I had the opportunity to interview Michele Cota of the New Hampshire division of travel and tourism development (DTTD). A native of New Hampshire, she learned early on that a marriage between vocation and avocation can serve both extremely well. During her time at DTTD, Michele has worked very hard in her role as marketing manager to grow a vital segment of the state’s tourism business–group tours.
It didn’t take this bright young woman long to realize that the key to being successful was to be found in developing and fostering connections among the people who operate tours, as well as the businesses in New Hampshire that serve them. By building this high level of mutual trust, she has dramatically increased group travel within the state. The place for arranging visits by group tours is the numerous annual travel shows. An outsider might believe that these events are all about fun and games; nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is these are fast paced, no nonsense settings where one has a matter of minutes to make a lasting, favorable impression. Michele says, “People who organize group tours must get to know and trust you before they will visit your destination.”
I asked Michele what is ahead for group travel. Without hesitation, her enthusiasm bursting, she said this is a great time for the industry. I learned that a younger demographic has been attracted (darn, and I was just about to dye my hair blue). This younger age cohort does not want to spend countless hours sitting on a bus. The tour companies are responding by providing flexible schedules, using the bus as a shuttle between a variety of sites and experiences, where much time is spent experiencing, rather than sitting.
In the case of New Hampshire, the industry has learned that collaboration is essential: each member must serve as a resource for one another. Michele will be the first to say that she has benefitted from this attitude. Businesses work together to build itineraries, create events, even creating an expansible book of itineraries. Always the first to deflect credit for success, Michele says, “All of this trust and cooperation makes my job easier.”
Like her extremely dedicated colleagues at DTTD, Michele learned the importance of escaping the stresses that can produce burn out on the job. In her case, she often takes the initiative to plan weekend excursions with friends who don’t bother with bucket lists; they collect bucket experiences. Through her industry contacts, Michele learns of interesting, exciting, adventurous places–those that offer a special type of ambiance. These she shares with her friends. Before long, an idea learned during one of many professional meetings is converted to a memorable weekend of hiking, visiting an interesting art gallery, or finding the next great ice cream cone. Clearly, this is a young woman with her priorities in order–much to New Hampshire’s benefit.
