“ This keeps the group close to the Daytona Beach area and gives us more potential to host them in a future year .”
Marketing efforts have their challenges . “ One of our main obstacles is actually a good one to have ; availability ,” comments Little . “ Our area and the facilities are very popular so finding available dates can sometimes pose challenges . This is one of the reasons why we focus on future business .”
Within the hospitality industry , Eubank at the Hilton says “ the recent challenge has been that while ( tournament directors ) were conservative with the number of rooms they booked , their attendance has actually grown because many of these tournaments didn ’ t happen in 2020 ” and people are excited now to again attend these events .
The COVID pandemic especially prompted CVB planners to strategize a way to move forward in a situation of total unfamiliarity . “ We started a WE CARE campaign which was focused on reaching out to past , present and future clients to let them know we are here to help ,” Little explains . “ These were not
sales messages , they were to let them know they aren ’ t alone in figuring out what to do with their event . We were able to retain over 70 % of the business that would ’ ve been lost due to COVID by working with the client [ s ] and local partners to reschedule them to a time [ when ] they could hold their event safely .”
“ Daytona Beach and the CVB have been absolutely wonderful to work with ,” says Boggs with the Cheerleader Association and Dance Alliance . “ We couldn ’ t do an event without the support of all the people who are ground zero for all of our events .”
David Castagnacci worked at the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce for 31 years where he served as Executive Director of the Volusia County Association for Responsible Development ( VCARD ) and its Flagler County chapter ( FCARD ), a non-profit association of planning and development professionals . Prior to that , he was a news reporter and New Smyrna Beach Bureau Chief for the Daytona Beach News-Journal .
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NOVEMBER 2021 | 9 |