Local ambassadors best salesmen for R.I. attractions

WORD TRAVELS FAST: Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau President Martha Sheridan calls destination-marketing organizations perfect conduits between local businesses seeking to get their message out to a larger audience. / COURTESY PWCVB
WORD TRAVELS FAST: Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau President Martha Sheridan calls destination-marketing organizations perfect conduits between local businesses seeking to get their message out to a larger audience. / COURTESY PWCVB

Martha Sheridan has more than 20 years of experience in destination marketing, and has accrued awards that underscore her ability to market not only Providence and Warwick, but the state.
In 2010, Sheridan received the Rhode Island Hospitality Association’s Mary Brennan Tourism Award for outstanding achievement in tourism promotion and was named RIHA Woman of the Year. She is also the recipient of the Meeting Professionals International New England President’s Award and the MPINE Supplier of the Year Award.
This year, Sheridan was presented with the Morris J. Gaebe Profile in Excellence Award from Junior Achievement of Rhode Island.

PBN: What is destination marketing and how can it be an economic engine for Rhode Island?
SHERIDAN: Destination marketing is promoting and representing a particular destination for the purpose of generating meetings, conventions and leisure visitations for the community. Tourism is already a major economic generator for the state of Rhode Island. Beyond that, tourism exposes the state to new audiences that could potentially relocate here as residents or new businesses.
Destination marketing has gone beyond the concept of placing advertising in publications in the hopes of enticing people to your community. It’s gone beyond that to product development. For instance, I’m working with cultural and historic attractions within Providence to develop cohesive itineraries and tours that are more user-friendly for the visitors. So we’re trying to coordinate hours of operation and build collaboration between attractions to find connections to the stories that are meaningful to the visitor. The end result could be a printed guide and map and audio tour, a mobile app and a companion website.

PBN: Where do you like to travel and how does that influence your approach to marketing Rhode Island cities?
SHERIDAN: I typically like to travel to city destinations and beach destinations. Whenever I travel to a new destination, I view it through the lens of destination marketing and try and experience the locale the way a local might experience it. I often make comparisons between our destination offerings and the destination I’m visiting. So, at a meeting or convention, I might compare their package to the package we offer. I might walk to a visitor’s center and borrow ideas about how they’re presenting their destination information.

PBN: How did you make the leap from promoting specific destinations in your current job at PWCVB to volunteering for the next year to lead an international group in destination marketing?
SHERIDAN: My passion for promoting Providence and Warwick has inspired me to want to learn other best practices from my colleagues and share strategies that have been effective for us with my colleagues. … Being a leader means sharing my passion for destination marketing with my colleagues and addressing and advocating for issues of concern on a national level with the hopes that locally we benefit.

PBN: Some call today’s world a “connection economy” spearheaded by social media. How does this affect the job you do?
SHERIDAN: A destination-marketing organization is the perfect conduit between the local personalities and local businesses that seek to get their message out to a larger audience. We have the ability to amass a large audience. We have more than 20,000 Facebook fans and more than 10,000 Twitter followers. We use powerful imagery to help convey our story, be it video or photography. We’re launching a blog where we’ll be able to have guest bloggers.

PBN: What is your favorite method of promoting?
SHERIDAN: When it comes to attracting meetings and conventions to the area my favorite method of promoting Providence and Warwick is by engaging local “ambassadors” to invite their colleagues to meet in Rhode Island. There is no better endorsement for a group than when one of their own members raises their hand and says, “We should hold our next convention in my home state.”

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PBN: What can Rhode Island do to bring in more visitors?
SHERIDAN: Attractions are most successful when they present their offerings in unique and interesting ways. So encouraging them to think “out of the box” and keep their content fresh will help us lure new visitors. For instance, the Roger Williams Park Zoo has been extremely successful in utilizing the zoo as a backdrop for the annual Jack O’ Lantern Spectacular. This event draws thousands of visitors annually, many of whom may have never been to the zoo to experience it in a traditional way.
The RISD Museum has an exhibit called Locally Made that not only presents exhibits in a traditional format, but also draws constant attention to the museum by offering daily talks, demonstrations and other experiments by local artists, designers, performers, and innovators. We are fortunate that we have strong relationships with area attractions which allow us to promote their particular sites. •

INTERVIEW
Martha Sheridan
Position: Chairwoman of Destination Marketing Association International and president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau
Background: In her role as president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, Sheridan strives to help create vibrant growth for the local hospitality. In 2010, Sheridan spearheaded efforts to form the Rhode Island Sports Commission, now a division of the PWCVB.This year, Sheridan became chairperson of Destination Marketing Association International, the world’s largest association of destination-marketing professionals. Previous work includes serving as vice president of sales at the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Education: B.A. in Psychology, 1983, University of Rhode Island
First job: Waitress at Cape Cod Restaurant in Cranston
Residence: South Kingstown
Age: 51

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