Hello,  this  is  Christy  Calabg, host  of  Vital  Connections  on  Air. We  have  been  experiencing some  really  difficult  things  in  the  last  few  months, and  we  know  that  there  are  more  challenges  ahead. At  the  Center  for  Community  Vitality, we  have  been  working  to  bring  topics  and partners  together  through  webinars and  articles  since  the  end  of  March to  get  you  the  information  that  you  need. Now  I'm  going  back  to  those  educators  and  asking  them  for updates  and  insights  on  what we  should  be  doing  in  our  current  context. I'm  sharing  small  parts  from these  long  conversations  over the  next  several  weeks  so  that  we  can  listen, reconnect  with  ideas,  and hopefully  take  the  next  small  steps. Here  my  conversation  with  Lisa  Chin, extension  educator  and  Tourism  Specialist with  the  Tourism  Center. As  we  reflect  on  the  tourism  industry  and  covid 19  webinar  series  she  led  earlier  this  year. I  want  to  talk  first  about  the  tourism  center  because  we haven't  really  gotten  the  opportunity  to  highlight the  tourism  center  on  our  podcast  before. So  tell  us  a  little  bit  about  the  work  that  you do  within  that  center  and  how  you're helping  tourism  across  Minnesota. Sure,  that's  a  very  good  question and  thank  you  so  much  for  asking. The  tourism  center  empowers,  supports  a, prepares  the  tourism  industry  and  communities  that engage  in  tourism  for  success  and  also  sustainability. The  tourism  center  has  been  doing all  these  great  work  for  over  30  years  now. We  are  engaged  in  applied  research, responding  to  industry  and community's  needs  with  applied  research. And  we  also  do  a  variety  of  programs, including  a  tourism  assessment  program  at  Your  Service, which  is  a  customer  service  training  festival and  event  management  online  course, and  the  growing  tourism  leadership  webinar  series. We  also  do  a  variety  of public  engagement  and  outreach  work and  very  much  aligning  with extensions,  missions,  and  strategies. Obviously,  most  of  the  work is  done  in  collaboration  with  our  colleagues, both  within  the  Center  for  Community  Vitality, with  colleagues  from  across extension  and  across  the  University  of  Minnesota. And  we're  certainly  also  tapping into  the  expertise  and  knowledge of  industry  professionals  and a  wealth  of  knowledge  within  communities  too. Let's  go  back  to  pre  Covid  19. What  was  the  tourism  economy  looking  like  in  early  2020? Was  it  healthy,  robust  industry, or  were  there  already  some  challenges  on the  horizon  that  folks  were  concerned  about? And  then  everything  changed on  them  in  the  middle  of  March, I  would  say  throughout  2019. And  in  the  very  beginning  of  2020, the  tourism  industry  in  Minnesota  was  healthy. And  our  tourism  promotion  agency  in the  state  explore  Minnesota  Tourism  does its  own  applied  research  industry  and  also  works with  a  research  firm  to  understand  consumer  behavior, preference,  motivation, and  satisfaction,  so  on  and  so  forth. And  all  these  are public  information  publicly  available  on Explore  Minnesota  Tourism's  website and  nationally  as  a  whole. The  tourism  industry  was  also  healthy. For  example,  the  hotel  industry  has  seen continuous  increase  in  revenue  per  available  room. There  was  very  robust  new  development and  in  terms  of  hotel  properties, researcher  has  been  looking  at different  segments  of  the  market. Into  proactive  in  developing new  markets  and  meeting  consumers needs  with  an  eye  very  much  on from  late  spring  to  early  fall  of  2020. That  was  what  it  had  been  and what  it  looked  like,  pre,  pandemic. What  types  of  things  do  you  think  people need  to  hear  or  see? To  get  excited  about  travel  again. Or  to  feel  comfortable  about  travel  again? Yeah,  that's  a  very  good  question and  I  think  I  would  like  to  answer  it. At  the  macro  level, there  are  three  macro  level  factors that  we  need  to  consider. The  first  and  foremost  is perception  of  cleanliness  and  safety. It  has  been  the  primary  concern among  travelers  or  say,  potential  travelers. And  it  still  is  travel  and  tourism  entities from  hotels  to  attractions,  so  on  and  so  forth. I  believe  all  these  entities  are  implementing  protocols, cleanliness  measures,  and  actions. And  these  are  science  based. They  may  have  consulted  Guidelines, Center  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention, working  with  local  public  health  officials, Consulting  probably  industry  specific  guidelines or  state  level  guidelines. And  these  are  all  done, obviously  based  on  science  and  it  is  extremely  important. But  at  the  same  time, the  other  side  of  the  coin  is  customers  perception. Customers  perception  and  their  level  of  comfort. These  are  equally  important. And  so  the  question  really  is, how  do  we  communicate  with  customers? What  is  our  messaging  so  that  customers  perceive it  as  safe  to  engage  with  travel  again? Safety  and  cleanliness  definitely is  a  very  important  factor. Now,  you  mentioned  the  resurgence  of  cases that  is  even  bigger  higher  level  factor. And  so  states  with  or  resurgence  of  cases, we've  seen  Florida  closing down  their  bars  and  restaurants. Again,  certainly  it  will affect  people's  travel  plan  or  intention  to  travel. And  I've  also  anecdotally heard  someone  I  know  who  had  planned  a  trip  to California  over  Fourth  of  July  and canceled  a  trip  due  to the  resurgence  of  cases  in  that  state. So  the  second  macro  level  factor  is  economic. We  are  in  the  worst  recession  that  we  have  seen in  the  past  basically  100  years. And  it's  a  lot  worse  than  a  greater  recession. And  in  a  travel  and  tourism  industry, the  unemployment  rate  harvests around  50%  These  numbers are  very  dire  and  will  take  years  to  fully  recover. Economic  factors  certainly  need  to  be considered  in  terms  of  how likely  people  will  engage  in  travel. Again,  that  not  only  applies  to individuals  and  certainly  also  applies  to  businesses, large  educational  institutions,  and  so the  propensity  to  spend  on  travel  that  will  change. And  lastly,  there  is a  wild  card  factor  which  is  pent  up  demand. It  is  really,  we  have  all  been  day  dreamy. So  for  example,  we  have  seen  certain  resorts  in the  beach  hotels  logging more  than  80%  of  occupancy  rates, even  during  normal  times. That  is  a  very  healthy  occupancy  rate that  we  are  talking  about. Also,  folks  are  willing  to  drive their  own  vehicles  for  much  longer  distances. We  may  even  see  a  revival  of the  American  road  trip  like  in  the  1960s. There  were  push  and  pull  factors  and  how  it  plays  out. It  may  very  much  differ  by  region, by  state,  even  by  communities. I  think  it  was  really  interesting  speaking about  seeing  it  differently by  state  or  region,  or  even  community, you  brought  up  that  some  communities maybe  are  not  ready  to  have tourists  come  and  visit and  be  moving  around  that  community. How  is  that  impacting  the  industry? And  I'm  thinking  areas  that  are  maybe  more  remote, that  don't  have  the  same  access  to  health  care, that  they  might  be  a  bit  more  closed  off. How  is  that  impacting  both  those  businesses  within those  communities  and  their  brand and  then  the  industry  as  a  whole? Yes,  that's  a  very,  very  good  question. In  some  of  my  presentations, because  I've  been  presenting  to  different  entities, what  I  said  is  taking  care  of  the  people. And  I  would  say  when  I  say  people, it  includes  your  customers  or  travelers, and  it  includes  your  staff. And  for  some  tourism  entities  also  involving  volunteers, and  you  also  need  to  take  care  of  your  local  residents. And  indeed,  the  sentiment  amongst  a  major  minority  of local  residents  is  that  we  still  do  not  feel very  comfortable  welcoming  travelers into  our  community  at  this  point. And  I  believe  it  is  a  combination  of  looking  at, again,  the  higher  macro  level  factors going  on  in  your  community,  in  a  state, in  the  region,  and  then  also  within  community, how  destination  marketing  organizations  and travel  and  tourism  businesses communicate  with  local  residents and  work  with  local  residents  to address  residents  concern  because the  residents  must  love the  community  and  be  ready  to  welcome  travelers  back. As  much  as  these  destination marketing  organizations  and  the  businesses. In  order  for  the  community, for  the  travel  industry  in that  community  to  have  sustained  the  success. My  ongoing  anecdote  is  always,  oh, have  you  ever  stopped  in  a  really  rather  small, or  maybe  even  remote  community? At  the  convenience  store, at  gas  station,  in  a  cashier,  local. Why  are  you  here?  There's  nothing  going  on  here. We  need  our  local  residents  to  be our  best  ambassadors  and  show  the  enthusiasm. I  would  say  yes, When  there  is  a  resurgence  of  cases, we  need  to  understand  the  worry, the  concern,  the  fear,  the  anxiety. And  at  the  same  time,  when the  trend  is  going  in  a  positive  way, like  we  see  going  down  of  cases, it  is  gradually  reopening  without  a  resurgence  of  cases. Then  it  really  is  making  sure  you  do the  right  thing  with  your  cleaning  and  safety  protocols, Not  only  on  paper  but  also  in  action  consistently. And  then  also  communicating  with  residents, this  is  what  we  are  doing  and  why  and  how  we  are making  sure  you  are  also  safe  as  safe  as  our  guests. When  I  was  visiting  with  Neil  and Bridgea  brought  up  I  thought  a  really  great  point about  as  businesses  just  storefront  businesses or  restaurants  reopened, that  we  were  all  really  excited  about  or  put a  lot  of  effort  into  buying  local  shopping  local. As  we  were  moving  through  the  shutdown, Neil  said  that  it  was  really important  now  for  us  to  not  let off  the  gas  that  we  needed to  keep  moving  forward  with  that, I  wonder  how  we  can Keep  on  the  gas  to  use  that  phrase. What  can  we  do  to  help these  hotels  and  resorts  reopen  successfully? That's  a  very  good  question. I  think  the  point  that  Neil  mentioned is  a  good  point  because  I  think  a  lot  of the  travel  and  tourism  businesses  are  also  frequented  by local  residents  and  where we  can  continue  to  support  by  local, basically  consume  local,  keep  going  with  this  trend, keep  the  gas  on  so  that at  least  these  businesses  can still  have  guests  who  are  local  residents. I  think  that  is  important. Also  say  for  example, you  and  your  family  go  on cation  and  to  this  particular  resort, let  them  know  that  you  appreciate all  the  effort  they  have  been put  into  making  sure  that  you  are  safe. The  whole  place  is  clean, making  sure  that  you  are  still  enjoying  yourself, having  a  great  time  as  much  as  possible. I  feel  this  type  of  message  can  be  really affirming  for  the  businesses  to  hear, knowing  that  they  are  doing  the  right  thing. If  you  have  any  constructive  feedback, any  ideas  and  suggestions also  share  with  these  businesses. Ideas  come  from  different  people. Let's  crowdsource  good  ideas  and  not  being  shy, sharing  these  ideas  in a  gentle  and  a  very  constructive  way, and  I  believe  businesses  would  appreciate  it. Also,  I've  read  news  articles, for  example,  Star  Tribune, New  York  Times  saying  a  lot  of  the  retail  entities  have become  the  enforcer  of  wearing  a  mask  in  public, particularly  public  indoor  space. So  you  can  support  the  business,  for  example, by  wearing  a  mask.  Practicing  physical  distancing. I  think  these  are  what  we  can  do to  support  tourism  and  travel  related  businesses. Hopefully,  to  retain  a  businesses and  then  help  them  to  recover. Let's  talk  about  recovery  a  little  bit. What  are  the  really  key  strategies  that tourism  is  considering  as  they  look  towards  recovery? First  of  the  reality  is  it  will be  quite  a  process  and  will  take  quite  some  time. And  the  most  immediate  market  that  we have  already  seen  indeed  is  the Dre  local  or  say  in  state  or  say  regional  market. Again,  people  are  willing  to  drive their  own  vehicles  for  much  longer  distances. Even  the  so  called  state  kick  all  that  far. You  may  not  stay  overnight  but  you get  out  and  enjoy  still  try  to  have  a  good  time. In  terms  of  distance,  the  drivable  market, the  physically  distance  wise, closer  to  the  destination, that's  the  first  to  recover. And  we  have  seen  that  also  in terms  of  types  of  activities  or  attractions, it  has  been  non  team. Outdoor  recreation  outside. It's  not  indoor  and  it  is  non  team, so  it's  not  a  congregation  of  a  lot  of  people. It's  still  getting  outside, enjoying  and  appreciating  nature. This  is  to  the  advantage  of Minnesota  because  we  are  a  state  of  10,000  lakes. Natural  asset  has  always  been a  major  tourism  asset  in  our  state. So  this  is  a  time  to  highlight  or emphasize  what  do  we  have  to  offer in  terms  of  non  team  outdoor  recreation, even  more  than  ever  before. I  think  for  the  longer  term  recovery, it  is  important  for  destinations  to  consider. What  is  the  profile  of the  markets  that  may  return  in  2021? We  believe  2021  is a  crucial  year  or  a  time  period  for  sustained  recovery. What  is  the  national  trend? What  does  research  tell  us? And  based  on  this  research, what  is  the  profile  of these  market  segments  that  may  return  in  2021? And  at  the  same  time,  don't  be  afraid of  exploring  new  market  segments. So  for  example,  we  all  know that  the  state  at  home  orders  have  created a  lot  of  new  digital  natives  folks who  previously  had  not been  active  online  on  the  Internet. They  may  still  book  their  resorts by  calling  the  resort  operator, but  now  they  have  to  do  a  lot  of  things  online. At  least  consider  this  question, Are  there  any  new  market  segments  that  you  can  reasonably pursue  to  help  you  recover  and  rebuild  your  businesses? I'm  not  saying  that  every  business  should  do  that, but  at  least  consider this  question  so  that  you  can  make  an  informed  decision. I  hadn't  thought  about  that  digital  native  piece. The  fact  that  folks  are  going  to  be  researching and  reaching  out  to resorts  and  that  type  of  thing  differently. That's  really  interesting. Yeah.  Yeah.  And  also  maybe,  for  example, folks  who  previously  had been  engaging  in  one  particular  set  of  activities, but  due  to  the  pandemic,  for  whatever  reason, related  to  the  pandemic  now  might  be interested  in  exploring  new  activities, different  activities,  or  different  types  of  destinations. These  are  also  what  we  would consider  new  market  segments, specific  around  retaining  tourism  businesses that  our  audience  should  know  about. I've  also  read  some  ideas  out there  in  terms  of  what  we  can do  to  retain  tourism  businesses. I  want  to  make  it  clear  they  are  not  my  original  ideas. I  read  these  ideas  through  various  outlets, but  I  think  they  are  worth  assuring. For  example,  tax  credits for  businesses  that  need  to  redesign their  physical  spaces  to make  it  possible  for  physical  distancing. Right,  And  enhance  the  sanitization and  to  do  employee  training. In  terms  of  all  these  new  protocols, would  it  be  possible  to  give tax  credits  for  these  endeavors? And  another  idea  is,  for  example, would  it  be  possible  to  waive  those  fees associated  with  late  property  tax  payments? This  may  not  be  applicable  to  all  businesses, but  it  certainly  can  help those  business  owners  who  own  their  buildings. Another  idea  is,  would  it  be  possible  to  have temporary  reprieves  from  paying  the  taxes associated  with  the  Federal  Unemployment  Tax  Act? The  unemployment  insurance  tax? We  all  know  that  there  is  already the  paycheck  protection  program,  the  famous  PPP. And  so  beyond  these  pillar  programs, these  very  important  programs, what  else  we  can  do? Again,  it  goes  back  to  if  you  have an  idea  and  if this  idea  sounds  at  least  somewhat  feasible, very  much  aligned  with  your  peer  business  interests and  desires  to  how  you  can  best  communicate through  trade  organizations  at  different  levels  so  that maybe  the  state  government  and  at the  federal  level  can  provide  support  in  that  regard. Thank  you  to  Lisa  Chen  for  this  conversation. I  look  forward  to  sharing  more  from  our  chat  in a  future  episode  to  see  all of  the  resources  available  from  the  tourism  center, visit  extension,  community  development  slash  tourism. Make  sure  to  follow  us  on Facebook  and  Twitter  to  state  up  to  date on  new  research  and  resources for  communities  and  those  who  lead  them. We  hope  that  you  will  join  us  for our  next  episode  of  Vital  Connections  on  air, and  please  stay  well.