How To Grow State Parks Revenue Through A Price Increase with Alex Hannah

Raise prices 30% and most organizations expect to lose 10 to 15% of their customers. Delaware State Parks raised entry fees 30% for the first time in over a decade, and revenue climbed while annual pass sales held flat and non-resident sales grew 5.4%. Alex Hannah, chief marketing, creative and communications officer at Delaware State Parks, joins Adam Stoker to show how a state park system that’s 65% self-funded sold the increase to residents, elected officials and tourism partners through statewide open houses and 1,200 survey responses. With 17 parks, 7.5 million annual visitors and $1.4 billion in 2024 economic impact, it markets like a destination. They also cover why open houses get more honest answers than focus groups and how Delaware’s four DMOs helped turn around flat pass sales. Plus, Adam opens with a monologue on “January gamblers” and how he’d split a 2027 destination marketing budget.

Learn more about Delaware State Parks and its 75th anniversary: https://destateparks.com
Apply for DMO Jam, Adam’s mastermind cohorts for DMO marketers: https://dmojam.thebrandrevolt.com

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The ⁠⁠⁠⁠Destination Marketing Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a part of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Destination Marketing Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠. It is hosted by Adam Stoker and produced by Brand Revolt. If you are interested in any of Brand Revolt’s services, please email ⁠⁠⁠⁠adam@thebrandrevolt.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thebrandrevolt.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Chapters:
00:00 Monologue: Budget season and the January gambler
05:17 Media budgets as reactive testing
08:32 Adam’s 2027 budget split
09:21 Alex Hannah of Delaware State Parks joins
11:39 65% self-funded, 17 parks, 7.5M visitors
14:15 All 17 parks in one day
15:56 Marketing as a business function
18:39 Raising state park entry fees 30%
20:52 The results: pass sales flat, non-residents up 5.4%
22:31 Announcing DMO Jam (sponsored)
25:14 Inside the statewide open houses
33:18 Open houses vs. focus groups
34:42 Where state parks marketing ends and DMO marketing begins
37:19 What DMOs should ask of their state parks
39:01 How four DMOs turned around flat pass sales