CVBs provide an incredible value proposition to any meeting planner
Planning your business event is a critical task in this industry, and it’s a prime opportunity to take advantage of all that your local convention & visitors bureau has to offer. We took a few moments at February’s Destination Showcase event to chat with some planners and representatives to gather their key takeaways and top insights on why their destination relationships are so valuable.
Planners: Testimonial Blog
With city-based stakeholders from across a variety of local industries, CVBs are the perfect community connector – serving as an addition to your team, allowing you to leverage their partnerships to your advantage. Matt Johnson from Connect Meetings says that a CVB is “in the center of everything. It’s a great team, who I felt was an extension of our organization producing that meeting. I really feel like they rolled out the red carpet for us."
Having such close ties to the community also makes the CVB an industry-leading destination influencer. They are well-versed in their location’s attributes and work with planners to tie a destination’s independent spirit into their events – in fact, Matt recently generated record attendance at his city-wide event, Connect Faith, thanks to a close partnership with Daytona Beach. “It’s not something you get to do every day in the world of meetings, typically you’re just in a convention center,” he said. “Closing night right on the ocean and the bandshell were incredible.”
Destinations are also intellectual capital brokers, helping increase engagement and inspire imagination while creating a sense of place through local thought leaders and experts. “They took care of us,” says Joe Cappuzzello from Group Travel Family. “It was a once in a lifetime experience for our delegates, because what they’re looking for in group travel is to bring their clients back. So hopefully… they had a great experience.” Ellen Oboyle from EPA Attiki agrees. “I work with a lot of CVBs, and it’s kind of like that… they’re all really friendly and you really get a taste of everything.”
The CVB events team is solely focused on your meeting objectives, making them a perfect client vision advocate. “One stop shop is really the way we look at it,” says Patrick Blankenship from the Daytona Beach Ocean Center. “You really come in, you meet, you see everything while you’re at the destination. Whether it’s a site visit for your convention or even a small board meeting – just to see if the destination is a good fit for you. And they take a lot away from that when they’re there.”
Finally, the destination is your number one economic impact advocate. Meetings mean big business for a destination, and there is no better advocate than the CVB. Patrick says that “it’s great to make a connection, and then follow through and really bring that to a close – booking the business at the building and at the destination.” He continues, “I think that the main benefit is just the one-on-one. We’re very personable, we’re friendly, and we’re easy to get along with!”