Borussia Dortmund, a missed a German marketing opportunity.    There was a two week buildup to the biggest football (soccer) match of the year on the European football calendar.  It  took place at London’s Wembley Stadium. Two German clubs, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich were competing in the finals of the European Cup Championship.

This was the first time two German clubs had ever faced each other in the European Championship match.  The match was played in London between  the two German clubs in front of   86, 298  spectators.  The match was sadly was won by Bayern Munich 2-1 over Borussia Dortmund.  It was the last match for Bayern’s 68-year-old manager, Jupp Heynckes, who is retiring and will be replaced by Pep Guardiola for 2013-14.  It had a worldwide television audience,  was well-played, fast paced and dramatic event of  David vs Goliath proportions.  Bayern Munich has a global following, has won five European Cups and  is loaded with money.  Borussia Dortmund on the other hand had won the title once (1997), plays in the largest football stadium in Germany, is on the rise, and is the eighth largest city in Germany five steps below Munich at number three.  Borussia Dortmund is also the only publicly traded club on the German stock market.  It is a people’s club.

So how did Buffalo miss a marketing opportunity?  Buffalo and Dortmund are Sister-Cities.  They have been Sister-Cities since 1972, that is 41 years.  The  Buffalo Mayor’s office did not send at comment of support to the mayor of Dortmund.  The local media did not contact the Dortmund media about the match.  The local business community offered no congratulations, support or encouragement.  Even after the match, the Buffalo News and local television stations gave the score but never made mention that there was a Buffalo connection to the event.  The sports “reporter” on WGRZ  read the results and made no effort to find a way to pronounce the name of  Dortmund’s  goalscorer, İlkay Gündoğan (Il-kay Gun-do-gan).  We are a multi-ethnic community, what does he do?  He made a joke about it, how professional.  Ilkay is German born of Turkish heritage and Buffalo has a Turkish Sister-City – Yildirim-Bursa.

I believe the problem is that the Sister-City program is off little interest to Buffalo’s public and business communities.  No one knew Dortmund was a  partner.  Some may find this accusation absurd.  For me knowledge and using that knowledge, including sporting events, to  get our community in front of  people in a positive light is invaluable.  The USA and European Union are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement.  We should be preparing for it by developing increased contacts with our long time sister,  or twin as many call the arrangement, Dortmund.

Buffalo has ten Sister-Cities, three in Europe – Dortmund, Germany – Lille, France and Rzeszow, Poland.  I have a feeling we have do a poor job promoting and discussing these relationships  in the interest of  public, cultural, business, trade and travel opportunities.

Empire State Tourism Conference

The problem with airport “sequestration” cuts is not “sequestration” but the hub and spoke system.   The hubs are packed with flights.  More flights than their host cities could possibly need on their own.  They are where problems for the rest of us begin.

Prior to the 1978 deregulation of the airline industry there was a rather strict system of airline international, national and regional routes.  While the airlines were growing during the 1920s to 1960s period it worked rather well.  The coming of the 1970s saw the airlines enter a phase where they started claiming that they were no making money.  They claimed competition would make them profitable and service would improve for the public. Congress and many of us bought into the argument and the airline industry was deregulated in 1978.

Since 1978  all the airlines went to a hub and spoke system.  Southwest Airlines the last hold for point-to-point routes has begun “transferring” passengers at Chicago Midway, Baltimore, Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.  The competition airlines spoke of was an illusion.  Start up carriers were either  purchased or run out of business by short-term predatory seat pricing by the big boys.  Small cities lost flights entirely,  medium-sized carriers and some oldies (Pan Am) folded.

Competition dried up, leaving the United States with 4 major carriers each shuttling passengers through airports in which you must travel.  Those are the airports where your bags get lost.  Those are the airports where there are weather delays happen.  Those are the airports where the flight you were waiting for at home was cancelled because the plane did not arrive from some other hub airport.  And all the while the airlines continue to claim poor profits.  What a crazy system.

The Western New York media has been very vocal in mentioning that sequestration will not affect the operation at Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.  While that may be true for the airport, passengers flying out of BNIA pretty much is required to pass through a hub airport en-route to anywhere.  So hold onto your bags and hope for the best.  The hub and spoke system will be shown for what it is – convenient for the airlines, profitable for the hub airports but a real problem for the airline customer.

Flights From Buffalo, NY

Service from Buffalo, NY

When it comes to visiting Niagara Falls the question ”Which Side” always comes up.  I am always looking for material that promotes the area.  In the course of my scanning the web I came upon a rather interesting travel blog review from Sept. 12, 2011.  The review,  written by travel blogger Joanna Haugen on her website Kaleidoscopic Wandering,  appeared under the title ” U.S. vs. Canada: Which Side of Niagara Falls Should You Visit?

Click in the link.  I hope our friends in both Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, ON find it both informative and useful.

http://kaleidoscopicwandering.com/2011/09/12/niagara-falls-united-states-niagara-falls-canada/#ixzz2QwcpnK3s

Note:  Joanna is based in Las Vegas, NV.

Cultural tourism is important in Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East where societies have existed for thousands of years.  We in the United States are a  baby at age 500.  We were  mere twenty somethings just starting a family when the nation was born in 1776.  That does not mean that we don’t have worthwhile culture and valued heritage.

We have made music, designed buildings, sculpted, painted, choreographed, entertained and built a nation based on our experiences.  Thoughtful people from around the world are interested in those types of experiences.  We need to join the quest for the cultural tourist.

I believe you will enjoy this view from Croatia.