THE SESSION:
Successful public relations and marketing efforts (and great travel stories) rely heavily on one key component – RESEARCH! Over the last decade, Destination Analysts has becomes a leader in customized travel and tourism research – surveying thousands of U.S. and international travelers for visitor profile studies, destination brand research, ROI studies and more. This session will dive deep into their noted travel trends research known as The State of the American Traveler™ and The State of the International Traveler™ so that PR pros from all facets of the tourism sector can see what places, activities/interests, etc. are on the radar looking ahead. This session is also a good fit for writers and bloggers to learn, based on proven research, what travel angles should you be pitching based on trend projections.
THE SPEAKER:
Erin Francis-Cummings, President & CEO of Destination Analysts, has spent the last decade studying travelers from across the globe and translating their evolving, complex, and fascinating behaviors and opinions into marketing insights for Destination Analysts’ 100+ clients. Erin has designed research strategy and facilitated consumer research for some of the world’s greatest destination brands, including Bermuda, California, the Fiji Islands, Napa Valley, Florida, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In addition to conducting research from brand auditing, to user experience to ROI analysis, she also oversees the production of Destination Analysts’ The State of the American Traveler—the travel industry’s longest-running and most relied on tracking study of American leisure travel sentiment and behaviors—and The State of the International Traveler—an annual study of the travel behaviors and perceptions of international travelers in 13 top feeder markets to the United States. A professional lifetime ago, Erin was the Advertising Manager for Amtrak and a Marketing Manager at the San Francisco Travel. A Los Angeles native and alumnae of UCLA, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children.
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