Cash for Conventions: 5 CVBs Offer Financial Incentives

Last week’s issue of Travel Market Report examined how convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) provide assistance to meeting and event planners, including help with attendance building, marketing and financial incentives. In this issue we will focus more closely on assistance with financial incentives by featuring five CVBs that are putting their money where their mouth is through a variety of cost cutting promotions and discounts.

• Greater Wilmington and Brandywine Valley (Delaware):  In partnership with the City of Wilmington, the GWCVB is offering $20,000 in transportation assistance for meetings, events and groups placing overnight rooms in the Greater Wilmington-New Castle County area. To be eligible, the event must involve an overnight stay and generate a minimum of 100 room nights. The incentive covers many aspects of transportation, including moving attendees to/from the airport or the train station, or off-site destinations. To qualify, the planner/organizer must contact the GWCVB prior to signing a contract, and the event must go to contract with a New Castle County, GWCVB member hotel now through June 30, 2011. The actual event must take place between before June 30, 2013.

For more information, see www.visitwilmingtonde.com/meeting-and-event-planners/transportation/.

• Moab (Utah): Moab, Utah, which formally entered the meeting and events industry in 2009, has already secured an event-advertising grant available through the Moab Area Travel Council. The purpose of the grant is to increase the level of tourism in Grand County through new or fledgling events that could become annual events. The Event Grant Application deadline for 2011 events must be submitted by Oct. 15, 2010. There are a number of requirements that are necessary to apply for the grant, including: priority will be given to events that exceed more than one day in duration and encourage out-of-area visitors; event planners should show plans to duplicate their event on an annual basis; events moving toward sustainability will be favored; new events will be given priority over existing events; events encouraging green practices will be given additional consideration; 100% of the funds awarded must be spent on advertising and seventy percent (70%) of the awarded funds must be spent outside of Grand County; organizer(s) must match the requested grant and a minimum of 50% of organizer’s match must be cash (Example: If an event is requesting $4,000 from The Moab Area Travel Council, organizers must put up a match of $4,000, and $2,000 of that (50%) must be cash. The remaining 50% may be in-kind. The grant has no set limit in terms of funds.

For further information, contact: Marian DeLay, executive director at 435-259-1370 and see http://bit.ly/dzaipB.

• Columbia (South Carolina): The Columbia, S.C .CVB, is offering meeting planners discounts of between $1,000 and $5,000 on conference expenses. To be eligible, the meeting/event must be new business that has not previously been held in Columbia and have at least 200 total actualized hotel room nights for a single meeting or event. Meeting planners or designated parties must sign contracts by June 30, 2012, with hotels and/or meeting facilities of choice in the Columbia Metropolitan area (including Lexington and Richland Counties). The amount of the incentive/promotional discounts will depend on several factors including the number of hotel rooms booked, verifiable with two years convention history from previous destinations. The sliding scale of benefits, based on actualized hotel rooms, is: $5,000 for 1,000 rooms, $3,750 for 750 rooms, $2,500 for 500 rooms, and $1,000 for 200 hotel rooms at $5 per actualized room. The discount will be applied to costs for meeting space, food and beverage, or transportation or shuttle costs. This incentive will be offered only to the first 20 groups contracting with the CVB by June 30, 2012.

For more information, see www.columbiacvb.com/5k.

The Loop Bus

• Quad Cities (Illinois/Iowa): The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau is offering a discount of 4% off the master room bill on meetings or conventions booked through the CVB by June 30, 2011. Additional incentives based on the number of nights booked for a two-night minimum, upgrades, break beverages, complimentary room nights, complimentary on-site registration, and loop bus transportation, are also available under specific circumstances. The Quad Cities CVB includes Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa; Rock Island and Moline/East Moline, Illinois; and surrounding communities — all just a day’s drive from Chicago, St. Louis, Des Moines and Minneapolis. 

For more information, see www.visitquadcities.com. 

• Cheyenne (Wyoming): The Cheyenne CVB has developed two incentives for meeting planners who bring in groups of 251 or more room nights. The CVB is offering a welcome reception valued at $10 in food and beverage per person, and complimentary online registration services powered by CVENT. The complimentary online registration includes setup of the registration site, secure payment processing, onsite registration assistance, name badges, customized reports for planners, pre- and post-event surveys and more.

For more information contact Shantelle P. Dedicke, director of convention sales at 307-778-0182 or see www.cheyenne.org.