FORECAST 17 STRATEGIC PILLARS

EDUCATION

Educate stakeholders regarding the purpose of a DMO/DLO.

The most significant Visit Jackson deficiency that was identified during the Strategic Planning process was the miseducation regarding the purpose of Visit Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi’s official destination management organization. Stakeholders, specifically, local citizens, festival/event partner organizations and political partners all noted that they thought Visit Jackson’s purpose was to provide funding for events and festivals. In reality, Visit Jackson is one of the few DMOs in the nation that provides event grants.

It is the goal during the upcoming year to begin strategically educating our partners with information regarding the objectives of a DMO and how they can partner with Visit Jackson to enhance the marketing and promotion of annual events and activities, thereby impacting the quality of life for citizens and the economic vitality of the region.

GOALS

• Create opportunities to share programming and specific strategies with stakeholders, thereby educating them regarding the return-on-investment focus of Visit Jackson; • Identify resources resulting in a Destination

Master Plan or Destination NEXT styled platform stabilizing the foundation for destination growth for Mississippi’s

Capital City; • Provide opportunities to identify external and appropriate funding resources and partnerships to and for quailed events and activities for the Capital Region; • Engage the education communities within the destination to establish a knowledgebase associated with the value of tourism including economic vitality and workforce initiatives

TACTICS

• Implement a tactic that has the propensity to educate the local community regarding the value of utilizing a DMO when planning events, activities, & traveling, and how

Visit Jackson can help realize a more successful and fluid planning experience. • Educate citizens regarding the value of

Jackson, MS as a travel destination • Create a partner dashboard on the Visit

Jackson website • Execute educational programming platform for public access and/or cable networks • Execute a program where funding provided by Visit Jackson is distributed through a partnership with a stakeholder organization to support smaller community events. • Execute a committee representative of various Visit Jackson departments that evaluates and decides on sponsorships for larger local events.

2022-23 Operational Plan ADVOCACY/ COMMUNITY AWARENESS & INVOLVEMENT

Build proponents of the Visit Jackson Community

The value of Collective Ambition has been amplified during the past year. Sharing of resources and supporting each other’s missions and goals has begun to yield results for the Capital Area Region. During the upcoming year, Visit Jackson will continue to cultivate intentional partnerships, including nontraditional alliances, continue to build value for the DLO and its stakeholders, positioning the destination as a more formidable market competitor.

Dedicated resources with strategic goals have been identified to strengthen the destination and its growth potential. During Fiscal Year 2023, purposeful strategies will be executed to solidify Visit Jackson as a collaboration clearinghouse fortifying its designation as a Destination Leadership Organization.

GOALS

• Position Visit Jackson as a valuable resource regarding destination management and leadership; • Enhance the awareness and appreciative position of tourism as a viable and valuable influence for Jackson by activating strong grassroots and traditional networking strategies; • Strengthen the relationships with municipal, state, and federal electorate illustrating the significance of tourism and impact of collective ambition among community partners; • Engage ten community and corporate organizations within the Capital Area to build alliances and share resources;

TACTICS

• Schedule a meeting two times a year to explain to the stakeholders how vital our partnership is to the destination. • Continue to take information packets to all new restaurants. • Add a component to the downtown partners’ website, making the local businesses aware of the Visitors Center and the importance of Visit Jackson to the destination. • Provide guided city-wide tours to incoming first-year students each semester to the • Relaunch the Tourism Oriented Policing

Strategies (TOPS) program to promote visitor and citizen safety awareness while attending conventions, attractions, hotels, and restaurants and to build partnerships between the policing agencies and the community. • Offer support and input to the Downtown

Jackson Partners Homelessness Committee on how best to impact the homeless in the capital area. • Relaunch the Hospitality Training Program to heighten customer service within the destination

city’s five major colleges and universities to familiarize them with their new community. • Monthly pitch campaigns targeting local media outlets • Execute annual Hometown Hero program • Develop and activate Speaker’s Bureau • Collaborate with local universities and colleges to produce a Tourism Job Fair in 2023 • Continue and grow the My City Young

Ambassador Program in partnership with

Jackson elementary schools