Top 5 Reasons Why Planners Should Utilize CVBs

By: Maggi Gallaspy

When planning your next military reunion or group tour, a Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) like Visit Lubbock can assist in booking attractions and accommodations specialized to your group. Below are five reasons why planners should utilize CVBs when planning their next trip.

Familiarization (FAM) Tours or Site Visits 

To get a true feel for a meeting destination, nothing beats visiting the community in person. Visit Lubbock can schedule private tours of hotels and meeting venues, as well as some of the city’s favorite attractions or activities based on your group’s interests. Many CVBs also offer familiarization (FAM) trips for larger groups of planners to introduce them to communities en masse. FAMs are typically multiday, all-expenses-paid programs, complete with VIP treatment. 

Bid Proposals 

CVBs will send the leads to the appropriate properties, venues, caterers, and other suppliers who might be interested in bidding for your business. Visit Lubbock can then collect all of the bids, combine them with information on Lubbock, and submit everything in one emailed package to the planner. This not only saves you time on legwork researching appropriate accommodations or available vendors, but it also gives the planner all of the information in one package. 

Marketing Assistance 

After a site has been selected, the CVB becomes a free marketing resource for the event. Assistance in increasing attendance comes in a variety of forms: from providing brochures and visitor guides for your attendees to promoting the destination through an ambassador at pre-conference events or distributing promotional postcards. Today, CVBs are creating high-tech promotional tools to help planners sell their chosen reunion destination. Some offer digital destination kits, complete with print-ready advertising shells, downloadable postcards, and distinct e-mail blast campaigns, all focusing on their cities’ highlights. 

Complimentary Servicing Items 

Arranging name tags and coordinating local tours can be an unwieldy and timely task for planners. Now, bureaus are stepping in to help with this chore by offering complimentary servicing. Visit Lubbock offers assistance acquiring facility rates and availability, help coordinating local tours, up to 100 Lubbock welcome bags filled with: -Lubbock lapel pins or water and Lubbock Visitor Guides, up to 100 stick-on name badges, one 28×22 customizable welcome sign, and one West TX local bottle of wine! 

Full Service 

While most CVBs offer welcome packets for attendees that include information on their communities, some are going a step further, providing discount passes to local attractions or SWAG items for the attendees’ goodie bags. Visit Lubbock can also roll out the red carpet for your reunion delegates by arranging for local dignitaries to participate in your event. Mayors, county judges or local celebrities are often included in the opening reception to welcome veterans to the community, thank them for their service and invite them to special attractions or events. 

If you’re heading to the “Hub City,” the team at Visit Lubbock is ready to assist with your next event. Take advantage of our complimentary services and the group discounts we have to offer. For more information on how to get started, contact Tiffany Kennedy at tiffany@visitlubbock.org.