And it’s also a new day for the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is adapting and modernizing to meet the changing needs of this destination, and working with county leaders to adopt contemporary management tools and styles common to destination marketing organizations across the country.

The Volusia County Council’s decision to reduce the number of oversight boards and create a single board system responsible for the community’s tourism promotion was a wise choice to reduce bureaucracy and increase the effectiveness of the CVB’s marketing efforts. Now one of the challenges is to be sure that we tell everyone – both our local stakeholders and leaders throughout the hospitality and tourism industry with whom we work – exactly what this means for the future of the Daytona Beach brand.

The most important change was to the CVB’s reporting structure. No longer will the organization report to two separate governing bodies, but rather will merge into the Halifax Area Advertising Authority and report to its board of directors. Jeffrey Hentz, CVB president/CEO and executive director of the HAAA, will be tasked with creating and shaping this destination marketing organization to be competitive not only for today’s tourism market, but also for the travel industry over the next 10 years.

The current structure and staffing of the CVB will remain, and we will still employ our top talent to attract visitors, market sports and meetings, and work hand in hand with our area’s lodging, attractions and events partners.

There are more positive changes ahead. Our organization will undergo a transformation, much like other destination-marketing organizations around the state that have gone through processes to rename and restructure themselves over the last several years. However, the goals of our organization will stay the same; we will still attend trade events as the CVB and market this destination to travelers while we analyze new brand options that consumers, as well as our trade and industry partners, will come to know.

These next few years hold many changes for the Daytona Beach area, including several new beachside hotels, the exciting development around Daytona International Speedway and new cultural offerings. We look forward to the changes that await as we evolve into a more modern, effective agency.

Source: http://www.news-journalonline.com

HT Editor