meetNKY 2022 Destination Tourism Master Plan
What is a strategic plan?
A destination strategic plan is a guiding document that outlines actions that should be taken to grow demand from visitors and to improve the supply of tourism & hospitality offerings. This includes raising the awareness of existing assets through marketing, promotion, and branding; improving the accessibility and visibility of the region’s offerings to visitors; and enhancing existing tourism attractions, lodging and accommodations, and retail/food & beverage businesses.
MeetNKY selected real estate and hospitality consultant, Streetsense, to develop its destination strategic plan. Streetsense is an uncommon collective of creative thinkers with deep expertise in developing market-informed, place-based strategies for mixed-use destinations.
Engagement Meetings Overview
- Consultant Team Site Visit – 2/07/22 – 2/10/22
During the site visit, Streetsense visited with key attractions across Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties to conduct physical assessments of various key tourism sites, and to meet with local tourism vendors/operators.
- Advisory Committee Meeting – 2/07/22
The meetNKY Strategic Plan advisory committee consists of John Stanton/Kenton County; Chris Courtney/Boone County; Justin Otto/Campbell County; Tom West/Covington; TBD/Newport; Josh Hunt/Florence; David Del Bello/Florence Y'alls; Hannah Lowen/New Riff; Emily Wolff/Weckman-Wolff Enterprises; Mark Looy/Ark Encounter & Creation Museum; Shaun Pan/Hampton Inn & Suites Newport; Linda Bray-Schafer/Campbell County Adventures
- Focus Group 1: Community Partners - 2/08/22
- Focus Group 2: County Economic Development Leaders - 2/09/22
- Focus Group 3: B-Line - 2/09/22
- Focus Group 4: Professional Sports/Golf Course Attractions/Outdoors - 2/09/22
- Focus Group 5: Hotel/Hospitality Businesses - 2/10/22
- Focus Group 6: Arts/Culture Attractions/F&B - 2/10/22
A set of focus group discussions organized by industry sector/ area of expertise were held in person and facilitated by Streetsense. Each discussion was designed to allow invited key stakeholders to share challenges/opportunities faced in promoting tourism in the region and to help inform priorities for strategies in the final plan.
