Atlanta,
GA – August 2016 / Newsmaker Alert / Travel
South USA (TSUSA) Chairman Kyle Edmiston was sworn in today at the
annual Travel South USA Board of Directors meeting in Branson, Missouri.
Mr. Edmiston has been a member of the board since 2012, when he was appointed
by Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne to lead the Louisiana Office of Tourism. He
was reappointed to his position in 2016 by newly elected Lt. Governor Billy
Nungesser. He has served as chair of the TSUSA Advertising and Media Multi-state
Committee and led the six-month pilot project to enhance global digital
marketing efforts for the organization.
Fellow
board members were also sworn in to serve one-year terms on the Executive
Board, including Wit Tuttell, Vice Chair and Executive Director of Visit
North Carolina, and Dan Lennon, who will serve as Secretary/Treasurer and
is Director of Missouri Department of Tourism. Past Chairman Duane Parrish,
Director of South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism, will round out
the Executive Board.
“I
would like to thank my good friend Duane Parrish for his leadership as
Chairman for the past two years,” said Kyle Edmiston. “Your unwavering
support and creative pursuit of effective and scalable initiatives stands
as a role model for regional destination marketing organizations. Our collective
success in growing domestic and international visitors to the South and
gaining market share around the world has helped every member state with
economic impact, jobs and tax revenues. The world-class advertising, research,
digital campaigns, social media and event marketing, specifically Travel
South Domestic Showcase, Travel South International Showcase, trade shows
and sales mission, are a testament to your superior guidance. On behalf
of the entire southern travel industry, we appreciate your governance of
this great organization.”
Mr.
Edmiston also tapped Kristen Branscum, board member from Kentucky, as Board
Liaison/Committee Chair for the PR/Earned Media Committee and Amy Shuler
Goodwin from West Virginia as Board Liaison/Committee Chair for Advertising.
Kevin Langston from Georgia will continue to serve as Board Liaison/Committee
Chair for International Marketing, Sales and the newly formed International
Research Committee.
Chairman
Kyle Edmiston and President and CEO Liz Bittner also announced enhanced
business partnerships with Tourism Economics and Miles. Tourism Economics,
an Oxford Economics company, is commissioning a study of international
market opportunities, and Miles has been named TSUSA’s agency of record
for marketing. These new partnerships represent a big leap forward in delivering
the resources and data that state tourism offices need to market themselves
effectively in today’s global marketplace.
Tourism
Economics
International
visitor markets represent a significant share of the tourism economy nationally
and among TSUSA member states. While this varies by destination, growth
trends and the size of the market opportunity, any investments made in
international marketing requires a clear understanding of the market opportunities.
To
accomplish this, TSUSA has retained Tourism
Economics, an Oxford Economics company, to provide an in-depth analysis
and assessment of the international market opportunities for the TSUSA
region and individual member states. This study will provide perspective
on the size, scope and prospects of international markets that are both
fact based and action oriented. The implications of the analysis will be
highlighted as an avenue to reach relevant conclusions and recommendations.
Tourism
Economics has extensive experience in assessing global tourism markets.
They have worked with destinations, airlines, hotels, theme parks and travel
associations across the globe to analyze travel market opportunities. Their
in-house databases provide forecasts of travel by origin and destination
across 190 countries and 300 cities. These databases are used by corporations
and DMOs around the world. A partnership with Oxford Economics provides
the best available economic and demographic forecasts as a foundation for
analyzing trends.
Miles
In
the past five years, TSUSA has significantly ramped up our international
marketing efforts. One important foundational element has been to select
a partner with exceptional online and international marketing expertise
to service our internal partner community and leverage content strategies
that deliver results. After completing a six-month analytics review of
TSUSA’s marketing programs, we have awarded Miles
the agency of record status.
Miles
has spent the past 18 years building a reputation as a leading digital
marketing agency in the travel space. In fact, Miles was named an Outstanding
Web Developer by the Web Marketing Association for three years in a row;
their website work for clients frequently sweeps the travel category at
the annual WebAwards. To date, they’ve built more than 200 websites for
destinations and hospitality businesses.
Miles
takes a results-driven approach to all of their work. Together with TSUSA,
Miles will continue to manage the www.TravelSouthUSA.org site; develop
a comprehensive strategy for targeting international travelers by leveraging
state investments in content and digital marketing to ensure that TSUSA’s
budget stretches as far as possible; migrate to the new www.VisitTheUSA.com/TravelSouth
site once it goes live with Brand USA; manage content on www.GoUSA.cn/TravelSouth
and www.GoUSA.tw/TravelSouth;
provide distribution strategies for in-language campaigns in English, German,
French, Italian, Mandarin/Taiwanese, Portuguese and Spanish; integrate
social platforms in multiple languages; and provide detailed analysis,
metrics and reporting both for the region and for member states.
These
partnerships are in addition to the high-value relationships TSUSA enjoys
with the American Bus Association, Brand USA, Delta Air Lines, Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport, Laurie Rowe Communications, Inc. (LRC),
Qantas Airlines, Rhythms of the South, The Group Travel Leader, Inc. and
Travel Market Insights, LLC.
About
Travel South USA
Travel
South USA is America’s oldest and largest regional travel promotion organization,
formed in 1965 by resolution presented at the Southern Governor’s Conference.
The long-standing regional collaboration of the state tourism offices of
Alabama,
Arkansas,
Georgia,
Kentucky,
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
Missouri,
North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee,
Virginia
and West Virginia provides a foundation
to positively position tourism as a vital and dynamic element in the region’s
economic development. Tourism ranks throughout the region as one of the
top three industries, behind manufacturing and agriculture, and is responsible
for $135.7 billion in spending by visitors, generating 1.33 million direct
jobs, $32.3 billion in worker paychecks, and more than $19 billion in state
and local taxes.
For
more information about the organization: www.TravelSouthUSA.org
For
consumer information about travel to the South: www.TravelSouthUSA.com
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Contact:
Sam
Lacy
Director
of Marketing & Communications
Travel
South USA
404-231-1790
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Travel
South USA: Facebook
/ Twitter / YouTube
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Travel
South USA
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