We recently sat down with a senior Orlando hospitality executive and were stunned that they had almost no understanding of the “new media” and its impact on tourism.
As an update to our post on Growth Opportunities for Orlando Tourism, the World Bank has cut its 2009 global growth forecast down 1.2% (from a 1.7% decline to a 2.9% decline) .This roiled many financial markets amidst sharp asset price drops.
The wild card among all of this news remains to be high levels of unemployment both domestically and abroad. As we indicated on the last post, forecasts are subject to changes at any time. Unfortunately, the continuing rise in the employment is driving down tourism forecasts.
Assuming these downward forecasts to be accurate, it portends continued weakness or stagnation for Orlando travel and tourism. Although there will be pockets of growth, the Orlando travel market will be challenging for the foreseeable future.
With shrinking tourism budgets, what will the strategy be in this negative travel climate?
Our contention is that all levels of Orlando (and Florida) travel and promotion will need to be innovative and resourceful in getting the message out to maintain market share. Gone are the days of inefficient allocation of expensive resources that reap relatively little direct benefits to area businesses and taxpayers.
From a private sector standpoint, Disney has thankfully opted to provide additional value to area visitors rather than cut services or attractions. This helps improve the value proposition for any potential visitor and increases the chance that tourism volume losses can be kept to a minimum.
We hope to do our part by blogging and podcasting about Orlando travel, and by specifically promoting the benefits of staying in Orlando area vacation homes.
Our belief is the “new media” is one of the most effective means to get the benefits of visiting Orlando out in a targeted way. A good example is the fact the Universal Theme Parks have created a “Vice President of New Media” position to creatively promote its parks. In addition, the new media can be an effective tool for the public/private funded travel promotional areas if it is used in a creative, adaptive and strategic manner.
Orlando Tourism
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