EMT Express - October 7, 2008

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EMT Express

Welcome to EMT Express, providing bi-weekly news and tips for the people who market Minnesota tourism.

ExploreMinnesota.com Web Statistics for September 2008

Visits 248,596
Pageviews 1,277,558
Pages per Visit 5.14

2020 Vision Meetings Held Throughout the State
Explore Minnesota Tourism (EMT) has been leading a long range process called "2020 Vision" to engage our industry in planning for the future.

EMT Director John Edman has facilitated sessions in St. Cloud, Minneapolis, Rochester, Owatonna, and St. Paul with various statewide associations, chambers, regional associations, and statewide industry groups. Among the topics addressed include: Travel Products, Marketing, Business Operations, the Environment and Transportation. These sessions have been very lively discussions about the challenges and changes in travel and tourism businesses with a look to the future of where we want our industry to be 10 years from today.

There are several more sessions planned at various locations throughout the state during the month of October and November.

In November, an industry wide survey will be another extension of this visioning process to capture the thoughts of those who were not able to attend any of the sessions. The results of this statewide effort will be presented at the Tourism Conference to be held January 27-29, 2009, at the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Center with an opportunity for interactive voting to rank and finalize the findings of the final 2020 Vision Report.

2009 EMT Cooperative Advertising Program
The Explore Minnesota Tourism (EMT) Cooperative Advertising Program features a sixteen page customized insert which will reach 1,000,000 key demographic newspaper readers in major cities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota & Wisconsin as well as Chicago, Detroit, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City and Indianapolis. Cooperative advertisers will receive leads, a brochure order listing on EMT’s mini-site on Vacationplanning.com and a mini-site with up to 500 words of copy & hyperlink to their website for 12 months, plus other benefits. Space is limited - don’t miss this opportunity to generate summer business.

For information, rates and space reservations, contact Sonja Petty-Adcock, Midwest Account Executive, Collinson Publishing, at 800 241-9461, 678-987 9926 or sonja@CollingsonPublishing.com.

Marketing Opportunities
The Explore Minnesota Tourism (EMT) Web site for the industry (industry.exploreminnesota.com) always contains the latest opportunities for taking advantage of EMT’s marketing programs. In addition, we have just published and posted our Marketing Opportunities Guide for 2009, which can be accessed on this site (http://industry.exploreminnesota.com/2009-opportunities-guide/).

Use this site and guide as your tools for planning your upcoming marketing goals and budgets.

2009-2010 Minnesota Fishing Guide Advertising Opportunity
We are now developing the 2009-2010 edition of the Minnesota Fishing brochure, which promotes Minnesota as a fishing destination to travelers throughout the region. This full-color, 20-page guide describes the wide variety of fishing experiences and destinations in our state. Your business or community can be included in Minnesota Fishing through a low-cost descriptive listing, delivering your message to a targeted audience of travelers.

We will print 80,000 2009-2010 Minnesota Fishing Guides, which will be distributed at major sports shows in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Fargo. This guide is our key fishing response piece at Travel Information Centers across Minnesota, is available through the Explore Minnesota Tourism Web site and to those who request fishing information from Explore Minnesota Tourism.

For only $200, you can list your tourism business or organization with a brief description, and get in the hands of anglers as they plan their Minnesota getaways. Listing information and payment must be received by October 31, 2008.

For more information, contact Tammi Wilhelmy, tammi.wilhelmy@state.mn.us, 651-296-6418.

2008 Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers Conference
The Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW) 2008 conference was held in Lake of the Woods at Sportsman’s Lodge, September 15-18, 2008. Opening night featured an authentic Lake of the Woods style fish fry with keynote speaker John Edman, Director of Explore Minnesota Tourism, welcoming guests to Minnesota.

The conference brought 170 media and corporate members to the area, including writers, TV producers, editors, and radio hosts from the Midwest and beyond. Media and corporate members from 19 states, ranging from New York to South Carolina and west to South Dakota, spent four days at Lake of the Woods attending seminars, demonstrating new products, and gathering story ideas.

Electronic Marketing Tip - on ExploreMinnesota.com
Did you know that you can "reuse" old events? As the dates are set for the following year, just go in to http://extranet.exploreminnesota.com and make your updates. It saves time and typing! Just enter the new dates, and select "Skip To End" and "Confirm!"

The Explore Minnesota database is the information source for the Journey travel planning service and for exploreminnesota.com. Listings can be updated online by going to http://extranet.exploreminnesota.com and entering your unique login id and password.

For more information, contact Kim Fitzgerald at kim.fitzgerald@state.mn.us.

Electronic Marketing Tip

Improve Customer Service
Train your staff to provide better service. Instructor training for the At Your Service: Working with Multicultural Customers program is scheduled for October 24, 2008. Instructors receive comprehensive materials to deliver an effective half day workshop that boosts staff skills to serve your customers. A one time purchase allows you to use the program for multiple trainings! Register online at www.tourism.umn.edu.

CMR to Hold Fall Conference
The Congress of Minnesota Resorts (CMR) will hold its Annual Fall Conference on October 26-28, 2008, at the Radisson Hotel Duluth-Harborview. Sessions will include a 2020 Visioning Session with Explore Minnesota Tourism, legislative updates, a featured presentation by Bob Anderson of Star Performance Inc. on "How to Deal with Difficult Guests" and the Congress of Minnesota Resort’s famous Cracker-barrels.

A conference brochure is available online at http://www.minnesota-resorts.com/pdf/CMR%20Fall%20Conf%20Brochure%202008%20V4.pdf.

The deadline to register is October 10, 2008. Additional information is available by contacting Kim at 218-652-3111 or relax@crowwing.com.

U.S. House Passes Travel Promotion Act
In a historic development for the travel community, the House of Representatives passed the Travel Promotion Act (TPA), which would create a public-private partnership to communicate security policies and promote the United States as a premier destination. This is an enormous achievement for the travel community.

Travel promotion was not on anyone’s radar when this Congress came into session 20 months ago and is now on the verge of becoming a reality. House passage of TPA is the culmination of an unprecedented effort that shows the power this association and the collective voice of our industry can have in Washington when we craft a focused strategy and commit the resources necessary to achieve our common goals.

An uphill battle remains in the U.S. Senate and with the Bush Administration.

Source: Travel Industry Association

New DHS Spending Package Funds Security and Entry Reforms
Congress approved and the President signed into law this week an appropriations package that included money for several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiatives to improve the entry process. Specific items included in this package were:

  • $10 million for the DHS Global Entry program which offers expedited security screening for pre-enrolled international air travelers;
  • $8.75 million to hire 173 additional Customs and Border Protection officers at airports, and $28.3 million to hire 561 new Customs officers at land border ports-of-entry; and,
  • $500,000 to hire additional DHS staff to manage expansion of the Visa Waiver Program, the crucial program that promotes inbound travel by offering visa-free, short-term travel to the United States for visitors from 27 countries - a number that should expand to 36 by early next year.

Source: Travel Industry Association

CBP Launches Interactive WHTI Travel Widget
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced last week a traveler-centric desktop widget as part of the integrated "Lets Get You Home" advertising and outreach campaign. As the travelers’ departure date approaches, the automated widget provides a trip countdown timer and weather at the travelers’ destination and reminds the user to obtain appropriate travel documents, as required under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean must present a passport or other WHTI-compliant document beginning June 1, 2009.

The widget is designed so that anyone making travel plans on the Internet can take advantage of the trip countdown and weather functions. The widget is available to download from www.GetYouHome.gov.

If you’ve received this newsletter from a friend and wish to subscribe yourself please subscribe at EMT Express Subscriptions.

If you have an article you wish to submit for consideration, please contact: Colleen Tollefson, 651/297-2635, 800/657-3637.

Posted: October 7th, 2008

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