Survey Finds Optimism For COVID-19 Recovery Growing Among Destination Organizations
KANSAS CITY, MO - MMGY Travel Intelligence, in partnership with Destinations International Foundation, has released the findings from the fourth wave of a series of bi-weekly tracking surveys of North American destination professionals. The survey, which assesses how organizations in this sector are impacted by and reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed that over the last two weeks respondents' outlook on their local tourism economies has started to improve.
The percentage of destination professionals who expect their local economy to worsen fell sharply from 72 percent in Wave III of the survey to 41 percent in Wave IV, indicating expectations are starting to stabilize. A small, but growing percentage of respondents (14 percent) even expect their local tourism economy to show improvement in the next 30 days. This is up from just two percent of respondents in Wave III.
"Many organizations are now starting to proactively plan their shift from informational communications campaigns to promotional ones in the next 60 days," said Chris Davidson, Executive Vice President, Insights & Strategy at MMGY Global. "But, there won't be one moment where it all turns back on for everyone. Cities, even within the same state, maybe on totally different time tables and with different restrictions and protocols."
Destination organizations continue to focus their current marketing activities towards prospective travelers via informational emails and social media, and through public relations efforts. When organizations make the shift from informational campaigns to promotional ones, email campaigns will likely be at the forefront of communications. Seventy-three percent of respondents indicated they expect to employ this channel within the next two months, up from 62 percent in Wave III.
Crisis communications remain an important effort for most in the sector, as 76 percent of respondents report currently investing in this area. This is projected to decline rapidly in the next 60 days, with the percentage of destination organizations expecting to utilize crisis communications messaging two months from now falling to 46 percent.
"We believe this data represents the differing positions destinations find themselves in at this stage of the crisis and the uncertainty of how the coronavirus will affect destinations in the future. The responses also show the importance of crisis communications and having a strategy that supports various challenging events," said Chief Advocacy Officer for Destinations International, Jack Johnson.
This survey was conducted among employees of destination organizations representing U.S. cities, regions and states. Wave III of the survey was conducted March 30 - April 6, 2020 and Wave IV was conducted April 17-23, 2020. This study does not include U.S. consumers. The full report is available online on MMGY Intelligence's website here.
About MMGY Travel Intelligence
MMGY Travel Intelligence is MMGY Global's industry research and insights brand, offering proprietary data and research including DK Shifflet, the Portrait of American Travelers® and travelhorizonsTM designed to power travel industry decision-makers through consumer insights, travel performance data, and audience modeling and segmentation. To learn more about the extensive collection of research, analytics and strategy services, visit mmgyintel.com or email us at [email protected].
About Destinations International
Destinations International is the world's largest resource for official destination organizations, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and tourism boards. Destinations International is about serving destination marketing professionals first and foremost. Together with almost 6,000 members and partners from nearly 600 destinations in approximately 13 countries, Destinations International represents a powerful forward-thinking, collaborative association; exchanging bold ideas, connecting innovative people and elevating tourism to its highest potential. For more information, visit www.destinationsinternational.org.
About the Destinations International Foundation
The Destinations International Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering destination marketers globally by providing education, research, advocacy and leadership development. The Foundation is classified as a charitable organization, under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code and all donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible. For more information visit www.destinationsinternational.org.
About MMGY Global
MMGY Global is the world's leading integrated marketing firm specializing in the travel, hospitality and lifestyle industries. With operating brands across the world, the award-winning organization maintains a global communications practice in all marketing channels, serving many of the world's premier travel and tourism brands. As a company dedicated to the travel industry, MMGY Global strives to create a connected, inclusive and peaceful world by promoting travel as a cultural bridge of understanding. For more information, visit mmgyglobal.com.
