Door County’s longtime destination management organization is undergoing some big changes to help carry it forward into the next decade and beyond. To reflect the evolving nature of tourism marketing and management around the world, the Door County Visitor Bureau has changed its name to Destination Door County. The tourism organization has also released a new logo and will begin incorporating it into promotional materials starting this month.
The new organization name, Destination Door County, reflects both tourism promotional efforts with visitors as well as an evolving responsibility to sustainably manage visitor-related development, coordinated with resident interests, in order to preserve the county’s unique identity.
Jack Moneypenny, President and CEO of Destination Door County, says the new name and vision for the organization that has been around since the 1880s reflects new awareness, priorities, concerns and opportunities.
“This name change reinforces our strategic evolution from a destination marketing organization to a destination marketing and management organization,” Moneypenny said. “It also reflects the maturity of our tourism industry and the desire for more robust destination management activities that will inspire travel to and within Door County while enhancing and protecting our destination assets,” he said.
The organization hopes its refocused efforts will generate a virtuous cycle of sustainable economic impact in Door County.
Don Welsh, the President and CEO of Destinations International, thinks the name change for Door County’s tourism organization is spot on.
“As destinations around the world are making strides to encompass visitors and residents together in their promotional efforts,” Welsh said, “we applaud Destination Door County for adopting a name that identifies the greater community of Door County as a place people want to live, work, visit and invest – a place that is a destination for visitors and residents alike.”
Destination Door County is the eighth name the county’s tourism organization has had since it first began as the Door County Businessmen’s Association in 1884. The name many still remember is the Door County Chamber of Commerce, which was the fifth name the organization used from 1924 to 2004. The name Door County Visitor Bureau was used from 2006 until early this year.
Moneypenny said all the name changes over the past 136 years reflect the resiliency of the organization as well as recognition by its’ boards of directors over the years of the need to evolve in the ever-changing tourism industry.
Destination Door County’s new logo pays homage to the county’s maritime heritage while providing an updated look to help showcase Door County to the world. The new brand assets will be incrementally rolled out as the year progresses.
In addition to a name change and new logo, Destination Door County is also in the beginning stages of building a new Welcome Center which will be located next to the organization’s existing Welcome Center and administrative offices. More details about that project will be released later this year.
“It’s an exciting time for the tourism industry and for our organization, and we look forward to doing great things for Door County in the years and decades ahead,” Moneypenny concluded.