A joint research effort conducted by the MMGY Travel Intelligence and the Destinations International Foundation, which encompassed approximately 200 destination management organizations (DMOs), revealed that while 95% of destinations have reduced or postponed their marketing spending, 50% say they plan to invest in advertising within 60 days.
During that return, marketing strategies will primarily include free social media campaigns (almost 100%), email information campaigns (70%), email promotional campaigns (just over 60%), paid social media activations (60%), search engines (less than 60%), paid promotional ads (50%), paid informative ads (less than 40%) and brand activations (20%). These activities will be the areas most impacted by marketing strategies during the recovery.
Of the 197 organizations inquired in North America, 90% are located in cities and tourist regions, mostly in the South, West and Midwest regions of the United States.
Over the next 30 days, respondents believe the situation will be much worse than now (42%), worse (30%), the same (26%) or better (2%).
These companies have received fewer visitor inquiries compared to March, but those remain at a high level (average of 20 per day, according to 30% of respondents), especially regarding the cancellation of events, closures of hotels, restaurants and attractions, and accommodation availability.
Among the actions taken by the tourism departments during the crisis is sharing information with industry partners, having official information on the coronavirus, and links to the Center for Disease Control on the destination website, as well as updates via email and social media. Some destinations, such as Visit California, send daily emails to the industry. Others, such as Tampa Bay or Visit Orlando, send weekly newsletters.