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Re-Emergence | Objective & Target Audiences | Our Mission Vision & Values
For the past 40 years, Visit Albuquerque has successfully marketed the city as a world-class destination for tourism, meetings, conventions and sports, helping to generate more than $2 billion in visitor spending in FY19. The COVID-19 pandemic in FY20 resulted in a devastating downturn in travel of all types, with lodgers’ tax collections plunging more than 60% in March 2020 alone and employment in the local hospitality industry falling from 44,100 in February 2020 to just 26,500 by April 2020.
At Visit Albuquerque, we firmly believe that our city’s economic recovery will begin with tourism and travel.
We also recognize that in order to help our city recover from the impact of COVID-19, Visit Albuquerque’s role must expand beyond marketing and sales. In addition to promoting the city’s culture, history, scenic beauty, events and attractions, we also must instill confidence in travelers, build support among residents to welcome visitors, and collaborate with the local hospitality industry in adopting new practices and protocols designed to ensure safe visitation.
As Visit Albuquerque prepares for FY21, uncertainty still surrounds travel restrictions and reopening timelines, continued limitations on group gatherings and events, and possible future resurgences of COVID-19. All of these factors will influence our approach to effectively marketing Albuquerque as a destination.
Taking this fluctuating environment into consideration, Visit Albuquerque will develop our marketing strategy on a quarterly basis in FY21 rather than releasing an annual marketing plan. Quarterly planning will allow us to be agile and adjust to changing circumstances based on industry data and traveler sentiment and in coordination with official guidelines from governmental authorities.
This Q1 marketing plan outlines how we will identify and reach leisure travelers and meeting planners, describes how we will differentiate Albuquerque as a destination of choice, previews the messaging we will develop, and discusses the channels we will leverage to deliver those messages. Our overarching strategies for marketing Albuquerque as a destination align with the City’s as identified in our FY21 contract:
Our Q1 plan outlines the tactics we will implement to support these strategies. Because we are optimistic about future travel to Albuquerque, re-emergence is the theme of our marketing plan for Q1. We are pleased to share this plan with our stakeholders, and we look forward to working in partnership to promote Albuquerque as a top destination for leisure travel, meetings and sports.
Although the tourism and meetings industry will face uncertainty in FY21, it is important to focus on what we do know:
Our marketing messages at the end of FY20 focused on keeping travelers dreaming about Albuquerque while they could not physically visit. We shared ways for people to interact virtually with our city, including through videos, recipes, books, movies and TV shows, and online shopping. Our goal was to keep Albuquerque on people’s minds and inspire them to plan a future visit.
As the hospitality industry reopens, Visit Albuquerque will shift our marketing messages to promote safe and responsible visitation in alignment with state and local requirements.
Recovery will take time as people gradually start traveling again and residents become comfortable welcoming them into our community, so it’s important to approach re-emergence in a strategic and thoughtful manner. Our Q1 marketing plan outlines how we will identify, target and attract early travelers to our city.
The overarching objective of Visit Albuquerque’s marketing efforts is to bring visitors to Albuquerque – for small or large meetings, conventions, sporting groups and/or as leisure travelers. To do this effectively, Visit Albuquerque hones in on various target audiences, including:
Visit Albuquerque serves each of these audiences with specific marketing messages that research has shown us will resonate well with them and drive their interest in Albuquerque. Moreover, our messages are carefully designed to influence decisions at each of the five stages of travel. Whether marketing to leisure travelers or meeting planners, we deliver an appropriate message at the appropriate time:
Stage of Travel | Goal of Our Marketing and Sales Messaging During This Stage |
---|---|
Dreaming | Drive awareness and a positive perception of Albuquerque as a destination. |
Planning | Create an active interest and curiosity about visiting Albuquerque. |
Booking | Convince travelers to plan/book a trip to Albuquerque. |
Experiencing | Promote “only in Albuquerque” experiences that immerse visitors in our city’s unique cuisine, attractions, culture and heritage. |
Sharing | Prompt visitors to return, and encourage them to influence others to visit Albuquerque. |
Research indicates that there is pent-up demand among leisure travelers following months of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, with more than 70% of Americans reporting that they miss travel and are excited to start traveling again as soon as it is safe. By monitoring the trigger points listed below, Visit Albuquerque will shift our leisure marketing messages toward encouraging travelers to plan a visit. The timeline for our marketing campaigns will follow the lead of governmental authorities to ensure safe visitation.
As the hospitality industry reopens, Visit Albuquerque’s marketing decisions will be informed by data. We will monitor and analyze the following trends and use them as trigger points to initiate, deploy and scale our marketing campaigns and sales activities targeted to leisure travelers:
Initially, we will focus our efforts on audiences in drive markets – those who are looking for a destination that’s within driving distance of their home. Again, this decision is based on data, as research conducted in May of 2020 reported that less than 20% of travelers felt safe getting on an airplane.
Americans’ reluctance to fly also expands our definition of the drive market. Traditionally our drive market has been the states immediately bordering New Mexico, but we will investigate advertising in markets farther afield, such as Southern California, because research indicates that travelers are more willing to drive longer distances rather than being in airports or on planes. Located at the crossroads of two interstate highways and with Historic Route 66 running through the middle of the city, Albuquerque is perfectly positioned to take advantage of road trips. We will leverage this to our advantage.
Leading into FY21, Visit Albuquerque will continue to target the same core visitor profiles for leisure travel as we have over the past few years. What will change is our approach and targeting methodology to reach subsections of these audiences that are most likely to travel to Albuquerque. More details are provided following each profile below:
Male dominant
Ages 25-45
Average income: $70,000/year
Top 3 interests: outdoors, cuisine, events
We will direct our initial messaging to the Intrepid Travelers, because we know that this slightly younger audience is likely to be the first to begin traveling again. They also are more likely to have disposable income, since many of them are single or are couples without children.
Female dominant
Ages 35+
Average income: $75,000/year
Children in the household
Top 3 interests: outdoors, culture, events
As we monitor traveler sentiment, we will expand our marketing to the Friendly Families demographic. Messages to this audience will begin in Q1 to take advantage of people planning family-friendly road trips with their children during summer vacations from school.
Female dominant
Ages 45 to 65
Average income: $75,000/year
Top 3 interests: culture, art, cuisine
Knowing that older populations might be slower to return to travel due to health concerns, we will carefully monitor our trigger points in order to determine our marketing budget, timeline and messages for the Prudent Boomers demographic.
We will also promote staycations that encourage Albuquerque residents and people from nearby communities to spend their travel money locally to support the local hospitality industry. We will investigate coordinating with the industry to develop special staycation packages for local residents.
Targeting methodology will remain flexible as new research becomes available and new targets or subsections emerge as opportunities for promotion.
Our first marketing messages will focus on outdoor recreation, as research shows that a majority of early travelers plan to avoid crowded destinations. Albuquerque is fortunate to have an abundance of trails and open spaces where people at every skill level can practice social distancing in the outdoors. Potential ads will feature golf, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking and other types of outdoor adventure. We’ll encourage visitors to stay, shop and dine while taking advantage of our outdoors and our great weather. We will also highlight Albuquerque’s affordability, since price is a factor in times of economic uncertainty.
We will monitor keyword searches and website traffic, and as people get more comfortable with traveling again, we will begin to expand our advertising to feature Albuquerque’s arts, culture, and attractions. People will feel safer traveling domestically rather than internationally, so we’ll promote only-in-Albuquerque experiences to generate excitement about our history and diverse cultural experiences that differentiate our city from other U.S. destinations. As we shift into this phase of marketing, our messages and ads will feature Native American traditions and Hispanic heritage, historic neighborhoods and authentic cuisine.
Q1 is traditionally the timeframe when Visit Albuquerque heavily promotes the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta®, encouraging visitors to book hotel rooms and make final travel plans. We will collaborate with Balloon Fiesta management on a coordinated marketing approach that is based on any adjustments that are made to the event. We also will collaborate with the City’s Cultural Services Department to adjust marketing plans to reflect any changes at City museums, the ABQ BioPark and City-sponsored events.
In all of our marketing efforts, we will emphasize ways the local hospitality industry is following safety protocols in their operations. Research shows that more than 75% of people say they will research how a potential destination is managing the COVID-19 situation before they make plans to travel there. We will promote the New Mexico Safe Certified program developed by the New Mexico Society of Association Executives (NMSAE) and the New Mexico Tourism Department and encourage businesses in the hospitality industry to become certified. The certification will help instill confidence in travelers, who want to know what travel-related businesses are doing to keep them safe. We will also promote the New Mexico Safe Promise program developed by the New Mexico Hospitality Association with support from the hospitality industry encouraging individual commitments to adhere to COVID Safe Practices (CSPs).
At the same time, we will use our communication channels to encourage visitors to do their part in being responsible travelers when they come to our city. It will be important to reassure residents so that they feel safe and comfortable in welcoming visitors to our city.
Finally, we will use social media, letters to the editor, op-eds and media relations to emphasize the importance of travel and hospitality to the local economy. We will highlight the economic impact of tourism, especially on small businesses, and ensure that local residents understand that Albuquerque’s financial recovery from COVID-19 will depend largely on our ability to bring visitors and their spending back to the city.
Our marketing channels to reach our target audiences will include:
Visit Albuquerque will continue to expand its efforts around diversity in FY21, with a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusive representation within all marketing efforts. Photo and video assets will be representative of the many cultures and communities that call Albuquerque home. Advertisements, social media posts and website content will reflect the diversity of our residents and visitors. Existing content will be reviewed and new content will be developed to ensure inclusion. When appropriate, Visit Albuquerque also will partner with local organizations that represent these communities to elevate diverse voices, inform direction and approach, and participate in positive social change.
The Visit Albuquerque Convention Sales, Services & Sports division is dedicated to marketing Albuquerque to citywide conventions, non-center groups and sporting events, and providing excellent service to ensure success and encourage repeat business.
As the meetings industry recovers from COVID-19, we will continue to regularly evaluate market segments to ensure they align with market and industry trends, our hotel partners’ needs and interests, and staff talent to best present and sell the city of Albuquerque to qualified planners.
We firmly believe that the connections people make through face-to-face interaction cannot be replaced with remote or virtual meetings. At the same time, we recognize that in-person meetings will look different, and that COVID-19’s impact on the event industry will be long-lasting. Visit Albuquerque will work with local properties and the Albuquerque Convention Center to follow the COVID-Safe Practices (CSPs) developed by the State of New Mexico in order to instill confidence in meeting planners.
Some meeting planners might gravitate away from crowded metropolitan areas and look more favorably on midsized cities such as Albuquerque, where social distancing is easier to achieve. We will actively seek out those who are investigating smaller cities and highlight steps the industry has taken to make meetings safe for attendees, such as the New Mexico Safe Certification program.
Collaborating with local stakeholders in the hospitality industry, Visit Albuquerque’s Convention Sales, Services & Sports division will develop creative solutions that encourage meeting planners to view our city as the ideal place to conduct business and share ideas.
Just as with our leisure marketing efforts, Visit Albuquerque’s convention and sports marketing activities during Q1 will be driven by data. The competition among destinations for meetings, conventions and sports will be strong, and timing will be important. In order to efficiently and effectively use our budget, the re-emergence of our convention and sports marketing efforts will be based on the following triggers:
Visit Albuquerque’s marketing and sales strategy for meetings, conventions and sports is focused on generating more RFPs from event organizers. To create opportunities, our team’s goals are to:
We achieve these goals by:
Visit Albuquerque will continue to serve as a resource for Partners and the local tourism industry with recovery efforts and recommendations. We will produce on-demand training videos on relevant topics and release them on an ongoing basis. We also will host virtual webinars and networking opportunities that will allow Visit Albuquerque to provide ongoing updates and resources to Partners. Virtual networking opportunities will also be explored to provide Partners an online arena to collaborate with, learn from, and partner with one another through their recovery efforts.
The chart below outlines the concepts we will convey to our target audiences during the early recovery period, as well as the points we will emphasize to deliver our messages in our ads, social media posts, email marketing campaigns, media interviews, RFP responses and one-on-one meetings. We will continually refine these messages as we monitor our trigger points for the leisure market and the meetings market, and we will make adjustments based on changing traveler sentiment.
Target Audience |
Primary Idea to Convey |
Points to Emphasize in Messaging |
---|---|---|
Early leisure travelers
|
You’re ready for adventure again, and Albuquerque is the place to find it. |
|
Second wave of leisure travelers
|
Travel confidently to an exciting destination that offers culture and history, but doesn’t require a passport. |
|
Local residents |
You deserve to treat yourself. |
|
Recovery starts with tourism. |
|
|
Local hospitality industry |
We will assist with reopening and recovery. |
|
Meeting planners and sporting event planners |
Trust us to make your future meeting or sporting event a success. |
|
Your attendees will love meeting in Albuquerque, which will boost your attendance. |
|
To ensure our marketing, sales and services efforts are performing at an optimal level, we will report key performance measurements on a regular basis. The KPIs will demonstrate our ability to generate increased economic activity through the effective marketing of Albuquerque as a tourist and meeting destination. As of June 15, 2020, the KPIs outlined in our FY21 contract with the City of Albuquerque are:
1. Number of new citywide definite booked events.
2. Direct spend from new citywide definite booked events.
3. Number of new non-citywide definite booked events.
4. Direct spend from new non-citywide definite booked events.
5. Number of citywide definite booked events.
6. Direct spend from total citywide definite booked events.
7. City rooms sold growth.
8. City rooms sold percent change relative to comparison set.
9. Visit Albuquerque staff were responsive to our needs and effectively positioned Albuquerque as a host site.
10. Marketing and sales expense ratio: Total marketing and sales expenditures/total expenditures (Partner and City)
11. Percentage of Visit Albuquerque revenue received from the City spent on strategies for marketing the City of Albuquerque.
Targets for each of these KPIs will be developed jointly by Visit Albuquerque and a City-appointed task force that represents the tourism and lodging industry.
As we update and release our marketing plans quarterly, we also will update and release our media flowcharts for Leisure Travel and Convention & Sports quarterly, along with the accompanying budget. Doing so will give us the flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances, allow us to take advantage of new opportunities, and provide us with the agility to test and invest in additional marketing strategies.
The media flowcharts and budget for Q1 of FY21 will be developed after our contract extension with the City of Albuquerque is finalized, and will be provided to all stakeholders at that time.
As the premier destination organization for the city, 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. Through the impact of travel, Visit Albuquerque strengthens the city’s economic position and provides opportunity for people in the community.
To be recognized and respected as a leading destination marketing organization and to achieve economic vitality and success through integrity, enthusiasm and creative involvement for the promotion of Albuquerque as a world-class destination.