Heartland Travel Showcase Promotes Tour Group Travel
Area travel attractions and tour groups enjoyed a peaceful ride to Heartland Travel Showcase.
Every February, tour group leaders and attractions from the eastern United States meet at Heartland Travel Showcase to share ideas in various locations of the eastern United States. They have recently been in Pigeon Forge, Detroit, and Chicago with plans to have their showcase in Cleveland for 2021.
Radisson Hotel Lansing at the Capitol was our home for a few days.
This gypsy has been fortunate to be able to attend the Showcase for several years as the tour group coordinator for Dickens Victorian Village. We were fortunate to have a great bus driver for our trip to Lansing. When we arrived, we unloaded our suitcases at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Lansing, which was just across the river from the Lansing Center where the Showcase was to take place.
Heartland Travel Showcase is produced by the Ohio Travel Association in various cities in the eastern part of the United States. Travel is an important industry accounting for nearly $44 billion dollars a year in the state of Ohio. These shows are an important place to make connections and let others know about your particular event.
An enclosed pedway led us from the hotel over this Grand River to the Lansing Center where the Showcase was held.
This weekend event sets up booths early Friday morning, followed by what is called a Four Minute Meet. Here the tour groups are set up in a large conference room in alphabetical order and attractions have four minutes to tell them about why they might like to arrange a tour to their particular area and attraction.
Tour attractions just finished setting up their booths in preparation for the next two days of appointments with tour operators.
The evening always has entertainment and a delicious buffet of foods provided by the city hosting the event. In Pigeon Forge, we visited The Island at Pigeon Forge as well as the Titanic Museum and a buffet at a country/dinner theater. Detroit treated us to a historic museum while Chicago opened the doors to their Impression 5 Science Center.
Freedom to play with a giant Lite-Brite screen has Heartland visitors at the science center designing the mega-screen with a huge heart.
Several enjoyed the challenge of making their personal bag of “slime” for the kid in them.
These places not only show other groups the highlights of their area but gives a chance to become familiar with other attractions and tour groups on a more personal level.
Dixie Lacy from the Visitors and Convention Bureau and Beverly Kerr, group tour director for Dickens Victorian Village met with many potential visitors.
Saturday and Sunday are spent at appointments that are scheduled with various attractions. This gives tour operators a chance to learn more about the attractions and see if they would like to schedule a visit.
All events throughout the weekend are spent in networking with other tour groups and tour operators. There were also seminars on ways to learn about trends in the travel industry and how we might use them in our event.
On one side were friends from Muskingum County. Brenton Baker from the nearly opened Dresden & Co. shared the booth with Kelly Ashby, Zanesville’s Chamber Vice President.
We were pleased to be surrounded by other area attractions making it easy to discuss combined tours for a possible several day tour. These connections are an important part of the travel industry so we have friends who can help answer questions.
Across the aisle, another special friend, Deana Clark from the nearby Marietta/Washington County CVB provides possibilities of many interesting tours.
On the other side representing Great Ohio Lodges were Joan Arrowsmith and Kathlene Williams. Our local Salt Fork Lodge is part of that group and the perfect place for lodging.
By the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, ideas are flowing in everyone’s minds about tourism in 2021-22. It’s been a great place to build relationships and plan tours.
Our last evening there, we took a walk to a nearby restaurant and had this view of the Lansing Capitol right down the street.
The bus ride home has everyone talking about possibilities for the future.
If anyone is interested in a tour to Dickens Victorian Village in Cambridge, Ohio during November and December each year, please contact me at DickensGroupTours@gmail.com and we’ll design a plan for your specific group.
Gypsy Road Trip 