Domestic travel and tourism spending growth was forecast to rise from 3.1% in 2014 to 3.7% in 2015*. So why are Florida’s Emerald Coast and Asheville, North Carolina both growing at double-digit rates?

Florida’s Emerald Coast includes destinations like Destin, which competes with tonier neighbors like South Walton Beach. Peter Mayer’s cultural insight process uncovered that the risk of “vacation dropouts” is high among families with teens. Minivan moms who were planning family vacations were grappling with a laundry list of must-haves from their multigenerational families in order to keep everyone engaged. And the biggest competition was not South Walton Beach, but the kids’ mobile phones and other trappings of home. Peter Mayer’s visitor acquisition campaign is designed to show the breadth of options available to satisfy everyone’s to-do list – the pristine beach, wide array of nightlife and restaurants, and tons of entertainment options to satisfy the entire checklist. The campaign combined traditional and digital media, including website improvement and optimized search marketing. The campaign drove to the destination’s website to maximize revenues. The results: an over 20% year-over-year increase in bed tax collections for April 2015. Additionally, the website has reached all-time-high monthly visitation numbers, an increase of 17.9% over previous highs in 2012.

Peter Mayer’s new campaign for Asheville is about to break, with the new tagline “Asheville: Discovery, inside and out.” The agency’s destination insight process revealed that Asheville’s culture invites visitors to experiment, explore and experience – allowing them to form new ideas and a renewed sense of self. While the new campaign is in production, the interim campaign that is running now uses digital media to target visitors during their “vacation dreaming” process and guide them through their vacation shortlists. The results: a more than 10% year-over-year increase in occupancy this spring, and an almost 20% increase in revenue per available room.

Peter Mayer’s cultural insights process, coupled with strong client partnerships and close collaboration, helps to unlock more growth for companies. We’d love to show you these case studies in depth! Give us a call to arrange.

*Source: World Travel & Tourism Council: Economic Impact of Travel & Tourism 2015.