MARKETING STRATEGY AND BUILDING THE RIGHT BUSINESS MIX Ocean City’s reputation as a leisure destination creates both opportunities and obstacles for convention business. While the resort welcomes eight million annual visitors, convincing corporate planners to view it as a serious meeting destination requires strategic repositioning. Ocean City searches on booking.com increased 22% year-over-year, but Mueller acknowledges the challenge: “We are such a popular destination for leisure travelers, that turning people’s thoughts to coming to Ocean City for meetings and conventions has been a little bit of a challenge for those that are not familiar with what we have to offer.” The marketing approach emphasizes relationship building over traditional advertising channels. Mueller explains their strategy: “We’ve seen the most success in just the relationship building and kind of continuing to invest in relationships with planners who have either been here or perhaps maybe don’t realize what a special hidden gem Ocean City is.”The team conducts familiarization trips, develops video testimonials, and prioritizes face-to-face interactions with potential clients. Post-pandemic recovery has exceeded expectations across client segments. Mueller reports strong performance: “All of our existing clients and newer clients, they’re hitting their marks. We did have a little bit of downfall with some of them with the government cutbacks with grants at the beginning of the year, but they all weathered pretty well.” However, operational challenges remain focused on optimizing weekday bookings. Perlozzo identifies their primary objective: “Monday or Sunday through Thursday is really our biggest challenge along with group type and things that bring those economics here to town.” SPORTS TOURISM AMBITIONS AND CREATIVE SPACE MAXIMIZATION Ocean City’s geography presents unique constraints for sports tourism development. Perlozzo explains 99 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 10 ROLAND E. POWELL CONVENTION CENTER
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