Destination Services

Visitor Information Center (VIC) operations

The Greater Raleigh CVB's VIC was in full operation during the 2021-2022 fiscal year and was open during normal business hours, Mon.-Fri., 8:30am-5pm, and Sat., 9am-5pm (having been virtual-only through the pandemic and closed on Saturdays).
 

Destination services staff additions  

• Tammy Jeffries, CGSP^®, was promoted from assistant director of destination services to director of destination services.
• Hired two new destination services managers, Dana Canby and Christina Laskorunsky, as well as a new destination services coordinator, Katie P. Clark.
• Due to staff relocations, hired four new part-timers to assist the VIC manager with operations and logistics, including assisting visitors seeking destination information. New hires include Bill Hoy, Sophia King, Van Nguyen and Trena Carpenter.
   

Reorganized the Destination Services Department

Continued the reorganization of the Destination Services Department, adopting the servicing of Bureau-booked sports events (servicing was formerly handled by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, the Bureau's sports marketing division). The department also restructured how it services groups, assigning multiple service managers to work in tandem with definite group leads, thus staff gaining experience in working with groups and organizations of various sizes and ensuring planners have access to multiple managers for more proficient assistance. Formerly, each staff member specialized in servicing groups of specific criteria (group size, primarily).
 

Miscellaneous improvements 

Worked with the Marketing & Communications Department to revamp and restructure our street pole banner program via a project management system that's shared with external partners for organization and scheduling of installation, as well as removal of group signage. Additionally, we worked with Marketing & Communications to implement a new attendance promotion concept at our first live attendance promotion event for an upcoming conference, post-recovery.
 

Training and certifications

• Destination services managers received sighted-guide training in order to assist visitors with disabilities at the International Bluegrass Music Association's (IBMA's) 2022 World of Bluegrass (WOB) and for any of other future conferences where there are needs.
• Destination services managers also earned Destinations International's Professional in Destination Management (PDM) certification.
   

Partner engagement

• Resumed quarterly convention services manager (CSM) meetings with Raleigh Convention Center CSMs, downtown Raleigh convention center campus hotel CSMs and event manager partners to discuss servicing logistics and planning for definite-arrival groups. 
• Hosted Event Service Professional Association (ESPA) webinar viewings for destination CSMs and event managers for continued education and to increase our partners' awareness of the organization.
• VIC manager Kessa Stevens, CGSP^®, presented to our local area's Airbnb hosts about the VIC and its importance to the destination and community, including its available resources to visitors and hospitality hosts.
   

Successes 

Serviced 307 events and sports groups, filled more than 3,600 visitor information requests and delivered more than 42,000 visitors guides through our delivery service.