The Evolution of Destination Advocacy: Best Practices from DI's Advocacy Summit - Wednesday Webinar Recap

During last week's Wednesday Webinar Josiah Brown from New York's Best Experiences presented his topic: The Evolution of Destination Advocacy: Best Practices from DI's Advocacy Summit

Some insights from the webinar:

• Advocacy in Action
  
  • Advocacy has changed from a noun to a verb.
  • It's about telling our story.
  • Advocacy is not lobbying. 
• Known, Valued, Empowered
  
  • This is the outcome of good advocacy work.
  • The idea of advocacy is what work we are doing and how are we telling that story.
• Destination Marketing Organizations are going to be hard to defend in the future if all they are doing is marketing a destination.
• The two sides of advocacy
  
  • The first is telling our marketing story and impact. 
  • The second is that our work is a catalyst for community vitality 
• Catalyst Report from Destinations International proved:
  
  • That our marketing has an ROI and affects economic development.
  • That our work helps develop the workforce.
  • We have a halo effect over our destinations.
• Half of the world is going to the polls this year.
  • When there is a turn over of politicians many times we must start afresh.
  • Often politicians see marketing as wasteful spending and think the community can uplift itself.
  • We have to show them the power of creating a brand, of inviting visitors, and most importantly that we are a demand generator.
• Shift = DMO to Destination Stewardship
• We are the 2nd Lane of Economic Development
  • Economic developers play a key role in our communities
  • They think in a Work, Live, Visit flow.
    • If we bring, preserve, or expand work it will lead to a more stable life in our communities.
    • Then those companies that give work create great communities for people to live.
    • Places that are great for people to live become great places for people to visit.
    • This is what economic developers mean when they say they steward quality of life.
  • We steward the opposite flow: Visit, Live, Work.
    • We invite visitors and make investments in visitor assets.
    • This creates a place where more people want to live
    • Then more businesses pop up creating a community around those people. 
    • By making it a better place for the resident, we are making it a better place to visit.
• To be a defendable organization we need to do more than just marketing.
• Catalytic Services we provide:
  • Workforce strategies
  • Airlift Strategies
  • Accessibility
  • Transportation
• Win/win/wins
  • When we win something for the residents, we have a win for the visitor, and we have a win that helps our organization be more defensible in the future.
• Talking Points Memo:
  
  • It's a story world now.
  • Data and numbers are not carrying our story anymore.
  • We are in the pursuit of the "net positive" outcomes for our residents.
  • Creating new KPI's that tell our story better.
• Create the Table:
  • Meet with your elected officials.
  • Connect with them often and create the conversations.
• Destination Think:
  • Our social license to operate.
  • The only way to stay the same is to change. 
  • Sustainability means being in business forever.
  • Travel can be the force for good, and must be.
• Change happens at the speed of trust - Get ahead of relationships if you know this is coming.

We would like to give our sincere thanks to Josiah Brown for providing his time and valuable insights on The Evolution of Destination Advocacy. You can learn more about New York's Best Experiences by visiting their website.  

Please see the slide deck and recording below.