Why use the CVB?

fWhat is a Convention and Visitors Bureau?

The Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (PACVB) is a not-for-profit organization representing the Peoria Area and helping long-term development of communities through a travel and tourism strategy. The PACVB is a partnership organization bringing together businesses that rely on tourism and meetings for revenue. For visitors, the PACVB is a key to the city. As an unbiased resource, the PACVB can serve as a broker or an official point of contact for convention and meeting planners, sports organizers, tour operators and visitors. We assist planners with meeting preparation and encourage business travelers and visitors alike to visit local historic, cultural and recreational sites.

Why is the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau valuable to a visitor, business traveler or a meeting planner?

The PACVB offers unbiased information about the Peoria Area's services and facilities

The PACVB saves visitors time and energy, as we are a one-stop shop for local tourism interests

The PACVB can provide the full range of information about the Peoria Area

Most services provided by the PACVB cost nothing. If the bureau doesn't charge for their services, how do they make money?

For most services the PACVB does not charge their clients - the visitor, the business traveler and the meeting planner. Instead, the PACVB is funded through a combination of hotel occupancy taxes and partnership dues.

How does the PACVB help meeting planners?

The PACVB makes planning and implementing a meeting less time-consuming and more streamlined. We give meeting planners access to a range of services, packages and value added extras. Before a meeting begins, a PACVB sales professional can help locate meeting space, check hotel availability, and arrange for site inspections. The PACVB can also link planners with the suppliers, from motorcoach companies and caterers to off-site entertainment venues, that can help meet the prerequisites of any event. No matter the size of the meeting being organized, from 50 to 50,000, all planners are encouraged to use the PACVB's services.

Among the advantages of going through the PACVB to plan a meeting:

The PACVB can:

Assist a planner in all areas of meeting preparation and provide planners with detailed reference materials

Establish room blocks at local hotels

Market the destination to attendees via promotional materials, thereby encouraging attendance

Act as a liaison between the planner and community officials, thus clearing the way for special permits, street slocures, et cetera

Obtain special letters of welcome from high-ranking government officials and in some cases, can bring officials to speak at a meeting

Offer suggestions about ways meeting attendees can maximize free time, along with helping to develop spouse programs and pre-and post-convention tours

What are some of the specific services the PACVB can offer the meeting planner?

We can assist in:

The creation of collateral material

On-site logistics and registration

We can:

Provide housing bureau services

Develop pre-and post-convention activities, spousal tours, and special events

Assist with site inspection and familiarization tours, as well as site selection

Provide speakers and local educational opportunities

Help secure special venues

Assist in the coordination of local transportation

The PACVB provides a comprehensive list of services and a friendly sales services staff.

What information does the PACVB have on hotels?

The PACVB keeps track of room counts, as well as other meetings coming to the area. In this way, we can help planners avoid conflicts with other events. Moreover, the PACVB has first-hand familiarity with the hotels and meeting space in the area, we can help planners match properties to specific meeting requirements and budgets.

Why are meetings and tourism important?

Travel and tourism enhances the quality of life for a local community by providing jobs, bringing in 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 locals. Travel and tourism is one of the world's largest service exports and largest employers. In the United States, the travel and tourism industry contributes more than US$740 billion annually to the nation's economy and generates US$110 billion in tax revenues (2008 figure - Travel Industry Association). Indeed, travel and tourism is an economic engine and CVBs are the key drivers.