>National Tourism Week >Toolkit >Planning Your Campaign

The key to creating a successful program for National Tourism Week is good organization and planning. Whether you are planning activities for a single organization or for regional, state or local communities, suggestions for getting started are listed below.

1. Form a Committee

In your organization

• Appoint a committee to coordinate National Tourism Week activities.
• Select a committee chair.

In your community

• Appoint someone to coordinate National Tourism Week activities.
• Schedule a start-up meeting and invite representatives from the local chapters of tourism-related trade associations and professional societies; state and local tourism agencies; private tourism-related companies; colleges and universities with tourism-related curricula or research organizations; and tourism labor unions. In Item #5 below you will see "Finding Event Partners." 

2. Select Your Target Audience/s

• Travelers (domestic and international)
• Community Residents
• Elected Officials
• Business Leaders
• Industry Employees
• Educators and Students

3. Set Goals and Objectives

Determine your goals and objectives and write them down. For example TIA's goals and objectives for National Tourism Week are:

1. Encourage the entire tourism industry to plan promotions, aimed at domestic travelers with various messages about travel and tourism, including its historic, cultural, social, and economic impact on the nation;
2. Increase public awareness of tourism governmental issues;
3. Encourage industry-wide education about the importance of hospitality aimed at international visitors;
4. Encourage careers in tourism, particularly among youth;
5. The theme for National Tourism Week 2008 ("Discover Great American Traditions") encourages travel to American locales and highlights the role that tourism plays in discovering the icons of a destination.

4. Select Activities

• Agree on a set of activities that will address your objectives. Use TIA's Event Ideas for various industry segments, such as "Ideas for National Tourism Week Activities in Your Community." These resources will provide a starting point for discussion.
• Be realistic about what you can do with the time and resources that you have. Think about selecting activities that can help you build a stronger program in future years. For example, if you want to sponsor school outreach visits, you may wish to concentrate on developing support materials this year and be content with a relatively small number of actual school visits. Next year, with the support materials in hand, you would be in a position to launch a stronger program, particularly if you had also worked this year to develop a community-wide National Tourism Week committee. Another example is educating local residents on the importance of international visitors to their businesses and community.

5. Finding Event Partners

Partnering with other community businesses, tourism destinations, and historic sites is an excellent way to create exciting events for National Tourism Week and leverage them for greater success and visibility for your events and activities. Some potential partners include:

• Convention and Visitor Bureaus
• Chamber of Commerce and/or Local Retailer Associations
• Convenience Stores and Film/Camera Stores
• Government Agencies: State Tourism, State Preservation, State Arts, State Highways
• City and County Councils, Mayors, Police Departments, etc.
• Visitor Information Centers
• Historical Societies
• Attractions, Museums, Art Galleries
• Hotels, Resorts, Bed and Breakfast Inns, Campground Owners
• Restaurants
• Transportation Companies: Rental Cars, Limousines, Taxis, Motorcoaches, RVs, Airlines, and Passenger Vessels
• Travel Agents and Tour Operators
• Shopping Malls, Retail and Book Stores, Gas Stations
• Local News Media, Movie Theater Companies, Television Cable Companies
• Schools, Colleges and Universities
• Scouting Organizations, Boys and Girls Clubs
• Churches and Charitable Organizations
• Service Organizations: Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, Junior League, etc.

6. Organize Subcommittees

• For each of the activities or significant tasks, organize subcommittees and appoint chairs. Some possibilities: fundraising, banquet, proclamation, publicity, speaker's bureau, special events and awards.
• Create an action plan and designate a person responsible for each action.
• Develop a planning calendar including all critical dates.
• Meet regularly to coordinate and review progress.

7. Evaluate Results

Hold a post-National Tourism Week meeting to evaluate the success of this year's program and strategize for building a stronger program the following year.