. Previously, Julie served as Director of Sales and Marketing for National Park Reservations, the oldest and largest provider of reservation and information services for national parks and gateway communities. Julie started her career as Executive Director for Charleston CVB in West Virginia, then became Director of Sales and Marketing for the State of West Virginia. Julie then established a full service travel, tourism, and hospitality agency providing strategic marketing, sales, and management services to a wide range of travel-related companies. Julie has a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management Studies from the University of Maryland and holds her CTP (Certified Travel Professional) designation from the National Tour Association. She is currently working on her CDME (Certified Destination Marketing Executive) designation through Destinations International. Julie currently serves on the board of TTRA, Travel and Tourism Research Association, and has just accepted an invitation from Destinations International to serve on the Destination International Foundation Research Advisory Task Force. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/julie-gilbert/