Value of social media lies partially in customer feedback
As the group travel market continues its slow but steady return to health, what will your destination be doing to remain competitive? Value is the keyword, and we will continue to offer value across the board. As part of that added value, Tampa Bay&Com- pany offers planners expert, no-cost convention and visitors bureau services and benefits to aid in achieving meeting goals and especially meeting budgets. Ultimately, our city is a very affordable destination that offers the best of Florida at a value that canmeet a variety of budgets.
What valuable lessons or good habits with respect to the meetings business have you learned over the past two years? Although we strive to achieve this each and every day, the most important real- ization for Tampa Bay & Company is thatnowmore than ever, developing and maintaining excellent relationships with our customers andmembers is critical to our success. Being responsive to the needs of all our stakeholders is challenging, but we work diligently to keep our eyes and ears open, take in all available feedback, re-invent ourselves accordingly, and pro- vide customized service for each and every client.
What is your destination doing to help planners meet their goals for sustainability and corporate social responsibility? It starts with our partners. A large percentage of our partner hotels and facilities have applied for and been awarded Florida Green Lodging certification, and ourTampa Convention Cen- ter has many sustainability programs in place for the conven- tions we host. Our customers are very excited to be able to address their corporate mandates for social responsibility and to be able to do so in a city that exceeds the needs and wants of their attendees at the same time.
If you could turn back time, would you choose to go back to the dominant way of doing business in and the general business environment of 2007? While all of us long for the healthier economic times of the past, here in Tampa we have successfully learned to survive
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in both the best and worst of times. By focusing our efforts on markets that have continued to produce and working to operate leaner and smarter, we have adapted to the changing economic climate and needs of our clients, and we welcome the challenge of adapting as we move into the future.
What innovations in the realm of social media/ networking and technology in general will your destination be pursuing in 2011 ? Tampa Bay&Company continues to be heavily involved in social media/networking, not only as a way to distribute information and edu- cate meeting planners and visitors, but also to provide an open forum to talk about our destination and even obtain feedback from travelers who have expe- rienced what we have to offer. Tampa Bay&Company stays actively engaged in platforms such as Facebook (www.VisitTampaBay.com/Facebook), Twitter (www.VisitTampaBay.com/ Twitter), blogging (www.VisitTampaBay .com/blogs), YouTube (www.Visit TampaBay.com/YouTube), and others. As the industry, and the nation, becomes a mobile society, we continue to update
the VisitTampaBay.com website, including the addition of a mobile site.
How has attendee behavior changed over the past two years? Do you find that attendees are enjoying certain aspects of your destination that they didn’t before? More and more travelers are combining business and pleas- ure trips. One of our latest additions is the Tampa Riverwalk, a 2.2-mile waterfront pedestrian walkway that’s nearing com- pletion with the recent addition of theTampa Bay History Cen- ter, the new Tampa Museum of Art, and the Glazer Children’s Museum, providing even more options for attendees.
FLEXIBILITY: Tampa Bay & Company has “adapted to the changing economic climate and needs of our clients,” said Paul Catoe.