Transcript: Amir Eylon: [00:00:00] But I think the biggest learning from this one, which you saw some of it in 2017 and, but you saw a lot of it this year is that the community took an event that literally lasts a little over an hour and made it either a full day or a multi-day event festival. Adam Stoker: [00:00:20] Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Destination Marketing Podcast. I'm your host, Adam Stoker. We've got a really interesting show today. 2024 has been an interesting year already and we're still pretty early in the year. And we had an event that was fairly unique and that was the eclipse. The eclipse kind of took over the nation a couple of weeks ago. And after the eclipse, I've been seeing some posts from a good friend of the show. His name is Amir Eylon from Longwoods International. And as I was watching, I was like, man, we ought to do an episode about this. And so Amir was kind enough to join us today to share a little bit of his findings from the research that they've done surrounding the eclipse. And Amir, I really appreciate you taking the time to join us today. Amir Eylon: [00:01:08] Oh, it's my pleasure, Adam. Thanks for having me back. Adam Stoker: [00:01:10] Absolutely. So, of course, you do so much research in the industry, so much digging into the different things that happen. You work for individual destinations, but then also do a lot of industry-level, large-scale work. And I saw you start to post a couple of thoughts about the eclipse and we ended up, we had this scheduled last week and ended up having to reschedule. I'm actually glad we, I'm not glad about the circumstances that caused us to reschedule, but I'm glad we rescheduled because from the sounds of it, you now have a more full picture of the results from the eclipse and the impact that it had on the industry. And so I'm wondering if maybe we could have you start by, why is this a major event? How did you know it was something you were going to want to study? And then we can get into the findings of what actually happened. Amir Eylon: [00:01:57] Sure. Well, again, glad to be here. Yeah, you know, we, we, we, you know, we've been hearing buzz about the eclipse for several years now. Obviously, the last major total eclipse across North America and the US specifically was in 2017. And some of our clients back then, I was, I've been with long was a couple of years at that point and some of our clients back then had done, had big events and massive turnouts for the eclipse. And, and they and one of the things I heard afterwards was, boy, I wish we would have kept our finger on the pulse on that to see if we could have quantified it a little bit more than just the anecdotal stuff we were coming in. And so, you know, and there were a couple, I think, universities did a couple of studies in their communities and so forth and there. But I kind of always follow that in the back of my mind. And anyway, fast forward to 2024. Here we are. And, and again, those destinations are along the path of totality. My wife is ironically a DMO in a small community near where we live in Columbus, Ohio, which was in the 100% path of totality there. So they've been planning for it for a couple of years at least. And you know, the bottom line is, people weren't sure based on prior experience, which was 2017. There were some communities that got just absolutely flooded with visitors coming in for the event. Some stayed multiple nights, some didn't. You had issues of, you know, traffic jams getting in and getting out, right? People kind of trickled in but they all left at once, right, when it's over. You know, it's like a big sporting event from that perspective. And then you've got, you know, and then all the other logistical challenges and so forth. So a lot of communities along the path of totality have really been planning for this for a while. So, you know, we have this tool that we created during COVID called the American Travel Sentiment Tracker. Basically, for the last several years, once a month, we go talk to a group of American travelers about a random sample of 1000 US travelers, representative sample across the US and ask them, you know, what are their intentions in regards to travel? Again, this was originally created for COVID. It's kind of a kind of a guidepost for, you know, what, what are travelers going to do through the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic and try to get some early indicators. We've shifted, you know, over the last three-plus years, we've now, we've gone to other issues, the economy, summer travel season, you know, you name it. Anything that's coming up, we want to get travel attention on its sentiment. So we said, you know what let's ask in March, you know, I mean, there's a lot of speculation going on that. And it was fun kind of hearing a lot of folks putting out estimates of what their visitation might be like and so forth. Not really based on, but just kind of putting it out there. You know what, let's just ask the travelers, let's, let's see what their, what their thoughts are. So in our March planner, Travel Sentiment Tracker, we asked the question, and we said, very simple, are you planning to travel at least 50 miles from home to view the total eclipse on April 8th? And 14% of American travelers said, yeah, we're going to go at least 50 miles from home. There. Adam Stoker: [00:05:06] Can I stop you just real quick, Amir? So when we're talking about a representative sample of the American traveler. How many people I know 14% sounds like a large number. What's the number of American travelers? If we're looking at that representative sample. Amir Eylon: [00:05:24] Well, so, you know, if you're extrapolating this, you know, I think what you're asking is, you know, what does 14% mean in overall big picture? It is, you are literally talking about millions and millions of travelers in there. There were for example, last year in the US alone, there were about 3 billion what we call personal trips taken. So when you think about that, see if a person trip is one person traveling, you know, one trip, say 50 miles from home. So you're looking at a family of four going somewhere that's four-person trips right in there. So when you think about that, now, now again, this isn't exactly apples to apples because this is a separate survey from our tracking survey, Travel USA which tells us exactly who, you know, how many people who tell us how many people went, how many, you know, and what they ended up doing, that is again, not apples to apples. But if you take 3 billion trips and you take you know, 14% of that boil down the number of travelers and so forth. You are literally talking about, you know, a good double digit and millions of trips, a number of trips that were expected to be taken in there. Adam Stoker: [00:06:32] Which is incredible. Amir Eylon: [00:06:34] It is incredible, right? Adam Stoker: [00:06:35] I mean, there are not, there's not very many events that can draw a 14%. I don't know what I would call. It is like a rate of travelers that, that are going to drive 50 plus miles. It's a very unique, unique situation. Amir Eylon: [00:06:49] Right. Exactly. And then there's those that live a little closer, didn't have to go 50 miles. And so 8% of those said that they were going to go, you know, travel less than 50 miles to watch the total eclipse. So at the end of the day, you're talking about one out of five American travelers, basically telling us we're going to go see this eclipse in there. It was incredible ironically because I like irony, 15% of the American travelers told us there was an eclipse. So think about all the media hype, but 15% of them still had no clue. So, there we go. Now, let's take a look, a little closer of that 14% you were talking about and let's talk about it from, you know, dollars and cents perspective in there, 43% of them said they're going to spend, at least they, they're going to spend 1 to 2 nights. 23% said they're going to spend 3 to 5 nights away on a trip. 10% said we're just making our spring break, we're going to spend 5 nights or more. So you've got almost three-quarters of American travelers, of those 14% saying we're going to go and spend at least one night in those communities. So when you think about it, hotel rooms or campgrounds or however they were going in there, you think about the food and beverage spend, you think about, you know, maybe they buy some souvenirs. So many communities along the path totality has special events going on around those days, and so forth, so festivals and things like that. So what an opportunity you got millions of people literally coming with their pockets full of cash to spend money in your community. So they can see this event, which again isn't going to happen again in the US to tell you what, until 2046 or something like that. So, yeah, not bad. So, but Adam, that's what people said they were going to do. So what people say they are going to do isn't always exactly what they do because life happens and things change whatever. And, and the one thing about the eclipse is it’s kind of weather-dependent, right? Adam Stoker: [00:08:45] Yeah. Amir Eylon: [00:08:46] And there were some parts of the country, so I live here near Columbus, Ohio. We had a gorgeous, it was a little cloudy in the morning, but it ended up being a gorgeous sunny day for the eclipse. Weather was perfect. There were other parts of the country that were supposed to be along the path of totality that unfortunately had subpar weather. So we went back after the eclipse, back into the field, and we went back to these folks and we said, okay, talk to us, what was your experience here? And so remember, we said, 14% said they were going to travel at least 50 miles from home and go see the eclipse. Well, cut that number in half. It was 7% that actually went. But that's still a few million to take. So, Adam Stoker: [00:09:31] Incredible Amir Eylon: [00:09:32] So 7% of all American travelers are basically telling us they went at least 50 miles from home. There, the 8% that told us that they were going to travel less than 50 miles from home to see the total eclipse. They came a full 8% came. So basically you had about 15% of American travelers altogether that saw the eclipse. I think that was pretty amazing. Now of the 7% that said they went at least 50 miles, so 44% of them, almost half of them ended up just taking a day trip. They came home later the same day there. But 40% actually spent 1 to 2 nights away from home. That's incredible. And that's pretty close to what they said they were going to do. 9% spent 3 to 5 nights and 7% flight dip, so they are spending more than 5 nights in there. So a huge, huge event. I mean, just fantastic. Congratulations to all those communities. Thankfully, we didn't hear too many horror stories and logistical issues and whatnot in there. But I think, you know, obviously the biggest, the biggest differentiator and those who said that what they were going to do and those who actually did, was probably weather depending on what part of the country they were coming from. Adam Stoker: [00:10:45] One of the things I always like to look at, especially when we've got an event like this that affects a portion of the industry, right? Amir Eylon: [00:10:52] Right. Adam Stoker: [00:10:53] Because the Path of Totality was in a very unique line across the United States. I want to know other destinations that may be dealing with some sort of weather anomaly or lunar anomaly or something like that, that may cause a spike in travel. What can we learn from what happened this time with the eclipse? Whether that's how to prepare for it. Whether that's just understanding how much the American traveler values, an event like this. What would you say we should learn from it as destinations that may be in the Path of Totality or something like it in the future? Amir Eylon: [00:11:27] I think you need to look at where the path goes, right? I think that's the biggest learning example, you know. Is it going through major, near or through major urban areas that have infrastructure to have a lot of hotel rooms or Airbnb, that have a lot of campgrounds, that have rest areas, a restroom is a big thing. There were, there were rural communities that literally their EMSF agencies were bringing in portlets to put along some of the county roads and so forth because they recognized that these people are going to need to go somewhere and not a lot of places to go if they have a traffic jam. So things like that. There was one county near us that reportedly had helicopters on standby from local aviation companies that you can run a helicopter because they were afraid that you know what happens if a woman, all of a sudden, goes into labor in a traffic jam, you know. How do they get a helicopter in there quickly and, you know, get her to the hospital, or God forbid a traffic accident or something like that? So there's those kind of things. But I think the biggest learning from this one, which you saw some of it in 2017 and, but you saw a lot of it this year, is that the community took an event that literally lasts a little over an hour and made it either a full day or a multi-day event and festival, right? They took the experience and they bundled it, and they created some events or some things or some destinations figured out how do you get people through a certain path around our communities and through our communities to visit, you know, you know, our retail areas are you know, bring them into a festival in the hub of downtown. Or get them to you know, other parts of the community or just bundle it with other products and experiences that you have nearby. So you, you saw a lot of, you know, eclipse-themed events that. You know, on the one hand, were also there for locals, but on the other hand, we're definitely there for the visitors. Adam Stoker: [00:13:21] Yeah, provides a more full experience for the visitor other than just the hour that was dedicated to the eclipse. I think that's a great point. And the common thread that I'm hearing, you know, Amir, I did an episode earlier this year on the impact of Taylor Swift coming to destinations. And I would actually look at this as similar anomalies, right? These are situations that are somewhat out of the destination's control, but when it happens, it's a game changer. And the common thread with the destinations that were successful with hosting Taylor Swift and all her fans was that they created additional experiences to supplement the driver of the travel, right? Amir Eylon: [00:14:00] Yes. Adam Stoker: [00:14:01] And I think that's what you're saying is when you're going to have an anomaly like this, something that's out of your control that you know is going to get people to the destination, you can let that happen and just benefit from it by filling your hotels, or you can create a full experience that maximizes the revenue opportunity, that maximizes the value of the experience that the visitor has and really build for the future off of this anomaly that's affecting the destination. Amir Eylon: [00:14:29] Exactly. Exactly. I mean, there is a potential longer-term halo effect for this, right? You got people in a certain community, maybe they've never ventured to before. Some may be within a regional drive market. Some may have been a more longer haul, a trip for them, you know. You look at, I mean, you know, Perfect Storm was a place like Cleveland, Ohio, right, Cleveland, Ohio. Where they had to have the women's Final Four going on at the same time, the same as the eclipse, get a rolling off of there. I mean, how many people just said, you know, well, I'm going to stay one more night in Cleveland, check this out. And people got out beyond just the, you know, the, you know, the basketball arena and the core of that, you know, downtown entertainment area there. Just incredible for them. But then there were other smaller communities, that you may have never heard of that did these wonderful little community-wide events that just, you know, made people go wow. This is a cool part of the country. These are some friendly people. There's some neat things here. I want to come back here with my family on another road trip sometime and explore some more. So there's definitely going to be a halo effect from this for sure. Adam Stoker: [00:15:34] Yeah. And you got to plan ahead to capitalize on like that. Amir Eylon: [00:15:38] Absolutely. Absolutely. I, you know, some people kind of, I know a lot of people that are kind of rolling their eyes and they're like this eclipse isn't for two or three more years and you guys are talking about this, you know there. And but kudos to those destinations that did plan. Kudos to those who did it because they learned some things along the way. So things will probably won't repeat some things that they probably would do again in a heartbeat. And I think that's a really cool, you know, that's a great way to get some community alignment and especially with your other economic development, stakeholders and so forth is to hear some things that we can rally around and get some attention for our community. Adam Stoker: [00:16:11] Great. You know, Amir anytime I have you, of course, we're talking about a specific topic here with the eclipse, but I think I would be wasting an opportunity if I didn't ask, what else are you seeing in your ongoing research? Especially since 2024, we've got, it's an election year which always is this wild card that we can't predict some of the things that are going to happen. But we've got, you know, recent announcements from the Fed that maybe we're not going to get the rate cuts that we thought we were going to get. And inflation seems to be kind of spiking a little bit again. And so there's all these different circumstances that are hitting the travel economy right now. I'd love to understand from a data perspective what you're seeing as far as visitor sentiment. Amir Eylon: [00:16:55] Adam, you've asked the question. I love answering this question because we have seen a shift post-pandemic of what travel means to Americans, to American travelers, there. You know, pre-pandemic, you typically saw when economic cycles happened, and you know, things get a little shaky. We always used to say, right? Tourism is the first into recession, one of the last industries out of a recession, and so forth. Yeah, we haven't really seen that recession yet, right? It kind of, is it coming, isn't it coming? Is it coming in the guy for two years? The economists have kind of kept us, you know, at bay with this. And again, we're not, I'm not an economist, so I can't claim to be one here. But the interesting thing is even though inflation had been hitting record highs over the last couple of years, and of course, we discussed some bad news about inflation recently here again and hence the Fed kind of hedging on what they might be doing here in the next several months. But even with inflation rising, the interesting thing is that the demand for travel has not declined. Even the most recent findings that we're releasing here in a couple of days will show you that 9 out of 10 American travelers are still telling us they have plans to go somewhere in the next six months. Now, that being said for the past year and a half to two years since we've been seeing the record inflation, all this talk about the threat of recession and so forth, there we have seen, you know, this consistent, there's one-quarter of American travelers that are greatly concerned that their financial situation and inflation and gas prices and airfare. And all these costs of travel are going to greatly impact their decision to travel in the next six months. It's been hovering, those greatly been hovering around one quarter. And when you look at all those who say they're concerned, slightly concerned or greatly concerned, it's about 45% or so. That's kind of been, there's almost half of travelers have some at least some concern about their pocketbook and how and how that's going to, you know, impact their decision to travel. But when we ask those who are greatly concerned about this, how is it impacting their decision to travel? Only 5% are canceling trips. Now Adam mind you at any given time, 2% to 3% of all trips are being cancelled anyway, right? Family emergency, somebody got ill, somebody, you know what, whatever work, work thing, whatever in there. So they're not really canceling trips. What are they doing? They're reallocating their spend. They're saying, okay, we're going to make this happen, we're going to make this trip happen. But what that means is instead of, you know, a family of four, instead of we're going to Myrtle Beach instead of four of us all getting the same t-shirt like we do for annual Christmas card. Maybe just the kids are getting the t-shirts this year. We're going to maybe eat a little bit of McDonald's a little less fine dining. Maybe we're going to pack sandwiches for the car ride on the road. Maybe we're going to stay, maybe our, our choice of accommodations is going to be the place that includes a breakfast bar. So that's one less meal out. That's what they're doing. They're reallocating their spend. Adam, we have seen something happen over the last few years that we hadn't seen before in the eyes of American travelers travel went from being a want to a need, that is key. When travel became a want, went from being a want to a need, that's a game changer. Of course. Adam Stoker: [00:20:20] Yeah, that's really interesting, and it's an interesting insight that, you know. I would say if we're looking at a budgetary spreadsheet for a family's finances if I'm understanding you correctly, travel used to be somewhere near the bottom and could be something that could be wiped away if we got in a pinch. And now it's moved so far up the spreadsheet that it's not going to move. Amir Eylon: [00:20:44] Remember that term Staycation? Adam Stoker: [00:20:45] Yes. Amir Eylon: [00:20:46] Boy, that's a word. Because it doesn't mean stay put. Staycation was a regional day trip. You know that it didn't mean stay put. But remember that first got coined in the recession that hit right after 9/11. And then when the great recession hit, boy, we heard that everywhere in there, there, you're not hearing that now, you're not hearing in there. People are making, they're going to figure out how to take that trip and how to make it happen. It is a priority of their lifestyle now. Adam Stoker: [00:21:12] So then my question, Amir, is as a destination marketer that's hearing this conversation and understanding that traveling has become much more of a priority for today's American. How should I act on this knowledge? What like if you put yourself in the DMOs chair, knowing that that this data is correct even though we've got these economic circumstances? Is your suggestion? Okay, let's be more aggressive in chasing the American traveler. Is it well, still pull back? But you may outperform your projections. What's your recommendation for destination marketers that are hearing this? Amir Eylon: [00:21:48] Here are my three tips for any destination marketers listening in here. Number one is work with your partners, the attractions, the hotels, et cetera. Resist the urge to discount. The traveler is seeking value, not a discount. Everybody's looking for a deal. Yeah, of course, if you have to travel. Yeah, yeah, would you like a discount? Of course, I'll take it. But more than anything, what's driving their decisions on how they spend their money and so forth? Listen, inflation has gone up across the board. Everything costs more. The traveler, the consumer is already conditioned that everything is going to cost more. We literally just asked the question, you know, compared to last year, how much do you plan to spend on travel this summer? And 30% of travelers are telling us they expect to spend more, but why, it's because of inflation? It's not because they're just, you know, because, oh yeah, I feel like I'm going to really splurge this summer. No, they know it's going to cost them more. So it's not about having to slash and burn rate and you know how it goes. You get a couple of hotels in an intersection going out a bidding war, you know, a slash and burn, you know. You can lose rate in a heartbeat and it takes a couple of years to get it back, you know. So perception of value, be careful not to fleece our customers, be careful not to, you know, make sure that whatever you're promising you're delivering on. And that's it, the perception of value is important, focus on promotion. So tip number one, do promotions that focus on value versus just slash-and-burn discounting in there. Number two, why are travelers traveling? Why are leisure travelers traveling? We would, we asked this question all the time. We dig deep, we did it a little deeper to it every few months, and we did so this spring again. And you know, post pan, immediately post-pandemic from say 2021 to the beginning of 2024, most people who travel were traveling, what I call for reasons of RE, the letters RE in there. They're traveling to, you know, because remember they were separated from families or they wanted to reconnect with families with friends. They wanted to rekindle relationships. They wanted to rebuild. They wanted to reunite. They wanted to, you know, we have reunions and so forth there. And of course, relax. And so it was a crazy stressful time. And so these are the main, you know, those words that start with RE, they're very powerful. They have emotional connections to us. So in the messaging for marketers tip number two is those rewards still mean a lot. So in your language and your messaging, do the things that connote words that start with read, call them out, use them. They're hot buttons for the travelers, their triggers. But we have seen a shift since the middle of 2023, since late last summer, and it's happening now. And we predict it's going to go into through 2025 as well. So here's our little crystal ball prediction for you. While RE is still very, very important for the traveler, they've now reconnected with their friends and their loved ones. They've now reunited with folks. They've done all that and yes, they still need to do more. But now a lot of the travelers are saying, yeah, but what's in it for me now? So you have to add me to the RE, okay? Well, that sounds like a total cliché, doesn't it? But you have to add some me to the RE. Adam Stoker: [00:25:07] No. Can I stop you real quick on that Amir? Because I think that's a very powerful point because we talk about the difference between features and benefits, right? Features are all the different attractions that you have, dining establishments, all the different things that people can do when they're there. But the benefit is what does it do for your life? How does it make your life better? And I think what you're saying is while the RE words were a really powerful call to action of what it's going to do for your relationships, or for your family, or whatever, the benefit that we may need to focus on moving forward, based on the data that you're seeing, is more focused on the benefit to the individual. Is that correct? Amir Eylon: [00:25:50] Yes, absolutely. So it's twofold, right? There is a benefit for them. They, they want to be around family and friends that RE is still an important benefit to them. But they also realized now that what happened over these last couple of years, right? We were, I hate that word Bleisure, right? I hate Bleisure even more than Staycation. Adam Stoker: [00:26:12] We need a glossary of Amir's band terms. Amir Eylon: [00:26:15] Yes, yes. Words that, the trigger words for Amir, right? Yeah. But I mean, Bleisure, it's like saying moist, right? It's like, right. You don't want to say it in there. And but here it was because people could work from anywhere. You know, the expectations of the workplace changed a little bit, and the boss were saying, yeah, you're going out to that conference in California. You want to spend a couple more days and explore the coast, go for it, have fun, you know, in there. But then the boss was also expecting that you were plugged in. And our data is showing more and more our travelers, we asked the question again last month, they are more focused on work-life balance than ever. And they're saying, they're telling us they are now 30% less likely to work during their trips in there. So they need to discuss. So it's not just that RE of uniting and be there, but I also need my time. I need my downtime. So again, if you're a destination marketer, it's not just showing that family having fun on the beach together, but it's mom having some quiet time in the spa, dad just hanging out on the golf course, whatever those hot buttons are, you have to bring me into the RE out, so in there. Both are going to be equally important in the next year I think, Adam Stoker: [00:27:30] I think those are really interesting insights, Amir, and I appreciate you sharing that with us. Is there anything else that would benefit destinations that are listening that you're seeing in the data that you're collecting on an ongoing basis? Amir Eylon: [00:27:42] You know, you know, as a separate from this study, I think it's important to, and we've been preaching this for the last oh gosh, 56 years now, it's really important that every Destination Marketing Organization adds to its list of KPIs sentiment, resident sentiment. Let's not forget the visitor is still our most, you know, from a pocketbook perspective of the visitor's most important customer. But from our operational perspective, from our existential perspective, from our ability to grow our community and grow in alignment with our community, the resident is the most important customer there. And if you're not taking a pulse check periodically of your residents and how they feel about these visitors coming through their communities. How they feel about the Airbnb springing up in their neighborhoods? How they feel about the whatever development project that's happening right along their waterfront or lakefront or whatever in there. If you're not having that conversation with them and you're not using that conversation, there was also those conversations to guide your messaging and communication with them, you're going to find yourself in a in a problem. Maybe not today, but it'll happen. Adam Stoker: [00:28:52] But our job is to make the lives of our residents better, right? That's our primary role. Amir Eylon: [00:28:57] Exactly. Adam Stoker: [00:28:58] If we're not tracking whether or not we're doing that, if we're not tracking their sentiment towards what we're doing, then of course, we're missing the boat. Amir Eylon: [00:29:06] And Adam, let me tell you the one thing we see consistently in over 80% of these resident sentiment studies that we do for our clients, over 80% of them, you see the residents absolutely understand the benefits of tourism. They understand that it. They're not against tourism promotion. They're not against, you know, having visitors here. They understand that they're spending money in their community and so forth. But when you ask them how it impacts their daily life, they don't draw that direct connect to, wow, well, that helps broaden the tax base, so it's less of a burden on me. They don't say that well, actually produces great better infrastructure for us that we have, you know, more places to play and our kids to learn and arts are great and all that. They don't necessarily see that impacting their pocketbook or their quality of life, which tells me that, you know, they agree with all these positives, but they don't, can't draw the connect. We haven't done the right job of messaging yet. Adam Stoker: [00:30:00] Man. Great point to wrap up here on, Amir. I really appreciate you taking the time to join us today, and for being flexible in the schedule, and that we're able to find a time to make it work. If people want to learn about the research that you're doing about your organization or anything else, Amir, what's the best way for them to reach out and learn more? Amir Eylon: [00:30:20] Longwood-intl.com or we're all over social media, just ping us. Adam Stoker: [00:30:26] Great. Amir, thanks so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it. Amir Eylon: [00:30:29] My pleasure, Adam, anytime. Adam Stoker: [00:30:31] And thanks everybody for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please don't forget to leave us a rating or a review. It helps us continue to bring you amazing guests like Amir. Thanks, everybody and have a great week. [End of transcript]
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