The Benefits of Working with a CVB/DMO
The Event Manager’s Blog post 8 Benefits of Working with a CVB/DMO provides lots of details on the value of Convention and Visitor Bureaus and Destination Marketing Organizations. Here is an overview of some of the free services a CVB/DMO may provide:
An analysis of the RFP and suggestions for other venues that you may not have thought of or simply do not know; they redistribute the RFP to partners that fit the criteria.
Personalized attention to things that can’t be communicated in a check box. Tools can be very restricting. Unmeasurable variables are not necessarily taken into consideration.
Familiarity with local vibe/culture that might be difficult to glean from a search, but that might produce more interesting or ‘authentic’ experiences.
Negotiated rates and local vendor vetting. Many tech tools that purport to do this are just listing services populated by the vendors themselves with no third-party, unbiased verification, though that may change.
‘Friendly faces’ or support teams to answer specific questions that don’t translate well by simply searching. They can also make correlations based on your explanations, nuances that may be lost on tech, and can assist with multilingual interpretation services.
A site inspection visit to help you discover the destination’s key features, event sites, and accommodations -- and some will also pay for flight and accommodation during the stay.