What is a CVB?

Photo courtesy of Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau on flickr

In the conference planning world, during the city selection process and throughout the actual conference planning, one of the most important and essential organizations to partner and work with is the local CVB.

CVB stands for Convention and Visitors Bureau. The true definition of a CVB is “A convention and visitor bureau that promotes a town, city, region, or country in order to increase the number of visitors. It promotes the development and marketing of a destination, focusing on convention sales, tourism, marketing and services.”

CVB – How Will They Help Me?

A CVB is a not-for-profit organization. They assist different types of clients including vacationers and business travelers as well as conference and meeting planners. A CVB offers a complete range of information, knowledge and assistance about specific city destinations. They provide unbiased, neutral information about the city’s available services, service companies, hotels and venues.

Can a CVB help me with caterers? YES! Can a CVB assist me with accommodations? ABSOLUTELY! Can a CVB inform me about transportation? DEFINITELY!

A CVB truly does become an extension of your team. They will assist meeting and conference planners with all of their planning needs. A one stop shop for everyone, conference and meeting planners, tourists, business travelers, tour operators and, as you can imagine, the list goes on.

A CVB will save you time and energy. So as a result, working with a CVB will also be an incredible money saver.

CVB – How Do They Help the Destination?

CVB’s develop and boost tourism and travel of the destination city by enticing, appealing to and attracting service companies and resources like shops, restaurants, venues, festivals and celebrations and sporting events that appeal to both the local residents and visitors too. They will also assist meeting and conference planners with reference resources and marketing materials as well as promotional tools.

Can I Hire a CVB to Run My Meeting?

In a word, no. As previously mentioned, a CVB is a not-for- profit company. While they cannot (and will not) plan your conference, meeting or event, they are there to make suggestions and recommendations, working with you to help you make the best possible decisions and bookings. They understand that your ultimate goal is to have the most successful meeting, conference or event and they will definitely help you get there.

How Does a CVB Make Money?

The majority of CVB’s do not charge customers (the meeting planner, business traveler and visitors). There are a couple of ways a CVB makes money. Depending on the city, most CVB’s are financed through a blend of membership fees and hotel occupancy taxes.

There you have it, the basic components to your CVB. So make your work life a whole heck of a lot easier and connect with the local CVB when considering the next city. They’ll assist you with the logistics and developing of the future meeting, conference or event. Believe me, you will be thankful you made the call and became one of their Meeting Planner Partners.