eTravel Project

I am at JFK Airport in New York City waiting for boarding. This is the first time I try to fully post and add an image from my Blackberry. Please, forgive me if something goes wrong and/or my spelling is not perfect.

Walking to my gate I did notice this billboard by NYC & Co. (the official tourism board for New York City) that reads “I dine after nine, therefore I am. This is New York City”. I could not help from taking a picture.

They definitely got my attention from a destination marketing point, but not sure how to feel about the message. I am confused about which target segment they are trying to reach:

1) I live in New York and assume that lots of people living in New York depart from this gate. We know you can eat in the city at any time day or night and you take it for granted.

2) This is a domestic terminal meaning that many people have already made the decision to visit New York City if they arrive here. As a marketer, how effective is it to put your marketing dollars here?

3) The fact that you can eat at a restaurant after nine is probably not the reason why the tourists “THEREFORE ARE” and – above all – why they are here now.

4) If the target segment is domestic – which I think it must be (the Spaniards eat regularly much later than that and would laugh at such an ad), the message might sound too arrogant, but very New York.

Any other thought? Given the budget at your DMO, would you spend it this way? I would not.