Baltimore Business Journal

Organizers of the Star Wars Celebration V rejected the city because its convention center doesn’t have enough room, said Tom Noonan, who heads the city tourist bureau. The four-day gathering could have attracted 35,000 visitors and filled 12,000 hotel room nights — a larger impact than any convention the city currently hosts.

That doesn’t factor in the media attention a Star Wars convention draws. Like Star Trek, fans of the George Lucas films are passionate about everything Star Wars.

Fanfest-type conventions are huge draws for tourists. Baltimore’s largest convention, Otakon, last year brought in $27 million in spending and 26,300 fans of Japanese animé.

MGH

Media Contact:

Alecia White

410-504-8324

awhite@mghus.com

For Immediate Release

Ocean City Retains MGH

as Agency of Record

MGH, the destination’s agency since 2002, awarded contract following a competitive request for proposal process

BALTIMORE (Oct. 29, 2009) – MGH, an integrated marketing communications agency, today announced it has been selected as agency of record for Ocean City, Md. MGH, which has worked with the destination in a full-service capacity since 2002, was selected following a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process among nine other agencies from around the region. The announcement comes on the heels of the agency retaining another longtime client, Towson University.

The decision came after a majority vote by Town’s City Council. The agency plans to build upon its advertising campaign, “Rodney” — the city’s “spokesguard” who rescues people from their mundane lives — which was launched in 2009. MGH will also continue to provide media buying, public relations, social media, and interactive services for the destination.

“MGH has a proven track-record of creating campaigns that not only stand out among our destination competitors in the region, but generate solid results in attracting tourists,” said Deb Turk, director of tourism for Ocean City, Md. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with MGH. “

Over the last seven years, MGH has created several noteworthy and award-winning campaigns for Ocean City, including the “Cicada” campaign launched in 2004, 2008’s “Oceans Evaporating” campaign and this past summer’s “Rodney” campaign.

“Our agency is thrilled to keep working with Ocean City, and to continue to develop creative that gets people talking, and keeps them traveling to Ocean City year after year,” said Andy Malis, MGH president. “We take great pride in the campaigns we have produced for the town, and are pleased with the results we have garnered for the destination – even in a down economy.”

About MGH

MGH is a full-service marketing communications firm offering advertising, public relations, media planning/buying, creative design and production, interactive (design, development and marketing), market research, direct response, relationship marketing and word of mouth/social media marketing.

MGH maintains a diverse client base spanning multiple industries. Current clients include Papa John’s Pizza, Texas Instruments, Visit Baltimore, the National Aquarium, Medifast, Baltimore International College, University of Maryland University College, Towson University, Nobel Learning Communities, Ocean City, Md., Department of Tourism, Smyth Jewelers and Suburban Hospital.

Based in Baltimore, MGH is one of Maryland’s largest agencies, with more than $65 million in annual billings. MGH launched the first Word of Mouth department in Baltimore more than two years ago: blog.mghwom.com. For more information on MGH and its services, visit www.mghus.com. To view our latest creative work, visit www.youtube.com/mghtv.

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Contacts:
Sara Hisamoto, Visit Baltimore 410-659-7071
Jen Bloomer, National Aquarium 410-576-3860
Todd Scott, Maryland Science Center 410-528-5400
Amy Burke, Waterfront Partnership 410-243-3790

SUCCESSFUL BALTIMORE “WATERFRONT INVASION” TOURISM CAMPAIGN RECOGNIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION
Joint marketing campaign increased summer attendance at partner attractions and hotels

(Baltimore, 10/7/09) – The Baltimore “Waterfront Invasion,” a joint, summer-long marketing campaign by Visit Baltimore, the Maryland Science Center, the National Aquarium, and Baltimore’s Waterfront Partnership received an Award of Distinction from the International Downtown Association for successfully driving summer visitation to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and partner attractions through shared advertising, public relations, special events, promotions, and social media efforts.

The Waterfront Invasion was the first time the organizations have pooled marketing and public relations resources to create a summer promotion centered around two popular attractions and the Inner Harbor. The partnership allowed each organization to amplify its promotional efforts, both locally and regionally, and maximize individual budgets to offer a complete travel experience for out of town visitors, as well as activities that will appeal to the local community. Joint marketing efforts included television, radio, outdoor, print and online advertising in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Pennsylvania. A dedicated Web site offered special Waterfront Invasion ticketing options, retail and restaurant discounts, hotel packages, and special events information.

By all measures the promotion was a success: attendance numbers at the Maryland Science Center and National Aquarium surpassed projections, business at area hotels had bookings through the “Invasion” packages, and multiple events brought area residents and tourists to the Inner Harbor. Major achievements include:

· The ticket upgrade sales for Chinasaurs at the Maryland Science Center doubled projected numbers.
· Overall summer attendance at the National Aquarium was 13 percent above projections.
· More than 874 room nights booked through Waterfront Invasion packages.
· Waterfront Invasion local and national media coverage reached 23,385,771 people and generated $648,911 in advertising equivalency.
· Campaign Web site “waterfrontinvasion.com” received 54,782 unique visitors and 237,000 page views over four months.
· Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore held over a dozen of new family friendly events on the waterfront.

“This first-time marketing partnership helped each organization leverage its marketing dollars and, as a result, generated great buzz for Baltimore summer travel,” said Tom Noonan, president and CEO, Visit Baltimore. “We look forward to creating more promotions that showcase the city and its events throughout the year.”

The “Waterfront Invasion” promotional partnership began Memorial Day weekend when the Maryland Science Center and the National Aquarium opened Chinasaurs: Dinosaur Dynasty and Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out Of Balance respectively – two new exhibits that unleashed prehistoric predators on the Inner Harbor. In addition to the new exhibits themselves, the summer-long promotion also included family-friendly events and activities led by Baltimore’s Waterfront Partnership and eye-catching “invasion” décor elements around the Inner Harbor that reinforced the “invasion” theme.

“This award acknowledges the power of partnerships. With Visit Baltimore, the National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center and Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore joining together to launch Waterfront Invasion, we extended our advertising reach, attracted more visitors and provided new opportunities for free family fun on the waterfront,” said Laurie Schwartz, executive director of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.

About Visit Baltimore
Visit Baltimore is the official sales and marketing organization for Baltimore that generates economic benefits for stakeholders through the attraction of convention, group and leisure visitors.

About the Maryland Science Center
The Maryland Science Center in Baltimore is visited by more than 500,000 people each year. Popular exhibits include: Dinosaur Mysteries with full-size dinosaurs and interactive paleontology activities; a day in the life of the human body in Your Body: The Inside Story; and dozens of interactive experiments in Newton’s Alley. Other attractions include the Kids Room, the five-story St. John Properties IMAX Theater, and the world-famous Davis Planetarium.

About the National Aquarium, Baltimore
The National Aquarium is a world-class aquatic institution dedicated to environmental education and stewardship. Its living collection, at venues in Baltimore and Washington, DC, includes more than 16,000 animals from more than 600 species of fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals in award-winning, recreated habitats. The National Aquarium’s mission is to provide transforming experiences that inspire people to enjoy, respect and protect the aquatic world.

About Waterfront Partnership
The driving force behind a cleaner, more attractive and more exciting waterfront, the Partnership provides direct services to keep the waterfront clean, safe and friendly. All summer long Waterfront Partnership Hospitality Guides assisted visitors along the promenade by providing information, directions and taking photos of visitors. Additionally, the Guides assisted in providing a range of free family-friendly activities along the promenade. The Partnership also sponsored free family concerts in West Shore Park, movies and sport activities. Safety Guides ensure a safety presence along the waterfront and the Partnership’s landscaping team keeps the harbor area lush and colorful all year round.

About the International Downtown Association
Founded in 1954, the International Downtown Association has more than 650 member organizations worldwide including: North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Through our network of committed individuals, rich body of knowledge and unique capacity to nurture community-building partnerships, IDA is a guiding force in creating healthy and dynamic centers that anchor the well being of towns, cities and regions of the world.

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The Baltimore Sun reports that the Baltimore operations of Ride the Ducks tours has ceased operations. 6 full-time employees and 23 seasonal employees are affected. The article indicates the company was affected by having to constantly move their tour start/finish location and if they expanded operations they would need another boat ramp.

I’m not sure where they operated out of besides Light Street near the Visitor’s Center, which is where I went the time I took one of their tours. I do know they used the boat ramp at the Living Classrooms Foundation.

Baltimore Business Journal

Baltimore’s hotels may find some temporary relief in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, according to report released Tuesday projecting a small increase in room demand.

The increase, expected to be 4 percent, will be the first positive change in demand since the first quarter of the year, according to PKF Hospitality Research, a hotel consulting firm in Washington, D.C. The quarter-over-quarter occupancy is expected to be 53 percent, down from 54 percent a year earlier.

While quarterly demand is expected to increase by 4 percent, an expected 6 percent increase in supply still lowers overall occupancy rates. However, annual supply in hotel rooms is expected to increase 5.5 percent, and continue strongly through 2010.

[...]

The annual average occupancy rate for hotels in Baltimore is estimated to be 58.7 percent in 2009 and to drop to 57.4 percent in 2010 because of the increase in supply.

The expected average hotel room rate in Baltimore will be $110.36 in 2010, a nearly 2 percent decrease from 2009.

Baltimore is forecast to suffer a 3.9 percent decrease in revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2010.