Destination planning brought a sea change to Visit Fresno County (VFC), a California destination marketing organization (DMO).
The Mission
VFC needed to understand the perspective of actual and potential visitors to the area—and the opportunities for change.
The organization commissioned a Clarity of Place Destination Master Plan to empower VFC’s shift beyond sales–and to become known for the community-shared value the organization creates. The Plan’s direction helped VFC’s leadership articulate how tourism is an important economic driver in the community, as well as help the community appreciate the County’s uniqueness, charm, and appeal.
While crafting a Destination Master Plan for the County, Clarity of place surfaced and interpreted key data. The Destination Master Plan enabled the DMO to build community pride and essential partnerships with economic development stakeholders.
The Challenges
When VFC began the planning initiative, perceptions around safety were affecting community pride and potential visitors’ impressions. These perceptions clouded resident and community perceptions of the area’s appeal.
In addition, VFC was preparing for an upcoming Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) renewal that would secure funding for the next 10 years. VFC needed to demonstrate the impact and relevancy of destination promotion efforts.
The Plan
VFC engaged Clarity of Place to set the stage through a destination master plan. The planning initiative outlined these goals:
- Strengthen marketing and sales programming,
- Demonstrate the visitor economy’s role and value, and
- Ensure the FCCVB is sufficiently resourced to carry out its mission to promote the region to all travel markets.
The Tools
To understand the perspectives of community members, visitors, and potential visitors, VFC invested in research. In partnership with Clarity of Place, VFC gathered visitor profile research, organized stakeholder input sessions, analyzed community general plans, and studied economic development direction.
The recommendations sought to expand the region’s mindset. Instead of merely attracting new travelers, VFC could better service current travelers and support destination partners in creating high-quality visitor experiences. Recommendations outlined four key areas:
- Deliver effective brand-based marketing to lead the area forward.
- Ensure funding continuity and stability by securing renewal of both area Tourism Business Improvement Districts and delivering benefits to district members.
- Support community growth by encouraging placemaking that enhances convention, recreation, and entertainment venues; sense of place attributes; and key demand drivers.
- Develop a visitor demand driver that will provide a new reason to visit the region, offer visitors a distinctive experience, and convey the area’s brand promise.
The Outcomes
Following the Clarity of Place recommendations empowered VFC to shift its focus away from sales—and to become a community-shared organization.
Fostering Community Pride
VFC began with researching and developing the brand and socializing it across the community. The effort delivered unexpected benefits.
Prior to the rebrand initiative, VFC had been marketing externally and focusing on overnight stays. Yet the community feedback revealed that locals talked negatively about the area. Through working with Longwoods International, Clarity of Place’s parent company, VFC learned that 36% of visitors came to see local friends and relatives.
These findings highlighted an opportunity. VFC realized that “marketing dollars are not valuable if locals are talking negatively about the area,” said Lisa Oliveira, CDME, President/CEO of Visit Fresno County.
In response to the data, VFC focused on creating local champions to share positive messages. Now, VFC’s social media and media outreach focus on positive storytelling, such as featuring things to do indoors when it’s hot outside. The effect is rippling throughout the community.
“We have completely shifted the way we market and talk about tourism because of this plan,” said Oliveira.
Engaging Staff
The branding effort also brought staff buy-in. VFC staff members learned more about the destination and the tourism world and felt that they were part of something bigger. The effort brought increased staff collaboration. “It inspired our staff to love the destination again,” she said.
Increasing Partnerships with Economic Development
Industry plays a large role in the local economy, and Clarity of Place Principal Tina Valdecanas brought indispensable economic development experience. As Oliveira settled into her new role as CEO, she tapped Valdecanas’s counsel on how to assist other community stakeholders. “I am grateful for Tina for changing the way I think. We can sometimes get so DMO focused that we need to take a step back and realize what other industries we are impacting.”
The data that Clarity of Place surfaced has also fostered buy-in. “The more research you have, the more power you have to talk to stakeholders,” Oliveira said. Over time, conversations helped stakeholders understand that uplifting the community would bring more people to the community.
Next Steps
As its next steps, VFC is using the recommendation around placemaking and visitor demand drivers as an essential roadmap in its process of transforming the destination.
“I am grateful that I started this process of understanding and leveraging tourism’s alignment with the other parts of our community with David and Tina,” said Oliveira. “They were phenomenal in changing this destination.”
Lisa Oliveira, CDME
President & CEO, Visit Fresno County
