Do you know what a destination bureau is or why cities have convention bureaus? Why do more and more cities agree on the need to have one?
What does a convention bureau do?
A convention bureau does destination marketing (of a city or country). It is dedicated to international promotion to attract business tourism, events, conferences and world-class meetings. To fulfill this objective, it assumes these functions:
- Consolidate a network of suppliers and allies in the events and business tourism sector in the region it represents.
- Execute communication actions for the positioning of the territorial brand.
- Exhaustively research the region being promoted, its resources and offer of related services.
- Provide impartial, free and rigorous advice to corporate sector professionals on hotels, venues and complementary leisure activities.
- Elaborate and present city candidacies to host international events.
Why is it important for cities to have a convention bureau?
Convention bureaus are essential for the economic development of the regions: they facilitate the specialization and diversification of the city’s business tourism offer, contribute to the strengthening of the economic sectors in which the regions are strong and to the generation of employment. They support the growth of economic sectors by attracting international meetings and events that provide knowledge and help improve their competitiveness.
They are created by the contribution that meetings and professional events can make to the transformation of the local economy. When a business tourist visits a city, he/she becomes a user of all its services: gastronomy, culture, entertainment; therefore, by holding a business event, a destination can make itself known and generate income from business tourists.
Types of events that a bureau attracts
- International trade fairs.
- Conventions.
- Traveling exhibitions.
- Congresses.
- Seminars.
- Incentive trips.
Greater Bogota Convention Bureau
Bogota-Region has a convention bureau; it is called the Greater Bogota Convention Bureau. It is a public-private effort to renew an existing private initiative, which had to close its doors to strengthen itself under an institutional umbrella ideal for the nature of its management. The new Bogota-Region Bureau is integrated into Invest in Bogota, as one of its strategic and mission lines to complement its purpose of contributing to the promotion and visibility of this destination as the preferred hub in Latin America for doing business. Its rebirth is the result of the willingness of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and the Bogota Mayor’s Office.
In 2022, the Bogota Convention Bureau, together with its partners, captured 21 events or groups of congresses, conferences and incentive trips, which corresponds to an estimated economic impact of more than US$5 million (more than 9,100 attendees and hotel occupancy of more than 21,200 nights).
Best of luck in your management, Greater Bogota Convention Bureau!
