It’s a tricky job measuring the results from marketing. Pinning down the benefits of tourism marketing in terms of pure data has been just as hard. However, a new white paper that I read on my recent trip to the TTRA (Travel and Tourism Research Association) 42^nd annual international conference in London, ON, June 19-21, showed how.

Its theme—“Seeing the Forest AND the Trees: Big Picture Research in a Detail Driven World”—was a familiar call-to-action for us at the CTC and for many in destination marketing. I attended along with two colleagues from CTC’s Research team and more than 300 others from 30 countries drawn to London to discover new answers to ever tougher budgetary and strategic questions.

A real highlight was a new white paper by Dr. Bill Siegel, chairman and CEO of the hugely respected Longwoods International, a 30-year staple of research for national, state, municipal and regional tourism research in the US. The Power of Destination Marketing: “Pure Michigan” and Philadelphia “With Love” Case Studies incisively captures the benefits of destination marketing. Dr. Siegel’s white paper is backed by hard facts, not by wishful thinking, and builds a compelling case and one that chimes with how we approach our work at CTC.

Dr. Siegel’s earlier case study (What Happens When You Stop Marketing? The Rise and Fall of Colorado Tourism) has been so well thumbed by tourism-industry people that it must be positively dog-eared. In 1993, Colorado cut its tourism marketing budget to zero, with dreadful results: a $2 billion annual loss in tourism revenue. In 2000, Colorado started reinstating the funding, but it took many years of hard work to bring the revenue back to its previous levels. Now it’s breaking records.

In this new case study, Dr. Siegel highlights the real economic benefits of destination marketing. He first looks at “Pure Michigan,” an in-state advertising campaign that began in 2006 before going national three years later. Several parts really stuck in my mind. First, the campaign’s initial emphasis was on building the brand, engaging with consumers’ emotions through a powerful story-telling approach. All very similar to the brand refresh journey we launched with “Canada. Keep Exploring” in 2005. And we’ve both reaped the rewards of that strategic approach.

When Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, launched its first-ever national campaign in 2009 with a one-time doubling of its marketing budget to $28 million, it drew heavy criticism in a time of deep economic distress in the state and across America.

Yet you simply can’t argue with the figures Dr. Siegel draws upon here. State tax ROI per ad dollar for the national campaign: $5.56 over 2009 and 2010. Trips generated over that period: 1,519,000. Visitor spending up from $15.1 billion in 2009 to $17.2 billion in 2010. Jobs in the tourism industry increased by 7%. State tourism tax revenue up 13%. And there’s plenty more stats where those came from.

More evidence: when Rick Snyder became Michigan’s new Republican governor this year, many expected the tourism budget to be slashed. Instead, recognizing how tourism marketing increased government revenues, Snyder added $10 million to “Pure Michigan,” topping the budget out at $25 million for 2011, and he plans to maintain that level in future years.

Philadelphia, the second of Dr. Siegel’s case studies, is another US region that has experienced the harsh side of economic recession. Yet, using similar techniques to Michigan (concentrating on building the brand, moving on to celebrity-led emotionally charged ads for its initial “Loves You Back” campaign and then finishing with its “With Love, Philadelphia XOXO” winter and summer 2009/2010 campaigns) it racked up significant improvements over 15 years.

Still unconvinced? Get your calculators around this data. In 2009/2010, spending $4 million on marketing generated 3.7 million incremental trips to Philly. In all, the region welcomed 37 million visitors in 2010—an all-time high—and welcome news to the hotel industry, which posted a record 827,000 leisure-room nights booked. Those visitors injected $432 million of additional direct spending into the local economy. And that total represents $100 of revenue for every dollar spent on the campaign. That’s like guaranteeing a decent win on a lottery ticket—every time.

CTC’s own results for the past year bear comparison with these two US states. Our 2010 measured campaigns generated an estimated $1.9 billion in tourism revenue; $244.2 million in federal government revenue; and 16,569 Canadian jobs. For every dollar invested in our core campaigns last year, we racked up $82 in tourism revenue for Canada’s economy. All in all, pretty good we’d say (though we’re too modest to do so).

If you know of other destination marketing economic examples, I’d love to hear about them. Tweet them to me @CTCCEO or leave a note in the comments below.

Michele