Katie Ratcliffe reflects on a 42-year career

Take action, build relationships

“I’ve changed jobs a few times, but they were all good places, good jobs, and extensions of my previous jobs,” Ratcliffe said. “Each job allowed me to learn new things, gain new experiences, make new mistakes (laughs). It was never boring. Of course, we had to deal with some problems and faced huge challenges.”

Ratcliffe says what she appreciates most about the DMO industry is that it’s a close-knit community. “We all know each other, and we all realize that we face very similar problems and that we’re often in the same situation — like 9/11 or COVID. We[share]ideas on how to deal with problems and even just empathize with each other. Your family and friends don’t understand what you’re doing at all, but your coworkers on the other side of the country — or even in the case of COVID, on the other side of the world — understand exactly what you’re dealing with.” Ratcliffe adds that the industry has “given me lifelong relationships that I’m deeply grateful for.”

The value of volunteering

“When I got into the industry, I really didn’t know what I was doing, and within the first two months, I joined PCMA and now Destinations International,” Ratcliffe says, “and then joined MPI four or five months later.” She says joining and volunteering at industry organizations “helps you define what you do and understand what’s outside of your own little world — whether that’s hotels, DMOs, conference facilities or another supplier to the industry. You can only really learn more about the industry if you expand your network. And the best way to expand your network is through industry associations.”

How DMOs are evolving

When she first started her career, the only competition for DMOs was “travel agents, which were commission-based purchases,” Ratcliffe said. “We really had no competition in terms of the overall information we had about our communities. Obviously, that’s no longer the case. Our biggest competition today is not individuals or organizations, but technology and the ability to get information that may not always be accurate, but you can put your phone down instantly without having to talk to anybody. You can miss a lot of information about a destination that you otherwise wouldn’t know because you’re searching for what you’re searching for, but you may not know all the things you should be searching for, and DMOs really know every aspect of their communities. Can you find out where the best place to go is for Irish whiskey? Who has live music? What places don’t necessarily offer a certain service at a certain time of year? Those things are hard to find, and DMOs aggregate them.

“This is a big change for DMOs, they need to understand what their value proposition is to the community and the industry, and how to ensure that we maximize both of these is the biggest hurdle we face.

“From the group side, if you want to book a conference or a large sporting event that requires multiple venues, DMO is the only choice because we are literally the only company that owns all the systems and knows who all the participants are, making it easy to put together the right package.”

A place to stay

Ratcliffe said government leaders have never questioned the economic value of sporting events because “despite a lot of changes in our culture and the world, in the United States, of course, in many ways, sporting events are still male-dominated. Men love sports, so they get it, understand it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t value sporting events, but many of them don’t value commercial events in the same way. For example, many elected officials come from rural areas that don’t have the facilities to host commercial events. They come to the state legislature and set policy for the state, and they’re part-time legislators and full-time farmers, and they don’t value that aspect of economic development in urban areas. It’s still a challenge.”

Ratcliffe said technology continues to change the nature of work. “AI is definitely the buzzword today as everyone is trying to figure out how to use it or avoid being replaced by it. I think we’ve been through many recessions, we’ve been through crises, but the fact is that while certain events may pause business activity, the need for business activity never goes away.”

Advice for New Immigrants

Ratcliffe says it’s not impossible to work 40 hours a week in this industry. “You can, but to make it a career you have to be more committed to it. In this industry that means you have to be willing to work nights sometimes, weekends sometimes, travel when it’s not convenient, volunteer with organisations – if you’re a volunteer you need to be committed to doing what you’re volunteering to do.

“If you do all of those things, it will not only give you a career, it will give you a better experience than any other industry. Our industry is unmatched in terms of cultural diversity, diversity of experience, and personal growth, and that’s what you get from it if you really love it, and I love it.”

Next step

Ratcliffe said she is looking forward to being able to get outdoors and hike, “which is my favorite thing to do, and just being able to really enjoy being with all the people I’ve met and spend more time with them. I think about all the times I had to say ‘no’ because of work conflicts, and now I won’t have those work conflicts anymore, so I won’t have to say ‘no.’ I’m going to be able to say ‘yes’ more often.”
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Parting Thoughts

Ratcliffe joined PCMA in 1983 and has served on the PCMA Board of Directors in recent years. “I think PCMA has evolved very well over the years, adapting and adjusting to the differences in how we work today and making sure PCMA’s value proposition is shaped and adjusted to the needs of its members and the industry,” she said. “I was involved in launching the Chesapeake Chapter when it first started. I was in Baltimore at the time and created a grassroots structure that PCMA didn’t have before. These chapters have become very important in many areas.

“I think the leadership at PCMA has been really great, especially in recent years under the leadership of Deborah (Sexton) and Sheriff (Karamat). They’ve put together a really great team, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it.”

Michelle Russell is convened.