Discover New England was formed in 1992 due to a stagnant domestic
market and a declining Canadian market. International visitation to the
region was, and remains, the fastest growing sector of the tourism market.
- The international visitor stays longer, an average length of stay is fifteen nights, nearly four times that of the average domestic visitor.
- The average European gets at least four-six weeks of paid vacation a year, they have time to travel and vacations are a priority.
- The international visitor spends more, approximately ten times that of the average domestic visitor.
- They are not 'climate' dependent, for example, they will have made their travel plans months in advance and are not likely to cancel due to a rainy weekend.
- New England is considered an upscale destination by the international traveler. It attracts a more sophisticated type of traveler, one with a higher disposable income, aged 45-65 yrs old and whom seeks activity combined with other essentials of good food and lodging.
- New England is currently a ‘real bargain’ for the international visitor with the Pound/Euro to US Dollar exchange rate strongly in their favor. US accommodations, goods and services cost almost half of what they would in Europe.
Discover New England promotes and represents all sectors of the tourism industry in New England. DNE focuses its limited resources and takes strong, calculated steps towards capturing international business. DNE presently targets the primary markets of the United Kingdom and Germany and is working with the emerging secondary markets of France, Ireland and the Netherlands. The current marketing activities focus on the following trade, consumer and press strategies:
- Tourism Trade Shows
- Sales & Training Missions
- Tactical Marketing Initiatives with Trade Partners
- Consumer Travel Shows
- Public Relations Program
- New England Annual or Bi-Annual Supplements for the German and UK markets
- Consumer and travel trade fulfillment of requests
- Travel agent training
- New England Trade E-Newsletter
- Special Projects
- Discover New England International Marketplace & Annual Summit
- Comprehensive website www.discovernewengland.org designed for the international visitor
Discover New England is extremely effective in accessing its target markets using the above strategies. The regional initiative is a proven and an excellent investment for the six New England states. The concept of selling New England as a region, rather than as six independent states is reinforced by the international travel trade, the international travel press and the international consumer, none of whom are interested where state borders end and begin but all of whom wish to visit New England.
In order to encourage the involvement of key New England organizations and businesses in many of Discover New England’s activities, we propose the following package of benefits that provide real value to any company either embarking on an international program or a company sustaining their international business relationships.
Benefits Include:
1. Key placement of your logo & website link on our site at www.discovernewengland.org in the "New England Partners" section which has a link from our homepage.
Visit our recently revamped website at www.discovernewengland.org. The site has a thematic change with fresh new colors and images, plus a new comprehensive section on Visitor Information in our A-Z section, multi-state driving itineraries, a monthly thematical change on our Home Page and a quarterly email newsletter sent to over 12,000 UK travelers.
2. Leads from all major international trade shows and events.
You do not have to attend the major international tradeshows to get the benefit of the leads and contacts gained at these shows. Leads will be made available in a timely manner from the following events;
- ITB, Berlin, Germany, March, 2008
- Pow Wow International, Las Vegas, Nevada, June, 2008
- Sales & Training Mission, UK, October 2008
- World Travel Market, London, England, November ,2008
3. Travel Agent Leads
You will receive a list of all travel agents trained by the Discover New England training sessions throughout the year and also the list of agents who request specific information from Discover New England in Germany and the UK.
4. Recognition through a Sustaining Partner display at the DNE Annual Tourism Summit & International Marketplace
Your support and participation as a "New England Partner" would be recognized at our major trade event of the year, the DNE Summit & International Marketplace..
5. Distribution of Promotional Materials at the key international consumer shows
A limited amount of your promotional literature will be distributed at all major international travel consumer shows where Discover New England has a presence. (note: you are responsible for the shipment of these materials to the actual shows).
Cost: $1,000.00 annual fee per organization
Contact:
Sue Norrington-Davies/Joan Beard
DNE Office
802 253 2500
DNE@together.net
Discover New England’s Tourism Summit & International Marketplace is an annual conference aimed at educating the New England hospitality industry about international tourism marketing. The conference is held every year in a different New England state.
The International Marketplace is a first class forum for learning how to attract more international visitors to your area, property, or attraction as well as offering you the opportunity to do real business with key decision makers from New England's crucial international markets.
The Summit is a proven way of increasing your visibility in the overseas marketplace and increasing your exposures in many of the tour operator brochures that dominate the European industry. It is an immensely cost effective way to develop and grow business relationships with both international buyers and also networking with your New England colleagues. More importantly, the Summit focuses on just New England so you are not competing against other parts of the country (i.e. Pow Wow), or world (i.e. WTM, ITB), for the attention of key international tour operators. They are at the Summit because they want to do business with New England.
The principal focus of Discover New England is to inform both large and small tourism businesses on all aspects of New England's fastest growing tourism sector. We invite approximately 40 of the top UK, German, and French operators, plus many of the New England and US receptive operators, to attend and engage in one-on-one business meetings with members of the private sector. This interaction allows New England companies to develop meaningful business relationships with key international holiday operators. It is a valuable opportunity to do business and understand more about the marketplace without having to travel overseas.
In addition to the one-on-one meetings, there are several presentations by industry experts including overviews and trends in the two key target markets of the UK and Germany. The conference also offers the valuable forum of meeting, networking with, and learning from other New England tourism colleagues.
$395.00 per person registration fee (Early Bird rate)*
$450.00 per person registration fee (After January 15, 2008)*
$695.00 for an exhibitor booth which includes one registration*
Other sponsorship opportunities available
*Subject to change
Joan Beard, DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE2@together.net
The United States remains the most popular long haul destination for the British market and as such remains New England’s number one source market for international visitors. At the end of Fiscal Year 2006 one can consider that the British were seen to be turning their backs on the United States for a variety of reasons (for example; fuel surcharges, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, USA entry regulations, lack of a national tourism organization, the negative image of the United States). New England, however, proved resilient to the dips in sales that other US destinations experienced.
Airline capacity into Boston’s Logan Airport fared well, coach touring holidays to New England sold particularly well (for example; Page & Moy sold out of fall dates and the two New England tours featured in Thomas Cook Tours were the best sellers of the Tours catalog), steady economic growth in the UK coupled by the strength of the pound sterling and the proximity of New England (the closest transatlantic gateway from the UK to the US) still made New England a highly attractive destination for the British holidaymaker.
Through targeted marketing and promotional programs, Discover New England strives to maintain New England’s visibility with the travel trade industry in our most important overseas market. The development of the DNE Summit and Marketplace has enhanced the image of New England in the hearts and minds of many of the UK’s leading tour operators selling New England. Since 1999, scores of UK Product Managers have visited New England experiencing the destination first hand, familiarizing themselves with the key selling points of the region and developing business relationships throughout the six states. This investment has stood the region in good stead as Discover New England continues to seek to enhance the attributes of the region at every opportunity be it through the popular Sales and Training Missions, travel agent familiarization trips, or tactical marketing initiatives with individual operators.
A comprehensive public relations plan has always been an integral part of the Discover New England program and last year we focused on attracting many of the national leading newspapers including The Daily Express, The Sunday Telegraph, and the Daily Mail. Group press trips included a ski press trip promoting the great winter recreational opportunities of New England. We also invited five leading consumer and travel trade publications from Ireland to visit New England. In late 2006, Discover New England put a ‘Gourmet Food’ twist on its public relations, hosting a very successful press trip to Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island that included visits to top restaurants, hotels and the Johnson & Wales Culinary Institute in Providence Rhode Island. This trip was followed up by a Gourmet New England Breakfast for over 40 top UK travel and food writers, hosted during WTM, at the highly popular London restaurant, Roast.
As we have mentioned, New England faces some significant challenges in seeking to grow visitation from the United Kingdom. New England must face the challenges and competition from our global competitors head on as a unified region and work together with both regional and national partners to strengthen our position in the international marketplace.
For this reason and others, we have enhanced our presence in the UK marketplace and in July 2006 appointed Beth Cooper PR Agency as our new PR representative office in the UK. The Discover New England PR account will be led by destination expert, Caroline Donaldson-Sinclair who has gained significant insight and experience in leading Discover New England’s UK PR effort for the last couple of years. She will be assisted by the new appointment of Claire Winsor. Alongside an expert PR team, we have been fortunate enough to engage the services of Stephen Knight. Stephen, formerly the Senior Vice President International Sales for leading New England receptive ‘Tourco’, is renowned throughout the industry as a true authority. From the US side, he is recognised as totally in touch with the needs of the UK and European travel industry and from the UK side, a trusted voice on what can be done and someone who can open doors to New England. Stephen has recently returned from a tour of the Netherlands and Belgium meeting with Product Managers and Commercial Directors of key tour operators selling and promoting New England and the United States. Together, we work to provide assistance to both the travel trade for tactical marketing initiatives, support with brochure production, itinerary routings, selection of properties and assistance with familiarization trips and we continue a strong public relations campaign in maintaining our visibility with the consumer press publications throughout the UK and also our presence at the key consumer shows in England.
The following opportunities represent targeted and affordable ways to get more involved, in a targeted and affordable way in New England's most vital international market.
Discover New England's representative offices in the UK handle all of our consumer and travel agent inquiries. Calls are answered during the business day and packages of New England information are then mailed out. DNE sends out New England information to typically 2,000 UK consumers and travel agents. You can provide your promotional brochure to this highly targeted audience for the following yearly fees. Requests to our office in the UK are as a result of press articles and features generated by DNE press trips.
Costs: $995 per year - Individual rack brochure (weighing 50 grams or less). Note: Rates are available for heavier publications. Company is responsible for shipping direct to the UK
Sue Norrington-Davies/Joan Beard
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE2@together.net
In the key overseas markets of the UK, Ireland and Germany, New England is now a known destination. Many people are interested in traveling but they want and need more specific information.
European Consumer Travel Shows are different from consumer holiday shows in the USA. They provide the resource for many Europeans to do their own vacation research and investigate the best places to travel. Individuals often pay at least $10.00 per person to attend the show and they take the opportunity to plan for the next 2-3 years of vacations. Some visitors actually book on the spot while others seek inspiration, advice and guidance for their very important holiday.
Many of the traveling public who attend consumer shows are affluent, and dedicated to quality travel. Over two-thirds of the audience is the top demographic tier of the paying public.
Staff from DNE HQ attend the shows and welcome anyone who would like to join the booth with them, or alternatively, you may send your information for distribution.
MANCHESTER HOLIDAY AND TRAVEL SHOW - January 11-13, 2008
www.johnfishexhibitions.co.uk
Approximately 70,000 visitors over a 3 day period. The annual Holiday & Travel Shows are the foremost consumer travel events, attracting thousands of holidaymakers to prestigious venues in Manchester & Glasgow. The 2006 Manchester event was excellent with many interested potential travelers excited to have information on New England and discuss holiday plans throughout the year. Many are traveling independently and rely on the show to pick up information on how to book character properties and research holiday homes.
Costs*: Company representative to attend: $350.00 pp
Participants are responsible for their own personal and travel expenses.
Brochure distribution $200.00 for 300 brochures
DUBLIN HOLIDAY WORLD, Ireland – January 24-27, 2008
www.holidayworldshow.com
A DNE facilitated consumer show, our presence at the 2006 show was expanded due to popular demand. Ten private and public sector members traveled to Dublin for this 3 day consumer event that attracts approximately 55,000 visitors annually. The Irish economy is booming (they rank 4th in the world for household income), increasing 5-6% this year. Visits to the USA are up 17% in 2005 from 2004 and New England is an extremely popular and close destination. They are interested in all aspects of travel to the area, year-round.
Costs: Company representative to attend: approximately $1000.00 pp (depending on the number of attendees).
Participants are responsible for their own personal and travel expenses.
Brochure distribution: $200.00 for 300 brochures
Company is responsible for shipping direct to the UK
In September of 2006 Discover New England’s conducted its fourth sales and training mission to the UK, second mission to Ireland and first to France. Our key objective was to reinforce, maintain and grow our strong working relationships with many of the key UK, French and Irish tour operators selling New England. Over a period of 9 business days, ten New England delegates trained over 225 agents, visited 24 tour operators and held 4 events in London, Paris and Dublin.
The international tour operators see New England as a highly desirable and attractive destination. The Sales Mission gives New England the opportunity to highlight individual products while promoting all of New England and this makes sense for both for the New England delegates but most importantly, for the European tour operator. The combination of reservation staff training, sales calls, product & marketing meetings and press liaison makes the format of this type of mission extremely productive and valuable as New England promotes and sells as a team.
Visibility among our key tour operator and media partners allows New England to remain in direct and personal contact with product managers, commercial directors, reservation agents etc who become, and remain, interested in promoting and selling our product.
In September 2007, Discover New England will conduct another sales and training mission to the United Kingdom. We will undertake a maximum 5 day sales and training mission throughout 2-3 different locations within the UK working with major tour operators to train a worthwhile and enthusiastic audience. The mission will also host an appreciation dinner for DNE’s key tour operators and press.
Space is strictly limited to 10 participants and space will be granted on the basis of having equal participation from each New England region.
Cost: Delegate fee: $1,750 per person/organization. Participants are responsible for their own personal and travel expenses.
Sue Norrington-Davies
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE@together.net
In order to capitalize on ground work done on the previous missions to France and Ireland, Discover New England will again conduct a sales and training mission to both countries. Dates are to be confirmed.
We also intend to extend the opportunity to include a mission to The Netherlands and Belgium. KLM/NWA announced earlier this year a new flight Amsterdam-Hartford, CT starting July 01, 2007. The new service will offer a daily year round route on a 757 aircraft arriving in Hartford at 1PM. In addition, as of July 15, 2007 KLM/NWA will offer a double daily service from Amsterdam into Boston’s Logan Airport.
These new flights represent a significant opportunity of being able to attract more Dutch (and also Belgium) visitors to New England through two regional gateways. In February 2007, Stephen Knight conducted numerous sales calls and meetings with the Product Managers of the leading tour operators selling the United States in the Netherlands and Belgium. There is great interest in our region and we intend to capitalize on the fact that The Netherlands currently stands at Number #5 in the list of international arrivals into the United States from Western Europe with 449,000 visitors in 2005.
We are currently planning our sales mission program for 2007 and 2008. Please advise if you are interested in participating in either (or all) a mission to include France, Ireland, The Netherlands and Belgium.
Sue Norrington-Davies
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE@together.net
Phoenix International Publishing will again be producing the official Discover New England consumer and trade guide for the UK in 2008. If you haven’t seen this year’s guide, make sure you pick up a copy, it looks great!
The total distribution of 95,000 copies is as follows:
Essentially America magazine - 50,000
Discover North America trade directory via electronic download - 5,000
DNE consumer and trade fulfillment - 10,000
DNE website downloads - 30,000
This distribution is growing every year because of the success of the electronic downloads, and as well as on the new DNE web site. It is now also available for download from the Essentially America web site.
Contact the Northeast Media Group either:
Tony Wight - Tel: 914-271-0895
Larry Cohen - Tel: 203-255-8800
World Travel Market (‘WTM’) is a “must attend” event that is fully representative of the global travel and tourism industry. Strictly trade-only, the significant role that World Travel Market plays in the business activities of its worldwide participants is immense.
As the United Kingdom maintains its dominant position as the Number One source of visitors from the overseas markets,World Travel Market is a vital component in the business marketing plan of those who truly want to attract more British visitors to their property or destination.
For the sixth consecutive year,Discover New England will coordinate the unified New England presence at WTM. We encourage members of the New England industry to come meet and do business with representatives from the consumer and trade media, tour operators, travel agents and airlines.
For more information on World Travel Market, check out www.wtmlondon.com
DNE Registration Fees include:
- Prime stand location within the US/North America Pavilion venue
- Each participating organization will have a designated table with signage.
- Monday afternoon reception for press and trade
- Special promotional opportunities and events
- Press releases to the key UK trade and press
- Introductions to key UK trade and press (where appropriate)
Costs: $2,995 per person registration fee for all participants
Delegates are responsible for their own personal and travel expenses
Sue Norrington-Davies
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE@together.net
The United States confronts many challenges in its efforts to increase German visitation. Reasons that affect British visitation also apply to German travelers; fuel surcharges, USA entry regulations, an increasing negative image of the USA to name but a few. The United States faces competition from many popular long haul destinations such as South Africa, Canada and Australia. In Germany, effective but expensive promotional campaigns mean a lot when little or no promotion of any area of the USA is taking place. Indeed, German tour operators selling and promoting the United States have become vocal in requesting a national promotional campaign on behalf of the USA. They feel strongly that it could stimulate traffic to the USA and that importantly, the United States needs a national tourism organization.
However, it is not all ‘doom and gloom’. 2005 brought about a rebound of a 7% growth in visitation to the United States from Germany and most certainly price was the likely prime motivator as the euro held strong against the weak dollar. Once again the United States seemed an affordable option for many travelers. Plus the malaise that befell Germany over reunification costs and the last number of years certainly seemed to subside through 2006. Under the leadership of Angela Merkel, the new German Chancellor, Germany has experienced higher consumer confidence and a booming stock market.
Fortunately for New England, German visitation numbers to the region have not suffered greatly into 2006. Many tour operators continue to report modest growth or maintenance of numbers for travelers visiting New England for 2006 over 2005 which is very much against the trend of the rest of the country. Bookings for New England via the travel trade were up by as much as 60% for Germany with many country inn and coaching holidays selling well. We are delighted to hear from many of the tour operators as they speak positively regarding their New England product lines but Discover New England has once again this year worked extremely hard to implement a solid travel trade marketing and public relations program. A highlight of the year was the visit of ARD Rategber TV shoot in Rhode Island in September 2005. Providing incredible visibility in Germany, ARD are solid partners in their coverage of New England’s diverse and varied qualities. Production of the Rhode Island program is expected to reach millions of viewers throughout Europe.
Discover New England’s in-country representation, Buss Consulting, a partnership of Doerte and Wilfred Buss continues to place New England with a major advantage over our US competitors. Media researchers and tour operators rely on their expertise for factual knowledge and product development support. Their ability to introduce new product to German tour operators, make suggestions and adjust standard product is essential in a changing marketplace. Discover New England has firmly established New England in the minds of the German public as we have successfully matured our destination through press, trade and consumer initiatives.
Please review the following opportunities which allow some affordable ways to penetrate the German market through both consumer and travel trade methods.
Discover New England's representative offices in Germany operate a personalized New England travel counseling service for consumers and travel agents. Calls are answered during the business day and packages of New England information are then mailed out. DNE sends out New England information to typically 5,000 German consumers and travel agents.
You may include your promotional brochure to this highly targeted audience for the following yearly fees. Requests to our German office are as a result of press articles and features generated by DNE press trips.
Costs*:
Gold - $1,300 per year - information included in all requests
Silver - $500 per year - information included in 1000 requests
Bronze - $250 per year - information included in 500 requests
*Company is responsible for shipping direct to Germany
Joan Beard/Sue Norrington-Davies
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE2@together.net
ITB Berlin - International Tourism Exchange is the world's largest travel and tourism industry show. ITB exhibitors and trade visitors represent all sectors of the international travel and tourism industry: Leisure, Business, Incentive, Meetings and Conventions, Health, Adventure, Education and Study. For two days, ITB is open exclusively to the trade and the weekend is filled with enthusiastic consumers who come seeking advice and suggestions on where, when and how to travel.
Discover New England will host a New England booth for the seventh year in the Discover America Pavilion which gives the USA great visibility and increased brand recognition.
Costs: $1,500 per representative, per business.
Participants are responsible for their own personal and travel expenses.
Brochure Distribution: $250.00 for 500 brochures
Company is responsible for shipping direct to Germany).
Sue Norrington-Davies
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE@together.net
America Journal will once again produce the Discover New England consumer and trade guide for 2007-2009 for Germany. Publication date is June 29, 2007. Space closing is May 25, 2007. This will be the second New England supplement produced by America Journal on behalf of New England. Please take the time to pick up one of the current copies of the 2005/2006 Guides.
America Journal is the only German publication specializing in vacation travel to the USA. America Journal readers are independent travelers: more than 75% plan their trips totally on their own and almost 50% book their hotel accommodations directly. They are also loyal - the average reader has visited the United States more than 8 times and travels to North America at least once a year.He keeps America Journal issues for more than four years and refers to them when he plans his next trip. Circulation of America Journal is 40,000 copies per issue with a readership of approximately 200,000.
Contact:
Detlef Fox
Tel: 212 896 3881
detleffox@comcast.net
CURRENTLY SOLD OUT
In light of the successful 2005 Discover New England Sales & Training Mission to Germany in 2005, Discover New England will coordinate a second mission to Germany June 4-8, 2007. We will visit Hanover, Hamburg and Berlin, partnering with a number of key tour operators in all three cities to attract reservation and retail agents to destination presentations and trainings. We also plan to incorporate sales calls and a press event throughout the week.
Participation is strictly limited to 10 participants.
Cost: Delegate fee: $2,500 plus all personal and travel expenses
Sue Norrington-Davies
DNE Office Stowe
802 253 2500, DNE@together.net
P.O. Box 3809
Stowe, Vermont 05672
USA
Tel: 802 253 2500
Fax: 802 253 9064
Sue Norrington-Davies, Managing Director
Joan Beard, Program Manager
Ellen Dube, Marketing Assistant
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