What is a Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB)?
A Convention and Visitors Bureau is a not-for-profit organization charged with representing a specific destination and enhancing the long-term development of communities through a travel and tourism strategy. A Convention and Visitors Bureau is usually a membership-based organization, bringing together businesses that rely on tourism and meetings for revenue.
How is a CVB different from a Chamber of Commerce?
A Chamber of Commerce focuses on boosting the local economy by bringing new businesses into their area. A Convention & Visitors Bureau focuses on boosting the local economy by bringing tourism and conventions into the area.
What does a CVB do for a potential visitor or event planner?
For visitors, a CVB is like a key to the city. As a balanced resource, a CVB can serve as a broker or an official point of contact for convention and meeting planners, tour operators and visitors. CVB staff can assist planners with meeting preparation and encourage business travelers and visitors alike to visit local historic, cultural and recreational sites.
- CVBs offer impartial information about a destination's services and facilities.
- CVBs save visitors time and energy as they are a "one-stop shop" for local tourism interests.
- CVBs can provide a full-range of information about a destination.
- CVBs charge nothing for services.
If CVBs don't charge for their services, how do they survive?
Convention and Visitors Bureaus do not charge clients (the visitor, the business traveler or the meeting planner) for services rendered. Instead, like many CVBs, the Greater Portland CVB is funded through membership dues.
How does a CVB utilize my membership dues?
Since the Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau is not funded by any state or local optional bed tax or meal tax revenues we rely primarily on membership dues from our partner businesses. Membership dues allows us to do what we do for the Greater Portland region and the State of Maine...promote our area as a premier destination!? Membership dues allow us to promote the Greater Portland region and the State of Maine as a premier destination! We can not bring tourists and conventions to our beautiful area without your support and we thank you!
Why are meetings and tourism important?
Travel and tourism enhances the quality of life for a local community by providing jobs, increasing tax dollars for improvement of services and infrastructure and attracting facilities like restaurants, shops, festivals, and cultural and sporting venues that cater to both visitors and local residents.
Tourism is one of America's largest industries.
- $704 billion in direct travel expenditures by domestic and international travelers.
- $1.2 trillion in direct, indirect and induced tourism-related output.
- $113 billion in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments generated by direct travel expenditures.
- 7.4 million direct travel-generated jobs.
- $186 billion travel-generated payroll.
- 10.1 million American workers are directly or indirectly employed by travel.
- Indeed, travel and tourism is an economic engine and CVBs are the key drivers.
Statistics provided by U.S. Travel Association (2009 data)