While international travelling is set on pause, destinations needs to innovate and find new mechanisms to promote their cities to the possible investors, media and decision makers. In Tucson, food Is being used to bring the Tucson identity directly in the houses and offices of some VIP prospects.
These 3 projects all follow the same idea: sending out food & drinks to strategic prospects of the destination and offer an online meeting to discuss business opportunities and present the destination. A way to stand out as a destination, using and use food as a strong promotional tool.
A real success that will encourage the partners in Tucson to keep using these concepts after the pandemic ad it is a good way to connect with people when it is hard or not cost effective to travel to meet in person.
Private Video Series – “Hope you Were Here”
For tourism media, there are no fields visits but still content to be published. Visit Tucson is looking to keep getting high media coverage within the specialized press.
“Hope you Were Hear” is composed of 4 different programs.
For each, a treat box is sent with a specific food and promotional items. The shipping is organized over night to keep the food fresh. The next day, a live Zoom meeting is set-up where the artisan presents his food and the destination.
The famous local baker Don Guerra hosted the first meeting. A loaf of bread was sent out to 16 top journalists (CNN, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure…) with the invitation to access the Private Video online presentation.
The media loved it: ““It was super informative and Don Guerra was great on camera. I'll certainly keep him in mind for food and travel stories.” / “This is BY FAR the best pandemic-times travel PR initiative I've seen cross my path, seriously, well done!”
Virtual Lunches: Tamales and Technology Parks
The Technology Park of the University of Arizona is looking for ways to attract new companies to set-up activities in their premises. They mainly target Site Selectors who are mandated by different companies to find the best locations.
As site visits are on hold, the Technology park have been setting up virtual lunch meetings with the site selectors.
A lunch box composed of local tasty Tamales, Salsa & Rice is sent out with a proposed time & date for a zoom call. The site selector & representative of the Technology park share a nice Tucson-made meal to discuss the opportunities proposed by the park.
According to a site selector “We are receiving so many solicitations for zoom meeting and so many emails. Hard to answer to all. When we offered a virtual lunch, with actual food, shipped from Tucson, we said yes. It really stands out! “
The results are positive with companies coming to visit office space and homes for a possible implementation in Tucson area.
Upcoming: Cocktail in a Box
Starting soon, Visit Tucson & The City of Tucson Office of Economic Development will be using cocktails to target meeting planners, and investors for the destinations.
A box with a cocktail recipe and the ingredients are sent out to prospects with a meeting invitation.
The message “Are you up for a Zoom afterwork? Lets have a cocktail together, and we will buy!”
In Tucson, food is a strong asset to attract media, tourists and investors. As a way to support the local industry and keep promoting the destination, these initiatives have proven their success!
For more information, contact Felipe Garcia from Visit Tucson: fgarcia@visitucson.org