Successful Meetings Magazine names #yeahTHATgreenville as a second-tier city, more vital than ever to the meeting and events industry!
“Big-city fatigue is a reality for attendees, and a group may want to start to look at different destinations.”
Greenville SC, had a unique problem as it is hard to market “Greenville” when there are 36 cities with that name in the country. The convention and visitors bureau rebranded as VisitGreenvilleSCand created a new catchphrase, “Yeah, THAT Greenville.”
What VisitGreenvilleSC didn’t expect was the community engagement that would ensue. As of October 2016, #yeahTHATgreenville has been used a total of 411,085 times on Instagram. For the first three quarters of 2016, it was used 42,600 times on Twitter.
Plus, this social media translated into sales. Back in 2011, prior to this campaign, Greenville County hotel occupancy averaged 61 percent. Last year, hotel occupancy hit its highest ever at 72.1 percent annual average. Downtown Greenville saw hotel occupancy exceed 90 percent for more than one third of the year, and many downtown hotels are planning to increase their number of rooms.
When planners do connect with second- and third-tier cities, they are finding them to be affordable, compact, and capable of offering unique meeting experiences that are appealing to most attendees and competitive with first-tier city experiences.
Which is why many cities once considered flyover or pass-through places are now burgeoning meeting destinations.
Check it out: http://buff.ly/2haT8AN