San Diego CVB – A New Approach to Site Inspection
In the summer of 2009, the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau debuted its new initiative for site inspection. The move, according to Margie Sitton, senior VP of sales, was made to help event and meeting planners manage their site inspection time more wisely.
The overall initiative included education of everyone involved with the CVB. By doing this, when a planner books anything through the bureau, they’ll be working with “very qualified, educated salespeople in San Diego who understand their needs…” according to Sitton.
The staff starts by getting to know the needs of the event planner. This allows the CVB to provide pertinent information to the different venues. Along with the standard boilerplate of meeting specs, rates, dates and space, the bureau can provide relevant information to the venue. If a planner loves history, the bureau can ask, “How do we showcase the history of San Diego in the site inspection?”
The overall goal of the bureau is to provide the different hotels and venues with and understanding of the type of experience that a planner wants to create. To facilitate this, the staff member at the bureau can do a pre-call with the hotel and ensure that everyone understands what the meeting planner is wanting.
Information: www.sandiego.org
