Six Reasons Savvy Event Planners Call The Convention & Visitor’s Bureau

Wondering how to track down a venue that’s just right for your event? The Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) will find qualified hotels at your price. Wishing you could stretch an event marketing budget a little further? Take advantage of free CVB marketing materials. Has your event grown to require multiple properties around a city? No one is better equipped to organize the most effective collection of venues for a city wide event than the local CVB.

There are so many reasons to get to know CVB services. Read on to learn what they can do for you.

1. Single source of unbiased expertise

Whether they go by the traditional name of Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) or the modernized moniker of Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), local governments and business cooperatives fund these not-for-profit organizations as unbiased regional marketing authorities. CVBs boost local economies by promoting and drawing in outside travel and leisure spending to the areas they serve. Their comprehensive knowledge of a region’s venues, culture, activities and other amenities is second to none. Winnie Wong, Senior Manager for San Francisco Travel, says ” We are the number one resource for Bay Area hotels and venues selection, convention services, visitor information and much more!”

2. Comparison shopping for the best destination

When you have to evaluate multiple destinations to find the right fit, CVBs serve as a one stop shop to assess what each location uniquely offers. CVB staff not only want to find a way to book your event at the local convention center, but also seek to get your attendees out experiencing all the best their destination has to offer. They will assist you with understanding local culture, unique neighborhoods and districts, interesting activities, popular outings and more; everything you need to determine if a city is equipped to handle logistics of the event as well as boost attendance with destination draw.

3. Free services for qualified event planners

Once you have selected a destination, CVBs offer a host of free services that smooth the path to doing business in their city. Inquire about a site familiarization visit to experience first-hand the best of what a destination has to offer your group. Many CVBs will coordinate a day for qualified planners to evaluate hotel and other local offerings hosted by their vendors contending for your business.

4. Simple booking of all venues

When you are ready to book venues, the CVB offers the easiest path to identify the best available fit for an event and budget. Not only can they tell you which hotels have available room blocks scaled to meet your needs, but they also offer some of the best deals on securing those rooms that you are likely to uncover. Submit a single RFP through the CVB, and their experts work behind the scenes to quickly equip you with proposals from the venues best suited to accommodate your group.

5. Free marketing services and materials

Once you’ve booked your hotels and venues, the CVB will help you promote your event. Each attendee represents additional revenue for the local economy, so CVBs equip event planners with free destination marketing materials designed to increase event draw. Ask for royalty free photography and video, promotional copy, email templates, stock social media posts, microsites you can link to and more. CVBs also offer free or low cost signage in prominent locations such as airport terminals and city streets.

6. Local connections for every need

As you tackle event details, the CVB should be your go to source for names and contact information for almost anything you need in your destination city. They can connect you with the right city and state officials to call when you need to secure a permit and the right connections at local media outlets for submitting promotional materials. They maintain supply lists of reputable area vendors for any need. Many can even help you coordinate with local non-profits to arrange post-event donations of your reusable materials.

Get started working with CVBs today with these tactics:

• Visit websites such as San Francisco Travel and Discover Los Angeles
• Make a call to ask questions about specific services
• Submit an RFP

How has working with a CVB helped you?

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