A gift exchange is a fun way to “break the ice” and get to know someone or…a city! Join us for the traditional Visitor Services Summit Gift Exchange during the networking breakfast. Every city is known for something. Share what you’re most proud of that represents where you come from. It could be a food item, ia bottle of wine or the always popular snow-globe!

Gift value should be no higher than US$ 20. During breakfast you will be assigned a table, and will pass your gift to the person to your left. Make it even more fun by discussing the item, or seeing if anyone at the table wants to do an exchange. You’re certain to go home with a prized possession!

Welcome
Don Welsh, CEO, Destinations International

Destination Host Welcome
Jason Fulvi, CDME, President & CEO, Visit Kansas City

Becoming a Community Shared Value
Jack Johnson, Chief Advocacy Officer, Destinations International
Each year a growing number of destination organizations come under government and media scrutiny. The attacks are getting worse, more frequent, and too often, we are our worst enemy. Destination organizations must become one of their community’s shared values in a way that not only explains the value of destination promotion but connects that value and the organization to the residents of the community. This must-attend session will clearly articulate the role of a destination organization in a community, provide the starting point for the “Mission” and “About Us” statements, lay out the political argument for public support of destination promotion, and identify the ideas and ideals that form the basis of a community shared value. 

Under the Hood: A Cross-Section of Volunteer and Staff Training Programs
Facilitator: Brenda Carlson, Visitor Services Director, Visit Anchorage
You’ve got a great destination and an amazing visitor center. You’ve worked hard to hire a cadre of volunteers and staff, and your DO’s marketing efforts have provided an unending supply of visitors through your doors. How do you bring all that together to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for your guests that will have them ready to come back before their first visit has barely started? The key? Your staff. Dust off your notebooks and sharpen your pencils because you will definitely want to learn from our three featured destinations as they take a deep dive into their training programs, and share their experiences and best practices for staff training. They are ready to share and answer your burning questions!

Panelists:

• Meredith Darden, CTE, Director of Visitor Services, Visit Corpus Christi
• Danni Melquist, Visitor Experience Manager, Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Jodi LaPierre, PDM, Director of Visitor Experiences, Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Speaker: Robert Patterson, VP of Marketing Technologies, MMGY Global

This session will present the results of the latest MMGY Global Portrait of American Travelers® study, taking a deep dive into traveler behavior and trends, and the impact of these trends on the consumer journey. From inspiration and planning to booking and in-destination experiences, this session will provide a snapshot of where the industry is and where we are going.

Speaker: Jennifer Anderson, Manager of Visitor Center Operations, Visit Baltimore

In a world where technology continues to change the way people live, travel, eat and play, Visitor Centers are being forced to find new ways to keep people coming through the door.  Join us for this detailed look at how the Baltimore Visitor Center found unique and interesting ways to remain viable and relevant, keep visitors interested in their destination, and positively impact their bottom line.

Join us at this open forum session to share your best practices, ideas and innovations around customer service, engaging with your partner community, showcasing your destination to visitors, etc.

Speaker: Thomas Roth, Founder, EVP, Community Marketing & Insights, San Francisco, CA

LGBTQ visitors generate more than $100 billion each year in the United States alone. Tourism and visitor professionals should be prepared to leverage the evolving demographics and behaviors of these travelers to better serve LGBTQ visitors and capture increased market share. This presentation will provide an overview of LGBTQ travelers today, focusing on CMI's 23rd Annual LGBTQ Tourism Research study, including visitor profiles and communications best practices. Insights from this research will offer an in-depth understanding of LGBTQ visitors, as well as how to effectively reach and market to this demographic.

 

Speaker: Annette Rummel, Ph.D., CDME, Trail Blazer + CEO, Great Lakes Bay Regional CVB

This important session will provide an overview of how the Great Lakes Bay Regional CVB welcomed a meeting of disabled travelers to their destination prior to it becoming universally accessible.  You will hear about how how they engaged this meeting’s attendees in helping to identify barriers within the destination, used this input to form and deploy solutions, and how they continue to work with disabled travelers as their destination matures in the area of universal accessibility.

Visit KC is proud of its Ambassador program and the way we train our representatives.  During this off-site, immersive activity, you will be challenged to find locations along our free KC Streetcar route that highlight the diverse neighborhoods of Downtown Kansas City. The Visitor Center will be one of the stops along the way, where you can grab a beverage and a snack and learn a little more about “How We Do Kansas City.”