INDUSTRY INSIDER

February 2020

Partner Events
News
Partner Opportunities
Promote & Share
Partner Kudos
Featured Partners
Resources

HELLO, VISIT ALBUQUERQUE PARTNERS

The winter season has brought several highlights for Albuquerque’s tourism and hospitality industry. We received outstanding media coverage that showcased our city as a destination, we hosted the prestigious 2020 USATF Indoor Championships that featured elite track and field athletes, and we enjoyed spectacular snow conditions that attracted winter sports enthusiasts to our slopes.

Winter also brings Black History Month. Each February, we recognize the contributions and celebrate the vitality that the African American community brings to our city year-round. From food, art and music to science, medicine and technology, Albuquerque has a rich African American culture and history that are worth exploring and sharing.

The strong indoor track season will continue into March as we host the 2020 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championships March 13-14. And as spring approaches, the days aren’t the only thing looking brighter. We have a very strong spring and summer season of business on tap to continue the positive momentum in our industry.

You’ll read more about recent accomplishments and upcoming opportunities in this month’s newsletter.

As always, thank you for your continued partnership.

Tania Armenta
President & CEO
Visit Albuquerque

Partner Events

ACE

We invite you to join us at an upcoming ACE class. ACE explores things to see and do in the Albuquerque area as well as tips on how to enrich your customer service skills. This is an excellent class for all positions in your organization. Each student will receive a complimentary Experience Pass that allows them and a guest to enjoy over 20 destinations in the Albuquerque area – a value of over $800. The cost to attend the class is $25 per student. To register call Trish Hathoot at 505-908-8178 or email TKHTrainingABQ@gmail.com.

The next ACE opportunity is:

Thursday, March 19, 2020
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Electric Playhouse
5201 Ouray Rd NW

Registration Begins: 8:45 am/Class Begins: 9:00 am

A continental breakfast will be provided with water and coffee. Everyone in attendance is welcome to tour the facility after the class.

Partner Orientation

Learn how to take advantage of your partnership with Visit Albuquerque by attending our upcoming Partner Orientation! We'll review the many benefits and exclusive services that are part of your partnership, including how to craft a listing on our website that will catch the attention of visitors and help attract more customers to your business. You'll also meet our Partner Development team and be able to network with other Visit Albuquerque Partners. The Orientation is an excellent tool for new Partners and a great refresher for long-time Partners. Although complimentary, you must register in advance as space is limited. Please call 505-222-4307 or email PartnerServices@VisitABQ.org.

The next orientation will be held:

Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Visit Albuquerque Office
20 First Plaza NW, Suite 601
9:30 am - 11:00 am

News

2020 Official Albuquerque Visitors Guide is Here!

Visit Albuquerque has released the 2020 Official Albuquerque Visitors Guide. The full-color, 84-page guide is designed to inspire people to visit Albuquerque by providing ideas about where to eat, shop, spend their day, and enjoy all that the city has to offer.

The guide includes magazine-style feature articles that encourage readers to explore Albuquerque’s outdoor adventures, experience the city’s innovative culinary scene and learn more about the region’s arts and culture through a contemporary lens.

The Visitors Guide is instrumental in persuading people to travel to Albuquerque. In a survey conducted by Destination Analysts Inc., 89% of undecided travelers reported that the Visitors Guide helped them make the decision to travel to Albuquerque, and 68% said they visited Albuquerque after receiving the guide. Over the past two years, residents of San Antonio, El Paso, Houston, Denver, Phoenix and Austin made the greatest number of requests for the guide.

Check out the interactive, digital guide at www.visitabq.org/digital-guide.

If you have questions about your allotment of Visitors Guides, please contact Novella Trujillo at Novella@VisitABQ.org or 505-222-4307.

Visit Albuquerque Attends the Independent Planner Education Conference

For the second consecutive year, Visit Albuquerque’s Senior National Sales Manager, Clarissa Baca, attended the Independent Planner Education Conference (IPEC). Hosted by Northstar Meetings Group, IPEC is tailored to the unique needs of independent planners who are not associated with any third-party organizations. At IPEC the independent planners meet face-to-face with top destinations, hotels/resorts, cruise lines, DMCs, DMOs and tourism offices from the U.S.

Over the course of three days, Clarissa met with 21 qualified meeting planners and was able to spend important time with each of them during registration, educational sessions and planned group activities. Fun fact: Three local independent meeting planners from Albuquerque were in attendance!

Visit Albuquerque Hosts Special Luncheon in Tampa for HelmsBriscoe Representatives

Together with Destination Madison, Visit Albuquerque hosted an intimate lunch with six HelmsBriscoe representatives based out of Tampa, Fla. Our team shared with them everything new in 2020 in each of our respective cities as well as explaining our tri-city partnership with Destination Madison and Visit Providence. Visit Albuquerque representatives showed off our new Visitors Guide and destination videos, and held a Q&A session. This luncheon was a great reminder that our industry is based on relationships, and that people book with people who they like!

Visit Albuquerque’s HR Director Presents at 2020 Knowledge Sharing Summit & Marketplace

The 2020 Knowledge Sharing Summit & Marketplace will be held this year in Albuquerque, February 23-26. The Summit is presented by the Association of Lodging Professionals and hosted by the New Mexico Bed and Breakfast Association.

The Association of Independent Hospitality Professionals (AIHP) is a nonprofit association that represents, supports, educates and advocates for independent hospitality professionals to enhance their personal satisfaction and business success.

The annual AIHP Knowledge Sharing Summit & Marketplace presents a powerful crossroads for the ever-increasing community of passionate experienced and aspiring innkeepers, professional hosts, hospitality professionals and industry service providers to network, learn and shop.

Alongside a long list of impressive speakers and presenters, Visit Albuquerque’s HR Director, Barbara Marcus, will offer a Human Resources 101 course at the summit.

Learn more about the summit here.

Vote for Fiery Foods Festival and Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in USA Today’s 10Best Contests

Two of Albuquerque’s most popular events are finalists competing for spots in the 2020 Festivals USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice contests. Our nominees are the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show in the Best Specialty FoodFestival category, and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in the Best Cultural Festival category. Voting ends on Monday, March 2. Vote now and daily, and we encourage you to share the contest URLs with your social networks, colleagues and friends.

Vote now for the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show

Vote now for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Vote for Albuquerque in the Travel + Leisure 2020 World’s Best Awards

Albuquerque has made it past the nomination round and is officially included in the Travel + Leisure 2020 World’s Best Awards survey! In addition to the city being nominated, Hotel Chaco and Hyatt Tamaya have also been nominated within the hotel category.

The 2020 survey is open at tlworldsbest.com until March 2, 2020. Please take the time to complete the simple survey, and rate Albuquerque and the nominated Albuquerque hotels.

We also encourage you to promote the survey link on social media or anywhere else you see fit. The results will appear in the August 2020 issue of Travel + Leisure magazine and on their website.

Albuquerque Named Best Place to Live and Work as a Movie Maker in 2020

MovieMaker Magazine announced that for the second year in a row, Albuquerque is the No. 1 Best Place to Live and Work as a moviemaker in 2020. Albuquerque outranked some major competitors including Vancouver, Atlanta and Chicago in the Big Cities category. With major production studios like Netflix and NBC Universal building headquarters in the city and strong independent film production, Albuquerque is becoming known as a national hub for film. We’re thrilled to see this growing industry and its accompanying job growth and are eager to see its continuing impact on the tourism industry as well.

Read the full article here.

Partner Opportunities

Featured Partner Benefit: Convention Calendar

As a Visit Albuquerque partner, your business has exclusive access to our Convention Calendar. This confidential calendar lists future meetings, association and non-association conventions and some trade shows scheduled to be held in Albuquerque. The Convention Calendar provides the dates of the scheduled events, a contact name with email and phone number and anticipated number of attendees. This is an excellent way to reach out to convention attendees and bring them into your business.

The calendar can be located on the Extranet Section of Visit Albuquerque’s website. For instructions on how to download the Convention Calendar, contact Novella Trujillo at 222-4307 or novella@visitabq.org. Don’t miss this opportunity to directly tap into convention business!

The Greater Western Chapter of the Travel & Tourism Research Association Invites Visit Albuquerque Partners to Attend Research Conference at Special Member Rate

The Greater Western Chapter of the Travel & Tourism Research Association (GWTTRA) is hosting its 2020 Annual Tourism Conference in Albuquerque, March 25-27, 2020. GWTTRA has extended a special invitation to all Visit Albuquerque partners to attend the conference in Albuquerque as special guests, at the members rate.

The conference features innovative, thought-provoking tourism discussions and offers strategic insights and edge. This year’s theme is cultural tourism.

Click here to register, and select “membership rate.”

Submit Your Events to the ABQ365 Events Calendar

Visit Albuquerque’s ABQ365 Events Calendar offers a great opportunity to promote your events! The one-stop, all-ABQ encompassing calendar features primarily arts, entertainment and culture-focused events, appealing to both locals and visitors.

Consistently ranking as one of the top pages visited on VisitABQ.org, events listings offer a great opportunity for additional exposure and promotion of your events – for free!

We encourage you to submit your events regularly.

Click here to get started.

NMTD CoOp Marketing & Advertising Webinar: March 3

The New Mexico Tourism Department (NMTD) is calling all prospective grant applicants to join the annual CoOp Marketing kick-off with an informative webinar. The NMTD team will share everything you need to know about the program and application process. Viewing the webinar in real-time is required for any eligible entity* planning to apply. Click here for more information about the Cooperative Marketing & Advertising Program.

Tell Us What’s New

Here at Visit Albuquerque, we’re always developing new marketing initiatives and we want to talk about you! We’re collecting as much information as possible so we can share what’s new in Albuquerque in 2020.

Do you have an upcoming anniversary? Did you just remodel? New name? New tour? New feature? New photos or videos? New concept? New specialty dish? Have you moved, or are you about to? Grand opening? Send anything and everything to Media@VisitABQ.org.

Promote & Share

ABQ in the News

Check out VisitABQ.org/GoodNews for this season's biggest stories about ABQ.

» 5 warm travel destinations to escape the winter weather in 2020 - TODAY

» Need a Vacation? 115 Best Places to Travel for a Quick Weekend Getaway - Parade Online

» It's Always Sunny In… - Macaroni Kid

» 100 Destinations So Magical You Won't Believe They're in the U.S. - BestLife

» 10 Unique and Quirky Museums Around the United States - USA Today 10Best

» How to Be a Kinder Traveler - The New York Times

Partner Kudos

Congratulations to the New Mexico State Fair on Multiple Wins at the Western Fairs Association’s Convention and Trade Show

The New Mexico State Fair was recently honored by the Western Fairs Association (WFA) for excellence in marketing, programming and management at the WFA Annual Conference in Reno, Nev. The Western Fairs Association is one of the largest professional fair organizations in the country with over 800 members throughout the western United States and Canada. In total, the Fair won six awards for new events and programming unveiled at the 2019 event and was selected to be WFA’s Feature Fair in 2020.

The State Fair was awarded recognition in the following categories:

Innovations & Management Excellence

1st Place New Exhibit / Competition / New Mexico Beef Jerky Showdown

2nd Place Inspiring Collaborations / New Mexico State Fair Cider Fest

Marketing & Media

1st Place Fair Logo - Special Event / New Mexico State Fair Rodeo Logo

3rd Place Innovative Marketing Campaign / New Mexico State Fair Pilsner

1st Place – Give it Your Best Shot – Photo Category “Best Grounds Entertainment”

People’s Choice – Best Fair Photo

Congratulations to the NM State Fair on the multiple wins!

Congratulations to Electric Playhouse on Grand Opening

Electric Playhouse celebrated its grand opening on Albuquerque’s west side at the beginning of this month. The new space brings together art and community in a unique, interactive and fun way. Congratulations to Electric Playhouse on the successful grand opening!

National Hispanic Cultural Center Turns 20 in 2020

Over the past 20 years, the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) has shared thousands of stories showcasing art, history, literature and performance that celebrate Hispanic culture in New Mexico, the United States, and around the world. Every event at the NHCC this year will showcase the type of programming that makes the Center unique. Congratulations to the NHCC on turning 20 years old in 2020!

Congratulations to M’tucci’s Restaurants on Grand Opening of M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

M’tucci’s Restaurants has opened a second location, on the east side of the river, offering guests the authentic Italian experience they are known for. The new location comes with a dramatic transformation of the former Chama River Brewing, with a large lounge and bar, a custom charcuterie bar, and a comfortable dining room. Congratulations on the grand opening!

Featured Partners

You still have time to enter the EXHIB-IT! People’s Choice Best Local Brand Award Contest!

Now accepting applications from local businesses. No Cost to Enter. Deadline for entries is March 20, 2020. Grand prizes valued at $6,825 will be awarded to one commercial business and one nonprofit organization at the B2B Expo Award Ceremony on April 28, 2020. Sign up now and share your brand.

Learn More