Business Plan JULY 2020 – JUNE 2022 Message from the President & CEO: page 2 Our Mission & Vision: page 2 Our North Star: page 3 Program Highlights & Performance Measures: pages 4-16
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A Plan Built for These Times As it has done for individuals, families and businesses around the globe, COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for Travel Portland, the city’s destination marketing & management organization (DMMO). What follows is not a business plan in the classic sense. But it’s a business plan built for these times: clear in its strategic direction and vision, yet flexible enough to adjust to the rapidly changing circumstances and data. Working with our partners in the community, we’ll craft the specific tactics that will help lead Portland — and the local visitor industry — on the road to recovery. Our efforts will focus on filling hotels and short-term rentals, which, in turn, will help fill Portland’s restaurants, shops, attractions and cultural institutions. And we’ll do it in a very Portland way: collaboratively, creatively and with an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We look forward to partnering with you,
Jeff Miller Travel Portland President & CEO
Our Mission
Our Vision
We generate travel demand that drives economic impact for Portland. 2019 economic impact, by the numbers: $5.6 billion in visitor spending 36,930 jobs $1.6 billion in employment earnings $277.8 million in state and local tax revenue
Travel Portland is a promoter and steward of this evolving city and its progressive values, which have the power to transform the travelers who visit us.
Source: Dean Runyan Associates 2
Our North Star Our Tourism Master Plan — the result of an extensive series of workshops and interviews with Travel Portland staff, board members, stakeholders and community members — will help guide the long-term planning and development of the destination. The plan identifies three areas of focus that inform our investments and programs of work.
EXPERIENCES We’ll continue to tell authentic stories about Portland experiences and personalities that inspire the visitors we wish to attract. We’ll do so by deepening our commitment to cultural diversity, leveraging the makers’ movement, and forging deeper relationships with neighborhood business districts and communities of color.
DEVELOPMENT We’ll plan for the day when, budgets permitting, we can: deploy tourism development funds to prioritize the kinds of new experiences we want to create as a city; and create, incubate, and develop signature Portland events that are beloved by visitors and locals alike. In the meantime, we’ll continue to find ways to support the local culinary ecosystem and preserve Portland’s place in the international food scene.
ADVOCACY We’ll serve as the industry voice, champion and conduit for a broader portfolio of policies, programs and opportunities that affect Portland as a visitor destination — and a place to live. We’ll be at the table to help shape a regional transportation strategy; champion the Green Loop, a 6-mile linear park and active transportation path; and join communitywide efforts to address homelessness and support vulnerable communities. 3
Program Highlights & Performance Measures PROMOTING PORTLAND AS A CONVENTION DESTINATION PROMOTING PORTLAND TO DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL CONSUMERS MANAGING THE DESTINATION SUPPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESS PROVIDING INFORMATION TO VISITORS
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Promoting Portland as a Convention Destination Through sales, marketing and support activities, we promote Portland as a destination for conventions, conferences and meetings of all sizes.
CONVENTION SALES In the wake of COVID-19, Travel Portland will coordinate with the Oregon Convention Center (OCC) and our hotel partners to: reschedule cancelled meetings; mitigate the impact of business interruptions; and collaborate on short-term recovery sales strategies. At the same time, we’ll assemble local health officials, civic leaders and hospitality partners to evaluate the city’s facilities, infrastructure and protocols to ensure that Portland is prepared to host conventions in a post-pandemic environment. Doing so will: help re-open OCC and shuttered hotels; put furloughed hospitality employees back to work; fill local tax coffers and ignite the local economic recovery; and enable Travel Portland to focus on the long-term health of the destination, which we’ll help secure via our research-driven approach to developing new leads for both citywide conventions (i.e., those that require the OCC, plus multiple hotels) and self-contained meetings (those that fit within one property).
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MULTICULTURAL MEETINGS Working in conjunction with the Community Engagement team, local stakeholders and industry partners, the Convention Sales team enhances Portland’s visibility and business appeal in the multicultural convention market. Recent successes include:
In June 2019, the National Conference for Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) met in Portland. To enhance the attendees’ experience and amplify the meeting’s impact on minority-owned businesses, Travel Portland and Prosper Portland mounted the fourth iteration of My People’s Market (see page 11) in conjunction with the conference. NCORE will return to Portland in May 2022. Projected room nights: 8,630. Estimated economic impact: $6.4 million.
Utilizing a community-driven approach, Travel Portland — working with local business, community and elected leaders — successfully pitched and landed the annual convention for the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), which will come to Portland in October 2023. Projected room nights: 5,736. Estimated economic impact: $3 million.
Travel Portland launched a strategic partnership with Association Forum, a Chicago-based “association of associations,” whose 4,000 members represent 1,600 organizations. Inspired by Association Forum’s Welcoming Environment initiative, Travel Portland created the Women’s Executive Forum, an annual event that brings together association leaders (the decision-makers who determine where their organizations’ conventions will be held) for an allwomen’s retreat devoted to networking, professional development and peer-topeer support. As the creator and sponsor of this event, Travel Portland ensures that the city stays top-of-mind with these important clients, who hear firsthand about Portland’s progress toward becoming a welcoming place for all.
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CONVENTION SERVICES Once a meeting has been booked in Portland, our award-winning Convention Services team works with the planner to coordinate details and services before, during and after the meeting. These efforts generate economic impact by connecting meeting planners and convention delegates with a full range of local venues, experiences and businesses, with a key focus on entrepreneurs of color (utilizing Prosper Portland’s Mercatus platform) and minorityowned, woman-owned and emerging small businesses (M/W/ESB).
PERFORMANCE MEASURES & CONTRACT TARGETS (PRE-PANDEMIC) Below are Travel Portland’s convention-related performance measures and contract targets for the period through June 30, 2020. Travel Portland will work with the City of Portland and the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission (MERC) to review and, as needed, update these measures to better reflect market realities, and the community’s need for Travel Portland to rebalance its short- and long-term priorities. ROI on community economic impact ROI on Travel Portland convention sales and marketing programs ROI on future OCC business Oregon Convention Center (OCC) revenue target for current FY Lead conversion Conduct post-convention surveys of meeting planners to gauge customer satisfaction
44:1 (MERC) 25:1 (MERC) 5.8:1 (City of Portland) $18 million (MERC) 18% (MERC) Minimum 6/year. Avg. rating: 3.8 out of 4 (MERC and City of Portland)
Public relations: deliver meetings-related pitches to industry media 3/quarter (MERC) Monitor and track lost opportunities and cancellations (City of Portland) Definite room night performance (annual goal set by Convention Sales Steering Committee) 7
Promoting Portland to Domestic & International Consumers We promote Portland as a destination for leisure travel through marketing, advertising, events and media outreach.
DRIVING DEMAND TO BRING BACK TOURISM To help spark a tourism-driven economic recovery, Travel Portland will pivot from its focus on the traditional winter need time to an “always-on” approach that addresses the pressing need for year-round travel demand. We’ll lean heavily on social media content, with a regular and frequent cadence of inspiring posts, articles, pictures and videos to engage our core audience; conversioncentric digital advertising with online travel agencies; strategic partnerships with digital publishers; and the efforts of our Public Relations team (see page 9). Working outwards in concentric circles — and in collaboration with our community partners — we’ll first target Portland-area residents to build back critical mass, expand to regional drive markets in Oregon and Washington to promote an easy getaway to Portland, and eventually reach longer-haul California markets as air travel becomes more feasible. 8
PUBLIC RELATIONS The Travel Portland Public Relations team generates travel demand by telling the stories of Portland’s diverse communities, culture and people to strategically targeted members of the media. Credible, third-party media coverage of Portland as a convention and leisure destination complements the organization’s advertising efforts, and articles featuring local businesses (most of which cannot afford PR representation) create added awareness and demand. Our key initiatives — story pitching, inmarket media hosting and proactive media outreach in key media markets (New York and California) — result in billions of positive media impressions to consumers.
SOCIAL MEDIA Travel Portland’s voice — open and welcoming, laid-back and confident, unexpected and unfiltered — comes to life on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There, we share stories about Portland’s diverse and myriad communities, neighborhoods, businesses and experiences — and can pivot quickly to support local businesses, as we did with the take-out dining promotion, #pdxtogo. Visit www.travelportland.com/aboutus/supporting-business for tips and assets.
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Travel Portland’s International Affairs team positions Portland as a transformative destination for international audiences served by nonstop international air service to PDX. Navigating an ever-evolving buying chain, the team will pursue select opportunities to promote the destination, working in conjunction with the Port of Portland, Travel Oregon, Brand USA and partners in the Portland Region. Tactics may include direct-to-consumer efforts, as well as collaborations with traveltrade partners: in-country and online travel agents, international tour operators, receptive tour operators and Portland-based travel suppliers.
PERFORMANCE MEASURES: CITY OF PORTLAND Measure hotel demand, comparing Portland to competitive markets Measure consumer intent to travel to Portland (both regionally and nationally) Measure, via an advertising accountability study, the incremental visitation and market spending generated by Travel Portland. Public relations: track and report circulation of placements. Public relations: track and report key message resonation. International visitation: measure and benchmark arrivals. Be within 5% of the average performance of our competitive set (Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis). Work with the State and Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties in pursuit of cooperative marketing opportunities.
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Managing the Destination We work with community and regional stakeholders to actively manage the destination.
MY PEOPLE’S MARKET Since its creation in fall 2017, My People’s Market has connected Portland creators of color with the travel industry and professionals who could help expand and scale their businesses. This collaboration of Travel Portland, Mercatus and Prosper Portland also features live music, food and fun. Its fifth iteration, in November 2019, was the highest grossing yet, attracting 5,000 attendees and generating over $56,000 in sales. It also included a dedicated trade show, drawing 45 buyers from 30 different retailers and hospitality partners, including representatives from New Seasons Market, Market of Choice, Portland Trail Blazers, People’s Food Co-op, Tender Loving Empire and Metro. Results to be updated annually.
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CHARITY COCKTAIL Launched in 2018, the Portland Charity Cocktail program supports local nonprofits serving people experiencing homelessness in Portland. For each featured cocktail sold at a participating bar, $1 is donated. The charity cocktail concept was created by Kimpton Hotel Monaco’s thengeneral manager, Ryan Kunzer, who rolled out a similar program at the hotel in fall 2017. After immediate interest from guests and the program’s early success, he brought the concept to Travel Portland for expansion. To date, the Charity Cocktail program has raised more than $50,000 for local nonprofits including Transition Projects, New Avenues for Youth and p:ear. Results to be updated annually.
BRAND MANAGEMENT & CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS As destination managers, we pay attention to more than livability issues, infrastructure, and the visitor experience. We’re also stewards of Portland’s brand. Travel Portland monitors the destination brand via national perception audits, inmarket surveys of visitors, and active social listening. Armed with this intelligence, and guided by our strategic Crisis Management Plan, Travel Portland stands at the ready to communicate with its customers, stakeholders and public-safety partners during moments of crisis and/or negative publicity. The plan is designed to help the organization — and the destination — navigate any unfavorable situation that can harm the Portland brand, visitor industry or visitor experience.
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Supporting Local Business We support the business community to better support our visitors.
OPTIMIZING FOR GOOGLE MAPS Travel Portland has launched an innovative program to help tourism-facing businesses optimize their presence in mobile web searches — and reach potential customers who use Google Maps and other mobile applications to navigate the city. Travel Portland is covering the cost of this service (valued at $1,800 per year), which is performed in partnership with Locl, a Portland technology company. The program “is probably the single most exciting opportunity in our retail business,” said Emma McIlroy, CEO of Wildfang, which participated in the pilot program. “The team has incredible expertise around driving offline traffic, and we are thrilled with initial results.” Visit www.locl.io/Travel-Portland to learn more.
PERFORMANCE MEASURES: CITY OF PORTLAND Conduct a biennial survey of visitor industry businesses and leaders to gauge knowledge and enthusiasm for Travel Portland programs. Ensure broad representation from Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties in each of the following categories: accommodations, dining, transportation, attractions/activities, retail and services. Ensure broad ethnic diversity within its membership.
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SUPPORTING PORTLAND’S CULINARY ECOSYSTEM In the upcoming biennium, we’ll collaborate with the culinary community to determine how we can best support Portland restaurateurs and their ecosystem, post-COVID. All options will be on the table. One model from which we may draw inspiration: Portland Dining Month, which since 2009 has driven need-time business to local restaurants, made Portland’s acclaimed dining scene more accessible to locals and visitors alike, and raised money for the Oregon Food Bank (more than $30,000 since 2011). Another approach we’ll consider: creating a nimble, flexible platform such as #pdxtogo (see page 9), which would enable Travel Portland to incorporate multiple partners, price points and offers.
PARTNER EDUCATION To help its partners elevate their businesses — and take full advantage of the tourism economy — Travel Portland offers inexpensive, impactful workshops a few times a year. The sessions, led by experts, are customized to the participating businesses’ size and needs. Topics include social media, Google Maps optimization, e-mail marketing, content strategy and planning, and media outreach.
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Providing Information to Visitors We provide information to visitors so that they can make the most of their stay.
TRAVELPORTLAND.COM Travel Portland’s award-winning website attracts more than 3 million visits each year. The site, which re-launched in late 2019, is optimized for mobile — and for Travel Portland’s niche in the evolving digital ecosystem. Travel Portland takes full advantage of Google’s inclusive, up-to-date business listings to provide accurate information to visitors who are exploring our media-rich content on the city’s diverse neighborhoods. What’s more, we’ve made it easier for Google itself to harvest our content, thus increasing Travel Portland’s reach and improving the user’s experience. Another new feature: a redesigned events calendar filled with hundreds of visitorfriendly happenings across the city. The site also embraces the organization’s destination management role, connecting in-town visitors with a diverse mix of businesses via our “near me now” functionality, and providing “know before you go” content to help visitors avoid overcrowded areas.
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MAGAZINE The current edition of our awardwinning magazine incorporates several new editorial highlights, including:
an introduction to Portland values and how to adopt them while you’re here;
an acknowledgement of the Native populations whose land Portland occupies;
an expanded commitment to neighborhoods, including an illustrated guide to Cully, a developing neighborhood replete with minority businesses; and
three thematic sections (“taste,” “see,” “do”) that gather a range of related content, accented with a photos and fun design elements.
The guide also reflects Travel Portland’s commitment to diversity. Of the photos in the magazine that depict people, 55% feature people of color. And of the 21 writers and artists who contributed to the guide, 11 (52%) are people of color. Our commitment to employ writers, photographers and illustrators of color provides direct economic support to those freelancers and ensures that diverse voices and perspectives are interwoven into the stories we tell about the city.
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