A favorite marketing prof once told me, “It’s better to go slow and deep, than fast and shallow”. You know, like a submarine.

Bill Geist notes next month’s National Tourism Week and suggests that other non-tourism related economic development can be directly influenced by effective destination marketing:

Tourism is so much more than image building and economic impact. It’s often the first taste a CEO, owner or site selector has of a community, as they search where to locate their next enterprise.

I have always believed that touristic value, a sense of place, and the pride of welcoming visitors leads to many bigger and better things. After all, if you are selling a place to visit, likely those very same assets will be critical components of any other economic development goals you might have. It always bewilders me that local job recruiters and economic development offices don’t utilize our resources more when selling our awesome place.