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1987 |
INN Inc., a tourism marketing
and public relations firm for the industry opened for business.
It was a small firm, myself and an assistant, but it grew to
an office of five. All of us shared one trait-namely passion
for hospitality. We had several large clients-hotel companies,
independent hotels and restaurants-and, of course, several traditional
country inns and bed & breakfasts. The firm's philosophy
was simple: market destinations by featuring clients properties.
We were quite fortunate in that our clients shared similar visions
and philosophies. We managed one property, developed marketing
plans, developed collateral-newsletters, brochures and postcards-and,
given our financial expertise, were called upon to work with
one client in restructuring debt with a major financial institution. |
|
1989 |
Inn-Link product was launched.
A first-of-its-kind marketing endeavor offered bed & breakfast
owners and independent innkeepers marketing services with monthly
action calendars and a scope of services including press material
development and community outreach. In one instance, it included
walking Salem (Massachusetts) on a sales blitz dressed in lobster
outfits. As one of our colleagues phrased it: "Now, I
ask you, what won't these guys do to promote The Salem Inn?"
The launch of InnLink commenced, quite coincidentally, three
days before the Gulf War started (thanks a lot, Saddam)-less
than ideal, but we still developed a cadre of properties on Cape
Cod and the Islands. |
|
1990 |
Our collective vision-to develop
a destination-driven product comprising the finest inns and bed
& breakfast properties-grew and, in 1990, Destinnations
was conceived. Destinnations was to be include a complement
of 40 Cape & Islands properties marketed through public relations,
marketing partnership development with regional tourism assets
and production of supporting collateral. It was clients' expressed
wish that Destinnations introduce reservation services.
(I have often rued this as our first, possibly biggest, mistake.)
We struggled. Working with smaller clients meant limited budgets.
We invested heavily of ourselves and of our resources. Long hours,
late nights, weekends and lack of "a life" were still
fueled by our vision and, yes, our passion. |
|
1994 |
At the behest of the then-incumbent
New England state travel directors-(and constant "harassment"
by Massachusetts' then state travel director, Sarah Graham Mann)
Destinnations became a New England-wide receptive tour
operator whose objective was bringing its property consortium-the
very first product of this type-directly to the international
market. And Destinnations developed a unique service menu
and both domestic and international airline partnerships to support
its international and domestic marketing. In 1994, Destinnations
New England, the destination marketing brochure, bursting
with editorial about New England and featuring Destinnations
New England's client properties, was launched in London by
president Glenn Faria and the Vice President UK & Ireland
for Northwest Airlines-a milestone for Destinnations
New England-and equally for Northwest. |
1994
—
2000 |
Every year the product and partners were
further refined. We hosted hundreds of press and trade familiarization
trips of travel writers and editors, tour operators and travel
agents from around the globe-and across America. We continued
work with several public relations and marketing clients "to
keep the lights on." Passion, they say, doesn't pay. Our
public relations client list included Odyssey Cruises/Boston,
Providence Warwick Convention & Visitor's Bureau,
New England USA, Colgan Air, Yankee Magazine's
Travel Guide to New England, Northeast Travel Report,
Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines and Discover New England,
Destinations and the Holiday and Travel Shows, The
Compass Group/Daka International and Massachusetts Port
Authority (Massport) Destinnations New England's marketing
partnerships grew-from state tourism offices to the regional
destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, museums,
sights, attractions and airlines. Destinnations New England
developed working partnerships with Icelandair (in Europe),
Northwest Airlines (in the United States and Canada),
Continental Airlines (in the United Kingdom) and regional
carriers.
Despite our insistence that we did not
want to sell rooms, it did, after all, provide "closure"
to our marketing efforts. On the other hand, it also provided
a number which clients could then use as an evaluation tool for
Destinnations. This was the last criteria by which Destinnations
New England wished to be evaluated. Through the years, Destinnations
developed millions of "impression" for its clients-from
Littlewoods promotions, television and radio programs, hundreds
of placements in major newspapers and magazines around the globe,
window signage in a major UK operators windows, presence at major
consumer and trade shows, hosting of hundreds of familiarization
trips-not to mention fulfillment to tens of thousands of individual
inquirers. These do not include "hits" and page views
on Destinnations website.
All of this reinforced what we already
knew-we did not want to sell rooms. But, how could we terminate
a function which the properties had come to expect? We were in
marketing-not magic. Sometimes clients groused that they could
sell their own rooms on weekends and in the summer and fall.
Other times, when we tried to respect this sentiment, they would
claim that they "had not heard from us." A dilemma
to be sure. |
21st
Century
MPDC |
Enter Michael Patrick Destinations
& Communications, corporate name of Destinnations
New England. Some clients felt they would rather not see
Destinnations selling rooms. Rather, they would prefer
to participate in the direct marketing services-public relations,
cooperative advertising ventures, exposure to travel trade and
the myriad other promotional opportunities presented by MPDC
through its global network of contact in the travel, tourism
and ancillary industries. As a destination marketer of the first
order, MPDC has a proven track record. In March 2000,
MPDC sold Destinnations New England to TOURCO,
Inc., of Hyannis, MA. Today, its most renowned client, Destinnations
New England, is known around the globe for representing some
of New England's finest character properties.
In its new incarnation post-divestiture
of Destinnations, MPDC's new mission is to provide
outstanding, efficient and effective marketing, public relations
and strategic planning services to our clients. Operates under
the overarching philosophy that partnerships, often between public
and private entities, are usually the best possible solutions
to marketing challenges and opportunities. When combined with
a powerful public relations program and state-of-the-art technology,
partnership development will be the key to success in the decades
ahead. |
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Our Evolution
