INDUSTRY INSIDER

January 2020

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

HELLO, VISIT ALBUQUERQUE PARTNERS

The first few weeks of 2020 have flown by, and we’re eager to continue our growth and momentum from the past year into this new decade. Looking back at 2019, it is exciting and refreshing to see what can be achieved through collaboration and partnership.

With the new year comes new technologies, new opportunities and new growth. This issue of Industry Insider explores just a few of the exciting developments we are looking forward to in 2020 in this ever-growing industry.

We are also thrilled to kick off 2020 with Albuquerque included as a highlight of New Mexico in Matador Network’s Must-Visit Destinations in 2020, along with a multitude of other positive and influential media coverage rounding out the past year.

We look forward to working with you to ensure a very successful 2020!

As always, thank you for your continued partnership.

Tania Armenta
President & CEO
Visit Albuquerque

Partner Events

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, February 19, 2020
Visit Albuquerque Office
20 First Plaza NW, Suite 601
9:30 am - 11:00 am

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 opportunities are:

Thursday, January 23, 2020
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum
West Meeting Room/Upstairs
9201 Balloon Museum Dr. NE

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.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
The African American Performing Arts Center
310 San Pedro Dr. NE (Expo New Mexico)

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.

News

Visit Albuquerque Announces Grand Opening of Old Town Visitor Information Center

Last month, Visit Albuquerque celebrated the grand opening of the new location of its Old Town Visitor Information Center. The new center is located at 522 Romero Street NW, and serves as a resource to visitors as well as the local community. At the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony, guests heard remarks from City Councilor Isaac Benton, City of Albuquerque Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Rael, Visit Albuquerque Board Chair Cainan Harris and Visit Albuquerque President and CEO Tania Armenta.

Visit Albuquerque has operated a Visitor Information Center in Old Town since the early 1980s. The center’s new location near Mountain Road and Rio Grande Blvd. more than doubles the amount of space available to showcase the city. Since its soft opening earlier this fall, the Visitor Information Center has already welcomed nearly 4,000 visitors at its new location.

We encourage you all to stop in, visit the new space and meet some of our hard-working volunteers.

New 360 Footage on Select VisitABQ.org Business Listings

In 2019, Visit Albuquerque worked with Threshold 360, a 360° visualization company, to gather 360° footage of selected Partner locations including restaurants, attractions, hotels, bed & breakfasts and event venues. The interactive, 360° photos and videos are now featured on those Partners’ listings. The new interactive experiences allow visitors, locals and potential visitors to virtually step inside of Albuquerque places to stay, restaurants and attractions, helping to showcase Albuquerque as the amazing destination that it is.

See an example of a 360° experience here.

Visit Albuquerque at PCMA Convening Leaders in San Francisco

The Visit Albuquerque team kicked off 2020 by attending PCMA Convening Leaders, January 5-8, in San Francisco. President and CEO Tania Armenta; VP of Sales, Services & Sports Kristin McGrath; and Senior National Sales Manager Misty Jester attended on behalf of Visit Albuquerque. In addition to taking part in educational sessions and networking opportunities, the Visit Albuquerque team co-hosted a breakfast with over 20 potential clients in attendance.

14th Annual New Mexico Bowl Recap

The San Diego State Aztecs took the win at the 14th Annual New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, December 21, playing against the Central Michigan Chippewas at the University of New Mexico Dreamstyle Stadium. As the only annual, national broadcast coverage of Albuquerque as a destination, the game was aired to fans across the country on ESPN and ESPN Radio.

Drawing visitors to the city from the competing teams’ home-states and other football fans from around the region, the game takes place during a traditionally slower season for the tourism industry in Albuquerque, providing a great opportunity for extra promotion and visitation. Visit Albuquerque was present at the game, providing a fun photo opportunity. With the stadium as visitors’ backdrop, Visit ABQ staff helped to commemorate visits to the New Mexico Bowl with a photo inside the life-size Albuquerque picture frame, free of charge.

Visit ABQ at 2020 State of the City Celebration

Mayor Keller addressed the city earlier this month at the Albuquerque Convention Center for the State of the City Celebration. The City of Albuquerque partnered with America Prays to support those experiencing homelessness in the local community at this year's event. The celebration included a family-friendly event that included interactive entertainment, local vendors, music, art and food, followed by a formal program during which the Mayor reflected on the year's progress and obstacles.

The Visit Albuquerque team offered a fun photo opportunity for event attendees and provided information on the organization and things to do in Albuquerque.

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.

Thank You to Partners for Contributions at Visit ABQ Holiday Party/Quarterly Meeting

At our recent Quarterly Meeting & Holiday Party at the Isleta Resort & Casino, we collected donations for Locker 505, an organization that provides clothing to students in need, and the Storehouse New Mexico, a New Mexico resource working to fight hunger.

Thanks to your generous support, we were able to donate six 30-gallon sized bags full of winter hats, gloves, socks, scarves and warm clothes to Locker 505, and 145 pounds of nonperishable food to the Storehouse.

Career Connections Facebook Initiative: Applications Due February 14

Career Connections is a Facebook initiative that expands student access to meaningful careers in their communities while contributing to the growth of local businesses. By connecting businesses to capable students from historically underserved backgrounds, this program is helping grow community engagement. If you and your business are interested in applying, click here. The deadline for Summer 2020 Fellowships is February 14, 2020.

Albuquerque Highlighted as Must-Visit Destination in 2020 by Matador Network

New Mexico was ranked as one of Matador Network’s 25 Places You Need to Travel in 2020, specifically calling out Albuquerque as a must-visit destination. Highlighting Albuquerque’s beauty, the article encourages travelers to explore the Sandia Mountains, unique boutique hotels, and our unique comfort food. Check out the full article here to see how New Mexico ranks along with some of the most beautiful destinations around the world.

The Distinct Positioning of Airbnb & HomeAway/Vrbo in Albuquerque’s Short-Term Rentals Market

The City of Albuquerque began collecting Lodger’s Taxes and Hospitality Fees from HomeAway/Vrbo in October 2019, the second deal of its kind with a short-term rentals provider. The first, with Airbnb, led to collections beginning in November 2018. The timing of the HomeAway/Vrbo collections addition coincided nicely with the addition of HomeAway/Vrbo-specific data to the monthly reports our team receives from New York-based analytics company AllTheRooms. In light of this, we would like to share our analysis of the early data we have received to give you a sense of the key differences between these platforms within our market.

As background, Vrbo (vacation rentals by owner) was acquired by HomeAway in 2006 and HomeAway was later acquired by Expedia Group in 2015. Airbnb, while rumored to be going public soon, remains a private company as of this newsletter publication and was founded in 2008.

Specific to the Albuquerque-market, the following stood out when we looked at HomeAway/Vrbo data versus Airbnb data between October and December 2019:

While HomeAway/Vrbo maintained about 30% as many active listings as Airbnb, it generated slightly more than 50% as much gross revenue:

Active Listings Airbnb vs vrbo Chart (Industry Insider)

Gross Revenue Airbnb vs. vrbo (Industry Insider)

Adjusted occupancy rates, which account for temporary periods of listing unavailability, were very similar. Over the three-month period, HomeAway/Vrbo’s occupancy rate was 38.87% vs. 37.53% for Airbnb.
Entire home (vs. a private or shared room within a home) listings accounted for over 90% of the gross revenue per platform. However, the average daily rate (ADR) for an entire home listing on HomeAway/Vrbo was at least $50 more than that of an entire home listing on Airbnb over each of the three months.
The ADR differential reflects meaningful differences in the composition of the entire home listings on each platform. For instance, 4+ bedroom entire home listings represented 17.17% of the HomeAway/Vrbo inventory vs. 10.14% of Airbnb’s. On the opposite end of the spectrum, studio listings represented 2.1% of HomeAway/Vrbo’s entire home inventory vs. 9.36% of Airbnb’s. According to Victor Bosselaar, Head of Data Sales and Partnerships at AllTheRooms, “This is a common trend we are seeing across the country. The Vrbo/HomeAway platform was geared more towards the traditional vacation rental market - think villas and holiday homes - so it was a natural fit for when distribution came online.” He added that, “This contrasts with Airbnb, which was born out of the 'shared-economy', where individuals would make available their primary home or apartment to monetize an unused bedroom. And the stark differences in inventory and type of hosts are reflected in the data.”

In summary, while Airbnb and Vrbo/HomeAway are both short-term rental platforms, there are meaningful differences between how each one operates in our market. Vrbo/HomeAway’s active listings skewed more private (83% of all listings were entire home vs. 72.2% for Airbnb), larger (on a per bedroom basis), and pricier. Regardless, the scale of Airbnb’s presence in the Albuquerque market, with over 3 times the active listings of Vrbo/HomeAway between October and December 2019, gives the platform a sizable gross revenue advantage*.

*Note that profitability cannot be inferred as platform operating costs are unknown.

Partner Opportunities

2020 Official Albuquerque Visitors Guide Pickup

The 2020 Visitors Guides have arrived and are ready for you to share with your customers, clients and guests! You may pick up your supply of Visitors Guides at the First Plaza Loading Dock, located in the basement of Visit Albuquerque’s downtown office building. Please go to VisitABQ.org/partners for directions and a map.

DATES: February 11 – 14
TIMES: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

PLEASE REMEMBER:

50 visitor guides per box.
Each box weighs approximately 15 pounds.
A dolly will be available to help transport your supply of Visitors Guides to your vehicle, but you will be responsible for lifting the boxes and loading them in your vehicle.
If you are not able to pick up copies, Visitors Guides can be delivered or shipped at your expense.

Please contact Novella Trujillo at 505-222-4307 or Novella@VisitABQ.org with any questions.

Send Us Your Valentine’s Day Packages and Deals

We want to include you in our upcoming Valentine’s Day promotional efforts. If you are offering a Valentine’s Day or special romance package or deal, we want to know about it and share it! Packages and deals created around a holiday or a season are a great way to encourage visitors to your business. Valentine’s Day creates a unique opportunity to do just that.

Submit a package or a coupon to have your offer promoted on our webpage, which is highly ranked on search engines and receives an average of 140,000 unique visitors per month.

Tell Us What’s New

Here at Visit Albuquerque, we’re always developing new marketing initiatives and we want to talk about you! With the new year just around the corner, we’re collecting as much information as possible so we can share what’s new in Albuquerque heading into 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.

NMTD Offers “Google My Business” Webinar

New Mexico Tourism Department (NMTD) hosted 12 workshops throughout New Mexico in November and December 2019. Each workshop was a live, in-person class for industry partners to learn more about optimizing their Google listings by utilizing free tools on Google. Each class workshop was designed to help partners expand exposure within Google’s products and improve conversion of digital audiences to actual customers.

If you were unable to attend, or need a refresher, a pre-recorded webinar is now available for you to view.

2020 NM True Co-op Grant Cycle Coming Up

The NMTD Cooperative Marketing Grant Program for the next fiscal year is coming soon. To learn more about the opportunity and key dates, NMTD is hosting an informative breakout session about cooperative marketing and advertising opportunities with New Mexico True at the annual TRENDS Conference in Santa Fe on February 4, 2020. Learn more here.

Promote & Share

ABQ in the News

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

» The 25 places you need to travel in 2020 - Matador Network

» You're going where? Albuquerque - The Washington Post

» Albuquerque — yes, Albuquerque — is the next foodie destination you need to visit - The Denver Post

» Go There: An Arts and Culture Weekend in Albuquerque - Livability

» Best Holiday Light Displays Across the U.S. - Forbes

Partner Kudos

Golden Crown Panaderia One of Five Bakeries in the World to be Featured in National Commercial

Golden Crown Panaderia was one of five bakeries world-wide selected to be featured in a new international commercial for Dawn Foods. The advertisement highlights the work bakers do each morning, especially the father-son team of Pratt and Christopher Morales at Golden Crown Panaderia. Congratulations on the feature!

Congratulations to Anthony Romero, Winner of ESPA’s 2019 Meeting Planner of the Year

Congratulations to Anthony Romero, Associate Director of Senior Affairs of Albuquerque, on being named the Event Service Professionals Association’s (ESPA) 2019 Meeting Planner of the Year, in recognition of his dedication and hard work on the 2019 Senior Games in Albuquerque.

Featured Partners

EXHIB-IT! Presents: 6th Annual People’s Choice Best Local Brand Award Contest! Enter Before March 20, 2020

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

Rails, Roads and Ragtime in Benefit of the Wheels Museum!

Don’t miss “Rails, Roads and Ragtime” with the only Four-Time World Champion Old-Time Piano Player, Adam Swanson! Performances include Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Hungary, Switzerland, Australia, the Strater Hotel and more! Sunday, February 9, 2020, from 3 pm - 5 pm at First Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle NE, in benefit of the Wheels Museum. Purchase tickets online at my505tickets.com or at 505-907-0505.

Learn More