FAQ's about CVB's
What is a Convention & Visitors Bureau?
Convention and Visitor Bureaus are not-for-profit organizations charged with representing a specific destination and helping the long-term development of communities through a travel and tourism strategy. Convention and Visitor Bureaus are usually membership organizations bringing together businesses that rely on tourism and meetings for revenue.
For visitors, CVB's are like a key to the city. As an unbiased resource, CVB's can serve as a broker or an official point of contact for convention and meeting planners, tour operators and visitors. They assist planners with meeting preparation and encourage business travelers and visitors alike to visit local historic, cultural and recreational sites. Most services provided by CVB's cost nothing, however, some CVB's also offer gift shops for destination specific gifts.
If CVB's don't charge for their services, how do they make money?
For most services Convention and Visitor Bureaus do not charge their clients — the visitor, the business traveler and the meeting planner. Instead, most CVB's are funded through a combination of hotel occupancy taxes and membership dues.
Why are meetings and tourism important?
Travel and tourism enhance the quality of life for a local community by providing jobs, bringing in tax dollars for improvement of services and infrastructure, and attracting facilities like restaurants, shops, festivals, and cultural and sporting venues that cater to both visitors and locals.
Travel and tourism is one of the world’s largest service exports and largest employers. In the United States, for example, travel and tourism is the third biggest retail sales sector. The industry contributes more than $545 billion annually to the nation’s economy and generates $94 billion in tax revenues. Indeed, travel and tourism combines into a powerful economic engine, and CVB's are the key drivers.
How do CVB's help meeting planners?
Convention and Visitor Bureaus make planning and implementing a meeting less time-consuming and more streamlined. They give meeting planners access to a range of services, packages and value-added extras. Before a meeting begins, CVB sales professionals can help locate meeting space, check hotel availability, and arrange for site inspections. CVB's can also link planners with the suppliers, from motor coach companies and caterers to off-site entertainment venues, that can help meet the prerequisites of any event. No matter the size of the meeting being organized, from 50 to 50,000, all planners are encouraged to use a bureau’s services. In fact, some larger bureaus even have staff members dedicated to small meetings.
Among the advantages of going through a CVB to plan a meeting:
- CVB's can assist planners in all areas of meeting preparation and provide planners with detailed reference material.
- CVB's can establish room blocks at local hotels.
- CVB's will market the destination to attendees via promotional material, thereby encouraging attendance.
- CVB's can act as a liaison between the planner and community officials, thus clearing the way for special permits, street closures, et cetera.
- CVB's can obtain special letters of welcome from high-ranking government officials and in some cases, can bring officials to speak at a meeting.
- CVB's can offer suggestions about ways meeting attendees can maximize free time, along with helping to develop spouse programs and pre- and post-convention tours.
- They can assist in the creation of collateral material.
- They can assist with on-site logistics and registration.
- They can provide housing bureau services.
- They can develop pre- and post-conference activities, spouse tours, and special events.
- They can assist with site inspections and familiarization tours, as well as site selection.
- They can provide speakers and local educational opportunities.
- They can help secure special venues.
- They can assist in the coordination of local transportation.
Reprinted from the www.iacvb.com website
