By Kathleen Cassedy

O’ROURKE OF TIA ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY RECOVERY

After the tragedy on September 11, 2001, keynote speaker, Betsy O’Rourke,
Senior Vice President of the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA),
recalls that "We couldn’t wait for the shock to subside. We immediately went
into a crisis mode."

Because the United States has no government agency nor department of
travel and tourism, TIA had never been more challenged. O’Rourke shared with
ATME conference attendees how TIA’s marketing initiatives—some still
continue as ongoing promotions—helped save a plummeting industry.

Within one week a crisis management plan was created and begun. Its
objectives had two parts: (1) make travel safe again and regain the
confidence of Americans and international travelers, and (2) unify the
industry and involve the federal government into the industry’s recovery.

TRAVEL INDUSTRY SPEAKS WITH ONE VOICE
TIA developed a clear and simple public message that united the industry
with one voice: "Travel is a fundamental American freedom." The message went on to proclaim that the travel industry was working to restore consumer
confidence in the safety of U.S. travel products by supporting federal
government efforts regarding security of air travel and airports, O’Rourke
says. Travel was also linked to patriotic duty with expressions, such as "A
return to travel is normal. Restoring travel is restoring our country’s
economy."

"We took every advantage of news coverage," recalls O’Rourke. Talking
points, fact sheets, and editorials were place on TIA’s website (www.tia.org)
for easy access by travel organizations and media. An industry media
clearinghouse was created to provide information to the press and arrange
interviews with travel industry CEOs and other spokespersons.

TIA LEVERAGES SEE AMERICA CAMPAIGN
The Travel Marketing Outlook Forum met, as scheduled, in October, but now
with a new agenda. For the recovery plan, TIA leveraged its SeeAmerica
campaign, which was incorporated into the ads and brochures of TIA member
travel companies and organizations, such as Gray Line and the city of
Philadelphia.

An advertising template, which says "It’s your country. See it. See
America," was designed for travel organizations to incorporate with their own
ads. The same tagline was used in public service ads. USA Today newspaper
donated a million dollars of media space to run this ad on full newspaper
pages and online. Other publishers ran it as well.

TIA launched its first round of advertising following September 11 on
October 2, 2001, with its patriotic-styled theme. "We see America as a land
where the freedom to come and go as we please is a cherished right…." At the
bottom of the ad in small type was the URL, "SeeAmerica.org," which is TIA’s
portal to all its travel member organization websites.

PUBLIC SERVICE ADS FEATURES BUSH
The travel industry’s response to encourage travel itself became
newsworthy and received editorial coverage. TIA’s most visible effort was
the public service television ad, featuring President George W. Bush.
O’Rourke attributes this effort to J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Chairman and CEO of
Marriott International Inc., who personally called President George W. bush
to ask for his support. Marriott also contacted other industry leaders,
raising $15 million to produce and launch the TV ads, both domestically and
abroad in U.S. major markets: the United Kingdom, Canada, Europe and Asia.

This ad was placed on a satellite feed the day before it ran as paid
media, and was pitched as a story to all the top U.S. markets by local CEOs
of travel organizations that had donated to the campaign. O’Rourke considers
the ad a "grand slam" because 70 percent of Americans said they saw the ad,
and 55 percent could describe it.

The ad was also leveraged by travel companies who ran it on video systems
on airplanes, cruise ships and in hotel guest rooms. O’Rourke encouraged
ATME’s conference attendees to download the ad from TIA’s website, and put
it on their own websites.

When the National Park Service announced that all national parks would
have free admission on Veterans Day, November 11, TIA’s Marketing Outlook
Forum decided to leverage this initiative by creating SeeAmerica Day on
Veterans Day. Destinations were encouraged to design special promotions for
SeeAmerica Day. For example, New York City restaurants offered special
menus, such as All American Apple Pie, to encourage people to dine out.

With only three weeks to organize SeeAmerica Day promotions, the state of
Pennsylvania donated a pictorial (viral) email, which was sent to TIA
members, who could personalize it with their own logos and send it
electronically to their vendors, journalists, employees, and customers.

SeeAmerica Day had a great impact and began the momentum for the
industry’s revival, O’Rourke recalls. TIA has continued to provide its
members with space on its SeeAmerica website to post promotions, which are
also linked to their URLs.

TIA WORKS TO SAVE INBOUND TRAVEL
International travel to the United States is a $103 billion market,
O’Rourke points out. While inbound travel from the United Kingdom has
rebounded, travel from Japan, which was the number 1 target country for TIA’s
ads, has been slower to return. Media buys in Japan are too expensive for
TIA’s budget, says O’Rourke, so TIA covered three commuter trains with
SeeAmerica advertising. In Brazil, five tour operators put all their U.S.
vacation products under the SeeAmerica banner.

At international travel trade markets in the United Kingdom, Japan and
Brazil, TIA held SeeAmerica weeks, which showcased America as a destination,
and featured an American Thanksgiving for tour operators and journalists.
TIA also developed SeeAmerica inserts for publications, supported by
cooperative advertising, and offered TIA members a 50 percent discount to be
included.

STAMP PROMOTION
Just as TIA leveraged the National Park Service’s Veterans Day
celebration, TIA attached its SeeAmerica promotion to the U.S. Postal
Service’s new line of 50 stamps, highlighting each state, "Greetings from
America." "That offered us a great opportunity for a promotional tie-in,
given that the stamps brought out some of the tourist features of states,"
O’Rourke says.

The SeeAmerica promotion was organized with three partners, Orbitz, Best
Western, and Hertz, and featured a free week vacation for two from each
state, which was developed by each state’s travel director. The stamps and
the SeeAmerica promotion were shown at state visitors centers, post offices,
and partner companies’ customer locations. TIA estimates that more than 15
million people per day saw this promotion at these sites, and visits to
SeeAmerica’s website jumped 200 percent.

This promotion was a win-win for all involved. "We took advantage of the
Postal Service’s distribution; they let us help sell stamps," O’Rourke
explains. TIA also negotiated the right to publish the stamps on members’
merchandise, so the promotion could be publicized on a Hertz or Hilton coffee
cup with a state’s stamp art. These items sell in hospitality gift shops and
are great customer giveaways.

A bookmark campaign was initiated for May 4, as part of National
Travelers Appreciation Day. On one side of the bookmark it reads, "Thanks
for traveling. On the other side, a participating organization can print its
own message, name, tagline or URL. TIA has made buying the bookmarks
affordable at $50 per thousand, or $1,500 for 100,000. Organizations have
been distributing them at information centers, with airline lunches, to hotel
guests, and at museums.

"Again this is all about leveraging. We’ve got a common message and a
common brand (SeeAmerica) celebrating travel." O'Rourke says.

TIA’s Travel Confidence Survey in spring showed the highest percentage of
Americans planning to travel since September 11. More than safety concerns,
the economy is the biggest factor for those who are not planning travel,
O’Rourke says. Some industry sectors are already back to the same numbers of customers they typically would have at this time of year. However, great
deals lured people back to travel, now companies need to raise their prices,
O’Rourke says.

More recently, O’Rourke is working on a See Outdoors promotion and Monday
holiday promotions. She also hopes to reprise SeeAmerica Day in November.
"TIA has worked very hard to create an image of an industry that stands
together and stands up for Americans freedom to travel….I urge each of you to
consider how you can leverage the SeeAmerica brand and any other TIA
programs," O’Rourke says. "It can save you money and offer some high-impact
marketing programs."