Alisa Bailey Consulting | Travel & Tourism | Logo | Charleston, West Virginia

Alisa Bailey Consulting

Travel & Tourism

Destination marketing & management:
A road map to success

Alisa Bailey Consulting (AB Consulting) is dedicated to providing destination marketing and management organizations with a road map to success. Whether your office is in crisis and needs immediate attention or you just need help developing a new brand, AB Consulting brings more than 30 years in leadership positions at both state and local travel and tourism levels.

AB CONSULTING SERVICES

  • Development and deployment of a public relations plan to turn nay-sayers into tourism advocates
  • Inspiring high levels of results from the DMO staff through cultural and structural change
  • Elevating tourism marketing to brand management
  • Taking an office in crisis to one of success

VALUE OF TOURISM

Alisa Bailey staff has led two state offices of tourism in achieving greater funding and respect from public officials, boards of directors and the media. She has done this by using research to make the case and a successful strategy to convince civic groups, lawmakers and industry partners that Tourism is Big Business.

GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR STAFF

Successful destination organizations are those with an energized and motivated team. AB Consulting has successfully evaluated and reorganized two state offices of tourism and one convention & visitors bureau. Proper staffing and empowerment were the keys to these successes.

BRAND DEVELOPMENT

A brand is more than a slogan. Alisa Bailey knows this too well. Under Alisa Bailey’s leadership, Virginia Is for Lovers was recognized as one of the top ten tourism brands of all time by forbes.com and was inducted into the National Advertising Walk of Fame. She elevated the DMOs under her leadership to organizations of marketing success.

Office in crisis?

Whether it’s frequent CEO or staff turnover; negative publicity; mismanagement of funds; or simply a low functioning office, Alisa Bailey can turn things around. Successfully reorganizing and energizing three DMOs, Bailey brings 30 years of taking low-performing DMOs and turning them into successful high-performing teams. AB Consulting’s services include:

Alisa Bailey is a senior tourism practitioner with more than 30 years’ experience in tourism development, marketing and DMO management.
 
In the spring of 2012, she assumed the position of President and CEO of the Charleston, WV, Convention and Visitors Bureau, where she took an agency suffering from mis-management and low performance to one with high professional standards and policies. Bailey subsequently led her modest DMO team to 7 years of unprecedented success booking 200,000 room nights for an economic impact of $148 million. While at the helm of the Charleston CVB, Bailey helped spearhead two major tourism developments — $100 million expansion of the convention center and the establishment of an $18 million sports complex. During her tenure the CVB won tourism awards for marketing excellence with its Hip, Historic … Almost Heaven brand. Bailey joined other tourism leaders in successfully advocating to increase the State Office of Tourism’s budget; pass progressive alcohol laws and stave off anti-LGBTQ legislation.
 
Prior to taking her post in Charleston, she served as President and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC). Bailey successfully led an under-performing team to one of high energy that received numerous national awards for excellence in marketing. Under her leadership, VTC went from a $9 million budget to a $18 million budget and increased the state’s tourism website visitation by more than 700% in five years. She was also instrumental in having a bill enacted that provides tax credits for large tourism developments.
 
Ms. Bailey also served as West Virginia’s first woman Tourism Commissioner and Bureau Chief of Commerce,
supervising eight state agencies. As tourism director, Bailey took an agency that had suffered leadership turnover
and low performance to one of national recognition in tourism marketing, instituting sound research and demanding performance-based policies. As Bureau Chief of Commerce, she established the first multi-agency strategic plan for the Bureau of Commerce.
 
In her career, she served Senator Robert C. Byrd, six governors and two mayors from both sides of the aisle — a fact for which she is quite proud.