When destination events are popular enough to result in hotels selling-out, hoteliers can relish it. Events like the Presidential Inauguration and Jazz Fest in New Orleans are popular events where most hotels sell out. But, what if your tentative bookings aren’t resembling a “sell out?" You'll need...read more

Watkins Research Group, a business-to-business research organization, published its  2012 Meeting and Convention Planners Survey where they polled 730 veteran planners about their love/hate relationship with CVBs and DMOs. Below is a synopsis of the research as presented in the January edition of...read more

One of the biggest FAM tour turn-offs starts prior to stepping foot in a hotel. Unorganized FAM tours can give a planner a poor impression of your property and create a negative connotation of what future business would be like. Some of the best practices about creating a FAM tour invitee list are...read more

PCMA recently polled over 200 meeting professionals with the intent to understand how they believe hotel sales personnel size up their business. The findings are interesting to say the least and Cvent Hospitality would like to know your views on these findings.  One of the most interesting findings...read more

Have you ever wondered how you could increase your CVB and DMO Internet marketing efforts with planners? How you could be more enterprising and unique? A recent article in MPI's one+ brought forth some interesting ways entities are enhancing their group travel marketing efforts. Below is a synopsis...read more

Are you convinced mobile apps are going away? Or worse...they are a fad? Rest assured, that neither is happening. In fact, as this blog will highlight, more and more individuals are using their smartphones and mobile devices to access travel information.  With all this being said, here are the sad...read more

Everyone knows that digital marketing is here to stay—but do you know how to use it in your hospitality marketing mix in order to achieve a competitive advantage? If you find the whole Internet marketing confusing, you are not alone. Things are changing so fast and industry giants such as Google and...read more

Have you heard about Penguin? No? Well, it is something you should pay attention to because it is Google's latest algorithm effort to make sure your website does not have unnatural links connected to it. If your website does have what Google calls "spammy links", your ranking could have go from 1st...read more

When most sales managers think about their convention and visitors bureau’s social media channels, they may not initially recognize the CVB as a client resource. In fact, destination social media marketing professionals have a potential to be instrumental in increasing group bookings with added...read more

When planning a convention, most meeting planners spend a fair amount of time determining whether or not they are going to hold their meeting in a first- or second-tier city, the square footage of the convention center, how many breakout rooms it has, and blah-blah-blah. But in honor of Earth Day...read more

In February of this year, MeetingsNet magazine surveyed 800 meeting planners on their use of social media for event promotion, meeting trends, and career insights. They focused on the following tools: Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The information below will highlight some of the...read more

When meeting planners are putting together a large convention or conference, one of the elements of their job is to negotiate a group rate for the attendees and a fair attrition rate if the group falls short of its obligation. This has become a "sticky wicket" as Internet options have become...read more

EyeforTravel, a business intelligence company specializing in the travel and tourism industry, said 2011 was the year for CVB, resort and hotel online marketing. Hoteliers and other travel entities focused on ways to increase their search engine ranking by: Updating their website Improving their...read more

This week, the Convention Industry Council, in conjunction with the Green Meetings Industry Council and EPA, released 8 of the 9 sustainability standards for meetings and events. The 9 areas covered are: Audio-Visual Communication and Marketing Materials Destinations Exhibits Food & Beverage Meeting...read more

Does your organization have defined goals and objectives? Is the entire hospitality team on board with them? If not, now is the time to get everyone pointed in the same direction. The quote "If you don't know where you are going, you won't know when you have arrived," has a lot of merit, especially...read more

A CVB web marketing strategy needs to go beyond the website. You know it, I know it, and most importantly, your clients knows it. But how do you do it? You have to demonstrate your value and expertise! With the plethora of options out there, it can become confusing and overwhelming. But it doesn't...read more

On January 19th, President Obama signed an Executive Order pinpointed to increase international travel to the United States from 3 primary countries: China, Brazil, and India. What does this initiative mean when you are marketing a destination? Here is a breakdown of the Order and how it will...read more

Often the hospitality marketing staff only looks to the Big 3 social media sites for visibility: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. While it is important continue your digital marketing strategy with all 3, there are some other lesser known sites that are picking up steam. comScore, Inc. released a...read more

There are dozens of tactics you can take to increase your transient and group business survey response rates. Last month, I shared my favorite four email marketing tips: grab attention, work off of the existing relationship, make introductions and send reminders. But a good email marketing campaign...read more