Cvb Savvy
Author: By Sandi Cain
August 2006
Brand News
They’re as individual in function and character as the places they represent; it’s all in knowing the differences
Convention and visitor bureaus are the smiling faces of otherwise faceless cities. They’re the cheerleaders, the Pollyannas and the folks who often know a city’s nooks and crannies best. Their mission: to serve as the official point of contact for convention and meeting planners, market their destinations and make sure planners get the tools and information they need to seal the deal. To better reflect that mission, the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB) last year became Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI).The cities want group business. The
planners want information about dynamic
destinations. A partnership between the two should be a no-brainer, but that’s not always the case. Instead, CVBs have both champ-
ions and critics among meeting planners, though most readily acknowledge their place in the industry.
“I swear by using CVBs,” says Bonnie Wallsh, chief strategist for Bonnie Wallsh Associates in Charlotte, N.C. “There’s no
cost and it saves time.” Wallsh, who spoke in July at the MPI World Education Congress
in Dallas, teaches a course on money-saving tips that focuses on using convention and
visitor bureaus.
Joan Eisenstodt, chief strategist for Eisenstodt & Associates in Washington, D.C. and a frequent speaker at industry events, says the biggest thing CVBs bring to the table is a wealth of knowledge about the destination. Now, she says, they’re getting involved with emergency planning, too.
“CVBs now are coordinating evacuations and emergency plans (more so) than they did before Hurricane Katrina,” Eisenstodt says. “That’s a consideration many planners don’t take into account.”
Convention and visitor bureau services can vary widely. They are organized in a variety of ways (see sidebar this page) and provide a host of different services depending on their budget, their structure and their size. A stellar CVB might raise expectations to levels not possible for a smaller destination. And those that aren’t stand-alone organizations might not be able to provide all the things a meeting planner needs. What’s more, they don’t all have a say over a convention center’s calendar. So it’s not surprising that planner experiences may vary widely and that misconceptions linger.
Though admittedly not a scientific survey, Western CVBs that got high marks from multiple planners interviewed for this story include Scottsdale and Palm Springs. Others mentioned favorably were Los Angeles, Hawaii
and San Diego. Planners said these bureaus help them work smarter,
don’t waste their time, or can provide unique services.
Michael Goldsmith, director of
convention sales for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitor Authority, says planners who do use CVB services tend to like the experience. “We talk about how easy we can make it and how we can make them (look like) heroes,”
he says.
Corporate Perspectives
Critics appear to come more from the corporate sector, which uses convention and visitor bureau services less frequently.
“When you talk about a small meeting or one not at a convention center, it’s not typical that the planner (uses) a CVB,” says Michael Krouse, vice president of convention sales for LA Inc.: The Visitor & Convention Bureau. “That’s kind of a cultural shift for them.”
A spring survey by the Association for Corporate Travel Executives indicated that
84 percent of corporate executives are
considering the use of online event planning and management.
Kathryn Jurgensen, president of Premier Meetings in Irvine, Calif., says CVBs typically aren’t set up to work with the high-end
executive meetings she plans. “It’s not arrogance,” she says, her clients “just have very specific needs.”
Some corporate planners say they’re particularly wary of bureaus with a membership-based structure. “Membership bureaus have a hard time being impartial,” says Tim Brown, managing partner of Meeting Sites Resource in Newport Beach, Calif. Brown says one of biggest complaints about them is getting nonappropriate contacts from members after an RFP is submitted.
Several planners spoke of being inundated with e-mail from CVB members whose services they didn’t need, after booking with a CVB. Wallsh says planners need to be aware that the bureaus will notify their members first about potential business and that facility lists may not be
all-inclusive.
CVBs dispute the notion that nonmembers are routinely ignored. Charles Ahlers, president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau and a past president of IACVB (now DMAI), says some small properties might get missed, but “no one leaves out their biggest hotel.” In Anaheim, nonmembers are routinely used during citywides and when clients request them, he says.
Membership-based bureaus contacted for this story said they do their best to mitigate information planners receive from members by only sending queries to members who meet a planner’s specific needs or restricting access to a master convention calendar. Several meet regularly with a panel of planners to discuss ways to improve services. They also tend to take a big-picture look at group business.
“If we get groups into Colorado Springs,
it doesn’t matter if they’re using members,” says Kathy Reak, director of convention sales for Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes
Peak Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Everyone benefits.”
Misconceptions Abound
Other misconceptions about CVBs include the following:
• The belief that CVBs only care about
filling hotels.
On average, only about a quarter of CVB membership comes from hotels. And though the majority of the CVBs are funded in part by hotel occupancy taxes, they typically get no more than half that revenue, with the rest going for other purposes.
• The belief that CVBs control activity at the convention center.
Very few convention and visitor bureaus have total booking control over a city’s convention center. One exception is Ontario, Calif., where director of marketing and PR Theresa Moretti calls it a “competitive advantage.”
• The belief that they only cater to large groups.
According to DMAI data, the average group size is about 200 people. CVBs like Los Angeles make a concerted effort to seek out even smaller groups through a service called DirectLine that focuses on meetings of 50 room nights or less at a given hotel.
• The belief that CVBs charge for their services.
Most services are free, though some may have a limit to the number of free brochures or other materials.
What They Do
Whether they’re misunderstood or loved, convention and visitor bureaus strive to be a planner’s right arm. They open doors to local contacts and provide guidance to ensure a successful meeting. Site selection is a mainstay service of both large and small bureaus, along with event marketing.
Most bureaus provide collateral material, consultation on special venues, help with room blocks, market the event to potential attendees, suggest unique venues and offer site inspection arrangements. Some also provide convention services like registration, housing, pre- and post-convention tours, speaker bureaus and transportation. They can help negotiate with the city to close streets or provide special security services.
“We’re like the Google of Las Vegas,” says Goldsmith. “We may not have all the information, but we know where to get it.”
Attendance-building efforts are gaining steam, with more CVBs providing interactive maps on their web sites that enable planners and prospective attendees to map out hotels, restaurants or special venues. In some cases, the maps can be themed or branded to a specific event.
“There’s always a way to work with the convention and visitors bureau to stimulate attendance,” says Rob Enriquez, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.
Another service gaining ground gives planners the ability to locate space, check hotels, arrange for site inspections or link to suppliers online. Some unique services include:
• Albuquerque’s service staff is on call 24/7 for groups when they’re in town. It also provides a spreadsheet for unique venues that includes available spaces and seating capacities.
• Anaheim offers a series of leisure-oriented ads to associations that they can use in their own newsletters to help build attendance.
• Scottsdale customizes site inspections and all RFPs. They don’t publish a convention calendar to reduce unwanted calls to planners.
• Las Vegas has a standard RFP format that goes directly to sales managers at properties that meet a planner’s needs.
• Sacramento welcomes groups with signage throughout the city.
• Los Angeles has staff members who focus on hotel-specific groups.
Many bureaus offer additional services they wish more clients would use. Among them:
• Passkey program for hotel management
• Convention assistance for registration and concierge services
• Pre-event marketing
• FAM trip plans
• RFPs for services other than lodging and meeting space, such as restaurants, transportation and unique venues
• Attendance-building tools
“I’m surprised more people don’t use CVB and convention services,” says Jonathon Wisner, director of convention sales for the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We don’t charge and we’re there to help and support (planners).”
Though CVB service lists are extensive, meeting planners have wish lists of other services they could offer. First and foremost is to communicate the full scope of services better. Another is to make certain that FAM trips are worthwhile for the planner. And, Eisenstodt would love to see the CVBs being able to coordinate contracts between convention centers and hotels, so that planners aren’t faced with a deadline to sign a hotel contract before the convention center space is set in stone.
The Convention Center Scramble
Not all destinations are created equal. Only 67 percent of destinations with CVBs have convention centers. Just a little more than a third of those (38 percent) are sold and marketed only by the CVB.
In 28 percent of those destinations, the convention center marketing is handled internally. In 23 percent of those cities, the convention and visitors bureau and convention center have a joint marketing arrangement. Only 11 percent of convention centers are managed privately by entities such as SMG, which manages Western centers at Long Beach, Hawaii, Anchorage, Denver and Salt
Lake City.
Ontario CVB has complete control of booking the convention center. The CVB’s Moretti says the result is truly “one-stop shopping” for clients.
In San Diego, convention center bookings were transferred exclusively to the San Diego Convention Center Corp. a year ago. The CVB says the process has been smooth, and each entity passes on RFPs to the other. In July, a Convention Center Corp. spokesman said the Customer Advisory Board gave the new process high marks for its efficiency.
In the more usual arrangement, booking is shared, with 41 percent of CVBs typically responsible for booking 18 or more months in advance, while convention centers handle the short-term and consumer-show business. Booking windows vary and there are always caveats. For instance, 38 percent of convention centers require room-night bookings in conjunction with an event. (An interesting twist to that: since 9/11, corporate meetings have booked very short-term, so corporate meetings needing convention center space are more likely to end up booking directly through a convention center than through a CVB.)
So, who are you going to call when you need convention center space? Typically, a CVB can smooth the way even if they don’t do the booking. “No one should ever be discouraged from coming to the CVB for that,” says L.A.’s Krouse.
But it’s no secret that some consider it a competitive edge to be able to book events. In cities like Sacramento and Anaheim, the CVB and the convention center share their calendars to make it easier to check availability and work out conflicts without the planner feeling caught in the middle.
Anaheim is unusual, says Greg Smith, executive director of the Convention, Sport & Entertainment Department for the City of Anaheim, because both convention center staff and CVB staff are housed in the convention center and operate as a cohesive unit. Smith’s office is next door to Ahlers’ office. They have common marketing partnerships and sometimes go on sales trips together.
“Clients know no there’s no disconnect between the building and the CVB,” Smith says, “and that’s half the battle.”
The CVB/DMC Difference
Though CVBs promote destinations, they’re different from destination marketing companies. Confused? Here’s the scoop from Madelyn Marusa of PRA Destination Management Inc., which has offices throughout the country. PRA is a member of the CVB in many of the cities where it operates.
While CVBs are nonprofit organizations that promote destinations to both business and leisure markets, DMCs are for-profit companies that market specific services primarily to the meetings and conventions market. And whereas a CVB can suggest venues for special events, a DMC can help plan it on site.
“DMCs can’t land the business, but they can work with the (CVB) committee to make it happen,” Marusa says.
Do Your Homework
When choosing to work with a CVB, Washington, D.C.–based Eisenstodt advises planners to consider some key factors along with services offered:
• Look for those who form coalitions with members of the community and how they work with the city, labor and hotels, and their relationships with the community.
• Know what’s going on politically in terms of the funding and the relationship between the CVB and the city.
“I’m thankful that CVBs exist,” says Gary Schirmacher, CMP, senior vice president, western region for Conferon in Denver. “They’re not only champions of meetings and tourism within the city, but they’re people who get (others) excited about incoming business.”
