June 2006
The recent outbreaks of Avian (Bird) Flu in various nations around the world have caught the tourism industry’s attention. While there is certainly no reason for anyone to go into a panic mode, and there is a good possibility that there the feared human-to-human outbreak may never occur, it still behooves the tourism industry to use this as an opportunity to be prepared.
May 2006
Many communities throughout the world depend on tourism dollars to generate revenues for their local coffers. An often overlooked tourist “attraction” is the local fire department.
April 2006
The 21st century has experienced a major marketing paradigm shift.
February 2006
Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVB) in the United States and national and local tourism offices around the world are notorious for office politics and for rapid changes in leadership.
January 2006
ne of the great research minds and tourism theorists is Stanley Plog. He recently published a new book called “Leisure Travel” and gave Tourism Tidbits permission to feature some of his insights in this month’s edition.
December 2005
From hurricanes to earthquakes, from crime to acts of terrorism, 2005 was a year that ought to have taught the tourism industry that without a strong tourism surety program the industry will suffer and profits will decrease.
November 2005
There are few tourism officials whose communities do not suffer from local negative publicity. Often this negative publicity is so strong as to undermine the best marketing campaigns.
October 2005
If we like it or not, tourism entities need to begin to consider the relationship between the cost of oil and the tourism industry.
September 2005
Every aspect of tourism has its primary basis in the concept of relationships and relationship building. This basic rule applies to all aspects of the industry, from frontline personnel to tourism security professionals.
August 2005
August is often called the “dog days” of summer. The name derives from the fact that it is often too hot for even a dog to want to wander along the streets. The end of the summer is also high tourist season in much of the world and a time when planes and hotels are full and nerves are often frayed.
July 2005
Many tourism centers falsely believe that they are selling a tourism product. Nothing could be further from the truth.
June 2005
More and more tourism offices and convention and visitor bureaus are becoming aware that cultural property, such as the tangible (often called the plastic) arts and architecture are not only a major attraction but also need special protection.
May 2005
Tourism and travel industries often do not take the time to analyze failures. Like all businesses, tourism involves business risks, and it is only through a careful analysis of these risks that we are able to see past problems and work to avoid these problems in the future.
April 2005
Much of the tourism literature is dedicated to tourism successes or how to succeed. Rarely do we examine our failures.
March 2005
As the winter winds down and we begin to prepare ourselves for the high tourist seasons of spring and summer, this is a good time to begin to reassess our tourism security.
February 2005
While no one can predict the future the careful observer of the world of tourism can note various trends that are taking place throughout the Western world when it comes to tourism and travel.
January 2005
With the start of the new year, it is always a good idea to think about our marketing strategies. Not all new ideas are great and not all old ideas are bad.
December 2004
With the end of the summer tourism season and heading into the winter tourism season, the month of November is a great time to give your office a “tourism check-up.”
November 2004
Although many of our guests claim they seek fine dinning at a leisurely pace, all too often the opposite is true.
October 2004
The recent bad weather both in the Caribbean and in much of the Asian Pacific area ought to be a wake-up call to everyone in the tourism industry that theirs is a very fragile industry that is often weather dependent.
