“The top activity of visitors, in the world, is shopping, dining, and entertainment in a pedestrian-friendly setting. It’s typically not the primary reason people visit, but once they arrive, it’s the number one activity. And this is where 80% of non-lodging visitor spending takes place. Are you getting your fair share?

Here you’ll see how tourism and downtown organizations can come together to create powerful partnerships with stronger, more successful marketing programs, increased local spending, all while saving money in the process.

There are more than 25,000 cities and towns in the U.S. and Canada alone. And information about every one of them is at our fingertips in a fraction of a second via the web. So how do you stand out from the crowd? How do you get noticed? How do you get yourself “on the map” as the destination of choice?

To win in tourism you first have to get people to stop. Once you get people to stop, you have a much greater chance of getting them to spend more time and money in your community. So how do you get people to stop? You’re about to find out.

Marketing will bring people to you just once. The only things that bring them back are your primary and complementary activities, as well as your amenities. It’s one thing to attract visitors, but it’s another to keep them coming back and spending more time and money in your community. In this fast-paced workshop, you’ll learn what “amenities” are, which ones are critical to your success, and where they should be located. We’ll discuss the rules for making them work for your visitors and residents, how to find funding, and who should take the lead in making sure they are developed.

A Destination Assessment is a photographic look at your community through the eyes of a first-time visitor, showing strengths and weaknesses, as well as providing specific things you can do, at low cost, to become an even better, thriving destination. The assessment details suggestions that will attract new investment, new residents, and visitors, while helping local businesses increase their success. In this fascinating and eye-opening workshop, you’ll see the process we use—and you can emulate, as you make sure your success is amazing.

Roger takes you through his step-by-step process on how to recruit tourism development projects into your community.

All successful tourism destinations are built on product, not marketing. Roger in just ten years, recruited more than $2.8 billion in new development projects for resorts and communities throughout North America. How much was spent on advertising? Just $60 total in all ten years.

In this fast-paced presentation you'll learn Roger's step-by-step process for recruitment using the case histories of Whistler Resort in British Columbia and Ocean Shores, Washington. You'll finish this presentation with specific strategies of how to recruit tourism development projects into your community.

Roger teaches the ten things you need to know and do to maximize return on investment in visitor information services.

With the advent of smart phones, tablets, navigation systems, and the fact that 90% of all North Americans and Europeans now have immediate Internet access, are staffed visitor information centers necessary any longer? If so, when and where? We'll jump into the debate and talk about costs, return on investment, whether to have a staffed location, operating hours, and alternative solutions. We'll show sample stand-alone kiosks, brochure distribution alternatives, and some new ideas and technologies being used in this "new age of tourism."

Roger Brooks has visited, literally, thousands of museums and historical sites. Yet, only a handful were so powerful that he will never forget them. Each is worth a special trip as a primary draw to the community and all were developed, managed, and curated on a minuscule budget. Here’s your opportunity to see his “Very Best” list of small and rural museums (He did not include the Smithsonian among these) and you’ll learn the top three things historical attractions should implement to become an outstanding destination, one that will bring visitors back time and time again.

We give you the step-by-step guide to developing and implementing a wayfinding system in your community.

Wayfinding is an investment, not an expense. A good wayfinding system will increase local sales and services, contribute to a pleasant experience, and educate both locals and visitors about your attractions, amenities and services, and where they are located.

Roger gives you the five reasons why wayfinding should be a top priority, plus you'll learn the step-by-step process of getting the system designed, fabricated and installed, with approximate costs. You'll see dozens of examples that include community and downtown gateways, vehicular and pedestrian signage, place identifiers, pole banners and visitor information kiosks.

Having spent a lot of time on the road (250 days a year – until 2020) Roger has visited thousands of communities in all 50 states. Here you’ll see his top-ten all-time favorite places across America, and he’ll show you WHY and HOW they actually made the list, providing ideas you can emulate so that your destination can be the golden child of travel publications, media influencers, Instagrammers, and travelers far and wide. Fun, educational, and inspiring places you can add to your bucket list, you won’t want to miss this presentation!

After spending a great deal time working in every Canadian province (disappointed to have missed the territories), Roger will share with you his ten all-time favorite places across Canada. He’ll share with you why and how each of them made his list, providing you with ideas you can emulate to help you get on every traveler’s bucket list. So take a trip across Canada with Roger and see ten of the places that make Canada a visitor’s dream destination.

In this fascinating workshop you’ll visit a few Zoom Towns - Less populated cities and towns that are attracting Digital Nomads and the “Work From Anywhere Culture” that is sweeping North America. You’ll see the seven ingredients needed to become the next great Zoom Town, and how to package and market your community, attracting new start-ups, investment, and families looking to escape the urban areas for a better quality of life and a sense of belonging.

The timing for this workshop is to provide you with some novel, creative, and downright fun and effective ways to attract people during the holidays! You’ll see real-life examples of what towns—and downtowns—continue to do to pull people in for Valentines Day, the spring and fall months, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. We’ll share lots of photographic examples and the results of producing themed, multi-week long celebrations that you orchestrate, but others actually implement for you!