Dann Lewis-Travel Transportation Tourism

TV Ad Campaign Brings Flurry of Tourist Inquiries

2008-04-13T15:50:00.004-04:00

The $100,000 TV campaign drew roughly 2,500 calls for information on Maine vacation spots.

Janice Fortin had already planned a vacation in New Hampshire when she saw an ad on television showcasing Maine's beauty. She called the 800 number for more information and is now putting together a camping trip to Maine for later this summer. "It did its job," Fortin said of the advertising.

Maine tourism officials readily admit that the state lags behind many others in tourism promotion. They believe the lack of money for marketing is to blame for the slow growth of the state's tourism industry in the '90's.

"Maine is 25 to 30 years behind the rest of the country into getting into this business," said Dann Lewis, the state's director of tourism. "We've relied on the drive market for so long that Maine has not had the kind of growth other states have had." Dann Lewis said the state needs to break out of a rut of modest spending increases of the last few years and be more aggressive in attracting tourists and their money - and to decrease Maine's reliance on drive-ins.

Dann Lewis's 1997-98 budget was more than doubled, to $3.8 million for the first year of a five-year plan to bolster the state's tourism industry. The five Maine television ads that ran for a month beginning in late May represent a key part of the new strategy that may be expanded next year if the early promising results hold up. The ads ran on stations in Boston, Providence and Hartford, and ran regionally on the Arts and Entertainment and Discovery cable channels. They also ran for two weeks in Montreal.

"We're going after people who were probably thinking of going to Colorado, West Virginia or the white Mountains", Dann Lewis said.

From: Portland Press Herald, July 6, 1977 by Edward D. Murphy

Dann Lewis Honored by Top Industry Group

2008-03-22T14:59:00.006-04:00

Dann H. Lewis, director of the office of tourism, has been selected as one of the most extraordinary sales and marketing minds in hospitality, travel and tourism by senior executives in those industries from around the world.

Dann Lewis, who has served as tourism director in Maine since 1995, was named in January to the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International "Hot List of Top 25 for 2005." Lewis and the 24 others were selected because of their ability to develop marketing strategies that are truly innovative and clever and that get results. In asking for their picks, senior executives from around the globe were told to submit nominees who best exemplified the set criteria: Whose marketing strategies are truly innovative and clever? Whose companies represent a sales-focused organization? Who gets results? Whose work do you wish were your own?

Submitted nominations were reviewed and scored the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Internationals executive committee, resulting in the third annual "Top 25" list.

Dann Lewis has been tourism director for such notable destinations as the Bahamas, the U. S. Virgin Islands, New York (where he originated the famous "I Love New York" marketing campaign) and most recently, the State of Maine.

Congratulations to Dann Lewis!

From: Hospitality Net Industy News - January 2006

Dann Lewis - Tourism Goes For More

2008-03-16T12:53:00.003-04:00

Riding on the momentum of their highly successful 1997 season, the Department of Community and Economic Development's Commissioner, Tom McBrierty and State Tourism Director Dann Lewis cruised into the legislature on December 7. Testifying before the Joint Committee on Business and Economic Development, they requested a special $3 million appropriation to market Vacationland to the rest of the world. This special request is $1.2 million more than last years appropriation, and would bring Tourism's war chest in 1998 to $5.4 million, up from $4.2 million in 1997.

This move can be seen as a logical follow-up to their victorious press conference on November 6th at which they announce the 11:1 return on investment for their media dollar. After turning a $612,000 investment in advertising into $6.98 million in increased sales and lodging tax revenues, Tom McBrierty and Dann Lewis appear to be keeping up the pressure to grow this sector of the state's economy.

This preliminary hearing in early December was also a rehearsal for the public hearings of the appropriations process beginning on January 6th. This requested increase in the annual budget to $5.4 million is another incremental step in Dann Lewis's five-year plan to get Maine up there with its New England neighbors. With New Hampshire allocating $6 million, Vermont $8 million and Massachusetts investing $17 million, Dann Lewis's aim is to get Vacationland up into the $8 million range from its $2 million starting line, by the end of his Great March.

The bulk of this special appropriations will go for advertising. As the marketing season for summer approaches, Dann Lewis and his team are huddled with their consultants. Longwoods International will continue to be retained to measure the effectiveness of media spending and to assist with a range of market research. The Toronto based firm will continue to analyze factors such as visitor profiles, destinations, visitor preferences and Maine's image to outsiders.

Dann Lewis's approach to tourism marketing has always been research driven.

from: Maine Biz, by Alan Long

Following a Frozen Trail

2008-03-07T14:15:00.007-05:00

Paul Rickert, operations manager of Northern Outdoors, and me, Roberta Scruggs, staff writer for the Portland Press Herald, were part of an intrepid band that embarked on an 83-mile snowmobile excursion from the Forks to Sugarloaf on January 23. Also along for the ride were Governor Angus King; Dann Lewis, director of the state tourism office; Scott Ramsey, head of the conservation department's snowmobile division; several members of the Maine Snowmobile Association; and other folks from Northern Outdoors, an adventure resort at the forks.

The trek was born during a year of daydreaming by Bob Meyers, executive director of the snowmobile association. The Governor came along to boost and important - $226 million annually - industry. We all stayed the night at Northern Outdoors wo we could set out at around 8:30 a.m. Outside it was 17 below zero - not with the wind chill, just plain 17 below zero. The metal door handle burned our fingers. The snow crunched under our feet like potato chips. The inside of every nose was icy, and the air was so cold that any deep breath ended in a cough.

Although most of our group was experienced, Dann Lewis had never been on a snowmobile before. Lowell Smith Jr., the state police detective along to protect the governor had not ridden since he was 12 --- 30 years ago. King hasn't ridden much, but his experience with motorcycles was a plus.

Some of our problems were unique, but many were common to beginning snowmobilers, and were the result of the frigid weather. Dann Lewis, Lowell Smith and I all found it hard to see through our helmets. "The first two hours I was tinkering around, trying to get the right balance to keep from freezing my eyeballs off and trying to get rid of the fog", Dann Lewis said.

Like him I was peering through three layers of frost - my glasses, my helmet's visor and the snowmobile's windscreen. I fiddled with the visor all day, sometimes peering through the frost, sometimes enduring the cold blast of air to clear it.

Bundled up as we were though, it seemed almost too warm at times. I had four layers on from the waist down and six - long underwear, flannel shirt, wool vest, sweater, winter coat and snowmobile suit on my upper body. One of the Northern Outdoors guides had to wrestle me into the snowmobile suit and put my big mittens on. I felt like an Apollo astronaut headed for the moon. Dann Lewis too, found himself groping to describe the sense of near paralysis. "I kept thinking, 'I feel like the Michelin man'," he said. "I was sort of walking around like a stiff scarecrow or the Tin Woodsman without any oil."

That stiffness contributed to another major problem - we weren't leaning. Shifting your weight really helps the snowmobile track better, but instead, we were just sitting there - as flexible as a tombstone - trying to steer it like a car. That doesn't work so well.

Did I mention that this trek was 83 miles? Once the trip was over, we could all laugh.......

from: Portland Press Herald January 1998, by Roberta Scruggs, Staff Writer

Dann Lewis "A Very Good Year"

2008-03-04T13:51:00.005-05:00

Tourism spending rose in 2005, state reports

Overnight travelers spent $3.1 billion last year, ending a four-year slump.

"It means we're not only riding the wave, but we're being more successful than others." Charles Colgan Associate director, Maine's new Center for Tourism Research and Outreach

Maine's tourism industry broke out of a four year slump in 2005 and increased the total number of overnight trips to the state by 9 percent and the number of overnight vacationers by 12 percent, figures being released today show. Taken together, overnight travelers made 9.7 million trips and spent 15 percent more last year than in 2004, leaving behind $3.1 billion spent on meals, lodging, purchases and services.

The state tourism office credited better marketing and promotion, good summer weather and rising gasoline prices that kept motorists closer to home for the exceptionally strong showing. "2005 was a very good year," said Dann Lewis, the state's tourism director. "It reversed a trend that had been soft for four years in the aftermath of 9-11."

The data are part of an extensive report prepared annually for Maine's tourism office by Longwoods International, a Canadain travel research firm. Maine's tourism industry is the largest single contributor to Maine's economy. Tourism generated $13.6 billion in sales and provided 176,600 jobs in 2004, according to data gathered by Longwoods and the tourism office.

Despit that, Maine and New England in general have struggled to attract more visitors over the past four years. Competition from other destinations, the legacy of the 2001 terrorist attacks and othe factors have been blamed for the slump.

Maine responded by hiring a New York City advertising agency that revamped the tourism marketing campaign and redesigned the state's Web site. Both actions had come under fire by critics who questioned specific elements of these efforts, but the 2005 results suggest those changes are making a difference.

That's one conclusion that can be drawn for the 12 percent jump in overnight trips that Longwoods International defines as "marketable." These trips reflect discretionary vacation travel, not visits to friends and relatives. In the tourism industry, marketable trips are of special interest because they can be influenced by advertising and promotion.

"These are people who made a choice to come to Maine," said Charles Colgan, associate director of Maine's new Center for Tourism Research and Outreach at the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine. By comparison, overnight vacation trips grew nationally by only 2 percent, Colgan noted.

At the same time, Maine's share of trips by Northeast residents grew by 14 percent. Massachusetts saw a 10 percent rise, and the other New England states had little or no growth. That's also an important indicator. Maine competes with the other New England states for visitors, and the largest share of Maine tourists come from Massachusetts, New York and other Northeast states.

"It means we're not only riding the wave," Colgan said, "but we're being more successful than the others."

Dann Lewis and Charles Colgan agree that the strong performance in 2005 raises expectations for 2006. "I wouldn't expect another 14 percent in market share," Dann Lewis said, "but we're hoping for a reasonable showing in 2006."

from: Portland Press Herald - August 17, 2006 by Tux Turkel

Dann Lewis - Maine's Top Tourist

2008-02-20T15:17:00.006-05:00

The man who now runs the state's tourism office does not pull any punches - but he's getting results.

Nothing annoys Dann Lewis more than the phone calls he gets around Labor Day each year from television and newspaper reporters asking how the tourism season went. The Season, he delights in telling them, hasn't gone anywhere. "The assumption that it's over is crazy'" declares Lewis, director of the Maine Office of Tourism.

The Labor day deadline is a prime example of Old Tourism. Dann Lewis is New Tourism, and he is bound and determined to shake up traditional ideas and attitudes toward the industry that in 1997 had a $5.4-billion impact on Maine. The blunt-spoken Dann Lewis came to the Maine tourism shop in 1995 after a career that included building a resort in the Bahamas, running serveral regional airlines in the Caribbean, serving as chief of tourism in the U. S. Virgin Islands and directing the famous "I Love New York" campaign. In other words, he's a pro, and he doesn't hesitate to rain on the parade of tourist-trade optimism that has largely characterized the business in Maine for most of this century.

Dann Lewis says thing out loud that most Vacationland booster wouldn't whisper in their sleep. Maine has actually been losing ground in the vacation sector for years and probably decades, Lewis says. The industry in Maine has been marked by complacency both public and private. Business owners have by and large been reluctant to reinvest in their businesses, to the point where Dann Lewis says there are motels in Maine's premier tourist towns that he wouldn't check his dog into. With candor like this, it's hard to believe that Lewis is a state government employee - and one who seems to be succeeding.

Not that Maine tourist businesses have gotten a lot of support from the state in the past. Dann Lewis saves some of his most stinging criticism for state government's past leadership, or lack of it, in promoting tourism. "It really was not done on a very consistent or professional basis up until just a few years ago," Lewis says. "There was no plan, no overall vision, and very little funding. Maine consistently ranked nearly dead-last for promotional activity."

It would be easy to dismiss Dann Lewis's comments as self-serving if they weren't so undeniable. The King administration first approached Lewis about comint to Maine shortly after the 1994 gubernatorial election. He turned down the offer only to accept it a few months later after learning that the Office of Tourism job would not be business as usual. With King's support, Dann Lewis says the legislature tripled his budget to $4.5 million - and generated four and five times that investment in new tax revenues from additional tourism. For the first time, the office has set up a professionally managed research-based marketing program with one of the major tourism research firms in North America, Longwoods International. Longwoods has made some surprising discoveries about Maine.

"People in Maine tend to think everyone knows about Maine, and that just is not the case," Dann Lewis says. "If you compare the perceptions of people who have been to Maine and those who have not, and the differences are night and day. Perceptions of those that have never visited are in some cases really bizarre. They think Maine is very cold, very remote, on the Arctic Circle, with nothing to do, and nothing of historical or cultural interest."

Dann Lewis has also learned -and can show- that tourism contributes more than $300 million in taxes to the state's coffers and support the equivalent of 101,000 full-time jobs.

But he also has figures that show "Maine has been steadily losing market share," Lewis disclosed. "If tourism goes up 10 percent in the Northeast and only 3 percent in Maine, we're losing ground." The research indicates that the state has failed to keep up with its neighbors since at least 1994, "although we figure the decline goes back decades," Lewis notes.

If Dann Lewis has done nothing else, he has shown that it pays to market Maine, with a return on investment renging up to eleven dollars back for every dollar spent on tourism promotion. "Before he arrived, there hadn't been a good professional report done by an experienced independent market research firm that difinitively showed those kinds of returns," notes Bob Smith, whose Northeast Hospitality, Inc. bought the old Sebasco Harbor Resort in Phippsburg two years ago. "Once people saw that first report, they were amazed."

With many of Maine's bedrock industries, such as forest products steadily losing ground, Dann Lewis seems to be positioning tourism to pick up some of the slack and move up to the top of Maine's economic ladder.

Given the new candor and new professionalism in Maine tourism, just how successful do Mainers want Dann Lewis to be? Is there such a thing as saturation, too many tourists? How does the state protect the Maine that vacationers come here to see?

Dann Lewis believes that the key to handling more tourists lies in expanding the season rather than expanding facilities. He also has a vision of luring more visitors into interior and northern Maine. "One of our goals is to steer tourism into areas that need economic development." he explaines. In recent years, tourism growth rates have actually increased in interior Maine, although not always without complaints from coastal communities. "In Bar Harbor where business is flat, the people there wanted me to burn in effigy for promoting inland Maine."

Dann Lewis appreciates the issues that rising visitor numbers bring, but he expresses confidence that Maine can handle them. "Frankly, we don't have the infrastructure to allow all those people to come to Maine," Lewis points out, referring to everything from limited highway capacity to limited arrivals by air.

"Dann has really done a wonderful job with bringing Maine up to speed in the tourism business," notes Sebasco Harbor Resort's Bob Smith. "We're making progress and that has helped." In the end, Lewis's willingness to tell the tough truth may be the best thing that has happened to Maine since Mr. Moody built his diner.

from: Down East Magazine - April 1999 by Jeff Clark

Dann Lewis - Aiming for the Top

2008-02-20T14:11:00.005-05:00

Goal: To make tourism Maine's leading industry

Augusta - Maine's director of tourism, Dann H. Lewis has left a string of success stories in his wake over the years, but now he faces another challenge - making tourism the number-one industry in the state within five years.

Dann Lewis was appointed to head up the state's tourism office by Governor Angus King, who has made no secret of his desire to promote tourism in Maine.

"It's a major element in the economic strategy for the state, " Dann Lewis said in a recent interview. "When I arrived the governor asked me to to prepare a five-year strategy for tourism. One of the major problems, I think, with tourism promotion and development in the past here in Maine is that there's been no consistent effort. There's never been a blueprint around which the industry could rally."

It's hoped the five-year strategy will remedy that. Dann Lewis said "The bottom line is to see tourism grow geographically, on a year-round basis" - and through tax revenue and job creation, "generally increase it's contribution to the ecomony."

Dann Lewis grew up in Massachusetts and in New Hampshire, where he attended Dartmouth College and majored in English literature and mechanical engineering. "After school I went down to the Bahamas and built and operated a small resort, and later wound up as director of marketing for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism," Lewis said.

From the Bahamas, Dann Lewis went to the U. S. Virgin Islands where he became director of tourism and oversaw double-digit increases in visitor arrivals. Tha job led him to director of tourism for New York state. After leaving New York, Dann Lewis worked as president of several regional airlines from the West Coast to the Northeast. Though he's not a commercial pilot, he piloted seaplanes in the Caribbean islands.

The husband of a respected airline consultant and father of two, now resides in South China, Maine.

Dann Lewis said some areas of Maine, particularly the coastline already enjoy status as successful tourist markets. The new challenge is to market the Eastern and inland areas to visitors, and to stretch the season beyond just the summer months.

Similar efforts have paid off in other states, most notably in New York in the late 1970's when Lewis oversaw the creation of the heart-stopping "I Love New York" campaign. Before the campaign was implemented and promoted on the world stage, there were many areas of upstate New York that did not enjoy a flourishing tourism base and were very much like inland areas of Maine today. Dann Lewis went on to say" I Love New York changed all that, and the prospects here are just as good."

The most recent economic impact studies done in Maine show tourism account for more than 75,000 jobs and roughly $2.75 billion in expenditures, so its importance to the state cannot be understated, Lewis said.

"I would hazard a guess that at the end of the five-year strategy, you'll probably see tourism as the number-one industry in the state," Dann Lewis said.

by: Jonathan Humphrey

How To Keep 'Em Coming - The Dann Lewis Plan

2008-02-19T10:19:00.009-05:00

Dann Lewis didn't ease into his new job as director of the Maine Office of Tourism. On his first day, Governor Angus King asked him to figure out how to maximize the value of tourism for Maine. King wanted a written long-term strategy, something the state tourism office had never had before. And he wanted it in three months.

Dann Lewis met his mid-October deadline. He marshalled the advice of business people statewide and crafted a five-year strategy that is likely to drive future discussions of tourism in Maine for years to come.

Dann Lewis's goal in the plan is to boost tourism expenditures in Maine, last officially estimated at $2.75 billion, by 15 percent by the year 2000. Among other things, the strategy calls for making tourism a year-round industry in Maine.

"It's an ambitious major program" said Dann Lewis, most recently an executive at several airline companies. But, Lewis said, "you've got to have a plan to know where you're going."

Dann Lewis admitted that the buggest hurdle over the long-term is likely to be securing adequate funding to further promote and develop tourism. The strategy repeats familiar refrains from past tourism studies, like enticing more tourists to venture inland and into northern Maine and extending the tourism season into traditionally slow months like November and December.

The Dann Lewis strategy has some new twists - ideas that could help Maine market itself without having to dig deeply into state coffers:

The strategy puts more emphasis on the emerging trend of regional promotion in tourism. The state would continue to project an overall image of Maine. Beneath that marketing umbrella, different regions would market specific activities and packages, and develop a tourism infrastructure in their specific areas.

The strategy also suggests the state team more often with private businesses, like airlines, car rental companies and tour operators, for more bang for the cooperative dollar. "Virtually everybody in the business should be looking for cooperative dollars to augment their marketing efforts," Dann Lewis said.

This is familiar turf for Dann Lewis. He worked on the early stages of the blockbuster "I Love New York" campaign earlier in his career. That, he said, was highly leveraged with private funds from domestic and international airlines, companies like Coca Cola and the Broadway theatre owners guild.

Dann Lewis acknowledges that Maine "won't get that type of scale as New York State, but there are similar opportunities on a smaller scale."

The point is, Lewis said, "we now have a long term plan, and with tourism a proven economic development engine, it doesn't make a lot of sense to ignore it.

"From: The Portland Press Herald, November 1995

Dann Lewis - Personality Profile - Maine Tour Magazine

2008-02-17T17:30:00.002-05:00

Dann Lewis is Maine's (relatively) new Director of Tourism, appointed by Governor Angus King, Jr.

Dann Lewis has been president and vice president of airline industry companies, and has served as Director of Tourism in New York State (overseeing the blockbuster I Love New York tourism campaign), the United States Virgin Islands and also in the Bahamas. He has certainly earned his spurs in all aspects of the tourism industry.

Maine Tour Magazine caught up with him at a meeting at the Holiday Inn By The Bay between another commitment that would bring him to Southern Maine on the same day. In response to a question about Maine's commitment to the motorcoach industry, Dann Lewis said that it was not defined as yet. Dann Lewis said that the Tourism Department was in the process of developing action plans to go along with a five-year tourism strategy.

When asked what he might have learned about other places that would apply to Maine, Dann Lewis smiled, saying "there's little new under the sun. A lot of the problems that the industry is facing in Maine today, are the same types of problems that they are facing in the Islands and New York State. Dann Lewis went on the say, "Maine in fact has an outstanding product and a much more varied product than a lot of other areas. There's an enormous potential here that remains to be tapped."

Another synergistic effort is Dann Lewis' participation in Discover New England, a regional consortium formed by the six New England states three years ago specifically to promote New England in international markets.

Dann Lewis and his wife Sherry, have two grown children, both born in the Bahamas. Since Sherry is an airline consultant currently working with American Trans Air in Indianapolis and must travel often, they are hoping to make both commutes easier by settling in the Brunswick area sometime later this year.

Maine winters, says Dann Lewis, are "exhilarating". He grew up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts so "I adapt fairly well." Adapting to his new position made this year "very busy," but for next year he's "really looking forward to getting into some skiing and snowmobiling."

This reminds Dann Lewis of times when he used to have ski gear with him when he returned to the Bahamas from promotion tours in Austria. Tourists would see him in the Bahamas airport with his gear and give him looks, thinking maybe "there was something about the Bahamas Islands they weren't aware of."

If it's up to Dann Lewis, there won't be much about Maine that tourists aren't aware of!

from: Maine Tour Magazine, 1995

Dann Lewis Brings Development, Travel Experience

2008-02-14T17:26:00.000-05:00

Dann Lewis has done similar work for New York and the Virgin Islands, as well as tourism consulting.

A Texan with a background in the tourism and airline industries was named Tuesday to head Maine's state tourism office.

Dann H. Lewis is a former director of tourism development for New York state and the U. S. Virgin Islands, and has worked as a marketing consultant for several major clients, the King administration said. He is currently executive vice president of Cirrusair, an air-ground courier service, where he oversaw a corporate restructuring after the company had been sold in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Lewis was one of 13 candidates interviewed and one of only two from outside of Maine, state economic development Commissioner Thomas McBrierty said at a State House news conference. Tourism is Maine's largest industry.

"He's been here as a visitor. What he brings is tremendous experience in the tourism industy," McBrierty said. Governor Angus King, who joined McBrierty in making the announcement, said he wants Lewis to concentrate on coordinating the state's tourism promotion efforts with private groups that share its goals such as the Maine Publicity Bureau. "

I would like to see the industry speak with one voice" King said. "I want to change the idea that there is only one 'tourist season'," the governor said, referring to ongoing campaigns to lure more visitors to Maine during the traditional off-seasons, to ski in the winter, or take in fall foliage.

Maine spends roughly $2 million a year on tourism promotion. McBrierty said he does not know how that compares with neighboring states but added, "my sense it that it's relatively low."

Dann Lewis, who did not attend the news conference, holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

From: Associated Press, June 1995

Dann Lewis - From Tourist to Tourism Director

2008-02-13T11:45:00.001-05:00

Dann H. Lewis has seen Maine through a tourist's eyes. He has flown into the Portland Jetport, dined on Maine lobster, visited friends along the coast and canoed through Western Maine on the Ossipee River.

Now, the Dallas airline executive will travel to Augusta. But this time, he's staying. Dann Lewis begins a job on Monday as the director of the Maine Office of Tourism, the top government position in one of the state's largest industries.

Lewis will oversee an office with an annual budget of $1.8 million and a four-person staff. His primary mission will be to market Maine as a tourism destination. Industry observers say Dann Lewis' most challenging tasks will be to promote the state despite tight budget constraints and to unite diverse interests within the tourism industry behind those efforts.

Lewis said in a telephone interview that one of his primary goals will be to "get the government side and the private-sector side to work more harmoniously. That's that I've found is very necessary and very beneficial in the other regions I've worked in."

Dann Lewis has worked in many other regions during the 36-year course of his career. He's headed tourism efforts for some big-name destination spots: the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and New York State where he was in on the early stages of the "I Love New York" campaign.

Bern Rotman, director of communications for the New York State Department of Economic Development, said Lewis "had a pivotal role to play" in generating tourism industry support for the "I Love New York" campaign.

"Dann's role was extremely important at a time when we started the advertising in a very big way," Rotman said.

Lewis will have a lot less money to work with in Maine, where the tourism budget is only one-sixth the size of New York's. But Lewis has shown himself to be creative in using scarce resources, Rotman said. One way he has done that, Rotman said, is by seeking public-private partnerships - a common theme of Governor Angus King's administration.

Dann Lewis has spent nearly all his adult life in the travel industry. Immediately after graduating from Dartmouth College he went to the Bahamas and built a resort. "I did everything from drawing the plans to laying the blocks to doing the electrical wiring," he said.

Lewis subsequently ran his own tourism related development company, worked for years in the public sector for tourism offices and did consulting for clients such as Six Flags Corporation, a big amusement park operator. He's spent the last decade working for small airline companies, two of which he helped restructure following bankruptcy proceedings.

Job's a nice fit

Lewis says the job of tourism director in Maine dovetails with both his personal and professional interests. For one thing, he said, he and his wife have been wanting to return to New England for the past three years. They own a summer home in Freedom, N. H. on the Maine-New Hampshire border. They have friends in Maine. And Lewis grew up in Massachusetts.

Professionally too, the job seemed to be a good fit. Lewis said he decided to apply while visiting friends in York earlier this year. While there, he read a newspaper article describing King's belief in the importance of tourism to the Maine economy. It struck a chord.

Lewis became one of 13 applicants - and one of only two out-of-staters - interested in the tourism job. His appointment was announced in late June.

Lewis was chosen because of his broad experience and the administration's sense that he would "be good at teamwork," said Tom McBrierty, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and Lewis's boss.

The announcement has been greeted with relief, and curiosity, by Maine's tourism industry. The relief comes from the fact that the post has finally been filled after a vacancy of three months. The curiosity stems from the fact that few in Maine's tourism industry know Lewis or have even met him.

One exception is Karen Peterson, president of a York based marketing research firm, Davidson-Peterson Associates. She and Lewis have been friends for over 20 years. Also, his resume includes a five year stint as senior marketing consultant and West Coast director of her firm.

Peterson calls Lewis a "very gentle and quietly intelligent person, with a commanding knowledge of what makes tourism the world's largest industry". "What we need most in this industry in Maine is consensus-building" said Peterson. "He doesn't bring any baggage. He's not on one side or the other."

From: Portland Press Herals/Maine Sunday Telegram - July 1995 by Kim Strosnider

Dann Lewis Lands Top Job at Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle

2008-01-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands: Dann H. Lewis has been named Senior Vice President and General Manager for Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle with services between its maintenance headquarters in St. Croix, with services to San Juan Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. John, and the British Virgin Islands. According to Lewis, the airline has been in recent discussions with TWA for a code-share designation between all its routes and TWA's Caribbean hub located in San Juan. Dann Lewis most recently had been president and chief operating officer of Resort Commuter Airlines, a Trans World Express designated carrier operating from multiple locations within California. Prior to that, Dann Lewis had been first Board Chairman of Bahamasair, the national flag carrier of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Director of Tourism for the United States Virgin Islands, and Director of Tourism for the State of New York, having launched the world acclaimed "I Love New York" campaign.

From: St. Croix Avis, March 1988

TWA Links with Airline at John Wayne Airport

2008-01-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

TWA has won a presence at lucrative, flight-restricted John Wayne Airport by contracting with a regional airline to bring passengers from Orange County's airport to Los Angeles International

President of the airline, Dann Lewis, stated that as part of the agreement, Orange County based Resort Commuter Airlines has changes its name and livery to Trans World Express. Lewis said that TWA has similar agreements with other commuter and regional airlines around the country, all operating under the name of Trans World Express. "It's an extension of the trunk airlines route schedule," he said.

Other major airlines also have such arrangements: American Airlines has American Eagle, United has United Express, Delta has Delta Connection, to name a few.

Resort Commuter continues to offer tickets to non-TWA affiliated passengers at $49 each way and joint fares with other airlines on connections to long distance flights out of LAX, said Lewis. TWA however, will offer the connections for free out of Orange County on many of its discount fares as well as on more expensive seats in its inventory, he said.

For example, as part of the promotion of the new Orange County service, TWA is offering a round-trip fare to New York for $198 from John Wayne, while the lowest fare available out of LAX alone is $258, Dann Lewis said.

From: Orange County Register, October 30, 1987

Dann Lewis Lands Top Job at Trans World Express

2008-01-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

Established just two years ago, Southern California based Resort Commuter Airlines has concluded an affiliation agreement with TWA and changed its name and livery to Trans World Express, Dann H. Lewis, president of Resort Commuter announced.

As Trans World Express, the airline will provide greatly improved feeder service to Los Angeles from numerous Southern California cities, including Oxnard and Palm Springs. Dann Lewis said that Resort Commuter carries more than 50 percent of all passengers from Orange County (John Wayne) to Los Angeles International. Lewis went on to say that these arrangements with TWA will allow Resort Commuter to exchange passengers and maintain joint fares with most domestic and international carriers.

As a code-share of TWA, Trans World Express is establishing its own operations center within the TWA area in Terminal Three at LAX. Dann Lewis said that in addition to providing customer service and a ramp base at LAX, TW Express will maintain its high profile at Orange County's John Wayne Airport.

Mr. Lewis said the airline has applied for permits to construct a mini-terminal north of the existing John Wayne main terminal and adjacent to designated ramp areas for loading regional aircraft. The new facility will accommodate up to three regional carriers.

The association with TWA, Dann Lewis said, will ensure a level of market recognition and penetration far in excess of what an independent commuter carier can command. Publishing its flight schedules unter the "TW" code in airline guides, travel publications and airline computer reservations systems (CRS's) will enhance its name recognition and marketability.

Before joining Resort Commuter, Dann Lewis, who will continue as president of Trans World Express, was chairman of Bahamasair, the flag carrier of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. He also served as director of tourism for the State of New York and the U. S. Virgin Islands. He participated in the launch of the now famous "I Love New York" campaign and consulted on the current California State tourism marketing blitz.

From: Orange County Register, by Jack Ballard, October 30, 1986

Dann Lewis Receives "Outstanding New Yorker" Award

2007-11-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

New York - Dann H. Lewis, New York State deputy commissioner and director of tourism development, recently received the "Outstanding New Yorker" award from the New York City Junior Chamber of Commerce for his important contributions in the marketing and promotion of both New York City and State.

The occasion was celebrated at the Junior Chamber's third annual Big Apple Banquet, which was held at the elegant Park Lane Hotel.

Praise and honors are no strangers to Dann Lewis, who came to his demanding deputy commissioner's position in the New York State Department of Commerce from the directorship of the U. S. Virgin Islands department of tourism, and the marketing director's post with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. In his latter capacity he helped establish Bahamasair, the national airline of the Bahamas, of which he subsequently became the first chairman. With this impressive background Dann Lewis was eminently qualified for the difficult task of bringing to the attention of business travelers and tourists the facilities, sights and cultural treasures of New York City and New York State. His expertise was translated into the remarkable success of the state's "I Love New York" promotion campaign on one hand - which he coordinated - and the vastly increased awareness throughout New York of the importance of meetings, conventions and incentive groups to the Empire State's economy, and morale on the other - an awareness which Dann Lewis fostered.

For all these reasons, Meeting and Conventions congratulates Dann Lewis.

From: Meetings and Conventions Magazine - May, 1980 - by Mel Hosanski

Thousands of Visitors Love New York

2007-11-25T16:09:00.000-05:00

The "I Love New York" campaign has brought many thousands of new visitors, which means more tax revenues to New York State -- but individual municipalities and attractions will have to do their own work to draw those tourists through the turnstiles, Dann H. Lewis said yesterday.

Dann Lewis is justifiably proud of the campaign's record because he originated it as deputy commissioner of New York State's Division of Tourism. He spoke yesterday at the Rochester County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Lewis went on to say, "I would warn you that the success of the program does not mean that individual resorts and attractions should automatically expect to see more business coming in with little effort on their part. Individual attractions must continue to advertise."

But the potential is there if they do, Dann Lewis believes. His speech cited figure after figure to show the research the division did before starting the "I Love New York" campaign and the results it has had. Among the figures Lewis cited:

* The travel industry employs 200,000 full-time in New York state and brings $6 billion per year in sales. It's the No. 2 industry in New York. But before 1977 there had been a steady decline in the tourism budget and in New York's market share in the Northeast.

* Research showed that outside New York City the "promotable" attractions were clearly outdoors - the lakes and mountains and unequalled scenic beauty of the state.

* New York ranked low - at 8 percent - a few years ago for "top of mind" awareness of the state. That figure has more than tripled and is growing monthly. "Even better," Dann Lewis added, "all of this can be traced to their awareness of our advertising. Without the ads, there would have been no change at all."

* In 1977, the first year the ads concentrated on upstate, the number of overall trips by tourists to the Northeastern states remained about the same as the previous year -- stagnant -- but trips to New York state increased by 24 percent. The big loser was the New England states.

Lewis figured there were over 1,850,000 individual trips to New York, conservatively estimating that the trips brought in $200 million in income and $14 million in taxes.

Dann Lewis said during the first 18 months of the campaign $10.9 million was spent for advertising and other forms of marketing. "That's about a 6 to 1 ratio of tax dollars generated to advertising expense, a ratio I'm sure we can all live with."

Apart from its dollar effect the campaign brought in 11 major awards, including a special Tony award. "We started out with an effective idea and it just snowballed all over the world," Lewis said. "New Yorkers all over the state have a renewed sense of pride -- we see people wearing the I Love New York buttons and putting bumper stickers on their cars. Even New York City Taxi Drivers are saying "come visit again soon" as they drop people off at the state's metropolitan airports.

From: Rochester News, by Anne Tanner, Financial Editor

Dann H. Lewis - "Broadway Loves New York"

2007-11-16T16:28:00.000-05:00

It was raining. But this was a big night for the New York Division of Tourism and an even bigger night for Broadway. You had major big stars shooting for union scale wages. You had chorus lines waiving residuals. You had Peter Pan's Sandy Duncan being hoisted into the darkening night-lit sky. You also had Captain Hook, Nana-the-dog, Wendy Dear and the Darling Boys. Last but hardly least, you had the folks from Wells, Rich, Greene Advertising and Dann Lewis, the tweed-jacketed Director of the Division of Tourism (who was paying for this shebang).

There was a lot riding on this thing. The League of New York Theatres and Producers calculate that the "I Love New York" commercials have sold a cool 1.8 million theatre tickets, and the Department of Commerce figures a booming 126 million in revenue has been brought into this state since the campaign began. New York needs that revenue after the huge slump of '75.

So the rain was being ignored.

Sandy Duncan Loves New York.

And Lucie Arnaz Loves New York

And Angela Landsbury Loves New York

And Oh Yes, Beverly Sills, who will kick off this Broadway-packed, 60 second commercial when it hits the air on November 17th, Loves New York.

On this campaign alone, five shows are being covered: Sweeney Todd was shot was shot down by South Street Seaport, Dancin was shot on the steps of the Plaza Fountain, They're Playing Our Song was filmed on a flatbed truck in the middle of Times Square, Evita was shot on the steps of the New York Public Library and of course Peter Pan. Everyone belting out "I Love New York" at the top of their lungs.

Suddenly Steve Horn (the best cameraman-director in the business) says "God, the Twin Towers are getting covered with fog." The Twin Towers are lit up. So, for that matter, is the entire east side of lower Manhattan. A woman from the Division of Tourism saw to that. She called the Building Owners and Maintenance Association and asked if they'd leave the lights on in their east side offices to form the background for the new "I Love New York" commercial. They said "sure".

In a funny litttle gesture of excitement Sandy Duncan crosses her arms in front of her chest, flings them wide again and as she is hoisted high above the Brooklyn Bridge says "There's something in the air!" She throws back her head and laughs the enchanted laugh of a little boy who will never grow up, and we are all, for a split second, young again.

It's a wrap and Dann Lewis is beaming.

From: Playbill - September 1979

Dann Lewis Airlifts I Love New York to Japan

2007-11-15T14:03:00.000-05:00

Dann Lewis announced a joint advertising program to encourage more Japanese travel to New York State has been worked out between Japan Air Lines and the New York State Division of Tourism.

"JAL print advertising in Japan will carry the I LOVE NEW YORK logo during October, November and December," said Dann Lewis, "with special television commercials that were filmed in New York airing during this period, as well as in the Spring of 1980, in Japan."

In addition, radio commercials will feature the I LOVE NEW YORK theme music, already known worldwide.

Dann Lewis went on to note, "a special I LOVE NEW YORK desk has been placed in the main ticket office of JAL in Tokyo, T-shirts, maps, buttons and other collateral materials are available in response to coupons in local ads." JAL reports that Japanese tourists are already eager to visit New York, particularly the upstate region.

from - Discover America News - January 1980

Dann Lewis Calls Co-Op Tour "Exciting"

2007-11-15T13:26:00.000-05:00

"It was one of the most exciting travel promotions I have ever directed," said Deputy Commissioner Dann Lewis, at the closing night celebration of the transcontinental kick-off tour for the 1979-80 I LOVE NEW YORK winter co-operative advertising campaign.

Now, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta and San Francisco can also learn why so many other areas of the nation Love New York.

Dann Lewis continued, "thanks to the combined efforts of Braniff, Delta, Eastern and United Airlines, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York Visitors and Conventions Bureau, the League of New York Theatres & Producers, Radio City Music Hall, and the casts of Grease, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the Division of Tourism was able to spread the I LOVE NEW YORK message into major new markets across the county." Dann Lewis said "we would have been financially unable to reach these markets otherwise."

The promotion culminated in a spectacular three-city tour by 39 members of the Radio City Music Hall troupe, featuring the world-famous "Rockettes" who staged a thirty minute production for the people of San Francisco in a mobbed Union Square.

Dann Lewis said "it was an overwhelming expression of good will on behalf of New York City and New York State - one that I am sure will leave these communities with a positive and lasting impression of our great city and state."

from: I Love New York Tourism Memo - September 1979

New York hopes it will be the Big Apple of your eye

2007-11-02T15:56:00.000-04:00

"The incomparable, the brilliant star city of cities ... the Egyptian paradox, the inferno with no out of bounds, the supreme expression of both the miseries and splendors of contemporary civilization ... it stays up all night. But it also becomes a small town when it rains."

--- John Gunther

Guess which city Gunther was talking about. (And it ain't Cairo).

New York City. Of course. And if the new tourism push for that center of theater, art, fashion and debt pays off, the city will be even more vital with cash flow and consuming celebrants.

The promotion began here yesterday when the award-winning commercial spotlighting Broadway characters in "I Love New York" vignettes started hitting the airwaves in Tampa and across Florida. In a cooperative venture, National Airlines and the NY State Department of Commerce have packaged a number of tours designed with the best of marketing methodology in mind, making available in easy form a number of hotel-and-theater packages for traveling to The City.

Broadway, the commerce department found in its marketing research, is what people want but have found difficult to master on their own. The ease of booking is proving most appealing.

And Broadway isn't all New York State is selling. "We've packaged 20 ski areas for sale this winter," said Dann Lewis, deputy commissioner and director of tourism for New York. "These are just the beginning steps," said Lewis. Lewis feels New York has just gotten its hands on a marketing bonanza.

Dann Lewis came to the commerce department from a position as director of tourism for the Virgin Islands. Tourism had declined considerably during the early 70's there, he described, until an approach similar to New York's new undertaking took effect. "The government decided to develop tourism on a professional platform" Lewis explained' "I was brought in in late '75 as the first tourism director of the Virgin Islands, to put together a professionally staffed tourism organization. I am very happy to say that the U. S. Virgin Islands just celebrated its best year in history." Dann Lewis went on to say "It shows even an area that has been going downhill, if government recognized the importance of the tourism industry and makes a commitment to tap into the tremendous return on investment in a professional way ... puts a reasonable budget behind it and then operates it as a business, rather than a haven for political appointees, you can accomplish a great deal."

That's the approach in a nutshell. Professionalism. New York's commerce department began with marketing research which indicated they should be packaging Broadway. Now the department is hiring professionals to move around the state into regional offices where they will help tourism entities such as hotels and attractions put together packages to be sold throughout the United States and abroad.

"Bundling together tourism accommodations, meals, attractions, transfers and transportation, has been done in Europe for decades," Dann Lewis said. "The U. S. is probably 30 years behind Europe in tourism development. Many more people in Europe travel across county borders than they do in the states. There are very well developed tour programs and the charter business is very well defined. Fifty percent of intra-Europe air traffic is tour; in the U. S. that's four percent of domestic. The room for growth here is obviously tremendous. Some of the vast changes in the regulation of the airline industry today, are going to lend credence to what has existed in Europe for years."

Dann Lewis sees New York in the lead with this tourism development. New York State in the past 15 months has gone from 50th, to first in tourism expenditures; and has recognized this industry as a major economic engine that fuels all of New York's economy. And it is. And that's pretty lovable, right?

From: The Tampa Times by Nelda Clemmons

New York State Sees Millions Spent by New Visitors

2007-11-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK - Travel spending in New York State has grown to an estimated $287 million and 7,900 new jobs have been created since the inception of the Department of Commerce's I Love New York campaign 18 months ago, according to an official department report. Results of the report, which were announced by Dann Lewis, deputy commissioner and director of tourism development, also showed that in New York city alone, 4,400 full-time travel-related jobs have been created since February when the Broadway Show tours began, and during the first seven months of the program, visitors to New York City spent $152 million more than they did in the same period of 1977.

In upstate New York and Long Island, visitor spending grew by $135 million during the summer of the campaign and created more than 3,500 new year-round jobs.

Dann Lewis also announced that his department is adding both managerial and clerical positions throughout the state as well as new equipment to improve the fulfillment capabilities of the program. The budget for the program, which has grown from $400,000 to approximately $12 million since its launch, now calls for the hiring of six new regional managers deployed strategically throughout the state, who will cooperate with the central offices in both Albany and New York City to creat new promotions and tour programs for the various counties in New York State. Additionally, Dann Lewis reported that a recently installed fulfillment system which becomes operational this month, will enable consumer requests to be channeled to a toll-free number and then transmitted into a central computer in Albany and fulfilled within 24 hours.

Another top priority item on Dann Lewis' list is speeding up target dates on availability of promotional literature for seasonal campaigns. For example, the winter ski brochure was ready in October of this year as scheduled, but Lewis plans to have it available for the next winter season no later than September.

A number of 1979 programs will be added and others expanded, most notably the 1979 Broadway Showtours which will be expanded from 16 to 23 individual programs.

Dann Lewis also announced that New York has stepped up its participation in tourism industry meetings and special events. Lewis also pointed out that there will be continuing cooperation with both domestic and international flag airlines that serve JFK, LGA and EWR. The U. K., the Netherlands, Germany and France have already begun developing programs for European visitors interested in expressing their love for New York.

From: Travel Weekly, Helen Brower, January 1979

Lewis Lands Top NY Tourism Job

2007-10-16T14:15:00.000-04:00

Dann H. Lewis has been appointed Deputy Commissioner and Director of Tourism Development for New York State, it was announced recently by John S. Dyson, Commissioner of Commerce.

Mr. Lewis, former Director of Tourism for the U. S. Virgin Islands has also held a variety of senior positions with the Bahamas Government, including that of Director of Marketing for the Ministry of Tourism.

Dann Lewis also headed a special task force which established Bahamasair, the national airline of the Bahamas, and served as the carrier's first Chairman.

Governor Hugh L. Carey, noting the appointment of Lewis, said he was delighted with this addition and expansion of the successful I Love New York tourism development program.

Dann Lewis will direct three new programs for the Department of Commerce: the establishment of a wholesale trade development office headquartered in New York City; the development of regional travel offices located throughout the State, which will coordinate the State's promotional programs with the regional tourism industry; and the establishment of a trade educational and consumer relations office designed to upgrade tourism services throughout the State.

"We are pleased to welcome a person of Dann Lewis' stature to I Love New York," said William S. Doyle, Deputy Commissioner. "Dann's background in international tourism and the success of his efforts in both the U. S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas will be of great benefit to all of the regions of New York, as the State grows into one of the world's leading tourist destinations."

From: New York Daily News, August 2, 1978

What A Life.

2007-09-21T16:11:00.001-04:00

"We have just completed one of the best tourism seasons in the history of the United States Virgin Islands, And we are looking forward to a successful summer and fall, highlighting our "Sun, Sand & Free" program." said Dann Lewis, Director of Tourism for the U. S. V. I.

Lewis went on to say "This past winter, hotel bookings were exceptionally high, airline space was at a definite premium, charter boat bookings soared, and our stateside offices were literally swamped with requests for assistance to meet the tremendous demand for reservations."

"Part of that success, of course, was a result of a winter that the National Weather Service stated was one of the 'coldest in the eastern two-thirds of the United States since the founding of the Republic'."

"Another part, proven by our ongoing Exit Study, is the fact that we have an excellent product. In that study, there is a high degree of satisfaction expressed by our visitors. They are pleased with the natural beauty of the islands, the friendliness of the people they met, the physical layout, the hotels, service and activities. This helps us understand why we have such a high return-visitor ratio as compared to other destinations."

"And another part, of course, is our advertising program presently running in the northeast corridor of the United States."

Dann Lewis continued, "Other research indicated that the market for travel to our islands came from the northeast and that it was an upscale one. Our winter market was basically a couple in their early 40's, planning to spend a week in the sun. Their main interest was 'sun, sand and sea by day, dinner and a little music at night.' A low-key, relaxing vacation."

"Further research also showed, however, that most travelers think the 'all islands in the Caribbean are basically the same.' So we had to sell them on an island vacation to our islands. That same research also showed that 60% of the traveling market didn't know that the Virgin Islands were part of the United States, even though they were labeled 'U. S.'

"Our positioning: that the Virgin Islands is the 'United States Virgin Islands.' (This gives the traveler a certain 'comfort' - the language is English, the currency, the U. S. dollar - there is a certain stability of Government.) We also stress the fact that we are a year-round resort destination." said Lewis.

"Our attitude: a sophisticated one, stating 'It's not just what you do. It's where you do it.'

Our visuals: people you'd like to be with, doing things that you'd like to do.

And then our theme: What A Life."

"Once we had the material for our campaign, we then had to decide upon our media. For once again, it's not just what you do, it's where you do it."

"To reach that upscale dual-audience that was our market, part of our media strategy was a continuing regional buy in Newsweek (New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D. C.). For it was here in the northeast corridor that we had the best airline service to the Virgin Islands."

Dann Lewis concluded: "We have just completed our third year with our buy in Newsweek. Until 1977, it is interesting to note that 1976 (when the winter wasn't really cold at all) was our best in years."

"Could it be the advertising?"

from: Newsweek, May 2, 1977

A Salute to the Offshore Offices of the U. S. Virgin Islands Division of Tourism

2007-09-20T12:38:00.000-04:00

Tourism Director Dann H. Lewis announced recently that THE TRAVEL ADVISOR, an independent national travel publication rated the U. S. Virgin Islands information and sales offices and the promotional literature which they distribute to the travel trade and consumers, among the top five tourism offices thought the United States.

Tourism is the lifeblood of the U. S. Virgin Islands economy, and the jobs and tax revenues that are created by tourism are particularly important during these economically depressed times.

Dann Lewis and other tourism officials in the islands are viewing with cautious optimism current signs of revival in the once vibrant tourist industry in the Virgin Islands (prior to the Fountain Valley incident). "This revival will continue only if everyone concerned contributes maximum effort and strives for excellence" Lewis said.

The excellent rating awarded the promotional activities of the offshore offices and should serve as an inspiration to all who are involved in the U. S. Virgin Islands tourism industry. This paper joins Commerce Commissioner Rimpel, Tourism Director Lewis, and the entire Division of Tourism in saluting the offshore office personnel and Greengage Associates Advertising, for a job very well done.

from: The Conch Shell, September 1977

The Man Who Made the Virgin Islands Smile

2007-09-20T12:17:00.000-04:00

USVI Tourism Director Dann Lewis denies that he has a magic formula. Whatever he does have seems to work.

I was boarding American Airlines Flight 625 at Kennedy bound for St. Thomas and St. Croix. I reached the door to the bridge at exactly the same time as another man did. “After you” I said.
“No, no, my friend, after you.” he responded in a heavy West Indian accent, “after you, and welcome to the US Virgin Islands”.

I was pleasantly surprised at the man’s warm, sincere welcome, particularly since we were still 1,500 miles from his home. My inbred New York cynicism led me to question him later. “Are you with the Virgin Islands Tourist Office?”

“No, no mon. I’m a taxi driver. I’ve been up visitin’ my boy in Chicago.”

The flight was full - as were most flights to the Virgin Islands last winter according to American Airlines and Eastern Airlines. I had also heard that hotel occupancy rates were in the 90’s. This was not the Virgin Islands of four or five years ago when you could virtually guarantee space without checking.

I asked Dann Lewis, recently appointed director of tourism, if he could explain this resurgence in tourism.

Lewis is credited to a great extent with engineering the revival of the Bahamas tourist industry. Perhaps he had some secret formula that he carried with him when he took over as director of tourism for the USVI last July.

Of course, Lewis denied the existence of a rejuvenation formula, just as he disclaimed credit for masterminding the revival of tourism in the USVI and the Bahamas. But his description of those remarkable turnarounds had three common themes: development of new markets, compilation of tourism data (market research) and inspired promotion.

“While the 1967 - 70 was a soft period in Bahamas tourism,” Lewis explained, “tourism to the Bahamas and the Caribbean in general had declined in 1973-74.” The economy was depressed worldwide, pleasure travel had ebbed, and many destinations that had traditionally depended on lucrative U. S. markets were beginning to explore other possibilities.

“The Canadian scene really exploded with the introduction of ITC’s,” Lewis said. “New market development in Canada and Europe was one reason for the revival of tourism in the Bahamas. Western European business was expanded tremendously, particularly in Germany, France and England.”

Do those markets offer any potential for the expansion of the U. S. Virgin Islands tourism product?

“We are looking at Canada, and we are making some preliminary forays into Western Europe, which, due to a lack of direct air sevice at the moment, are confined to a slow building of awareness among the travel trade.”

Not all new markets are foreign however. ”We are certainly interested in California. We have had some discussions with Delta in an effort to develop their traffic flow from the West Coast through New Orleans.” Additionally Lewis said that both Western and National have expressed a willingness to promote the USVI as an onward destination from Miami.

Much of the Bahamas new market development was based on the collection of hard data on tourism. In fact, Lewis believes that the Bahamas today “probably has the best statistics on inbound tourism.”

While the U. S. Virgin Islands have some unique tourism advantages ($200 duty free limit, US currency, language, lifestyle and immigration considerations), there is one distinct disadvantage in the area of data compilation: “Because we are a U. S. territory, we have no data on visitor statistics that would normally be collected at international arrival terminals,” Lewis explained.

So following the example of what Dann Lewis believes is the best informed tourism plant (Bahamas), the Virgin Islands undertook an exit survey in January 1976. “We have already gotten a good deal of demographic data that has shaped some of our marketing this summer in the ‘Sun, Sand and Free’ program,” Lewis said. “But there is no history, and we have got to start building up a data bank. It is difficult, expensive and time-consuming.”

While Lewis believes that the basic quality of the USVI’s product has remained intact over the years, he also feels that effective promotion has played and important role in the territory’s turn-around - “promotion coupled with a general strengthening of the economy, an increase in travel overall and the continued impovement of services by American Airlines.”

The problems of the Virgin Islands are a thing of the past. With expanded and enlightened promotion, the USVI should have a respectable summer and another record-setting high season. The Division of Tourism will continue to explore new markets; they now have the marketing data they need to pinpoint their always aggressive promotion campaign, and if our amicable cab driver friend is as smart as he is hospitable, he’ll visit his son in Chicago next year during the off season.

USVI Tourism Director Dann Lewis denies that he has a magic formula. Whatever he does have seems to work.

from: ASTA Travel News, by Albert Walters, May 1977