More and more U.S. destinations are actively marketing to international travelers. To get an idea of what destinations specifically are doing to attract foreign visitors, Leisure Group Travel asked its readers to respond to this inquiry: “With more international travelers coming to America than ever before, what has your business done to welcome foreign guests? Have you see an influx in overseas visitors? If so, from where?
Following are responses that supplement those that appeared in the On the Record reader-response column in the print edition of August’s Leisure Group Travel:
Luring Aussies to NYC
As a tourism marketing company, we (ALON Marketing Group) are always creatively seeking new business opportunities for our clients with the emerging, niche and dominant international tourism markets coming to USA. We pool the resources of our clients and cooperatively visit some of these countries compiling a creative presentation to whet the appetite of travel buyers looking for new ideas and FUN aspects to add to their clients’ itineraries. See link of our presentation (http://fileshar.es/g9CRf3z).
We recently participated in the Visit USA Australia Expos 2013 in which we collectively promoted “Bike, Boat, Fly, and Brooklyn Pizza in NYC and DC.” We had a lot of fun with it and introduced these four companies to the Australian travel industry. Numbers are definitely on the rise for the participating companies as tour operators, travel agents and travel press have followed up with us writing stories, taking FAM tours on their visits to USA, and promoting these companies in their tariffs and catalogs. Australians now have great knowledge about fun bike tours to promote in NYC and Segways in DC – two cities where you can cover more ground by using these modes of transportation. Helicopter Flight Services touted its new night fly of Manhattan, which was well received, and Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour won the hearts of all Aussies who know and love Brooklyn, pizza, and American classic movies. Last but not least, New York Water Taxi/Circle Line Downtown successfully showcased the ease of getting up-close and taking home the prize of a long lasting memorable photo with Lady Liberty during their NYC trip.
Jennifer Ackerson, ALON Marketing Group
Farmingdale, NY
Wilmington’s Swedish Heritage
2013 marks the 375th anniversary of the New Sweden Colony, founded in 1638 in what grew to become modern day Wilmington, Delaware—the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley. The Swedish sailing vessel Kalmar Nyckel arrived at “The Rocks,” a natural landing on Wilmington’s Christina River, with 19 passengers aboard the ship.
Today, visitors can tour two of the oldest surviving buildings in the region − Old Swedes Church (1698) and Hendrickson House (1690) − and learn more about the area’s heritage at the New Sweden Center. The 375th anniversary of the founding of the New Sweden Colony has prompted many Swedish citizens—including the King and Queen of Sweden—to travel to Wilmington, and a variety of celebrations and special events have been organized.
To make it easier for all international guests to familiarize themselves with all that the Greater Wilmington area offers, our website has been equipped with an automatic translation capability. We’ve also redecorated our Visitor Center so that guests are greeted in their native languages.
Lyn Lewis, Greater Wilmington CVB
Wilmington, DE
Foreign Language Website Pages
Glenwood Springs, Colorado is in the process of translating website landing pages into nine foreign languages (Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, German, French, Polish, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese). We have experienced an influx of European and Asian travelers as well as those from South America.
Lisa Langer
Glenwood Springs (CO) Chamber Resort Association
North Dakota Reaches Out
At the North Dakota Tourism Division, the group travel and international programs work very closely together. We continue to strive to give our foreign visitors the best possible information on what they can see or do before they get here, so that they feel comfortable when they arrive. With our in-state partners we try to keep them posted as to what our guests will be expecting when they arrive, so our visitors can truly “arrive a guest but leave a legend!”
Fred Walker, International Marketing Manager
North Dakota Tourism Division
