Episode 1: Enhance the Visitor Experience, with Daniel Fenton

Daniel Fenton is an Executive Vice President with JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group. He is a 25-year veteran of the Hospitality and Tourism industries. Daniel led a destination marketing organization that completed a highly successfully re-branding, re-structuring effort that is used as a cutting edge model for others. He is the past Chairman of the Board of Destination Marketing Association International where he launched several initiatives designed to drive more effectiveness in Destination Marketing Organizations nationally. He graduated with distinction from the Cornell University School of Hospitality Management.

Daniel has successfully completed and is currently the Project Executive for many tourism planning initiatives, most recently including Travel Portland; Visit Denver; Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau; New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau Miami Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau; Daytona Beach/Volusia County, Florida; Hawaii Tourism Authority; Visit Salt Lake; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County CVB, Florida; San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau and Charlotte NC.

What you’ll learn about in this episode: Daniel’s background and how he got into the hospitality and tourism industry Destination Master Planning: enhancing the visitor experience Maximizing technology to reach target audiences What makes millennial travelers different from other generations How to deliver heritage tourism in a way that isn’t a passive experience How to work with regulatory agencies to overcome hurdles and find solutions Why economic development leadership is now more engaged with tourism How public-private partnerships are more effective than they used to be How planning departments have become advocates for small businesses Why density of activity leads to higher success for everyone How additional funds can be raised for tourism through business improvement districts Why an occupancy tax is not enough Why you need to assume that everyone has some interest in an initiative Ways to contact Daniel: Website: us.jll.com/tourism