A Jam-Packed Weekend at the Travel and Adventure Show in New York

This is a blog update by Trove Associate Olivia Silverman-Franklin on our team’s experience at the TAS Show in New York’s Javits Center.

Founder and CEO Danny Cohanpour and Olivia, Trove Associate, took a trip to the Javits Convention Center in New York City last weekend for the Travel and Adventure show. The show was teeming with eager travelers excited to see destinations, from the new and familiar, showcased what they have to offer as we transition into a post-pandemic time. 

While the show had been reduced in size compared to previous years, it did not hold back on the representation of destinations. We talked to booths from nations in East and Southeast Asia like the Philippines and Taiwan and to North American destinations like Newfoundland and the Gulf County of Florida.

The show's mood was very energizing and optimistic; everyone seemed happy to socialize in person compared to a virtual setting. The show also was bolstered with live performances. We particularly loved Destination Miami's LGBTQ+ concert featuring fabulous drag queens. 

We were also able to attend a few speaker events. Brian Kelly, the founder of The Points Guy website, piqued our interest in how our spending could turn into free travel and that many people in that audience have more than 20 credit cards—mind-blowing! Alvin Adriano of Travelwise spoke highly during a presentation of the Philippines, the diverse landscape, dreamy beaches, and amiable people, making for an enjoyable choice when returning to international travel. There are some incredible people throughout the travel industry. 

The Travel and Adventure show is making its way throughout the United States these next few weeks, hoping to capture the hopeful eyes of travelers. See if they are stopping by your city sometime soon and join in on the excitement. 

Trove will be here as we provide digital marketing services to help your destination stand out in this hyper-competitive 2022-2023 travel market.

Resilience in times of a Pandemic: Can LGBTQ+ travelers help the tourism industry recover?

This is a blog by Trove Associate Jane-Noela Braimah after attending the ITB Berlin 2022 Virtual Conference.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community from around the world gathered during last week’s ITB Berlin Conference to discuss the rising trends of LGBTQ+ tourists and travelers, as well as the impact of these trends on the travel industry post COVID.

David Paisley, Senior Research Director for agency Community Marketing & Insights (CMI), provided points on the motivations behind LGBTQ+ travel in the United States. These points included the need for queer people to seek out community and reconnect with their found families, especially where many would experience isolation, even in cases where they were in lockdown with their biological families. Points were also made on research revealing that members of the queer community were vaxxed, boosted and willing to show proof of evidence. The demographic of gay men in particular reveals the anticipation to return to an active travel lifestyle.

CMI research also reveals that many LGBTQ+ travelers in the United States have also stirred activity within the local tourism industry, visiting queer-friendly small town settlements and rural communities. While many are experiencing these types of travel scenes for the first time, David reveals that urban and international travel appear in the future of the many queer tourists prepared to meet to travel requirements. After an insightful brief on the transition of travel marketing from large scale queer events in society to smaller travel activities tailored to queer travelers, David closes out with a welcome to a panel discussion on the travel experience as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Panelists brought up interesting points on the external factors behind some of the travel trends we see in recent times. Representatives discussed the economics motivations of many countries that are now prioritizing queer travelers in their contingency plans to revive and sustain their tourism industries. The discussions wade into the advancement Columbian government in creating a more queer friendly travel destination for queer travelers. The LGBTQ+ positive strategies employed in Brussels was also explored with the Brussels representative. They discussed the presence of international queer people from LGBTQ+ hostile countries at their Pride events, as well as the provision of safe queer spaces in society through the partnerships of the government with the local community.

Representatives from Italy and Florida also discuss the change and evolution of the queer travel industry in their locations and amongst their LGBTQ+ members. They discussed the movements towards social sustainability and the recognition of the queer community as a new market demanding unique and targeted attention for the first time. She discusses the movement of international queer travelers in tourist groups and the plans made to host the IGLTA convention in Milano. The focus is especially centered on the economic prospects of their markets receiving a large influx of international consumers, who happen to be queer, as well as taking advantage of this influx and creating more LGBTQ+ tailored tourist attractions to maintain and retain them as international consumers in their market. The representative from Florida expanded on this fact, looking at the opportunities during the pandemic, where they remained open to leisure and corporate travelers. They also discussed the forward and progressive thinking of Tampa Bay and its longstanding hospitality to queer travelers.

The question arises, though, why haven’t destinations always prioritized marketing to and providing safe spaces for LGBTQ+ travelers? And why is this a priority only now?

In total, this event at ITB Berlin provided deep and unique insights on LGBTQ+ travelers and the importance of both marketing to and providing products for community members in hopes of creating safe spaces. Read more about our work in Visitor Experience Design at Trove and the work we do with destinations to target and develop experiences for travelers.

Australia’s Campaign Is Full Steam Ahead as the Nation Re-opens

The following article is by Trove Associate Olivia Silverman-Franklin.

Did you happen to catch a 30-second ad for Australia this past Superbowl weekend? “Don’t Go Small. Go Australia” Is the latest marketing campaign for the country to garner the interests of those living in the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition, “The Come and Say G’Day - Don’t Go Small. Go Australia” campaign will be marketed through social media platforms, TV, and print ads in Germany, Italy, and France. 

The campaign featured some iconic and picturesque scenery like the Northern Territory, Sydney Harbor, and the Great Barrier Reef. “We have chosen locations and activities to reflect the wide diversity of tourism experiences Australia has to offer. We also considered the popular destinations and cities that have been impacted the most by the pandemic and put them in the spotlight”, said Dan Tehan, Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Investment. Australia’s focus to highlight places most affected by the pandemic is a step in the right direction.

On March 19, 2020, Australia closed its borders and initiated a lockdown for all citizens. Melbourne held about six lockdowns, totaling 262 days, the longest of any city in the world during the pandemic. In November 2021, Australia first started allowing its citizens to leave; they gradually allowed workers and foreign exchange students to enter strictly for studies. The last phase of reopening was this past Monday, February 21st, 2022, for all leisure travel for international visitors to resume. This is huge news for a country that has been closed off - and one of the tourism powerhouses in the world

The first installment of this campaign comes as COVID infections slowly decrease and vaccination roll out in most countries have reached third dose status. Australia is still taking significant caution by opening again to international tourists. Tourists will need to be fully vaccinated, hold a valid Australian visa, have a completed travel declaration, and a negative RAT within 24 hours of departure in addition to a negative PCR within 72 hours of release. This may seem a lot to some travelers, but hopefully, these requirements could be reversed by the next installment of this campaign, and Australia will soon reap the benefits of this well-thought-out campaign.

Could Australia influence other countries for future post COVID marketing tourism marketing? That will depend on the data, branding strategy, visuals and social content underpinning their efforts. You can contact us here to start planning your destination campaign.

Trove presents at September’s SPTO Webinar

Trove’s CEO, Danny Cohanpour, was the main speaker at September’s Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) webinar. The event was entitled “5 Digital Steps to Help Destinations Stand out as the World Begins to Recover and Reopen”.

In honour of World Tourism Week and this year's World Tourism Day festivities, Trove founder & CEO Danny Cohanpour was invited to share the team's insights with Pacific tourism organizations, tourism authorities and operators.

Danny shared Trove’s five-step process - what we call the ARDIM method - for destination recovery and re-opening, which includes simple steps for any DMO, tourism authority, DMC or tour operator that wants to perfect their digital strategy or marketing operation at this stage.

He covered the team's tools and techniques in five areas: (1) analyze (2) research (3) discover (4) influence and (5) measure.

Danny outlined Trove’s proprietary tools - highlighted here - and also worked through Q&A situations with various Pacific islands tourism organizations on the line.

We thank the SPTO for this opportunity and for all of the tourism organizations on the line for a great event focused on tourism rebound and recovery!

“Phuket Sandbox” program serves as experiment for tourism industry

This blog was written by Trove Associate, Maeve.

Last week, Thailand launched the “Phuket Sandbox” program, allowing fully vaccinated travelers from 63 low to medium-risk countries to visit Phuket and travel freely within the island. Among other minor restrictions, the plan requires travelers to obtain a negative PCR test 72 hours before departure and to stay at a Sandbox Hotel (SHA+ certified with over 70 percent of staff vaccinated.) After these initial 14 days, visitors will also be allowed to travel freely throughout the rest of Thailand. The inauguration of this plan aligned with a surge in Covid cases to a record high for Thailand as a whole. So, while Phuket has managed to vaccinate a high percentage of their island (84 percent of the population have received their first vaccine dose and 67 percent have received both doses as of July 5th) and keep covid numbers low, the Sandbox program serves as somewhat of an experiment in the tourism industry. 

Although flights are currently limited, this is very exciting news for those who have been anxiously awaiting a trip to the beautiful beaches of Phuket. Not to mention, this is great news for the people of the island. Pre-pandemic, the tourism sector accounted for 95 percent of Phuket’s economy, but only 20 percent of Thailand’s as a whole. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, in the first five days of the launch, the island saw 32 inbound flights and close to 1,900 tourists. In the month of July, it is expected to rise to 426 inbound flights to the island and over 11,800 travelers. By the end of September, Phuket will see around 100,000 tourists. 

Following the reboot of Phuket’s tourism industry, Thai authorities are now looking into the future to hopefully reopen the Surat Thai province by July 15th. This means that the popular tourist spot Samui Island will be accessible to travelers under similar, relatively lenient, circumstances. From September 1st onward, travelers can expect to see the cities of Krabi, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya start opening up - followed by the Thai capital of Bangkok opening on October 1st.

Visit our Instagram account @trovetourism to continue to stay up to date on what countries are beginning to reopen to the world as well as the latest tourism and travel updates.

Tourism Cares event highlights importance of inclusivity in tourism sector

On Tuesday June 30th, 2021, Danny and Maeve from the Trove team attended a Webinar entitled “Inclusivity is Sustainability” hosted by the organization Tourism Cares.

The webinar was a moderated conversation with a panel of leaders in various sectors of the travel industry. The common thread between the experts was their extensive work focusing on the inclusion of people of all identities, abilities, and backgrounds in the tourism space. The panel included Sherry Rupert (CEO of American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association), Billy Kolber (CEO and Co-Founder of HospitableME), John Sage (President of Accessible Travel Solutions), and Sonya Bradley (Chief of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Visit Sacramento.) This group has a wealth of knowledge about their respective niches in the tourism industry. They shared incredible insights about what inclusivity looks like and what it means for our industry as a whole. 

The Webinar began with a question being posed: “What are the greatest challenges the trade needs to address in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion?” In general, the panel spoke about a need for increased education and awareness, as well as the lack of diversity and inclusion internally in the corporate travel industry. However, there were many specific stories of ways travel-related companies miss the mark on inclusion, a gap which is not only damaging to the consumer but also to the business. 

For example, John brought up the fact that most companies do not think about accessibility beyond what is legally required. They often think the only physical disability that needs to be accommodated for is people in wheelchairs. This completely disregards a large market of older, retired travelers who have the most time and money to travel compared to other market segments - but often have bad knees. Increasing safety and comfort for travelers with bad knees would create a very profitable opportunity for companies while also improving people’s quality of life. 

Along the same lines, Sherry spoke about the importance of tour operators educating themselves on native culture. It is crucial to listen to and respect the needs of indigenous people when it comes to tourism on their land. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it is good for the operations of the travel business. She relayed how tribal communities are very cautious when it comes to tourism on their land and if visitors are disrespectful they will not allow the opportunity for partnerships in the future. 

One concept discussed that resonates with our mission at Trove is that a great way to increase traffic to your location is to develop tourism products that will drive more diverse travelers. There are so many diverse markets that can be tapped into to make travel a welcoming experience for all people. At Trove we have always been dedicated to diversity and inclusion, but the panelists gave us concrete methods and outlined distinctive ways of thinking and innovating that will undoubtedly improve our ability to create strategies for our clients to develop more inclusive and inviting spaces for travelers. It is education like this that allows for proactive, instead of reactive, problem-solving. The tourism industry cannot operate in a silo from the local environments in which it operates. As a result of this, Trove and its partners and clients face an imperative to integrate social development and inclusivity into marketing or strategy solutions.

Learn more about the Trove team as well as the impactful organization Tourism Cares.

Dubai seeks new source markets to drive tourism recovery

With vaccinations becoming more readily available and countries opening borders, dreams about traveling are becoming reality this summer. Trove has the inside scoop on where to visit first, and Dubai will be at the top of the list for many travelers.

Dubai Tourism Executive Issam Kazim made a statement this past week on his hopes that new markets can make up for recent COVID-related visitor losses. Dubai welcomed 5.5 million overseas visitors in 2020, compared to 16.7 million arrivals in 2019. This is improving in 2021, with the exception of the Indian and UK markets who are for the most part banned or under strict quarantine restrictions upon arrival. These are two usually prominent markets to the UAE, so Dubai is working to continue forging its partnerships with new markets, including in Europe, Africa, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) markets.

With Expo 2020 coming in October of 2022, there are major hopes of recovery of the tourism sector, especially for the Dubai market which has historically seen very high inbound tourism numbers.

Dubai houses some of the world's best hotels, restaurants, architecture, shopping, and beaches, and the city began to re-open on August 1st. As the country with the 12th most efficient vaccination roll-out, the UAE has recorded 1,710 deaths related to COVID and 39.27% of its population fully vaccinated so far. If you are planning to go to Dubai make sure you pay a visit to the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU). They aim to have ‘Open doors, open minds’, where anyone can come in and learn more about Emirati culture. They offer cultural learning with meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), Arabic classes, tours of Dubai and Mosque visits, and presenters which consist of a unique team of Emirati nationals and members of Emirati families, all while being located in a beautifully restored wind tower house.

Event-based tourism is also showing major gains in Dubai, with Arabian Travel Market in May 2021, the UFI MEA (the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) Conference in June 2021, seeing 150 attendees from 10 countries attend the UFI event at the Dubai World Trade Centre, and the upcoming Arab Health and The Hotel Show. Momentum is building towards Expo 2020 Dubai.

In addition to consumer based adventure or cultural based experiences, Dubai is set to be the next big health tourism destination, Dr. Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of the Health Regulation Sector at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) recently stated. The UAE’s high vaccination rate is boosting visitor’s and patient’s confidence in Dubai as the next big destination for health tourism. The profound health infrastructure as well will lead Dubai to be a big draw going into the second half of 2021 and early 2022. As the COVID-19 global pandemic turns a corner, Dubai will be looking at traditional target markets like India, West Africa, Russia and Europe for medical tourist visits in 2022.

To facilitate ease of travel, Dubai is planning to scale up its lata Travel Pass, a digital pass initiative from the International Air Transport Association that allows travelers to register their personal information, find out about COVID testing requirements for their destination and share pre-departure test results with airlines before flying.

It is exciting to see life beginning to return back to normal as we are able to share cultures across borders once again. Once in Dubai, what will be your first stop?

Cambodia’s tourism roadmap and Siem Reap’s master plan for tourism approved

Cambodia has just announced their tourism roadmap for 2021-2025, a plan which will promote both tourism marketing in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as sustainable tourism development. In addition, the Siem Reap tourism development plan for 2021-2035 was approved by the Ministry of Tourism.

These are two major moves that will support the development and bounce back of Cambodia’s tourism industry. The recovery roadmap is segmented in three stages:

1. Resilience and Restart: Crisis management in the New Normal and recovery preparation in 2021

2. Recovery: Rebuilding of Cambodia’s tourism industry after the COVID-19 crisis in 2022-2023

3. Relaunch: Full rebound of tourism in 2024-2015

Two fundamental strategic accomplishments like these mark major progress by Cambodia in achieving their post COVID-19 goals. More and more destinations around the world are re-assessing their tourism master plans and creating new plans for crisis management, public health, hygiene and community development. These are important areas of focus as destinations continue to plan for the future.

Also important for Cambodia in ensuring adequate follow through after the build of these documents will be the implementation of these strategies. There are a few critical questions that the Ministry of Tourism will need to answer:

1. What will the governance process look like for the implementation of these tourism strategies?

2. What are associated marketing campaigns that must be implemented to propel not only Siem Reap but the rest of the region?

3. How will the recovery plan support development of other areas in Cambodia, including the 4K provinces (Coastal provinces)?

4. What will on-going training of field offices and tour operators look like?

5. How will the Ministry of Tourism accurately gauge public sentiment both in and out of Cambodia in regards to comfortability around travel and Cambodia as a tourism destination overall?

Cambodia has ambitious goals for tourism development in the coming months and years and we look forward to seeing increased tourism to Cambodia to allow for gradual economic growth, community development and cultural exchange in the Kingdom of Wonder.

Learn more about Trove’s Strategic Planning practice here.

CNBC: Quarantine Free Travel Becoming Reality

According to CNBC’s article entitled “Quarantine-free travel from the U.S. to Europe shows the first, small signs of becoming reality”, many airlines are implementing new testing protocols to allow Americans to travel to Europe for Christmas. Companies such as Delta have implemented such programs, which will enable customers to be tested for COVID-19. This preflight testing program's unique feature is that it does not require a mandated quarantine when you arrive at your destination in Europe. CNBC’s article notes that Delta has begun this program with the destinations of Amsterdam and Rome.

Each destination either requires a COVID-19 Rapid/PCR test. However, in each destination, there are specific requirements for the number of tests and timelines required. Delta is initially trying to implement this program with other governments to increase travel by not requiring quarantining upon arrival. 

This program with Delta is open to anyone permitted to travel to the Netherlands or Italy for essential reasons. Although Americans have been barred from entering the European Union since March due to its high numbers of COVID-19 cases, travelers with an exemption would be allowed to enter the destinations within the EU. While vaccinations for COVID-19 are anticipated to boost travel, the airlines are not waiting for the vaccines. Delta, for example, is prudently designed protocols for testing which they hope will begin a travel boost. 

Creating many layers of protection such as testing, social distancing on flights, and wearing masks will lessen the risk of contracting COVID-19 while flying. Delta and many other airlines within the industry have increased their safety standards immensely.

Stay in the loop on more news via Trove’s Resource Hub.

Welcome to Trove!

We are excited to launch Trove, the first of its kind consulting and marketing agency focused on bringing the best of business, technology and marketing to destinations. Tourism is posed to come back stronger than ever, and we are excited to work with you to build out your plans and come back to market.

- The Trove Team