Six Degrees of Separation: Leveraging Celebrity Connections to Drive Tourism

Whether you’re a small town or sprawling metro, most destinations have some connection to a celebrity. During this panel discussion, you’ll hear recent case studies of how they leveraged big names to drive brand awareness and tourism. From Columbus’ “Get Goosebumps in Columbus” campaign, which celebrated being the hometown of “Goosebumps” author R.L. Stine, to other destinations across the country, you’ll learn how they made connections and created events that drove visitation.

Takeaways: 

• Learn   how to research and brainstorm what celebrity connections your destination   has and create a compelling event or campaign around them that you can   propose.
• Discover what goes into partnering with a celebrity, from contracts to   event planning.
• Learn marketing and communications strategies for maximizing the impact of   your campaign and how to work with national media to pitch your story idea   and help facilitate coverage.