2020 Conference was held in Little Rock, AR
Research Roundtable – Sponsored by: Key Data Dashboard
Topics were Measuring Niche Tourism, Essential and Low Cost Research to measure Marketing Performance and telling your DMO’s story and Low Cost/Essential Research discussion: Case studies and a group discussion on the essential elements of starting and building a research program to inform sales & marketing strategies, measure destination performance and tell the DMO story. Moderator: Gustav Weibull, Senior Director, Business Intelligence & Research at Discover The Palm Beaches
Understanding the Destinations’ Image During Crisis or Natural Disaster – Sponsored by: STR
Berkeley Young moderated a panel discussion on how we can better understand the destination’s image during times of crisis or natural disaster and develop strategies to begin recovery. Daryl Cronk from Visit Orlando shared some of his research from a wide variety of crisis topics that Orlando has experienced in recent times. Joy Barlogie and Brandy Flowers from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism shared their research on the recent flooding that the state experienced and how it impacted more than 15 counties in their state.
Designing Inclusive Tourism and Marketing to Diverse Audiences – Sponsored by: AirDNA
Discussed motivations of travel for underrepresented traveling populations and understanding their intent for travel. Talked through the opportunities and challenges in marketing toward social responsibility in tourism marketing. Panelist were Laura Mandala of Mandala Research, Bill Fitzgerald, Vice President for Marketing & Communications, Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau and Lydia Warren PhD Candidate in the Critical and Comparative Music Studies program at the University of Virginia and founder of Beale Street Stories. Discussion will be facilitated by Stefanie Benjamin, PhD and Initiative Coordinator and Research Fellow for Tourism RESET. Tourism RESET is a place for professional collaboration and exchange between scholars who are doing work in the areas of race, ethnicity, and social equity in tourism.
Southeast Travel and Tourism Research General Session – Sponsored by: UberMedia
Sean Snaith, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Economic Competitiveness, University of Central Florida- An Economic Outlook from a sought-after speaker known for his engaging and humorous presentations
Dr Snaith has built a national reputation for his unique ability to explain complex subject matter in a digestible manner. He earned praise from one business editor for having “an uncanny knack of making economics not only understandable but interesting.” Sean Snaith, Ph.D., is the director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Economist and The Guardian and has appeared on CNBC, Fox Business Network, The Nightly News with Brian Williams, Al Jazeera, the BBC and CBC, China Central TV, Sky News, Nippon TV and the Business News Network, based in Toronto.
