Designing Unique Experiences that Become the Foundation of Marketing for a Destination - Interview with Elaine Schroth, CEO and President at Visit Concord CA .

Elaine Schroth, CEO & President at Visit Concord, sits down with the HootBoard Visitor Information and Destination Marketing Podcast to discuss about creating a campaign around the Taco Trail, and how it became a popular choice to promote the destination. 

Elaine offers advice to the younger generation, or any individual who is looking to get into the destination marketing industry. She provided some great advice about what it takes, the kind of work that needs to be done, and other great information for anyone interested in pursuing this type of career. We also got into the philosophy, strategy, and process behind creating the "Taco Trail" in Concord California. 

 

Summaries and Timestamps

0:00 – Intro

1:25 – We get to know Elaine, her career journey, and how she came to be CEO and President of Visit Concord.

6:10 – Elaine talks about the modern visitor center, and the kind of improvements that have been made to it to accommodate an ever changing digital world. We cover updated features of their new visitor center, and how those features benefit travelers to their destination.

9:00 – Elaine talks about specific initiatives to engage visitors to a destination, and how she approaches partners in the area to provide a comprehensive experience to the travelers to their destination.

12:00 Elaine talks about Visit Concord’s famous “Taco Trail.” It’s a fun experience for those who enjoy great tacos, and want to get to know the restaurants in the area. Learning about how a specific area executes a visitor engagement strategy is a great way to learn about how one could apply a similar approach to their area.

17:30 – Elaine discusses the philosophy, strategy, and process behind choosing the Taco Trail as opposed to using grapes, wine, and other similar types of consumables northern California is known for.

21:45 – Elaine educates us on the communication strategy with the partners who participated in the Taco Trail. She discussed strategies in how to engage the partners, and the software used to keep track of everything. We also talk briefly about interactive tourism kiosks. 

25:40 – The pandemic has changed just about everything, and Elaine explains how the pandemic changed the way they do things, and the strategies involved to work through it.

32:20 – Elaine talks about marketing businesses in the area, and how they could help in those efforts to keep things moving along during the pandemic. We covered strategic initiatives and organizational efforts.

34:40 – Elaine talks about the origin of Comfort Food week.

35:45 – Elaine offers advice to the younger generation, or any individual who is looking to get into the destination marketing industry. She provided some great advice about what it takes, the kind of work that needs to be done, and other great information for anyone interested in pursuing this type of career.

40:20 – Elaine offers some predictions about what the future of destination marketing looks like. She shares her ideas of what travel will look like in the near future, and the years beyond.

45:30 – We say our goodbyes, and wrap up another great lesson about the destination marketing industry.