2018 Visit Baton Rouge Impact Report by Visit Baton Rouge

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REBRANDING

VISIT BATON ROUGE IN 2018 WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

A BRAND FOR THE FUTURE Visit Baton Rouge rebranded in 2018 in order to better showcase the spirit of the city. The core elements of our new Visit Baton Rouge brand are pride, authenticity and the relationships that we create. In addition to creating a brand visitors recognize as a travel resource, we sought to provide locals an opportunity to rally around our city.

Previous logo

Authentic and creative, caring and charismatic, our new brand showcases Visit Baton Rouge’s goal and capacity to serve both visitors and locals. We are bringing our city to life and sharing it with the world. Four Core Values 1 Go beyond customer service 2 Create lasting impressions 3 Be true to Baton Rouge 4 Create a culture that fosters diversity, expression and collaboration

New logo

Visit Baton Rouge is the local expert and information source for all things Baton Rouge — from hotels and facilities to attractions, restaurants and more. We are funded by a 6% occupancy tax on Baton Rouge hotel rooms. Each year, our departments work together to support three foundational goals: increase visitation, cultivate local pride, and strengthen local businesses and organizations through collaborative partnerships. These efforts have a widespread impact on our communities, and in 2018 the Greater Baton Rouge Area saw many of these initiatives come to life. When we authentically tell the story of Baton Rouge, we change the way people think of our city. The more we show our pride and share our experiences, the more businesses will push to set up shop, the more locals will feel engaged and ultimately, the stronger our city will grow, inside and out. The story of Baton Rouge grew with new restaurants like Rocca’s Pizzeria and Cecilia’s Creole Bistro, new hotels such as Tru by Hilton and the Downtown Courtyard Marriott, and new attractions like Topgolf and Red Stick Social.

11.3 $958 MILLION VISITORS

MILLION SPENT BY VISITORS

FIVE 20+

2018 AMERICAN ADVERTISING AWARDS

NATIONAL RECOGNITIONS FOR BATON ROUGE

FOR MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

INCLUDING BEST SMALL CITY IN US

390

MEETINGS, CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS H ELD IN BATON ROUGE

SOURCES: Longwoods International, National Geographic

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PARTNERS & AFFILIATIONS

OUR AFFILIATIONS ATTRACTIONS

VENUES

OUR PARTNERS Visit Baton Rouge is able to successfully promote the city, alongside our partners, with local industry and hospitality businesses throughout the state. Through our combined expertise and resources, we are able to identify opportunities for growth, develop compelling bids for new business, and provide support for existing business. At the end of the day, we’re all working together to position Baton Rouge as a premier destination for both business and leisure travelers. Two central hospitality industry partnerships include Film Baton Rouge and SportsBR. Positioning Baton Rouge as a premier location for athletic events and the film industry increases both tourism revenue and local pride. The collaboration between Film Baton Rouge and Visit Baton Rouge helps integrate the local creative community within the national industry. Our Sports BR collaboration splits its time between bringing athletic events to Baton Rouge and improving perennial events like the Cajun Classic Wheelchair Tennis Tournament and Marucci World Series.

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SHOPS & RETAIL

ANNUAL EVENTS

RESTAURANTS

VISITOR SERVICES

In 2018, we elevated Baton Rouge’s profile through affiliations with local, regional and national like-minded organizations. The Southeast Louisiana Gumbo Group and the Southeast Tourism Society help promote Baton Rouge on a local and regional level, while our work with Brand USA increased Baton Rouge’s recognition and appeal on a national level.

SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA GUMBO GROUP HOTELS & ACCOMMODATIONS

258,831

PROMOTES A 9 PARISH AREA OF LOUISIANA

SOUTHEAST TOURISM SOCIETY PROMOTES A 12-STATE SOUTHEAST REGION OF THE UNITED STATES

BRAND USA PROMOTES THE UNITED STATES GLOBALLY TO INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

ONLINE VIEWS FOR PARTNER LISTINGS In recognition of our commitment to industry excellence Visit Baton Rouge is accredited as a Destination Marketing Organization by Destination International. IMPACT REPORT 2018 | 5

AUDIENCE & REACH

OUR VISITORS

WHEN VISITORS STAY, IT PAYS

Creates a virtuous cycle of economic benefits

Helps build business

Makes our home a happier place

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Travelers visiting a destination spend money for local attractions, hotels, retail, restaurants, and transportation. Travel spending supports local jobs and generates additional tax revenue for state and local governments to invest in enhanced public services for residents and visitors alike.

The more engaged our partners are, the more knowledge we have of all Baton Rouge has to offer. This helps us sell the area to meeting planners, entice visitors to choose Baton Rouge, and connect our partners with the over 11 million travelers who are likely to become customers.

A stronger tourism industry allows Baton Rouge to better compete with other similarly-sized cities for entertainment and business opportunities. That means more sporting events, concerts, restaurants, conventions, and more for locals to enjoy. All of this has a positive impact on perceptions of a destination, which continues this cycle of growth to improve our quality of life.

42% of travelers to Baton Rouge are coming to visit friends and family. Our goal, and the goal of our partnering local businesses, is to encourage these visitors to come early, leave late, and enjoy every inch of Baton Rouge. With an adaptive and comprehensive marketing strategy, we’re able to target our communications to specific visitor personas, learn from their behavior, retarget communication, and ultimately connect them to the perfect Baton Rouge experiences, whether that’s through our website or directly from our partners’ websites. Learning more about our visitors, whether they’re traveling for leisure, business or both, means more money into our economy and more local businesses reaping the rewards.

WHO OUR VISITORS TRAVEL WITH ■ Spouse/Partner | 51% ■ Child(ren) | 33% ■ Friend(s) | 23%

$85.70 56.51%

AVERAGE DAILY RATE

29% STATE ORGIN OF TRIP

33% 5%

AVERAGE OCCUPANCY

OF VISITORS LOOKED AT TRAVEL PHOTOS/ VIDEOS ONLINE WHEN PLANNING

LOUISIANA

16%

TEXAS

MISSISSIPPI

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

CALIFORNIA

SOURCES: STR, Longwoods International

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IN THE NEWS

PROMOTING A CITY MARKETING OVERVIEW The 2018 marketing campaign placed Baton Rouge at the intersection of vintage culture and modern entertainment. Reaching locals, visitors and business audiences, our campaign sought to place Baton Rouge on the map as an authentic cultural destination unlike anywhere else in the state. We worked with MESH and Morgan & Company—two of our long-standing partners—to develop a campaign that would reach our target audiences based on their interests, including Music, Food and Festivals. Maintaining these cultural themes, our campaign leveraged over 300 years of history in Baton Rouge, as well as our growing festival culture. It’s our people that make our culture great, and the 2018 marketing campaign sought to establish a personal connection by highlighting the great people in Baton Rouge. Utilizing a classic postcard design paired with striking imagery, our campaign creative connected with our audiences in a personal way. Touchpoints included print, digital and social media ads, as well as videos, to promote Baton Rouge. Visuals of local people, chefs and performers portrayed the welcoming, peoplefirst atmosphere found in Baton Rouge. By calling audiences to “write your own adventure,” we referenced the rich history found in Baton Rouge and encouraged them to visit and make their own memories.

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Write your own adventURE at www.visitbatonrouge.com

Journalists across the nation are looking for interesting stories to tell, and we make sure that they know Baton Rouge’s Story. By developing relationships with awardwinning journalists and the blogger next door, we ensure that local businesses are never far from the front page. These relationships led to over 4 billion editorial impressions in 2018, with over 37 million dollars worth of earned media for Baton Rouge. Working with Development Counsellors International (DCI) and other local partners, Visit Baton Rouge continued to tell Baton Rouge stories on a regional, national and international scale with the goal of benefiting the people who call our city home. Nationwide Recognition

CAPITAL CITY

■ Six Spots in Louisiana to Explore This Year - USA Today ■ Best Small Cities in America for 2018 - National Geographic Travel Foodie and Friendly!

Write your own adventURE at www.visitbatonrouge.com

■ Top Foodie Destinations: Where Opportunities for Authentic Culinary Experiences Abound Corporate & Incentive Travel ■ 5 Reasons to Visit Baton Rouge For a Girl’s Weekend The Blonde Side (blogger)

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SOCIAL MEDIA

OUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Social Media allows people with common interests to form organized, powerful communities. We harnessed the power of social media communities through our Krewe de Rouge, a team of passionate local influencers who cover city wide events through their personal accounts. Our influencer community is great and growing, but we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let them have all the fun. We were online throughout 2018 promoting our partners attractions and events.

After seeing the continuous growth of our website, in 2018 we made a concerted effort to enhance our digital presence. Page views continued to skyrocket, with our website totalling over 1.6 million views in 2018.

YOUTUBE VIEWS | 571,900 FACEBOOK LIKES | 116,144 TWITTER FOLLOWERS | 41,841 PINTEREST AVERAGE MONTHLY VIEWERS | 17,377

The primary traffic drivers were our calendar and our blog. The visitor-driven, interactive calendar allows anyone in Baton Rouge to post events. Residents are proud of what they are doing, sharing an average of 3 events per day. Our blog grew over 300% in 2018, thanks to a focus on regular posts highlighting the breadth of fun to be had in Baton Rouge. Our email newsletter added 431 signups in 2018. SOURCES: Google Analytics, VBR Social Media Analytics

INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS | 13,086

Never miss a party thanks to our interactive calendar. Baton Rouge residents submitted over 1110 events to the 2018 calendar!

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BUSINESS TRAVELERS GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS Visit Baton Rouge works year round to bring business travelers into our city. Our team works together to position Baton Rouge as a future meeting and convention destination to hundreds of potential local, regional, and national clients. This includes building relationships with and advertising to meeting planners, hosting FAM tours and site visits, and attending relevant tradeshows and sales missions. Baton Rouge excels as a host city, and we work day-in and day-out to make sure that conference organizers and event coordinators know it too. In 2018, Visit Baton Rouge facilitated a number of successful meetings, conferences and events throughout the city. The team collectively booked more than 85,000 room nights, supporting our local businesses and partners and contributing to our economy. SOURCE: Visit Baton Rouge Data

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571 14 3 85,842

QUALIFIED LEADS DISTRIBUTED

NOTABLE EVENTS IN 2018 ■ A LUMNI PROFESSIONALS OF THE

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE (APSEC)

TRADESHOWS ATTENDED

Showcasing Baton Rouge and LSU, the LSU Alumni Association hosted their counterparts from other SEC schools in July ■ BARBERSHOP HARMONY SOCIETY’S

SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT SPRING CONVENTION The regional singing championship named quartet and chorus champions for the Southwestern district

SALES MISSIONS/PARTNERSHIPS

■ BLACK PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE A diversity conference with leaders from all over the country hosted by Capital Area United Way ■ MARUCCI WORLD SERIES

ROOM NIGHTS BOOKED BY STAFF

■ S OUTHEASTERN HOMICIDE

INVESTIGATORS ASSOCIATION An educational conference of law enforcement agencies across the nation, which shared the latest findings from recent investigations

■ SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY NATIONAL ALUMNI

CONFERENCE AND GALA

A gala honoring SU alumni from across the country and establishing the inaugural 40 under 40 recognition ceremony for distinguished SU Alumni ■ 10X WATER SUMMIT A conference convening thought leaders across the country along 1-10, the water summit engaged our region as a living laboratory for resilience and innovation

The Marucci Founders Club baseball tournament saw over 90 teams travel to Baton Rouge with players, coaches and families

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390

ENHANCING THE EXPERIENCE Our support begins long before an 8 a.m. check-in. The team at Visit Baton Rouge works tirelessly to build customized marketing and attendance-building toolkits for each event. We share our network, offering quality service referrals with a local touch. Our Destination Services team aims to make day-of logistics as easy as possible, so we provide handson-help with the details like room preparation and presentations. In 2018, over 30,000 welcome guides were distributed, with over 1,100 digitally downloaded.

MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS HELD

ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT

313

PARTNER REFERRALS

87,629

ATTENDEES

584

67,981

GROUPS SERVICED

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$33+ M

BLENDING THE WORLD OF BUSINESS & LEISURE According to LCT magazine, 79% of business travelers say that they would return to a city for leisure if they had a pleasant experience. But we don’t wait for them to come back. Our team makes sure business travelers know everything Baton Rouge has to offer before they arrive. And our marketing toolkits arm meeting planners with the info they need to sell their conference or event, while highlighting all that our city has to offer. Business travelers are invited to come early and stay late, and we make sure they don’t waste a single minute.

ROOMS PICKED UP

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LEISURE TRAVELERS TRAVELERS FROM NEAR AND FAR A LOCAL LEISURE DESTINATION When Baton Rouge attracts visitors, everything from local businesses to public services and residents benefit. Leisure travel promotes a stronger Baton Rouge and a cycle of constant tourism. Leisure travelers experiencing our unique flair generates revenue to improve our city, ultimately creating jobs and attracting new events and entertainment for families across our communities to enjoy. According to Longwoods International, 33% of overnight visitors come from within our state. Football and spring graduation bring the highest percentage of leisure visitors to Baton Rouge. Whether they want to cheer on the Tigers or Jags or watch their own Tiger or Jaguar walk across the stage, our goal is to make sure they don’t want to leave. We encourage these visitors to expand their experiences in Baton Rouge beyond the particular event which brought them here. We are helping them see Baton Rouge as the perfect destination for a festival, a holiday or even just a long weekend.

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As the Capital City, Baton Rouge is home to all things Louisiana. When tourists stay here, they can explore anything from music to history at the center of a cultural hub. No matter where they come from, we’ve got something for every traveler. Our marketing efforts across a 6-hour drive window have brought our Western neighbors in with the majority of our out-of-state visitors coming from Texas. The Mississippi River is another natural source of tourism, with the thriving Riverboat industry bringing more tourists into Baton Rouge each year. Additionally, local festivals and events like the Louisiana Marathon bring in visitors from all over the globe. Riverboats ■ 14,280 passengers ■ 89 dockings ■ 5 boats

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WELCOME CENTERS A WARM WELCOME Visit Baton Rouge’s Welcome Centers are located throughout the city and serve as information hubs for all things to do and see in Baton Rouge. Staffed with educated and passionate travel counselors, these welcome centers are filled with resources to help visitors plan their trip! Call or come by to browse brochures and other promotional materials for area attractions, restaurants, hotels and more.

WELCOME CENTER VISITORS ■ ■ ■ ■

B TR Metropolitan Airport | 11,444 S tate Capitol | 77,486 V isit Baton Rouge | 4,407 R iverboats | 14,280

BOARD OF DIRECTORS VISIT BATON ROUGE OFFICES DOWNTOWN

BATON ROUGE METROPOLITAN AIRPORT (BTR)

359 Third St. Baton Rouge, LA 70801 (225) 383-1825 | (800) 527-6843

9430 Jackie Cochran Dr. Baton Rouge, LA 70811 (225) 355-0925

Hours | Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Closed on major holidays)

Hours | S unday – Friday 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

LOUISIANA STATE CAPITOL 900 North Third St. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 (225) 382-0580 Hours | Sunday – Saturday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Closed on major holidays)

INFEAUX ON THE GEAUX MOBILE WELCOME CENTER Infeaux on the Geaux is our mobile information cart. Look for it at local festivals and events to find helpful resources on what to do in and around Baton Rouge.

CAROLYN MCKNIGHT, CHAIRMAN

Metropolitan Council

NORMAN CHENEVERT, VICE CHAIRMAN

Downtown Development District

SCOTT MICHELET, SECRETARY/TREASURER

Baton Rouge Lodging Association

FLYNN FOSTER, IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN

Baton Rouge Area Chamber

MARK DRENNEN

Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge

TOTAL | 107,617

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OUR PEOPLE

SALES

LORI LASSEIGNE ADMINISTRATION

PAUL ARRIGO President & CEO

BARNEY DOYLE Director Of Finance

FATIMA GAUTIER Executive Assistant

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GERALDINE BORDELON, CMP

KARRON ALFORD

Executive Assistant

Director Of Destination Sales

Director Of Marketing & Technology

CARLA BERGERON

TRACY FRANCIS

PAULINA TAVERA

National Sales Manager, Tourism

CRM Marketing Manager

Travel Counselor

STEPHANIE CELESTINE

LAURALYN MARANTO Vice President Of Administration

MARKETING & TECHNOLOGY

National Sales Manager, Convention

PROJECTS STACY SIMON

ZACH EBARB

Director Of Special Events & Projects

Sports & Convention Sales Manager

NATALIE PAUL

MICHAEL AGUIRRE

Events & Design Specialist

Sales Manager, Convention

BUILDING ON OUR FOUNDATION Our fundamental goals for 2018 were to increase visitation, cultivate local pride and strengthen local businesses. Both tourism spending and resident satisfaction are up, and we are proud of the contributions that our direct marketing and partnerships with local influencers have on the community. Baton Rouge will continue to grow into a premier destination city, and we are looking forward to our continued role in that growth.

SERVICES ERICA SWEENEY GLORY Content Marketing Specialist

PHILIPA BLAIR Director of Destination Services

CHRISTY LOHMANN

COURTNEY TAYLOR, CMP

Communications Specialist

Destination Services Coordinator