5 Ways CVBs Drive Tourism $ To Your Door: Have You Hugged Your Conventions and Visitors Bureau Today?

Want to drive tourists to your store? Interested in letting visitors from near and far know that you have the best dumpling, pizza, filet mignon your city has to offer? Or that your attraction showcases the history of your city, or the world in an extraordinary manner?  Have a tiny budget that won't accommodate out of town advertising  or a staff too small to send out multiple press releases and media alerts to keep you in the national press? The answer to all of these wishes and more is simple! Join your local Convention and Visitors Bureau. These organizations take the minimal  fees charged to members and turbo-charge your marketing efforts turning them into an international beacon for your store, restaurant, hotel or attraction, for less than the cost of one national newspaper ad! Below are just 5 of the great ways that CVBs can help your business grow.

Print Publications & Visitor Websites: CVBs publish regular print visitors guides, most of them 2-4x per year allowing you to  speak to people already interested in finding you on their visit. Most CVBs publish both a consumer and travel trade version which allows you to tailor your message to individuals and groups. Advertising is available at an additional rate but listings in the all the editions of the books are  included in your membership. The websites hosted by the CVB give you a digital listing as well that can be updated quickly to feature events and promotions as visitors plan their trips.  Membership also offers access to city-wide promotions like restaurant week, theater week or co promotions with partners like American Express or MasterCard.

Visitor Centers: Place your collateral where visitors are already seeking advice! In addition to providing a space for your printed material and in some cases even video material to be played in these busy centers you will have the opportunity to train (through materials and in person visits) the staff at the center about why visitors  would be interested in your venue.

International Reach: CVBs have done the visitor research and are intimately aware of where visitors are coming from. Satellite offices are established in feeder cities across the world. These offices represent the city and it's destinations to millions of potential visitors from important destinations such as China, Brazil, India and Japan. In addition to the opportunity to distribute your own materials abroad there are cost-efficient ways to advertise, host visiting groups from abroad, attend or be represented at important travel trade shows and accompany extraordinarily efficient trade missions at nominal cost. As an example I traveled with the team from NYC & Company to China and in one 10 day mission met with over 350 travel representatives in 3 key cities! The trip also had a media /component resulting in international press and millions of  impressions for my company as an international destination.

Public Relations: Most PR firms you hire will focus on local contacts. Keeping your CVB PR team apprised of your news, promotions and openings gives your company access to a global media network with international contacts and relationships as part of a larger story about the world's most interesting destination, your city! 

Networking: Looking to partner? Your membership gives you access to an enormous roster of other members who, just like you, have an interest in growing your business.  Advice and introductions are readily available through members of your CVB smoothing the way to finding your best partners for shared business growth. Business card exchanges and the annual meetings held by most CVBs  give you regular access to an ever expanding group of  potential allies.

The membership is a powerful marketing tool, the caveat being that simply joining is just the beginning. Dedicating yourself or a staff member to update listings, attend meetings and get to know the amazingly dedicated and hardworking individuals at your CVB is a wise and powerful move towards driving visitors to your venue. This article is a very short list of the massive impact your membership can have  for your business, please contact your local visitors bureau for a much broader view of the services they provide.

I would like to thank a few of the many CVB professionals who have helped me to learn what a great investment a membership in the local CVB is- Makiko Matsuda Healy and Chris Heywood (among many others!) at NYC & Company as well as Elliot Ferguson of  Destination DC .

If you have any questions or would like me to elaborate further on anything here please reach out to me at [email protected]. For more updates on retail tourism please join The Retail Tourism Network here on Linkedin at https://www.dhirubhai.net/grp/home?gid=8393084 and join the discussion!