CVB touts new amenities to target visitor groups

“New” is the catch phrase for the Convention & Visitors Bureau in 2005.
With everything from a new baseball team to a new Web site, the bureau has a busy year ahead. Here’s a sample:
The CVB is launching a new Web site in April that will be more user-friendly, appealing and high-tech. A new Internet editor position was added to the bureau in 2004 to help keep the site updated. The bureau’s Web site – www.springfieldmo.org – was originally created in 1998.
The new Web site will have a state-of-the-art interactive map and customized sites for specific markets, such as leisure travelers, sports event planners and convention planners.
“We won’t have just one Web site that tries to cover every user’s needs; we’ll have eight different sites that will be customized to meet the specific needs of that market,” said Patty Becraft, CVB director of administration and operations.
Several groups that have never convened in Springfield before will bring thousands of new visitors to the city this year, and the trend is expected to continue in future years.
“Many of the new groups selected Springfield because of new facilities and amenities,” said Dana Maugans, CVB sales director. “Without the improvements, some of the groups would have selected other cities because we wouldn’t have had enough space for them or facilities that met their needs.”
Those new facilities and amenities include the Expo Center, Wonders of Wildlife, Jordan Valley Ice Park, Hammons Field, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and recent improvements at Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center and the Oasis Inn & Convention Center.

Newcomers
Among the new groups in 2005 are the Wally Byam Caravan Club, Missouri Dump Truckers Association, Santa Gertrudis Association, American Maine Anjou Association, Pope & Young Club National Convention, USA Hockey 18 and Under Nationals, American Society of Mammologists, Amateur Athletic Union Girls 11 and Under Basketball Nationals, U.S.S. Lapon Shipmates Association, Missouri Sheriff’s Association and Military Order of the Purple Heart.
In 2006, new groups include the Lions Club Missouri State Convention, United Methodist Church Missouri Conference and Ornamental Concrete Producers Association.
Eight Springfield organizations, including the CVB, are conducting a marketing campaign this spring targeting mid-Missouri cities.
The campaign includes television ads, billboards, public relations efforts and a new Web site – www.tryspringfield
mo.com. The goal is to change perceptions about Springfield from those of a “town” to a “city.”
The new image goes beyond the mid-Missouri campaign, including a metropolitan look for the Visitors Guide, press kits, the new Web site and other publications.
“The transformation from town to city is apparent in all our marketing materials,” said Mar’Ellen Felin, CVB communications director.
New hotels, including the Holiday Inn Express & Suites that just opened downtown and the Baymont Inn under construction near the airport, give the bureau more lodging options to offer travelers. The downtown hotel will help in sales efforts for the Expo Center because it is within walking distance.
University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center recently completed renovations and the Oasis Inn & Convention Center will complete several updates this year.
The Springfield Cardinals baseball team and Hammons Field give the bureau a new activity to promote to leisure and business travelers. That means baseball will be a big part of CVB public relations promotions and sales efforts to attract conventions and other group events to the city. A baseball game, in fact, is one of the activities being offered to meeting planners attending a familiarization tour of Springfield in May.
On the local level, the CVB recently launched a program designed to encourage frontline employees in the travel industry to visit the city’s attractions. Familiarity with attractions will help employees who have direct contact with visitors answer questions about things to see and do in
the city.
The CVB’s Group Travel Guide is being revised to target a wider group travel market, including travel agents, group tour operators, military and family reunions, school groups, wedding parties and church groups. All but the first two will be new recipients of the guide.
New information is being added, such as sales staff contact information; indication of free attractions; a thorough listing of banquet facilities, group services, and motor coach services; directions and mileage charts; a state map with major highways and bordering states; airport facility information and direct flight listings; one-stop shopping and dining centers; facility tours; group itineraries; and more thorough dining and accommodation services and amenities per location.
For more information about these and other CVB marketing efforts, contact the bureau at (417) 881-5300.

Susan Wade is the public relations manager with the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau.