Get Into Grinnell Blog

What do you think of when you think about visiting Paris? How about London? If the Eiffel Tower and Buckingham Palace came to mind, you're not alone. Those large attractions are sought out by millions of visitors. 

How do smaller destinations compete with large cities like Paris, Las Vegas and New York City? I attended the Iowa Power of Travel event in Ames last week, and took away some great tips from the speaker, Doug Lanksy. He is an expert on the topics of travel and tourism management, and is an author, speaker and world traveler. 

The tourist population has doubled in the past 20 years and is expected to double again over the next 20. Lansky pointed to this stat as an opportunity for the state of Iowa. The world's largest tourist destinations don't have the capacity to handle double the people, so that leaves cities and states like ours poised to draw an increased number of visitors.

He challenged the visitors bureaus in the audience to identify our destination's "thing" and work to get everyone paddling in that direction. It's all about creating an overall direction, strategy and brand. For example, when you visit Pella, you'll notice it's not just the Tulip Time committee talking about tulips. The individual businesses are selling tulip merchandise, volunteers maintain the flower gardens, and individual residents plant pretty tulips in their yards. They have all owned that tulip brand and the whole town is paddling in that direction.

Destination development includes beautification and infrastructure, but it's also about adding incredible new things that people can't experience anywhere else. We have many neat things in our community, and I often credit diversity for being Grinnell's strength. While that diversity gives us stability and adds interest, we still need that overall "thing" that people will get on a plane for or drive a few hours to visit. Our brand needs to be something they can't find anywhere else. 

Lansky emphasized the importance of the longevity and uniqueness of a destination's brand, and mentioned several examples to illustrate his point. Nevada hyped up their "Loneliest Road in America" so well that it was no longer a lonely road. Iceland is building a brand around the Northern Lights, but the lights are so rarely seen that visitors will likely be disappointed. The London Eye was a huge draw until several other cities copied the idea, and now none of them are as popular because they're not unique. 

If you have any ideas about what Grinnell could be known for, I'd love to hear from you. Remember, it needs to be something so unique that a visitor would drive several hours to see. 

~Emily Counts