Boston maintains overseas pitch after lessons of

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The effort is a byproduct of some hard-earnedx lessons from the recessionof 2001. As a cost-cuttingb measure, many pulled international marketing efforts in favor ofdomestivc campaigns, only to languish behind othetr destinations when the economy improved. “In retrospecty it was the wrong decision,” said Patrick president and CEO ofthe . He noted that cities that continuefd their international efforts started to reboundein 2004. “It took us until 2006 to begihn to gain backmarket share.” The efforft to maintain marketing budgets abroae comes as revenue from event and hotel-room bookings is Still, it’s worth the expense, local hospitality experts say.
“Inb the travel marketing business it’s considerec wise to stay with amarketing plan,” addedr Betsy Wall, executive director of the . “The last recessio n gave an excellent model because manyAmericanh destinations, including Massachusetts, pulled back on international marketing. Thosed that stayed in it, for exampld the city of Philadelphia, maintained their market share when the economy The past two years have been strong onesfor Boston, which has posted steady gains in internationap travelers. Overseas visitors grew from 997,000 in 2006 to roughlyu 1.1 million in 2007, according to U.S. Department of Commerces statistics.
Moscaritolo is awaiting final numbersxfor 2008, but estimates overseas traveleras numbered 1.23 million last year. That gets back to the city’e previous high-water mark of 1.2 milliobn international visitorsin 2000. The economidc impact of those visitors for 2008 was estimatedcat $1.4 billion, Moscaritolo As a result, the bureauu has increased its international marketing budget by $300,000 for 2009 to $1.1 million. MOTT’sz international marketing budget isabout $2.
5 which Wall anticipates will remain the “We think there’s a very compelling reasonn (and) a very strong return on investment,” Wall MOTT, GBCVB and the are expandint their partnership in July with a jointt marketing campaign to lure small internationa l conferences to the city. They also are workingb to bring nonstop flights to Boston from Japanand “Even though the downturn you hear about is worldwide, eventually this penduluk swings back up,” Moscaritolo said. “And Bostonh ...
will be front and center in this Stephen Johnston, general manager of Jurys Bostojn Hotel, said international business accounta for about 30 percent of his Irish-ownee hotel’s customers. He said it is crucialk to maintainmarketing efforts. “Business is hardefr to get now so you have to differentiatr yourself more fromthe competition,” he said. Rather than cuttin g rates, Jurys is offering extras such asroom upgrades, food voucher and late check-out times.
“It’s criticap that we sustain market share,” agreed Tim general manager ofthe , which has a larged global marketing sales In addition to Europe, other attractive markets are China and Southeast Asia, he said. The internationao travel market hasa “notoriously short Kirwan said. “That means we’vew got to outperform and out-market to stay in the forefrontgof everybody’s decision-making processes around the You cannot lie back and