• A destination has, on average, two official year-round visitor centers.
• CVBs operate the majority (77%) of these centers with 76% paid staff and 24% volunteer staff.
• Almost half (45%) operate a store in the visitor center.

Convention Centers

• For those destinations that have convention centers (67%), the vast majority (87%) are owned by a government-related entity (city, county, state/province, authority).
• Half (53%) are also managed by a government entity, while 40% are privately managed.
• Sales & Marketing responsibility rests with the CVB (38%), the Center (28%), a joint relationship between the CVB and the Center (23%). An additional 11% use the services of a private entity.
• For Centers where CVBs are responsible for sales and marketing, 41% have an 18+ month window for dates they control while 22% can book events anytime.
• Almost half the Centers have no booking criteria; an additional 38% have a room night criteria.
• The average size of the primary convention center is 268,000 gross square feet.
• Typically, there are 13 hotels and 2,800 rooms within a half mile of the primary convention center.

Hotel Rooms

• The average number of hotel rooms served by a CVB is approximately 13,600.

Average Tax Rates

• Total Tax on a Hotel Room (incl. hotel room tax, sales taxes, etc.): 12.2%
  • Average Hotel Room Tax: 6.7%
  • Average Sales Tax on a Hotel Room: 5.5%
• Total Tax on a Car Rental: (incl. rental tax, sales tax, etc.): 11.7%
• Special Restaurant Tax (excl. sales tax): 2.7%

How the Hotel Room Tax is Used

• On average, 55% of the hotel room tax monies collected is allocated to the CVB.
• Slightly more than one-third of destinations use hotel room tax monies for convention center purposes (operations, construction, debt service).
• 11% of destinations allocate hotel room tax revenue to arenas and sport facilities.

How the Special Restaurant Tax is Used

• For those destinations that have this tax (19% of all CVBs), the two common uses are convention center operations/construction/debt service and CVB funding.

• Structure: The majority of CVBs are independent not-for-profits: 61% are 501(c)(6) and 4% are 501(c)(3). 18% are government agencies (city, county, state/province, authority) and 5% are a chamber or a division of a chamber of commerce.

• Membership: Almost half (49%) of CVBs are membership organizations, averaging 569 members. The typical member composition: 23% accommodations, 17% attractions/cultural institutions, 17% event services/suppliers, 16% restaurants, 11% retail establishments.

• Years in Operation: The average CVB is 39 years old.

• Revenue: The average total gross revenue of CVBs is US$4.4 million (excl. Las Vegas).

• Relationship with Primary Funding Source: 59% of CVBs have a contract with their primary source. Almost one-tenth (8%) of these contracts are awarded through an RFP process. Slightly more than half (54%) of the contracts are annual; the remainder are multi-year terms.

• Board Composition: A typical CVB Board of Directors is comprised of 19 voting members with a six-person Executive Committee. Three-fourths of CVBs have by-laws that specify the composition of the Board. Additional Corporations - 17% of CVBs have an additional/affiliated 501(c)3, or foundation.

• Staff Size: The average CVB has 11 full-time and three regular part-time employees.

• Out-Of-Town Offices: Overall, almost one-third (30%) of CVBs have out-of-town/satellite offices (90% of CVBs with budgets of US$10 million or more), primarily in Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

Funding

• The majority of CVBs (87%) receive public funding from hotel occupancy tax revenue. Additional key public funding sources include: state/province (non-tax) funding (26% of CVBs) and city (non-tax) funding (18%).

• In terms of private funding, 52% of all CVBs receive membership dues. Other top private sources include: donated (non-cash) services (46%), co-op advertising (41%), Visitor Center sales (39%), promotion participation (38%), print advertising (37%).

Expenses

• CVBs spend almost half (43%) of their budget on sales and marketing efforts, with media advertising the top activity (17% of total expenses). The remainder is spent on personnel (40%) and administrative expenses (17%).

• CVBs typically spend 24% of their entire budget (sales & marketing, personnel, administrative) on convention sales and marketing; 19% is spent on consumer leisure marketing efforts. An additional 10% is directed towards the travel trade sector. Communications/PR efforts receive 9% of the budget and Visitor Services, 8%.