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Tourism

Public Parks in U.S. Cities Find New Ways to Market to Locals and Tourists

Dan Peltier

Photo Credit: 75% of tourists in Balboa Park say they came to San Diego specifically to visit the park's attractions, like its botanical garden and reflecting pool, pictured here. Flickr / Bill Dickinson

Skift Take

Social media and all the bells and whistles of digital age marketing can do wonders for parks and destinations, but sometimes old-fashioned word-of-mouth works just as well. And like anything, holding events at your park always brings increased awareness of what you have to offer.

Taking a break from a city’s hurried pace can be as easy as visiting a public park, and city parks throughout the U.S. are finding new ways outside of social media to engage with tourists and locals and get them to visit. Finding a brand that doesn’t rely heavily on social media is challenging, but for some public parks, word-of-mouth marketing is still the biggest tool for getting visitors through park gates. Brad Meyer, a spokesperson for St. Paul, Minnesota parks and recreation, said a key change this year in the city’s marketing strategy is focusing on grassroot initiatives, such as free outdoor fitness classes in parks, more than free social campaigns on Facebook. “Due to Facebook’s algorithm change, we no longer can just post something for free and hope that it spreads based on our large following base,” he said. “Rather, we have to be strategic and often re

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