In today’s “CVB 101” session at the TACVB (Texas Association of CVBs) annual conference, speaker Dan Quandt from South Padre Island CVB spoke of tourism organizations as “scouts” – people who look ahead to the future, try to explore its possibilities and then come back and teach others.
What can your CVB, DMO or tourist board do to be a more imaginative guide to visitors?
How can you show them your destination’s glorious possibilities?
What can you do to find creative ways to help improve the community for future visitors?
Use every tool at your disposal to be a scout; lean way forward in the saddle in the pursuit of excellence.
It’s a great analogy Sheila, and thanks for sharing. I’ve seen time and time again, small businesses and rural entrepreneurs in the tourism area assume that the CVB knows all the latest tricks and ideas. Many of these people aren’t marketing or business people by background (retirees setting up a B&B, someone laid off and starting a tour guided business, etc).
CVBs should know that they have many people counting on them, so it’s their job to step up to the plate and, in Sheila’s terms, scout out the good stuff!
Thanks, Andy, you made it even clearer why CVBs are key to community development, along with their job of bringing visitors.
I think some CVBs can do a grander job of reaching out to other knowledgeable insiders in their own backyards (not employed by the CVB). CVB’s may be the OFFICIAL tourist resource, but there are many city-centric blogs and Facebooks accounts that are run by locals who just love their city and want to share their own secrets and gems to visitors. CVBs can highlight the favorite restaurants of local foodie bloggers or ask locals how they maximize every dollar when exploring their own city. I believe travelers would love to see what the locals are saying, rather than only seeing what the membership-led CVB is promoting at the moment.