Some CVBs Opt to Make Partnerships, Not War

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 3/27/2006

Typically, convention and visitors bureaus are fierce competitors, working hard to one-up each other by touting everything from their bigger-and-better convention centers and aquariums to newly opened restaurants and hotels.

But not every CVB is typical. In fact, some are ripping up the sell-only-thyself rulebook and establishing partnerships with their fellow bureaus — and the collaborations appear to be working.

One partnership, involving the Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Portland, Ore., bureaus, targets shows and meetings that rotate between the Northeast, Midwest and Northwest regions of the country, respectively.

Another trio of bureaus — Atlanta, New Orleans and Nashville, Tenn., three destinations that frequently vie for the same regional shows — together focus on putting the Southeast at the front of tour operators' minds.

After closing a deal with a show manager, Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau Vice President of Sales Jack Moneypenny now asks, "Where are you going next?" instead of "When are you coming back to Milwaukee?"

Michael C. Smith, vice president of sales for the Portland Oregon Visitors Assn., often says to his clients, "You had a great meeting in Portland this year, and I know you're looking to the Midwest and East for future years. Let me introduce you to my counterparts in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh."

Finally, Craig T. Davis, executive director of convention sales for the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the three sales executives together can deliver a "message to stakeholders that we're not just doing the same-old, same-old."

Smith said the three bureaus usually sell to similar-sized groups but, because they are in different areas of the country, they "infrequently are direct competitors for a specific group for a specific year."

As a result, their collaboration enables the bureaus to "pool financial resources for programs that none of us can afford on our own," Smith said.

For example, the bureaus together organize a client dinner each year during the American Society of Assn. Executives & the Center Annual Meeting & Exposition, and a wreath event at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., each December in which clients receive a live balsam wreath designed by the hotel's flower shop for the holidays.

Milwaukee, Portland and Pittsburgh may not seem to have much in common at first glance, Moneypenny said, but "it's amazing how similar our three cities are."

All three metropolitan areas embrace environmental sustainability, he pointed out, with Portland and Pittsburgh officially considered green cities and Milwaukee "working on it." Each city has a similar footprint, Moneypenny said, and each has a river running through it.

The idea for the partnership came about during a meeting in Chicago in 2004, Moneypenny said, where the groups brainstormed on how they could work together to expand their businesses.

The partnership idea made sense, Moneypenny said, if for no other reason than "you all of a sudden take your sales staff of eight and stretch it into a sales staff of 24."

The groups are planning to host an event in Chicago and a client dinner during next year's Professional Convention Management Assn. in Toronto. And they're "on the brink" of landing a tradeshow to rotate between them, Moneypenny said.

While Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Portland may be just getting started on their partnership, the CVBs of Atlanta, Nashville and New Orleans this year will host Rhythms of the South: The Southern Marketplace for the fifth straight year, Dec. 9–12 at Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center.

The bureaus, in partnership with Delta Air Lines, annually host the travel tradeshow to promote the Southeastern United States to international tour operators.

Along with the host CVBs' states of Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee, the show promotes Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Spurgeon Richardson, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the group is "proud to be a part of such an innovative partnership that packages our destination with other great destinations in the South."

Kim Priez, vice president of tourism for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, concurred. "(It's) a show unlike any other in the world," he said. "In most of the international travel tradeshows, a single city can get lost when competing against hundreds of other destinations."

Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau President Butch Spyridon said his bureau has "learned that we can have a lot of success in the international market by packaging the region."

The show benefits Delta, said Jorge Fernandez, the airline's vice president of international and alliances, because it provides an opportunity to "roll out our expansion plan with international tour operators and position Atlanta as the gateway to the South."

Delta will introduce a number of new international routes over the next several months, including seven new European and Middle Eastern destinations and a dozen new Latin American and Caribbean destinations, all from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Intl. Airport.

Additionally, the airport will open a fifth runway in the fall and a new international terminal in 2010 with independent access from the rest of the airport, easing departures and arrivals for international passengers.

The Rhythms of the South marketplace launched in 2002 and has been held in each city at least once. Louisville was added to the mix last year, standing in for Atlanta, as it finished construction on its Georgia Aquarium and other sites. However, Louisville will not be part of the formal three-city rotation in the future, noted Atlanta bureau spokeswoman Lauren Jarrell.

The bureaus expect the December '06 show to measure 17,000 net square feet with 100 exhibiting companies (hotels, casinos, restaurants, shops and transportation companies) and 250 professional attendees.

The 2005 show spanned 14,000 net sq. ft. with 74 exhibiting companies. It attracted 190 professional attendees from 13 countries and 10 states.

These kinds of arrangements aren't necessarily for everyone. Moneypenny pointed out, "A lot of folks have tried it, and it hasn't worked. You have to have your heart and soul in it."

At least one other bureau, the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, thinks it's a good idea — and is looking for the right partners.

"We are considering an alliance with other cities to establish a rotation solicitation partnership," said Mark Nelson, vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando bureau.