Execs look to focus marketing RDU-Paris flight to Parisians
(Triangle Business Journal – June 9, 2016)
A month after Delta’s inaugural Raleigh-Durham International Airport service to Paris left the tarmac, community leaders are planning a marketing pivot to attract Parisian interest in the Triangle…Leading those community-funded marketing efforts has been the Air Service Advancement Project, an initiative organized by the Regional Transportation Alliance and led by its executive director, Joe Milazzo.
Already, the group has secured more than $20,000 in cash (for Paris-themed billboards) and more than $124,000 in in-kind contributions (mostly in the form of sponsorships at various events).
But that marketing effort is about to go trans-Atlantic. In an interview, Milazzo said the effort was in its “very, very beginning stages” of developing an international marketing campaign to attract European travelers to the Triangle.
“Nothing is final or close to final,” he says, theorizing that abroad marketing efforts could include travel guide advertisements. His team is currently having discussions with officials from the North Carolina Economic Development Partnership on collaboration plans.
In the meantime, advertisements continue to swirl around the RDU-Paris flight in the local market, with additional billboards planned for July. Right now, the focus is centered squarely on the Paris service, but Milazzo says his team is open to incorporating promotional opportunities for the already-established-by American Airlines London flight. But he’s not looking at recruiting any additional service locations.
“Our focus will continue to be the continued success of the nonstop international flights we have.”