Just as the great crooner Bing Crosby sang, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” we don’t have to dream any more as our prayers have been answered. Utah is blanketed from top to bottom in the “Greatest Snow on Earth.”
The snow brings with it visitors by plane, bus and car and with them they bring tourism dollars into our State. Tourism is our greatest export to the U.S and the world. We need to support this and work together to make Utah not only the “Greatest Snow on Earth” but also the best place to visit on Earth!
As we open our advent calendars here at Pinnacle we count down the days to start distributing the 2010 edition of the Utah Vacation Lodging & Adventure Guide, and the year ahead. We look forward to the coming seasons and witnessing Utah’s spectacular scenery change as the snow melts, spring blossoms, summer heats up and fall displays its colors.
Our New Year’s resolution is to visit with more of you in 2010 as we travel around the State.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous tourism-filled New Year.
Getting the Point Across
During this festive season we thought we would take time and unwrap Pinnacle Marketing and let you know a little about our company.
Larry Hansen – Founder and President
Without Larry there would be no Pinnacle Marketing! A native to Utah he loves the State and has dedicated over 35 years of his life to marketing and advertising while promoting tourism, business and industry. If his name is not familiar his face definitely is and he makes a point of visiting those in the travel and tourism industry throughout the year. “I like to be out on the road, meeting people and photographing this great State while distributing the Utah Vacation, Lodging & Adventure Guide. I have an amazing team and they really do all the good work.”
Marina Schwimmer – Director of Marketing & PR
Originally a native of Scotland, Marina will soon be celebrating her 2nd year with Pinnacle. She brings to the company over 10 years experience in marketing and PR working in the tourism industry in the UK, Caribbean and U.S. She hopes that this winter season will be one where snowboarding “doesn’t hurt as much!” She says, “Utah is a great place to live and work. I promote my new home in both my work and personal life and I am constantly playing host to friends and family of friends and family who want to visit and experience everything that I am lucky enough to have on my doorstep.”
Brandon says, “I love Utah because of the wide variety of outdoor activities I can participate in. From triathlons, to hiking, biking, water-skiing, and of course snow skiing!” He lives in Ogden and loves the fact that it is close to everything. “I have so many outdoor activities right at my fingertips.” Brandon began his career with the company emptying the garbage cans (as the name suggests he is the son of Larry) and now assists the sales team, supervises the Accounts department and coordinates all advertising traffic. He likes to get out on the road and meet our partners and is always first to volunteer to help with distribution.
Scott Hogge – Art Director
Scott moved to Utah 18 years ago to be near his family. He enjoys living here as he likes the mountains and spends lots of time camping out in them with his boy scout troop during the summer months. He has been with the company for nearly five years and designs many of the publications. Scott also develops and designs websites for tourism businesses throughout the State.
Lori Schroeder – Part-time Sales Executive – Full-time mom
Lori is a mother to four girls, a challenge in itself, and moved to Utah from California 15 years ago. She says, “Living in Utah is like living in a postcard.” She loves the distinct seasons and the ever-changing views from sunrise to sunset. She has been with Pinnacle for over two years and many of you have met or talked to Lori on the phone. “I like talking to people and meeting them. I love the challenge of discovering all this state has to offer so that I can promote Utah tourism through my job. I feel good knowing I work as part of a team that produces quality products and services.”
If there is anything that you would like to know about us please just ask … we are a team of people who like to help and educate those in the tourism industry. We really are your marketing partner.
A Quick Point About Pinnacle
A quick look at some of what Pinnacle has been up to for the past 33 years:
Rebranding Ogden City
Branding for the World Cup events & the 2002 Winter Olympic games
Economic Development for Ogden City
Published Dinosaurland Magazine
Utah's Centennial - Official Video
|Yachats CVB - Video & DVD + Print
Branding from start to finish
Identity Branding
Published Thiokol Magazine
3D Logo & Branding
News Magazine for Flying J
B2B Trade Ads
Antelope Island DVD
Publisher for Castle Country Magazine
Lodging websites
Make a Point of It
This is our sixth issue of the Get to the Point newsletter and our sixth year of publishing the Utah Vacation, Lodging & Adventure Guide. Thank you for all the positive feedback and comments we have received. The guide is praised continually and is a great representation of what we have in our State! We thank those who advertise and support our publications and the ability it gives us to promote our great State.
There has been some confusion about the different tourism publications in our State please let us help clarify this.
The Utah Travel Guide published by the Utah Office of Tourism using tax dollars. They want to publish their third issue during the summer of 2010. This is a tabletop piece and to this point has not had any advertising in it. Contact: traciec@utah.gov
Outdoor Utah Adventure Guide published by Outdoor Utah, Inc. Published yearly it has paid advertising available to businesses and contains articles on all five geographic regions. Contact: info@outdoorutah.com
Utah Vacation, Lodging & Adventure Guide published by Pinnacle Marketing Communications, Inc. Published yearly and in its sixth year of production. Allows paid advertising for business to market to visitors. It is divided into five geographic regions and features information for travelers for each area. Includes a full state map with city listings. Includes contact information for all Utah lodging properties, all guides and outfitters, all RV parks and campgrounds, all golf courses, all State parks, all national parks, all national recreation areas, all national monuments, state facts and travel information. Contact: hello@2thepoint.com
Pointing You in the Right Direction for 2010
Doing that little bit extra for your customers can make all the difference and lead to great word-of-mouth or viral marketing, and most importantly return business.
Here are a few examples of what you could do this winter season to stand out from the crowd and make your guests want to come back and visit even sooner.
Lodging
Greet your guests as they arrive at your lodging property with a festive drink and snack such as eggnog and cookies. If you have a line at reception this will reduce frustration and let your guests know that you care. Guests travel from far to get to you and rather than standing in line they can relax until it is their turn to check in. The check in process should be a memorable one, not a frustrating one. You want your guests to relate to your front of house staff as they are your first point of contact with your customers and the staff that are remembered.
There is nothing worse than clearing your car of snow and ice and waiting for it to warm up. Why not offer your guests a “car starting” service where you have one of your staff members clear the snow and start your guest’s vehicle.
Do you have an entertainment room? Schedule the showing of Christmas movies to get everyone in the spirit.
Christmas is for the children! Yes it is, but parents need time to relax and de-stress at this busy time. Look into providing childcare and babysitting services for your guests so they enjoy some time without the children.
After a long day of winter activities your guests may not feel like having to leave your property for dinner. If you don’t have a restaurant on site make sure that you can provide them with eat-in alternatives and build relationships with local restaurants that provide take out.
Restaurants
Rather than presenting guests mints after dinner why not present them with candy canes. Also, place candy canes in containers around your business encouraging customers to help themselves.
Offer complimentary hot chocolate at the end of the meal before people head back out into the cold.
Offer to take customers coats and have an area to put them so that they do not have to sit with them on their chairs during meals.
Pointing It Out - Quick Travel Facts and Updates
In this last newsletter of the year instead of us giving you facts and figures we wanted the opportunity for you to hear from the people working in the industry about how 2009 was and what have to look forward too.
Marian DeLay, Executive Director, Moab Area Travel Council: "Moab was very fortunate this year and visitation to the parks was great. We saw an increase in traffic to Arches National Park, which translates to a good downtown economy. We finished the year flat from last, which was our greatest year ever. Most of the tour businesses we have spoken to from around the country regarding 2010, say that it will be a growth year from 2009, but they are being guardedly optimistic. But Moab is ready."
Erin Grady, Communications Manager - Deer Valley Resort: “Deer Valley is in a new position this year after we just started our own lodging division called Deer Valley Resort Lodging and Reservations. Since this is our first year managing properties we have nothing to compare this year’s numbers to. But, over the past few weeks reservations have been picking up on the lodging end. We even have a few dates over Christmas that are close to selling out in our Ski School. Since people seem to be booking closer to their travel dates we are optimistic as we head into the New Year.”
Judy Holbrook - Director Bear Lake CVB: “In these hard economic times it is important to keep your presence in the tourism market. Co-op partners, such as the Utah Vacation, Lodging and Adventure Guide, have given us this opportunity by working together in getting the word out to the world.”
Kathy Hanna-Smith, Director - Carbon County Office of Tourism: "This has been a year to remember for all of us. We consider ourselves in Utah’s Castle Country, the home of the world renowned Nine Mile Canyon and Dinosaurs, as survivors and we will weather this economic storm as we have done in the past. We will end the year with tourism revenues being down. However, the upside to all this is, we never cut ONE marketing dollar. We stayed on track with our marketing plan and pulled in our partners and developed a cooperative marketing approach that worked incredibly well for us all. We plan to enter 2010 with a very positive approach and will continue with our cooperative partners on marketing Utah’s Castle Country and are planning for a phenomenal year."
