
There are very few change-agents on the planet who have motivated more people in more places than Roger Brooks has in the travel industry. Over the past 30 years Roger has helped thousands of people transform ordinary places, businesses, and attractions into incredibly successful destinations. One of the most recognized and frequently quoted experts in the travel industry, Roger inspires and empowers audiences around the world to achieve their highest aspirations. He is extraordinarily dynamic. He's also very funny, combining humorous video clips and fascinating real-life stories, while providing steps, rules and ingredients – bottom line solutions – that every audience member can implement today to make a positive difference tomorrow.
Guaranteed Increases in Local and Visitor Spending
Roger began his career in the concert industry providing tour management services for international recording artists including The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, and others, culminating in the famous Saturday Night Fever Tour with the Bee Gees.
From there he spent ten years assisting in the development and marketing of acclaimed destination resorts including Whistler Resort in British Columbia; Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Sunriver Resort in Central Oregon, and several others.
Roger has since worked with nearly a thousand communities, as well as many states, provinces, national parks, and countries in their branding, product development and marketing efforts. And beyond the public sector, Roger has worked with trade associations and businesses in the lodging, retail, and restaurant industries as well as attractions, tour operators and providers, marketing agencies, and the travel media. He is the go-to expert for anyone with ties to the travel industry or in downtown development where most travel spending takes place.
A board member of the U.S. Travel Association and author of the popular book “Your Town: A Destination – The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism,” Roger has become one of the world’s most popular keynote speakers and authorities in the travel industry.
There is simply no one who can get an audience pumped up and excited about making something happen as well as Roger. It’s not surprising his personal motto is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s statement: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” His enthusiasm is contagious, so let Roger empower your audience to reach new heights.
The Art of Branding
“Branding” is the keyword of the decade, but what does it really mean? Most people don’t understand what a brand really is or how to actually build one. This presentation demystifies and explains the process of branding for umbrella organizations (multiple communities), cities, downtowns, and marketing professionals. Through case histories, video clips, dozens of photos, and humorous stories, attendees will learn what it takes to create a successful brand, how to make it obvious, and how that translates to cash.
Branding Blunders and Bloopers
“Branding” is the keyword of the decade and perhaps the most misunderstood. In this keynote or general session, attendees will be treated to ten examples where communities have committed branding blunders and bloopers with boring, generic, and useless slogans and logos they thought would enhance the fortunes of the places they represent. You’ll laugh till it hurts and some are so sad you’ll cry, but one thing’s for sure: this will forever change the way you look at branding. Learn the 10 things you must know to win in the wild and wacky world of branding a community, a business or an organization.
Tourism for the 21st Century
Everything has changed over the past few years and the old models are changing to an entirely new, and exciting, reality. This incredible presentation showcases the power of tourism and the 13 things attendees can do today to get a jump start on this new marketing and product development frontier including:
•How to tap into multi-generational travel – the new hot wave
•Attracting boomers during the shoulder seasons
•How to court the millennials – and watch the boomers follow
•The future of visitor information centers: you need to be all-in, or all-out
•Why the days of the traditional DMO are over
•How to tap into the new age of personalized travel
•How to get noticed without spending a fortune
•And many more!
Fast paced and full of how-to-make-it-happen, this is THE presentation you won’t want to miss!
Recruiting Tourism Projects
Using several case histories, Roger walks attendees through the seven steps to successfully recruit investment and tax base into your community. You’ll see before and after photos and the economic results of each. This demystifies the recruitment effort and provides bottom-line, step-by-step instructions on how to successfully attract investment and new development projects.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Destination Marketing
In this age of marketing oversaturation and instant information, ninety-seven percent of all advertising and marketing efforts are ineffective. In this entertaining presentation, learn how to avoid the seven deadly marketing sins and get your product or service noticed. Participants will see the good, bad and ugly of marketing through real-life examples and humorous stories. Learning how to turn deadly sins into heavenly marketing will put you in that successful three percent of marketing efforts, increasing your sales, improving the perception people have of your business, organization or community.
Marketing on a Minuscule Budget
Let’s face it. Communities have less and less money to spend on marketing – but without marketing the hole just gets deeper. And as the hole gets deeper, funding continues to diminish. So how do you break the cycle?
In this presentation you’ll learn seven things you can do today for practically no money, that will generate incredible local and visitor spending. And this is not about social media – that’s a given.
You’ll learn how to:
•Recruit outside events into the community. They do the work, you just invite them. It’s fast and it’s easy.
•Create niche itineraries for hundreds of specialty publications who are actively looking for places to send their readers. And it’s free!
•Develop a low-cost, high impact website that allows you to spend more time and money creating content, rather than paying big bucks on the delivery system (“professionals required” websites).
Learn these and four other low-cost, or no-cost, marketing solutions that will make you a local hero in tough times.
Things You Can Do Today to Make a Difference Tomorrow
This workshop provides a dozen tips and tricks − inexpensive marketing and community-improvement actions you can implement immediately to increase local spending, attract visitors, extend their stays and increase sales. Using case histories, advertising examples, and dozens of photos, we’ll show you how merchants have doubled their sales for just pennies; tricks that will pull customers into your stores and communities; and ways to get everyone on the same page and pulling in the same direction. This is a “must see” workshop for all − local businesses, downtown organizations, city leaders, chambers of commerce, tourism and economic development offices, and elected officials.
Tell Me Why – Memorable Marketing Campaigns
One of the keys to marketing your business, organization or community successfully is to convey why people should choose you over everyone else. Being able to sum up the truly unique aspects of your place or product in a way that excites others and piques their interest should be a fundamental element in all of your marketing efforts. This one-hour address will provide nearly a dozen examples – told in stories, video clips, and photographs, some hilarious, some embarrassing – and it will showcase the three key ingredients to creating memorable marketing campaigns that stick so that you never have to worry about getting a second chance to make that first impression.
Seven Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism
If you can’t get visitors to stop in your community, how are you going to get them to stay? From Roger’s popular book, “Your Town: A Destination − The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism,” learn seven rules covering such topics as branding, marketing, the Internet, product development, downtowns, signage, gateways, and much more. Entertaining and insightful, this multi-media keynote or general session workshop gives attendees action steps they can begin today to make a difference tomorrow. Note: You have the option of choosing the rules you’d like covered.
More Immutable Rules
A perfect breakout session following the Seven Immutable Rules, this workshop showcases additional rules such as “Restrooms Attract More Than Flies,” “Critical Mass is Not Just a Religious Experience,” and “Real Men Don’t Ask For Directions.” Count on this workshop to entertain and educate attendees and provide proven, bottom-line suggestions on how to increase tourism spending in every community. Note: You have the option of choosing the rules you’d like covered.