Winter 2008

Hello Everyone,

Last summer and fall, we saw increases in international travelers, room rates, domestic visitors and website visits. As the fall season ended, both lodging data and visitor data demonstrated that people were staying closer to home.

Now, in this winter season, the travel industry faces extraordinary times. With the decline in both international and domestic visitors, we need to be more innovative in our approach to promoting the Commonwealth. We are working hard to keep visitors coming to Massachusetts through some new and innovative savings programs. These new programs have us partnering with lodgings, attractions and restaurants throughout Massachusetts in the new year. We will be building on other recent initiatives:

• 90 TV ads “a new ad everyday,” were created to promote all of Massachusetts
• “50 under $50” campaign: summer, fall and winter
• Summer radio and a direct mail campaign
• A collaboration with the Massachusetts Cultural Council to promote cultural festivals -Worldfest
•A TV ad buy in September during an airing of Good Morning America
•New LGBT marketing to support the Commonwealth’s aggressive efforts in reaching this market

This quarter’s newsletter is full of interesting information about the Governor’s Conference, MOTT’s website, international news, trade shows and leads, the getaway guide and the Mass Value Pass. We hope that you enjoy this issue that you all have a safe and happy holiday season.

Betsy Wall

MOTT STAFF
Betsy Wall, Executive Director
John Alzapiedi, Web Manager
Dagny Ashley, Group Tour Director/Governor’s Conference Coordinator
Ken Brissette, Chief Operating Officer
Phyllis Cahaly, Director Domestic Marketing
Vicki Cimino, Director of International Marketing
Tony D’Agostino, Director of Research
Jonathan Hyde, Green and Cultural Tourism
Tim Grafft, International Marketing Manager
Kevin Leary, Visitor Services Coordinator
Tom Mac Cormack, Domestic Budget/Contracts Manager
Betsy O'Neill Larkin, International FAM Coordinator
Diane Roberts, International Contract Manager
Lisa Simmons, Director of Communications
Brigette Walsh, Asst. Dir. of International Marketing
Steve Walsh, Visitor Services Manager

MOTT Welcomes New International Staff

Serving as Assistant Director of International Marketing, Brigitte is responsible for implementation of international marketing programs in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Japan. Brigitte has previously served in a variety of communication roles and has recently earned her Master of Science in Communications Management at Simmons College. Brigitte can be reached at brigitte.walsh@state.ma.us.

While earning her Master of Arts in Public Humanities at Brown University, Betsy O’Neill Larkin interned with MOTT working on an assortment of projects, including the 2008 Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism. She now serves as the agency’s International Marketing Coordinator where she manages all logistics of familiarization trips and site visits, including itinerary development, invitations, transportation, translation services, and registration. Betsy can be reached at betsy.oneill@state.ma.us.

FY08 Overview and International Leads

A PowerPoint Presentation providing a synopsis of MOTT’s international marketing efforts throughout Fiscal Year 2008 has been posted to the massvacation.com leads page accessed by logging on to massvacation.com/industry.

In addition, leads captured during a variety of international sales missions and trade shows have been posted to this page. Leads contain contact information for those who have requested Massachusetts information. Contacts include media, tour operators, receptive operators, and meeting travel planners.

MOTT will offer participation opportunities in five international tradeshows throughout the remainder of FY09. Click here for a listing of tradeshows that are available; to register please complete a Tradeshow Registration Form and return it to International Marketing Director Victoria Cimino. Participation will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Dagny Ashley, Group Tour Manager will be attending the following group market convention/marketplace.

In CY 2007 Domestic Travelers to and within MA spent $13.3 billion, a 6.0% increase over CY 2006. In FY 2008, MA hosted 20 million domestic travelers, a 3.8% increase over FY 2007. In addition, the FY 2008 room occupancy tax collections were up 10.6% from $157.5 million to $174.2. For FY 2009 through November, collections are down slightly at $92 million. In CY 2008 through November, lodging industry data showed MA increases in key statistics higher than the U.S. averages. Also in CY 2008 through November, massvacation.com unique visitor sessions were up 36% to 963,752 and page views were up 15% to 5.4 million suggesting an increase in interest in travel to MA.

Winter we will see changes in lodging numbers and visits and you can keep apprised of this data by going to massvacation.com for updates posted on the industry page. Despite tough economic conditions, the Massachusetts travel and tourism industry continues to perform above the national average. Any questions regarding statistical data, please contact Tony D’Agostino, Director of Research.

There’s a lot going on at the MOTT website. We have new images that we have added to our image library and are anxiously awaiting more from all of you. In January 2009 we will be launching a new LGBT page on the site so be sure to check it out and as always you can send new press releases and images to update our press page. In addition our homepage has been updated for winter and there you can see our ”50 under $50” campaign, listings of holiday and winter events and a link where you can upload your events and releases. A very new and exciting program on the MOTT website is our collaboration with Travelocity, the leader in on line vacation planning. Consumers can now book lodging, airfare, rental cars and attraction tickets at massvacation.com. It’s a great new tool that also allows lodging and attractions listed on massvacation.com to update their own information. If you are a first time user just go to http://organizations.massvacation.com and log in using your email address and the password redsox100. If you have any problems logging on please contact our Web Manager, John Alzapiedi

We are very close to finalizing our 2009 Massachusetts Getaway Guide which will be published in February. The colorful Guide is brimming with several great feature story ideas to help consumers plan their next Massachusetts getaway including: behind the scene tours, family fun trips, an insider's look at our great beaches, seasonal activities, and so much more! Plus trip-planning tips like regional guides, accommodations, maps, and outdoor activities. The Massachusetts Getaway Guide is the most widely-distributed travel guide in New England and through November, 665,000 have been distributed in the US and Internationally. A recent study shows that 62.1% of Guide survey respondents traveled to Massachusetts in the six months after ordering the Guide. Thank you to all 2009 Guide advertisers; a copy will be sent to you directly upon publication.

MOTT is in search of landscapes/natural beauty, attractions, people/ethnic diversity, fairs, festivals and events, and lodging images. We are constantly looking for great images that show off Massachusetts in the best way possible. It is true that we have many of them, but many of them have copyright clauses and can’t be used for what we need. So we are asking all of you to go out there and take pictures of your region and send them to us here at MOTT so we can add them to the website and the press room for visitors and journalists. We can’t purchase the photo but we can give you photo credit for your keen eye. All we ask is the image be royalty free. You will need to ID the photo and credit the person who took it and make sure that we will be able to use it on the website , getaway guide, by journalists, for publicity purposes and MOTT advertising campaigns. The images must be 300 dpi and they can be emailed or sent to

Two New Marketing Agencies, New Initiatives, Jonathan Hyde's New Position, and Phyllis Cahaly Gets Promoted

MOTT names Connelly Partners as Advertising Agency of record, selects GCI, Inc. for LGBT Marketing; Jonathan Hyde returns to MOTT in a new role. Phyllis M. Cahaly is promoted to Director of Domestic Marketing and New Initiatives.

Connelly Partners will be responsible for developing and implementing a marketing communications strategy to promote Massachusetts as a prime year-round travel destination. “We are absolutely ecstatic to be working again with MOTT,” said Steve Connelly. “Our goal is to help the state create even deeper emotional bonds with our visitors and residents.” MOTT’s account is supervised daily by Scott Madden, Senior Partner/Account Manager.

About Connelly Partners
Connelly Partners, a full-service advertising agency located in Boston’s South End, currently works with regional and national brands like Bertucci’s, The Advance Internet Division of Conde Nast, Papa Gino’s/D’Angelo’s, Fidelity, Public Service of New Hampshire, Wilmington Trust of Delaware and NBC/Universal among others.

MOTT has hired GCI, Inc. to focus on marketing Massachusetts to the LGBT market. GCI, Inc. comes to us with over 10 years of experience working with this market. Serge Gojkovich, will be working with MOTT to create an LGBT page on the MOTT website as well as handling media buys, marketing campaigns and communications for the LGBT market.

Jonathan Hyde has returned to MOTT in a new capacity. He will be leading the effort on Green Tourism and sustainable initiatives, as well as focusing on cultural tourism. Jonathan will be in the office three days a week and can be reached at the same email address, jonathan.hyde@state.ma.us, his phone number is 617-973-8505.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Please join us in congratulating MOTT’s own Phyllis M. Cahaly, on her recent promotion to the position of Director of Domestic Marketing. Phyllis will continue to supervise the Massachusetts Getaway Guide as well as MOTT’s domestic advertising, marketing and fulfillment programs. Phyllis joined MOTT in May of 2001 as Domestic Marketing Manager.

The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT) is partnering with the Massachusetts Lodging Association and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and is working in cooperation with the Regional Tourism Councils to announce the Mass Value Pass, our winter promotion which runs from January 14 to March 31, 2009. Simply put, the Mass Value Pass will be a wallet-sized savings card for consumers to use this winter at Massachusetts lodging, restaurants, and attractions for deep discounts and super savings! The free Mass Value Pass will posted at www.massvacation.com, the state’s travel website, for consumers to download and bring to participating properties and all offers will be posted by region.

During these challenging economic times, value is a must for our savvy travelers, [and really, who doesn’t love a great deal?]. Therefore, we are seeking aggressive offers with a high level of value and savings for our treasured consumers. We will only be accepting special offers with a minimum discount of 25% off of current winter rates/prices from Massachusetts lodging, restaurants, and attractions.

MOTT will be committing at least $200,000 towards media and PR support for this promotion. We hope that you will join us in this exciting winter event to promote your business and to unite as a tourism industry. Together, we can feature all the fun, interesting, delicious, and cultural opportunities Massachusetts has to offer during the winter months. For more information and sign up for this exciting program, click here---offers must be submitted on or before January 6!