Photos/Slides: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/j52bpumzhotusjk9et6r2/AJY5uRGKIwD0Kq0FQEkzNgI?rlkey=sh8d5f3mjq908blv46vxkir64&st=mizsy0nk&dl=0
Video Recapping FY24 Performance Metrics: https://youtu.be/LpL_dGni9fI
Destination Master Plan introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUlW6YH_yjI
Media Contact:
Brenna Moore/Visit Albuquerque
Office: (505) 222-4349
Moore@VisitABQ.org
Visit Albuquerque Unveils Destination Master Plan at 2024 Annual Meeting
Developed in collaboration with the global tourism advisory division of JLL and industry, business and city leaders, the plan is a 10-year strategic vision to boost Albuquerque’s visitor economy
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – (Nov. 14, 2024) – Visit Albuquerque has released its comprehensive 10-year Destination Master Plan (DMP).
About 400 industry leaders, organization partners and community members attended the official unveiling at Visit Albuquerque’s 2024 Annual Meeting, held Tuesday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
“Visit Albuquerque is responsible for promoting Albuquerque as a competitive and world-class leisure, meeting, convention and sports destination, and enhancing its public image as a dynamic place to live and work,” said Tania Armenta, President & CEO of Visit Albuquerque. “We are proud to release this plan, which provides a 10-year strategic vision for our community and represents an opportunity to create a tourism ecosystem that will flourish for years to come.”
Developed over the past year in collaboration with the global tourism advisory division of JLL, the 10-year plan represents a collective vision for Albuquerque's future as a premier destination, built on extensive research, stakeholder engagement and industry expertise. With input from over 2,300 stakeholders, including local businesses, city officials and community leaders, as well as visitors and residents through visitor perception and resident sentiment studies, the plan reflects a collaborative effort to elevate Albuquerque’s tourism landscape. The DMP will be updated regularly in keeping with industry, business and community developments and trends.
“By focusing on improvements that support local businesses and amplify the city’s distinctive culture and natural beauty, the Destination Master Plan identifies how Albuquerque can offer a more immersive and engaging experience for travelers while also enhancing quality of life for residents,” said Armenta.
The DMP outlines eight key priorities that will guide efforts over the next decade:
- Destination Development
- Events & Festivals
- Downtown Development & Activation
- Infrastructure & Transportation
- Workforce Development
- Venues & Facilities
- Funding
- Measurements & Metrics
Each priority is supported by actionable strategies and implementation tactics, positioning Visit Albuquerque as a steward of both this plan and the city’s tourism ecosystem. To clarify Visit Albuquerque's role in implementing the DMP, this process has assigned specific roles to the organization for various strategies and initiatives. These roles are defined as:
- Lead – take primary responsibility for initiating, organizing and directing tourism development efforts and strategies.
- Support – provide assistance and resources for initiatives and partners without taking a primary leadership role.
- Advocate – speak in favor of and actively promote tourism-related interests to decision-makers and relevant authorities.
“Although Visit Albuquerque will serve as the steward of the DMP, the plan does not belong to our organization alone,” said Armenta. “It is and must be a community effort to ensure its success.”
The entire Destination Master Plan, and more about the process of its creation, can be found at VisitABQ.org/DMP.
During the meeting, Visit Albuquerque also highlighted significant accomplishments from the past fiscal year and described the impact of Albuquerque’s tourism and hospitality industry.
“The tourism and hospitality industry is one of the city’s largest private industries and one of Albuquerque’s most effective economic development strategies,” said Armenta. “The city sees approximately 6.7 million overnight visitors in a typical year, who contribute more than $2 billion to our city and support more than 45,000 jobs.”
During fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024), Visit Albuquerque engaged in a broad range of marketing and sales campaigns designed to attract leisure travelers, meetings, sports events and group tours to our city. Highlights include:
- The average hotel occupancy in Albuquerque was 65%, up from 64% in FY23.
- Lodgers’ tax collected by the City of Albuquerque reached a record $19.2 million, 6% higher than FY23.
- The city welcomed 237 meetings, conventions and sports events that were booked by Visit Albuquerque, representing 257,000 attendees and $81 million in estimated direct spending.
- Visit Albuquerque booked 224 meetings, conventions and sports events for the future, representing 243,000 future attendees and $77 million in estimated future direct spending.
- Earned media efforts resulted in 1,436 articles about Albuquerque, a 14% increase from the previous year. Those articles were equivalent to $259 million in publicity for the city, a 250% increase from FY23.
- With additional funding provided by the Albuquerque Tourism Marketing District (ATMD), Visit Albuquerque was able to expand its advertising efforts into new markets, reach new audiences, and advertise year-round rather than seasonally. With the combined resources from lodgers’ tax and ATMD assessments, Visit Albuquerque’s FY24 advertising efforts generated more than 3 billion impressions for the first time in history, up 63% from the previous fiscal year.
In July 2024, Visit Albuquerque conducted a Marketing Effectiveness study to examine the impact of its FY24 leisure marketing efforts. Travelers in nine key markets were surveyed to determine if they recalled seeing Visit Albuquerque’s marketing, whether those messages influenced their opinions of Albuquerque, and whether they traveled to Albuquerque after being exposed to our marketing. The markets were Phoenix, Denver, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Austin, El Paso and Amarillo.
More than one-third of those who had seen Visit Albuquerque’s marketing said they were interested in traveling to Albuquerque in the next 12 months, a full 10 points higher than those who had not seen our marketing.
The study estimated that nearly 4 million travelers in the nine target cities recalled seeing a Visit Albuquerque ad in FY24, resulting in more than 207,000 trips and approximately $105 million in direct spending. The return on ad spend was calculated at $20.66 to $1, meaning that every dollar spent on advertising generated nearly $21 in spending for the city.
During the Annual Meeting, Visit Albuquerque welcomed incoming Board of Directors Chair Ben Abruzzo, President of Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway. Abruzzo takes over the position from Michael Canfield, President & CEO of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and Indian Pueblos Marketing.
“My family and I have a lifelong connection to Albuquerque, and I am committed to helping make it a top travel destination,” said Abruzzo. “I am very excited to serve as Chair during this critical and exciting time.”
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as Chair of Visit Albuquerque’s Board of Directors for the past fiscal year alongside an exceptionally knowledgeable and engaged group of people,” said Canfield. “A tremendous amount of effort went into the development of the Destination Master Plan, with valuable input from the industry, business community, elected leaders and residents. I am proud of the resulting work and am confident in its ability to help transform our city.”
Visit Albuquerque’s business partners in attendance also elected a slate of nominees to fill three open positions on the Board of Directors. Tom Garrity, President of The Garrity Group Public Relations; Mindy Jensen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Legacy Development & Management; and Nate Wells, General Manager of Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town, were elected to positions in the General Business and Hospitality/Accommodations categories, respectively.
Armenta concluded the meeting by encouraging community members to make a personal commitment to helping Albuquerque realize its full potential by identifying an area in the Destination Master Plan where they can make a difference and commit to taking action.
“Our actions added together – one by one and day by day – will help us realize our full potential as a destination,” Armenta said.
About Visit Albuquerque
Visit Albuquerque is an accredited destination marketing organization (DMO), and a private, not-for-profit organization [501(c)(6)]. The mission of Visit Albuquerque is to stimulate economic growth by marketing Albuquerque as a convention, sports and visitor destination. For more information, go to www.VisitABQ.org.
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