CVB expects big year in 2012

By Melissa Weinman on January 26, 2012.
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This should be a big year for the Dunwoody Convention and Visitors Bureau, the organization’s director says.

2012 will be the first year the CVB is fully staffed, with four employees, and has a strategic marketing and sales plan in place.

“It is sort of a transition year for us,” Executive Director Katie Brenckle said. “We’re looking forward to working with the city’s new officials. We’re excited. It’s going to be a good year.”

In December, after two years of renting cubicles, the bureau moved into its own office on the ground floor of the Two Ravinia building.

Brenckle said 2010, the organization’s first year, was all about building from the ground up. “It’s like starting a business,” Brenckle said. “They [the board of directors] were acting as entrepreneurs in a lot of ways, having to create things as simple as email addresses and letterhead to marketing strategies.”

She said 2011 was really the first year the CVB actively marketed the city of Dunwoody as a destination.

“We tried a lot of things. Some things worked great, some didn’t,” Brenckle said. “It was sort of trial and error. Dunwoody had not had a CVB before.”

In 2012, the CVB will focus on attracting weekend leisure travelers to the city.

The city’s largest group of visitors is business travelers that stay in hotels during the week.

Brenckle said the city is working to target specific groups, such as women, that would be interested in visiting Dunwoody on the weekends.

“Females in their 30s are not only the main audience coming into Georgia, they are also a group that travels a lot,” Brenckle said. “With the type of shopping [Dunwoody] has, spas, restaurants … the types of amenities that appeal to women, it’s a natural fit to us.”

This year, the CVB will also be doing advertising geared toward people who use smartphones. The CVB has a mobile website and plans to use text messages and check-ins on social media sites such as Facebook and Foursquare.

“We really think of ourselves as a virtual CVB,” said Brad Sturgeon, chairman of the organization’s board of directors. “We realize we’ve got to use other tools.”

Sturgeon, who is also the general manager of Embassy Suites Perimeter, said it’s not always easy to quantify CVB’s work. But he feels the organization’s work has been positive for Dunwoody.

“If you took a snapshot of the time we’ve been incorporated and working, it’s been the same time we’ve had an economic downturn,” Sturgeon said. “I would say it’s a net plus. At this point it’s hard to see what I think will be a long-term benefit for the city. A lot of things we do, it really takes time to reap the benefits.”

Sturgeon said it has been helpful for the Perimeter-area hotels to have a CVB that focuses on Dunwoody, rather than working with the larger DeKalb CVB.

“No doubt about it, the Perimeter Center market stands alone as separate and the most affluent market in DeKalb,” Sturgeon said. “There’s just that opportunity to concentrate what we do … just to benefit those five hotels.”

The CVB’s 2012 budget of $775,400 is funded by the city’s hotel tax. Dunwoody levies a 5 percent tax on hotel visitors. Of that tax money, 60 percent goes to the city’s budget and 40 percent goes to the CVB to fund destination marketing.

Dunwoody City Councilman Doug Thompson said he has been pleased with the CVB’s efforts over the last two years. “I’ve been really impressed with all they’ve got going in the time they’ve had,” Thompson said.

Brenckle said the bureau has marked lots of small milestones since it started in 2010.

“When you’re new and just starting, like we are, there’s a first for everything. It’s exciting to see all of your efforts and the results they’re producing,” Brenckle said. “With the economy the way it’s been, you should celebrate successes no matter how small they are. Hopefully, in 2012 we will have much bigger successes.”