I have ideas to help local tourism all around the USA
Between tourism in America slowing down and data being glaringly obvious about trends, things have to happen to keep a lot of small businesses afloat, and I have idea. Also, upcoming trave to share!
Wild that we’re already 2/3 of the way through July. Like, I know that time always moves at the same speed, but for whatever reason it feels like time has been lost. I remember everything and it’s not like I was sitting there letting it pass us by, but the feeling of days moving quickly is surreal when I just take a moment to recount the last few weeks. Having said that, this month has been a wonderful family month.
I’ve got some great things to share this week including a recap of our Hawaii visit, a group travel opportunity that I’m really excited about, updates on life, and a peek at our Alaska trip next week. Thank you for tuning in and supporting my need to write and share. I appreciate it and love the messages from people each week. :)
Before we dig in, here’s what’s new on our sites this month:
2TravelDads.com - Our whirlwind visit to Oahu was two-fold: see fam and create an awesome itinerary for a weekend in Honolulu that people can use to visit multiple islands when they go to Hawaii. Both aspects were successful and awesome! Also up on the blog is another weekend guide, but this time it’s for Chicago. Spending 2-3 days in Chicago in the summer is a blast and is great with kids or just as adults.
MyAlaskaTrip.com - I created an in-depth FAQ for visiting Alaska including tips for travel planning, packing and even ways to save money on a trip to AK. For people who haven’t been to Alaska before, the basic steps of starting to plan seem to be daunting, so that’s the approach I’m working with.
MyAlohaTrip.com - I’ve gotten a lot of the base work done to write about our trip that we just returned from, but it takes time to actually write it all. Firstly, Koke’e State Park on Kauai is one of the most beautiful places, and it’s how a non-Kauai resident can get the best views of the Na Pali Coast. We’ve done hikes here with each visit to Kauai and finally can really write about it, so it’s live for YOU! Also new is an article about visiting the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse and enjoying the Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline area of Oahu. There will be lots more to share after this week.
MaineExplored.com - I’ve been working on Maine articles randomly because I’ve written so much that I just need to publish and am FINALLY getting them done. First up is a really fun, beautiful lobstering tour WITH PUFFINS! Read all about what I think is one of the most unique Maine tours you can do. Also, working through all the lighthouse info I can share, and the Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse is live on the site now.
TheKeysExplored.com - Since the Florida Keys continue to be what I get a lot of questions about, I put together a pretty big Frequently Asked Questions page about visiting the Keys. From weather, hurricane season, and how much time to spend where, this FAQ is pretty handy if you’ve not gotten to visit the Florida Keys before.
I really am very thankful for my job and the opportunity to write about travel, especially when it means supporting locally owned tour companies that support culture, sustainability and education. It’s really my favorite part of my job. And with that…
Southeast Alaska Itinerary Preview
Next week starts our next Alaskan adventure!!! It’s going to be so much fun and very different from our last three Alaska trips. This time we’re heading to Southeast Alaska to experience Ketchikan, Juneau and Haines. These are three beautiful and unique destinations that a lot of people visit for half a day on a cruise ship but then they don’t get to really dig in and see more of what there is to do and the awesome people who call it home.
We’ll start by flying to Seattle and then up to Ketchikan where we’ll be seeing some of the quintessential sights like Creek Street, Totem Bight and other beautiful spots. From here we’ll do the short flight up to Juneau for one of the coolest activities we’ll have gotten to do in Alaska: seaplane to a glacier for a pack rafting adventure on the glacier. So unique and cool!
There’s more to Juneau, but I’ll share it after we return. From here we’ll take the Alaska Marine Highway System up to Haines. This boat ride is going to be awesome and basically serves as both transportation and an epic day of wildlife watching. Once we’re in Haines we have more beautiful fun and wildlife to enjoy, and then the Southeast Alaska State Fair. From here we’ll head back down to Juneau on the Alaska Fjordlines ferry and wrap up our activities with salmon fishing.
The kids and I are pretty excited about this trip. We’ll miss Chris (he has to do his own work stuff) but we’ll hopefully be bringing him home some fresh salmon and great stories. Be sure to follow along with our trip on Instagram for daily updates and lots of wildlife photos!
Big Island of Hawai’i Camping GROUP TRIP
If you know me you know that the Big Island of Hawai’i is my favorite part of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. This is the heart of Hawaiian history and culture, a land of INCREDIBLE landscapes and nature, and my home away from home. I’m excited to share MY version of the Big Island with you! (this includes camping)
I’m thrilled to get to share this experience with great friends and friends-yet-to-be!! I am running this Big Island group trip through TrovaTrip, which is a well established company known for connecting people with other fun folks for not-your-average trip. It’s going to be fun, but also relaxed. There is swimming and hiking, but nothing crazy. We’ll save that for when I lead a trip to Kauai someday…
Save your spot and view the complete itinerary here!
If you are even mildly interested in or curious about this, please check out the full information and save your spot. You can also email me and I’ll share whatever information you need. I think this is a great opportunity to do a different sort of travel for a lot of people, especially when it comes to experiencing the Big Island of Hawaii.
PS: episode 29 of the ongoing Kilauea eruption started today, so maybe when we’re there it’ll be going off.
American Tourism: Crumbling and Slipping, and rightly so
As somebody who travels a lot and knows a lot about tourism flow, booking travel and what different destinations look like in peak travel times, y’all, travel to and within the USA is lessening every day. We just returned from Hawaii, which is a huge international destination, and it was a trip with the fewest interactions with or seeing the least number of international tourists, and starkly so. Here in Florida, OMG, it’s so many fewer tourists in general, and I can confidently say that here it’s related to people consciously choosing to not travel to Florida for political reasons. And I get it.
While it’s already shaping into a $29B loss in international tourism in 2025 (and yes, it’s fully because of politics), domestic tourism is also heavily shifting. Flight numbers are down between 3% and 6% (depending on the report you read) for domestic travel. Canadian visitation is currently down 19%, as well it should be after the FOTUS talking about annexation. And the thing that really got me is National Park visitation is already down 6% for the summer and we still have two months of summer travel left. And yes, this is also directly connected to the current administration cutting funding, laying off NPS staff, and messing with our nation’s protected lands.
Some people talk out their butts and say that this is good because places are too crowded or that we should be able to enjoy our own destinations as Americans without having to share with foreign visitors. Each time I hear this I am shook with the selfishness, for one, and the shortsightedness, for two. Living in a town whose primary industry is tourism, it’s stunning to see the decline which then reflects on the income of the community. Having worked in the customer facing side of the tourism industry and been so excited to have enough working hours on a paycheck because things are busy and I knew my bills would be okay, I think about so many of the hourly tourism workers and many guides that rely on gratuities and I feel for them.
I was in Chicago a few weeks ago meeting with all sorts of tourism directors from around the country and with many of them I tried to hit it home on the need to appeal to domestic travelers. With how the national policies and horrifying actions towards immigrants and international visitors are going, the numbers of international travelers are just going to keep declining for the foreseeable future. This is going to have a lasting impact on many lives and communities who’ve found a solid footing over the years being a dream destination.
What can American tourism destinations do?
I laugh and then cringe each time I see a destination marketing through billboards or tone-deaf marketing campaigns (Hello Florida’s Paradise Coast trying to cash in on the “Gulf of America” crowd. [face palm]). I have some solid ideas that have been tried and true, and even some cutting edge ideas that would be so great for many American tourist destinations. Here are my ideas:
start doing thoughtful influencer marketing campaigns again - this means actually working with people that are more than glamorous, but are actually showcasing the joy and beautiful of a destination. People get tired of the high brow resort take or the flowing dresses at sunset; working with people that actually tell the stories of memorable travel moments, family time, celebratory travel to engaged audiences. That’s what destinations need to get back to.
destinations need to actively promote their diverse operators in their area. Oops, DEI… Whatever, it’s what’s important in making a community as a whole thrive. If tourism boards and destinations worked to promote the tours, restaurants, inns and businesses that are owned and operated by unique individuals with diverse backgrounds, they’d see those businesses grow and thrive, and they may just break through to NEW visitors by showing that their destination is genuinely inclusive.
And my big thought that sounds ridiculous but is actually really smart…
FILMING INITIATIVES - hear me out on this one, because it’s true that this can be extremely effective. Growing up on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, TWILIGHT absolutely had a huge impact on tourism. Everyone wanted to visit Forks and Olympic National Park. New York City and Chicago are full of film location walking tours. New Zealand has a whole travel segment relating to Lord of the Rings tourism. And have you heard of the “White Lotus effect”? This is the tourism influence based on a high-profile filming location. To quote the Seattle Times there has been a consistent “386% increase in availability checks” for hotels in the show destinations.
Kauai has been involved in so many movie making moments over the years and there are lots of tourism activities that incorporate this into their approach to attracting visitors. Jurassic Falls tours from the first Jurassic Park movie, the Wailua River from Indian Jones, the Makawahi Cave Preserve from Pirates of the Caribbean… There are so many! Check out the clip from Jurassic Park that we got to recreate on Kauai last week.
The Ultimate Solution: Fictional Television Series Showcase
My big pitch: Stealth tourism marketing campaigns that are actually in the form of murder mysteries set in different destinations around the USA. Think of how Murder She Wrote had Jessica Fletcher traveling all over the USA to iconic places each week, BUT they didn’t take the approach of showcasing the destination because the story was 100% the focus. Imagine a television series with each episode being 60% story and 40% destination. It’s possible and it would be awesome.
If anyone wants to move on this, tell me because I have a whole series pitch to present and am happy to write the complete dialogue and shooting scripts for the whole thing. I will make myself available to make this happen. :)
I know that this is not necessarily a long-term option to overhaul tourism in a struggling country, but there could be some incredible opportunities to showcase amazing local stories, local guides, local chefs. Filming initiatives and storytelling projects can be powerful tourism tools.
That’s everything I want to share today. I hope everyone is finding ways to have a positive impact on those around them and that we’re all being alert for our health, safety and our rights, including the rights of those we may never meet.
Take care, and you’ll hear more from me again soon!