INDUSTRY INSIDER

November 2018

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

HELLO, VISIT ALBUQUERQUE PARTNERS

Cool weather and hot chile are signaling the final months of 2018.

That means we’re gearing up for the holiday season and our Quarterly Meeting and Holiday Celebration. Mark your calendars for December 11 at 4 pm, and register below. We’re looking forward to seeing you all there to celebrate the season and each other!

We are heading into the winter season with exciting new updates to the Visit Albuquerque website, and big news from throughout the city - new international flights, world-renowned museum exhibitions, and many developments in this exciting industry.

More importantly than our own updates and news, however, is that we have many opportunities detailed in this issue of Industry Insider, both new and ongoing, that we encourage you to review. We invite all of you, our partners, to get involved and take advantage of all that we have to offer. We’re eager to begin 2019 with a strong start, so please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or needs.

As always, thank you for your continued partnership,

Tania Armenta
President & CEO
Visit Albuquerque

Partner Events

ACE

New to Albuquerque or the hospitality industry? Maybe you are simply looking to enhance your customer service skills. If so, join our ACE class! ACE is a three-and-a-half-hour course that explores things to do and see in the Albuquerque area as well as do's and don'ts of customer service. Cost is $25 per student. Contact 505-222-4338 or email PartnerEvents@VisitABQ.org to register. The next ACE opportunity is:

Monday, November 19, 2018
Holiday Inn & Suites Albuquerque Airport
1501 Sunport Pl. SE
Registration Begins: 11:45 am/Class Begins: 12:00 pm
Note: Lunch is not provided

Register Now for Visit ABQ’s Quarterly Meeting and Holiday Celebration

Join us as we celebrate the success of the travel and tourism industry in Albuquerque, and the vital role it plays as an economic engine for the city. Hear from industry leaders and celebrate the accomplishments of 2018 with fellow colleagues. You'll also learn about exciting new plans and developments as we look to the year ahead—2019!

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Marriott Pyramid North

Quarterly Meeting to start at 4 pm. Party to immediately follow.

REGISTER HERE

Partner Orientation

Whether you are new to Visit Albuquerque or a long-time partner, we encourage you to take advantage of this FREE Orientation. You will meet the staff of the Development Department who will review your partner benefits and provide you with valuable information on how we can work together to promote your business or organization to the leisure traveler, convention attendees and local ABQ residents. You must register in advance as space is limited. Please call 505-222-4307 or email PartnerEvents@VisitABQ.org.

Please note: Orientations will now be held the 3rd Wednesday of the month. There will be no Orientation in November. The next Orientation will be December 19th.

News

Visions of the Hispanic World Exhibit

The world-renowned exhibition Visions of the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library is currently in Albuquerque for the first stop on this exhibition’s first traveling tour. Visions of the Hispanic World will be on display at the Albuquerque Museum until March 31, 2019.

The impressive exhibition includes over 200 of the most exceptional works spanning over 3,000 years in the collections of the Hispanic Society of America. A significant number of these works have not been exhibited outside of the Hispanic Society, and some have never before been exhibited.

If you’d like to be a part of the promotions of this exhibition, please send us your packages and deals surrounding Visions of the Hispanic World and its time here in Albuquerque. We will include packages on our website and include them in other promotional efforts during the time the exhibit is here. See more on this opportunity below, under the Partner Opportunities section.

2018 New Mexico Bowl

It’s already time again for the countdown to the 2018 New Mexico Bowl - Saturday, December 15. Kick off the College Football Bowl season as you cheer on the 2018 teams from Mountain West and Conference USA as they fight for a chance to make the New Mexico Bowl trophy their own.

The Visit Albuquerque Frame will be there on game day to provide a fun photo opp for fans to share their experience!

Check out the Improved Neighborhood Pages on VisitABQ.org

Albuquerque’s unique, distinctive neighborhoods reflect the diversity of our city. Each neighborhood - from Historic Old Town, to the buzzing Downtown area, to the quiet beauty of the North Valley - has its own personality and attractions. That’s why neighborhoods are a major focus of our marketing efforts this year. In an effort to bring more light to our neighborhoods and tell each of their stories to visitors, we’ve recently revamped our neighborhood pages on VisitABQ.org. We encourage you to visit these pages, see the new, vibrant, user-generated imagery, interactive map, updated layout, and to share your neighborhood page with your friends and followers:

New Filter Options on Visit ABQ/ABQ365 Calendar of Events

We encourage you to take some time to explore a new feature we’ve recently implemented on our Calendar of Events. Visitors can now narrow down their event search even more specifically with three new filter options: ‘Events’ ‘Exhibits’ or ‘Tours’. This new feature will help website visitors find exactly what they are looking for much easier than they had been able to before. Explore the calendar here.

If you have an event, tour or exhibit that is not on our calendar currently, be sure to submit it here, and help visitors find you more easily as well!

Albuquerque Sports Commission at TEAMS Conference

The Albuquerque Sports Commission, a division of Visit Albuquerque, traveled to the TEAMS Conference and Expo in Louisville, where they conducted over 40 one-on-one appointments with sporting event rights holders. TEAMS, presented by SportsTravel magazine, brings together over 1,200 attendees including sporting event rights holders, destinations, and experts in the sports tourism industry to network and connect. Pictured here at the historic Churchill Downs, is Marc Riker, CEO and Sue Hlavacek, Director of Events and Programs for the National Senior Games Association along with the Sports Commission Team, Angie Jepsen and Angela Gandy.

Visit ABQ Attends Volaris Mission in Mexico to Promote New Flight

As announced this summer, beginning November 17, the Sunport will be introducing twice-weekly flights to Guadalajara, Mexico, served by Volaris, a Mexican airline. In promotion of Albuquerque as a destination in conjunction with these new flights, Visit Albuquerque’s Angie Jepsen recently joined a team of representatives from various city and state organizations on a trip to Guadalajara for a media mission and press conference. The group included representatives from the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, City of Albuquerque’s Economic Development Department and Aviation Department, ABQ-Bernalillo County Trade Alliance, New Mexico Tourism Department, and Tourism Santa Fe.

In partnership with these organizations and departments, as well as Volaris, this trip gave Visit Albuquerque the opportunity to promote Albuquerque as a destination, especially focusing on skiing, snowsports and other outdoor recreation, to travel agents, tour operators, media and city officials in this new market.

Visit Albuquerque is also working with Volaris on a Sweepstakes, focusing on this new market in Mexico, in which a lucky winner will receive a trip to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. See the contest page at VisitABQ.org/Volaris.

Visit ABQ’s Lindsey Seybert Speaks on Panel at NTA Conference

At the National Tour Association’s (NTA) Travel Exchange in Milwaukee, Visit Albuquerque’s Lindsey Seybert participated on a panel discussion to talk about how DMOs can work together and engage operators. After the panel presentation, attendees had the opportunity to break out into roundtable discussions on topics relevant to DMOs of all sizes, geography and composition. NTA’s Travel Exchange brings tourism professionals from all industry sectors together in one location, and Visit ABQ was proud to have our National Sales Manager participate as an important part of the discussions, bringing Albuquerque and our work here to the forefront of the national conversation.

Visit ABQ’s Audrey Johnson at Simpleview CMS User Group Meeting

Simpleview, Visit Albuquerque’s website content management system (CMS) provider, relies on customer input to advance their products and services with a CMS User Group. The CMS User Group is made up of leaders within the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) space throughout the country, familiar with web standards and functionality and masters of steering and managing DMO websites. Visit Albuquerque’s Marketing Director, Audrey Johnson has been named one of these experts, and was elected Vice-Chair of the user group for 2019. As a part of the user group, which met in Columbus on November 6, Visit ABQ has the opportunity to help advance and improve the CMS that we, and many DMOs around the country count on daily. We’re proud to be a part of important technological advances and conversations in this space, first hand.

Partner Opportunities

Place Your Ad in the 2019 Official Albuquerque Visitors Guide

It’s that time of year again: the launch of the 2019 Official Albuquerque Visitors Guide!

This year, the redesigned, larger size allows for more inspirational content in an attractive magazine-like format. Bigger, bolder images will showcase Albuquerque to a higher degree. There will be more space for editorial and feature stories, and larger advertising options.

Designed to inspire travel to our oasis in the high-desert through tips, tools and unique stories that showcase Albuquerque’s many facets, the 2019 Official Albuquerque Visitors Guide embraces the diversity and authenticity of this one-of-a-kind destination and continues to be a popular tool among travelers.

Did you know that 88.8% of visitors said these guides helped them make the decision to travel to Albuquerque, and we welcome more than 6.2 million visitors annually? Make sure you are a part of their decision making!

Advertising space deadline is today (November 15). Artwork is due Friday, November 30.

Featured Benefit for Partners: E-Coupons

Partners, are you taking advantage of all of the incredible opportunities we offer to directly tap into the billions of dollars that Albuquerque convention and tourism industry generates?

Attractions, activities, arts, dining/nightlife, accommodations, transportation (non-group) and shopping coupons all drive visitor business to your company! Convention delegates and tourists alike look for value and discounts. Make sure they have the opportunity to see and print your discount coupon to bring with them to Albuquerque. Check out what visitors see here.

It’s simple. Offer a discount that will entice customers to visit your business, give us one graphic (photo or logo) and we do the rest. The only expense to you is your discount.

Please email your coupon information and graphic to Novella@VisitABQ.org or call Novella Trujillo, Partner Services Manager, at 505-222-4307.

Specifications:

Maximum 10 words of discount offer
Maximum 15 words of restrictions
Graphic will be viewed as 1.25” X 2”-- vertical works much better than horizontal
- High-Resolution file preferred (150 DPI minimum)
- File format: JPG, PDF
- No Microsoft word, Excel, PowerPoint or other

Send Us Your “Visions of the Hispanic World” Packages and Deals

We want to include you in our upcoming promotional efforts surrounding the new exhibition at the Albuquerque Museum, Visions of the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library. The exhibition, on display until March 31, tells a rich story of cultures settling in Spain and bringing the best and most innovative elements of their heritage to the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish colonies. This renowned exhibit coming to Albuquerque creates a great opportunity to offer packages and deals with which it could be paired.

Submit a package or a coupon to have your offer included in our ongoing promotional efforts for this prestigious exhibition.

Send Us Your Holiday Packages and Deals

We want to include you in our upcoming holiday promotional efforts. If you are offering a holiday/winter 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. Albuquerque’s beautiful winter weather and unique holiday traditions create a great opportunity to do just that.

Submit a package or a coupon to have your offer promoted on our website, 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. We want to talk about you!

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 about to? Grand opening? Send anything and everything to Media@VisitABQ.org.

Promote & Share

ABQ in the News

» Travel + Leisure - The Trip You Should Take This Fall, Based on Your Zodiac Sign

» SmarterTravel - How to Do a Weekend in Albuquerque

» TripSavvy - Best Beaches & Natural Attractions

» FamilyTravel.com - Great Geeky Getaways

» Thrillist - The Best Places Around the World to Travel in December

Partner Kudos

Congratulations to the 2018 Top HAT Award Winners!

We are thrilled to extend big congratulations to all of the 2018 New Mexico Hospitality Association’s Top HAT Award winners! The winners were announced at the 2018 Top HAT Awards Gala on November 8 at Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel.

2018 Premier Awards:

Supplier/Vendor of the Year: Routes Bicycle Tours and Rentals
Tourism Professional of the Year: John Feins, Director of Marketing for Meow Wolf
Hospitality Professional of the Year: Damen Kompanowski, General Manager of the Albuquerque Sheraton Uptown
Limited Service Hotel of the Yea: Comfort Suites Gallup
Full Service Hotel of the Year: Sunrise Springs in Santa Fe

2018 Product Development Awards:

Outstanding Attraction of 2018: The Pajarito Environmental Education Center
Outstanding Event of 2018: Visit Las Cruces, with its Monuments to Main Street event series
Best New Experience of 2018: Meow Wolf, for its Taos Vortex music festival

2018 Marketing Awards:

Best Broadcast Campaign of 2018: Santa Fe County, for its "Travels with Darley" television episodes campaign (DCN Creative served as the agency support for the campaign)
Best Print Campaign of 2018: La Fonda on the Plaza, for its Spirit of Authenticity campaign (Ideas and People served as the agency support for this campaign)
Best Digital Campaign of 2018: TOURISM Santa Fe for its "The City Different" Campaign (Fuseideas served as the agency support for this campaign)
Best Social Media Campaign of 2018: Sunrise Springs Spa Resort, with its "Seasonal Sunrise" local influencer campaign
Most Innovative Campaign of 201: Jemez Springs (InPress LLC served as the agency support for this campaign)

2018 Hospitality Awards:

Back-of-House Food & Beverage Employee of the Year: Charles Guiswite, Executive Pastry Chef of Isleta Resort & Casino
Front-of-House Food & Beverage Employee of the Year: Tony Romero, Lead Server with Hotel Albuquerque of Old Town
Back-of-House Hospitality Employee of the Year: Veronica Corona, Housekeeping Manager with Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown
Front-of-House Hospitality Employee of the Year: Leslie Sanchez, Night Auditor with Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town

Kudos to Eldora Chocolate on their Feature in the Albuquerque Journal's Business Outlook

Congratulations to Visit Albuquerque partner, Eldora Chocolate, on their recent feature in the Albuquerque Journal's Business Outlook. The story highlights owner and founder, Steve Prickett’s story of opening the 2,000-square-foot store on Edith, after retirement from Merrill Lynch. Congratulations to Eldora on the success and on the feature story!

Congratulations to the Wheels Museum, Now Available for Tours and More!

The Wheels Museum on the downtown steam locomotive site is now open and available for tours, presentations, classes, and small group visits and events. Call 243-6269 to schedule a tour through transportation history including photos of the men who worked on the locomotives there, full size vehicles of many kinds, model trains, cars, and more. Also on site are a gift shop, library, Fred Harvey Alvarado Hotel Exhibit and much more. The museum is located at 1100 2nd St SW.

Congratulations to Farina Pizzeria on their 10-Year Anniversary

Congratulations to Pat and Terry Keene, owners of Farina Pizzeria on their 10-year anniversary! The couple has mastered the artisanal pizza game with a signature char from a two-minute stint in an 800-degree oven. Farina was named one of the best pizzas in the nation by Time Out magazine among New York City's Di Farra Pizza, Flour + Water in San Francisco, Chicago's Pequod's Pizza and Serious Pie in Seattle.

Featured Partners

Turquoise Museum

400 2nd St. S.W.

Albuquerque, NM 87102

505-550-0127

turquoisemuseumabq@gmail.com

The Turquoise Museum is celebrating 25 years in Albuquerque, with a new facility. The museum is moving into a castle located in downtown and will display turquoise from 100 U.S. mines, over 400 pieces of southwestern jewelry, and some of the rarest turquoise stones in the world. Opening soon!

Resources

October Assisted & Generated Bookings

October-November Calendar of Events

October Leisure eCard

November Leisure eNewsletter