Meeting News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 18)

CVBs New Bermuda Tourism Hire Ignites Internal Controversy Hamilton, Bermuda—The appointment of EmilyGail Dill as the Bermuda Department of Tourism’s new acting head for North America is causing quite a stir among current bureau staffers and the island’s travel industry at large, reported the Bermuda Sun. According to the report, Dill was handpicked for the position by Ewart Brown, Bermuda’s tourism minister, despite her alleged lack of experience in the travel and tourism industry. Department staffers, many with over 20 years’ experience, have expressed discontent, and morale is said to be at an all-time low. This concerns Bermuda hoteliers and union chiefs, who worry that Dill’s appointment and the resultant discord could lead to a dropoff in tourism business on the island. Supporters of Dill, whose background includes teaching, theater management, and ministry, praise her vigor and administration abilities. Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Portland Puts New Foot Forward Bureau’s rebranding highlights the city’s sophistication Portland, OR—Visitors to the Portland convention bureau’s newly designed website will find a sleek new portal that better embodies the Rose City’s spirit. The new site, which was unveiled in January, is part of a rebranding effort that also includes the renaming of the Portland Oregon Visitors Association to Travel Portland. “It was time to really marry our website, www.travelportland.com, with our entire image and speak with a slightly different voice,” said Jeff Miller, the bureau’s president and CEO. “The city has long been seen as a green destination, but we really needed to make known Portland’s urban sophistication, as well. That’s evident immediately when visitors go to our new website, which has new photography, a smart layout, and fresh fonts. It’s clean and modern and unfiltered.” New Websites For the New Year ome CVBs have boosted their websites this year. q Meet Minneapolis redesigned Minneapolis.org with new insiders guides from local personalities, a section on entertainment and attractions, a chat function, and downloadable visitors guides. q A new series of audio and video podcasts about local attractions and events can be found on the Lehigh Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau website, www.lehighvalleyPA.org, which covers the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, PA. q A new branch of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau’s website, entitled “Beyond San Francisco,” gives visitors a portal to explore areas and attractions outside the city proper, including wineries, beaches, snow sports, and historic sites. An interactive map and information for trip planning are among the new features, found at www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/ beyond_san_francisco. q The Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce and Convention-Visitors Bureau has a redesigned site, www.santaclara.org, with more prominent images of the Silicon Valley city’s sights, a blog with insiders views and interactive features, and a virtual concierge to link visitors with area attractions. —EC S StarCite Adds Sparkle to Korea Tourism’s Marketing Philadelphia—In an effort to increase awareness of group travel possibilities in Korea, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has tapped into the resources of StarCite Inc., the Philadelphia-based provider of on-demand global meeting solutions. Announced in January was a marketing partnership between KTO and StarCite. With the announcement came news of a promotional campaign, entitled “Korea, Sparkling MICE Destination,” the result of a yearlong collaboration between the two organizations that is designed to complement the traditional marketing efforts of KTO. The partnership will also grant KTO access to StarCite’s meeting planner-geared 18 MeetingNews Portland, Oregon, has rebranded; new image is sleek and urbane. A local branding agency, Sockeye Creative Inc., has been collaborating with Travel Portland since last May. Additional rebranding and redevelopment efforts will be unveiled throughout the year. Meeting- and convention-goers were given particular attention during the rebranding process, according to Miller.“One of the things that we focused on is meeting delegates; if they are not excited to come to the event, then the event won’t be successful,” he said.“So we went after them from the leisure mentality with the new website design. What do they want to do before and after the meeting? We had to focus on what made Portland unique to them.” technology and services, as well as increased exposure at the StarCite Online Marketplace, where more than $7 billion in meeting opportunities are processed yearly. “StarCite has aided other international markets, such as Brazil and Scandinavia, in enhancing their competitiveness and expanding their share of global group travel dollars. This gives clients like KTO tremendous confidence in our ability to help them in similar ways,” said Mark Phillips, managing director for international markets at StarCite. r —Section written by Emily Carrus February 11, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.Minneapolis.org http://www.travelportland.com http://www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/beyond_san_francisco http://www.santaclara.org http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - February 11, 2008

Meeting News - February 11, 2008 Contents What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com Convention Centers Insider Report: Insurance Meetings MN Webcast Report Successful Meetings University Colin Rorrie to Temporarily Lead CIC Advertisers Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - February 11, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.