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Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau Members Learn How to 'Live the D-Brand'
Bureau presents Grand Prix, Detroit Institute of Arts with prestigious tourism awards
DETROIT, Jan. 29 PRNewswire-USNewswire —A keynote address on how the hospitality industry can make the new "D-brand" work in their business and a presentation of prestigious tourism awards to The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix and Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), were among the highlights of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau's (DMCVB) 2008 Annual Membership Meeting today (January 29) at the DIA.
"Living the Brand" was the theme of the meeting and presentation by Christopher Baum, DMCVB senior vice president of sales and marketing. Baum focused on how the hospitality community can incorporate metro Detroit's new brand messages and logo "D: Cars, Culture, Gaming, Music, Sports" into their business through partnerships with the DMCVB in high profile marketing programs. Members also had the opportunity to view edgy television spots that the DMCVB launched in its key markets in 2007. Baum said that research conducted by Strategic Marketing & Research, Inc. concluded that those television spots and other innovative marketing campaigns resulted in almost 100,000 more trips, worth $63.3 million to the local economy.
In his remarks highlighting 2007 Bureau accomplishments and 2008 strategies, DMCVB president and CEO Larry Alexander stated that the convention and meetings side of the business also showed positive results.
"In 2007, we booked nine multi-hotel conventions downtown, up from six last year," Alexander said. "While it's clear that there are multiple reasons why meeting planners select a particular destination, our marketing campaigns highlighted our many new hotel and tourism products, helping to maximize the conversation about Detroit and making the decision to select the region much easier."
Alexander presented a Cadillac Award at the meeting to Bud Denker, senior vice president of Penske Corporation and General Manager of Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. The Cadillac Award, named for Detroit's founder, Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac, is presented to a person, organization or event that has made a great investment in building up metro Detroit's tourism industry and community. The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was selected for its benefit to the community, drawing more than 100,000 people over three days to metro Detroit, generating $30 million in economic impact and committing to Detroit for five years.
DIA Chief Operating Officer Nettie Seabrooks also accepted a Cadillac Award on behalf of the cultural icon. The DIA was cited for presenting a bold new style of art exhibition for a 21st century audience through its $158 million expansion and renovation project. The new DIA integrates technology so that visitors can connect with art on a new level and breaks from tradition by grouping art in a manner that tells visitors more compelling stories about the great works on display.
More than 400 members of the hospitality industry attended the Bureau's membership meeting.
The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau is a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to market and sell the metropolitan Detroit area on a worldwide basis as a destination for leisure and business travel including conventions, trade shows corporate meetings, tours and incentive travel and as a film location to maximize additional visitors, visitor expenditures, state and local tax revenues, and job opportunities.
More than 800 businesses are represented in the DMCVB's membership. The DMCVB was founded in 1896 as the world's first convention and visitors bureau. http://www.visitdetroit.com.
SOURCE Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau
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