Taos Return to Sacred Places
Challenge – in a down tourism economy, create excitement about Taos, NM. The ultimate goal was to increase both lodgers’ tax and gross receipts tax received by the Town of Taos.
Strategies/Tactics – To distinguish Taos from other mountain towns, many of which have much larger marketing budgets, create a compelling marketing message, we decided to use: “Escape the Modern Day. Rejuvenate in Taos. Return to Sacred Places.”
Specific tactics included:
- Microsite – www.TaosSacredPlaces.com
- Aggressive monthly, regional, national and international public relations
- Electronic newsletters to interested opt-in travelers
- Electronic newsletters to media in the drive circle
- Sweepstakes
- Social media
- Paid advertising – online, print, broadcast
Evaluation/Results
- The lodgers tax increase for 2010 was 10.9 percent
- The NM Gross Receipts Tax increase for 2010 was 1.5 percent
- The increase in average unique visitors to the website was 25 percent
- The increase in walk-ins to the Taos Visitors Centers was 14.95 percent