Welcome to another freshly brewed podcast edition of Tourism Heads & Their Tales. Today’s guest needs no introduction to those of us in the tourism industry. When we search for insights into traveler sentiment and behavior, one of the resources we often look to is Destination Analysts. Erin Francis-Cummings is co-founder, President, and CEO of Destination Analysts and we often see her presenting at industry conferences. Tune in and learn about Erin’s career journey and listen as we dive in to some meaningful insights about trends you need to know to help frame up your tourism business plans; hear about the types of destinations travelers want to visit post pandemic and the experiences they’re are looking for – even take a little “trip” into Psychedelic Travel…so much more for you to discover in part one of a two part interview. 

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Today’s guest on Tourism Heads & Their Tales is an acknowledged and universally recognized industry leader. We welcome Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon. Tune in as Todd and I discuss change management and Oregon’s Covid challenges, how successful growth can be achieved by reinvesting in local communities, and how Oregon’s 10-year strategic vision was developed and its plans to redesign tourism with a destination stewardship mindset. Todd’s wisdom, leadership, and passion for our industry shines through on this podcast.

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Today we are joined by Wit Tuttell representing the Tar Heel State as its VP, Tourism and Marketing for the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, Executive Director of Visit NC, State Tourism Director of the Year and a recognized travel & tourism industry leader. Listen as Wit explains the indispensable value of blending economic development with tourism, the challenges of ARPA funds, partnering with regional communities, why educating legislatures matters, post pandemic trends, the value of data driven decisions and so much more.

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Today’s Tourism Heads & Their Tales podcast focuses on the world of meeting planners, hotels, CVBs and booking technology. We sit down with hospitality veteran Tim Flors, SVP and Chief Customer Officer with Groups360.

Tim explains how his company is changing the very nature of group transactions. We learn about the philosophy behind Groups360, its rapid expansion, and its partnering with major global hotel chains. We hear how the company introduced instant bookings for meetings and dive into the tech that supports room blocks, attrition, BEOs, and the art of qualified leads. Plus the impact Groups360 is having on the meetings industry beyond hotels, DMO’s and meeting planners. This is a “must listen” episode.

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Today, Tourism Heads & Their Tales welcomes Scott Balyo. Scott is the Executive Director of Capital Region USA (CRUSA), which is the official destination marketing partner of Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, working together to promote the region to overseas leisure travelers.

In this episode we discuss the history of Capital Region USA, its programs and initiatives, we talk about the relationship with DC, Maryland and Virginia and how that partner model operates, we find out how DMO’s and CVB’s can enter international markets, we learn what CRUSA did during the pandemic and what trends they are seeing with the post pandemic recovery, we hear about international feeder markets and trade shows that generate the most business and what Scott’s outlook is for the future.

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Today’s Tourism Heads & Their Tales episode focuses on the best part of travel: the “things to see and do” that trigger a leisure trip. The desired experience.

Join us as we sit down with Douglas Quinby CEO and co-founder of Arival, as we gain valuable insights in to travel’s third largest and most essential sector: Tours, Activities & Attractions. Learn about the changing needs of customers post Covid, hear about how fragmented the sector is and how distribution is also changing the landscape, and learn more about emerging experiences and even a discussion about ChatGPT. Turn on and tune in today!

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