The Real Competition
It was almost two decades ago that I met Michael Klauber, the founder of Michael’s on East, one of Sarasota’s most storied fine-dining restaurants. Serendipitously, he came by our table when we dined there this past December…and it was so great to reconnect.
When we first met Michael, he was trying to create a marketing platform for the then-burgeoning independent culinary scene. But, he was frustrated by other independent restaurateurs who were reluctant to join in, as several saw Michael’s as “the competition.”
Yet, there was such clarity in his pitch. He would plead with his peers saying, “we’re not competitors. Applebee’s is our competitor. Chili’s is our competitor.” In time, the other independent restaurants came around and “The Originals” was born…today, over 70 restaurants strong.
I thought of Michael the other day as I read an article from The People’s Tribune with a headline that proclaimed “St. Maarten’s Tourism Minister Calls Out the Caribbean - and was Applauded.”
Grisha Heyliger-Marten threw down during the recent Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Airlift Conference in Bermuda saying, “First and foremost, we must stop seeing each other as competitors. The Caribbean’s greatest competitor is not the United States. Not Europe. Not Canada. It is our own fragmentation.” She also noted that the Caribbean is home to 44 million people…but only a fraction of resident travel is to other islands. And, not unlike the diversity that can be found in the United States and Europe…that’s a clear miss.
Indeed, as Grisha said, “The Caribbean is not 30 separate tourism products fighting for the same pie. We are one region with extraordinary diversity, and we do not always leverage that enough.” And, she offered that St. Maarten will not compete with its neighbors. It will connect them.
Which, of course got me to thinking about how American States share the Caribbean experience of which Grisha speaks. All 50 States have their own message. While there are a few regional plays, such as Great Lakes USA, they tend to be woefully underfunded and targeted on international markets.
Which reminded me of the one and only White House Conference on Travel & Tourism during the Clinton Administration. The Wisconsin delegation went into the event hoping to inspire a national strategy of moving domestic travelers around the country. Getting New Englanders to experience the American Southwest. Inspiring Midwesterners to experience the Pacific Northwest. But Illinois and Michigan, who believed their future growth was International visitation, blocked us at every turn.
Today, with the current Administration jacking around America’s Tourism Office in the face of cratering inbound travel, is it time to consider Grisha’s world view? As this country prepares to celebrate its Semiquincentennial, the 100th anniversary of the Mother Road and hosting the FIFA World Cup, is it time to admit that individually pursuing International travel to America will possess a dubious ROI…but getting Americans to “See the USA” is a smarter play?
Or do we just leave it to Chevrolet?
Just sayin…
Til Next Time,
Bill
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