CVB finishes 2009 with contracts representing a record 198,000 future room nights and $59 million in new visitor spending; New Board Chair Introduced

CINCINNATI, OH, March 4, 2010 — A record-setting crowd of nearly 500 business and civic leaders and members of the regional hospitality industry filled the Duke Energy Convention Center's Grand Ballroom Thursday for the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau's 2010 Annual Meeting.

With the theme “On a Roll and Ready to Rock,” the meeting celebrated the CVB’s 2009 successes, many of which revolved around the concept of music, from being selected as the first-ever U.S. city to host the World Choir Games, coming here in 2012 to the Gospel Music Workshop of America and its partnership with the Macy’s Music Festival last summer to the enduring spirit and contributions of the late Maestro Erich Kunzel.

In honor of the musical influences that have played such a large part in the local hospitality’s success in 2009, Grammy-nominated Gospel artist Dorothy Norwood with the 25-member Bishop Bobby Hilton Word of Deliverance Mass Choir delivered the meeting’s opening the Annual Meeting with rousing performance of ‘Shake the Devil Off.’ Mrs. Norwood and the Choir brought the crowd to their feet once again with a meeting closing performance of ‘God Did That Thing.’

Five Years of Growth
Dan Lincoln, Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau President and Chief Executive Officer, delivered the keynote address on the state of the CVB.

“As we look back over 2009 for the CVB, there are mixed emotions,” said Lincoln. “In many respects, 2009 was the successful culmination of a multi-year strategic sales and marketing collaboration with our hotel and hospitality industry partners. In other respects, it was the challenging first leg in the tough economic, and meeting and convention race that stretches out before us.”

For the CVB, 2009 represented its fifth consecutive year of strong upward growth in the economic impact conventions and meetings bring our region. Highlights included: 

•  The CVB finished 2009 with contracts representing 198,000 future room nights and $59 million in new visitor spending, both record-setting figures. This is up 5.5 percent over 2008 – the largest increase in our competitive set – and a 24 percent increase over the last four years.
• Last year, Cincinnati USA consistently won out against much larger cities. For example, the CVB beat Phoenix and Philadelphia to win the 2011 Shrine annual meeting, and bested Dallas, Virginia Beach and Louisville to win the highly-coveted 2013 National Fraternal Order of Police convention.
• Seventy-eight percent of the businesses we booked last year will utilize the Duke Energy Convention Center. The community invested $135 million to expand the Center three years ago, and attendee spending alone has been nearly double that amount since then. 
• Despite economic challenges, hotels in Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati outpaced their competitive set as well as the national average in terms of growth rate in hotel occupancy, average daily room rate, demand and hotel revenue.
• 2009 contracts will generate $23.5 million in hotel revenue, an increase of 4.5 percent from last year. They will generate $4 million in tax revenue, up 4.5 percent from 2008 bookings.
• In 2009 a City-County partnership worked to establish a more unified and efficient regional approach by integrating all convention sales and marketing efforts under one organization. A new Cincinnati North sales office opened in Blue Ash; ground was broken on the long-awaited expansion of the Sharonville Convention Center; and a new brand identity for Cincinnati USA North was established.

“There is no doubt we’ve seen progress over the last five years, we realize we have a long way to go and still more mountains to climb,” added Lincoln. “The economy is still fragile and the travel industry, including conventions, will continue to recover slowly. But, we will continue to aggressively sell and market our way through this downturn.”

Ready to Rock
The event was punctuated by a stirring performance by Grammy-nominated gospel artist Dorothy Norwood with Bishop Bobby Hilton and the Word of Deliverance Mass Choir. Linda Antus, President of the Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network, highlighted the region’s market share gains in leisure tourism. And Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and Hamilton County Commission President David Pepper reflected on Cincinnati’s meeting and convention successes in 2009 and the far-reaching economic impact they delivered to the region.

The meeting also marked the end of Nick Vehr’s tenure as Chair of the CVB’s Board of Directors, as he officially handed the gavel over to incoming chair Louise Hughes, an executive with P&G. Lincoln acknowledged Vehr’s significant contributions since he took over as Board Chair in 2006. “Nick has been a trusted advisor, an exceptional counselor, and a good friend to me, and I want to personally thank him for his years of outstanding leadership.”

In defining her new chairmanship, Hughes encouraged the attendees to “consider what we have already become, and what we have been able to achieve as a region.”

“As I look ahead at the opportunity that awaits us all, I am encouraged and confident in the progress we have made; excited at what lies ahead; and inspired by the extraordinary partnerships, businesses and people that call this region home,” Hughes said.

Biggest. Event. Ever.
The meeting was capped by a celebration of 2009’s biggest CVB victory, the announcement that the World Choir Games are coming to Cincinnati USA in 2012 in what will be the largest international event in the region’s history.

Cincinnati USA will be the first U.S. city ever to host the World Choir Games, and for 11 days in July 2012, the region will be home to 20,000 vocalists from more than 90 countries around the globe, using nearly 50,000 hotel room nights. In addition, more than 250,000 spectators are expected to attend as well. Executives from Interkultur, the German-based organizer of the World Choir Games, were in attendance and joined in the tribute at the annual meeting.

“For us, the World Choir Games experience has been – and will continue to be – a community collaboration of enormous proportions, one like we’ve never seen before,” added Lincoln. “We will continue to actively seek out partnership opportunities throughout our business community to maximize the impact of the Games. Not just from an economic standpoint – which will be significant – but also in terms of the global reputation and relationship building opportunities that will be cultivated in the months and years ahead.”

Spirit of Cincinnati USA Awards
The CVB handed out its annual Spirit of Cincinnati USA Awards highlighted by the renaming of the Queen City Advocate Award in honor of Erich Kunzel. Other prominent winners included the University of Cincinnati football team, Bootsy Collins and Alfonso Cornejo. Here is the complete list of winners:

Erich Kunzel Queen City Advocate Award

• Erich Kunzel - Conductor, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
• Mike Thomas - Athletic Director, University of Cincinnati and the Bearcat Football Team

Champion Award for Convention/Meeting Sales

• Erich Kunzel - Conductor, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
•  Mark Mallory - Mayor, City of Cincinnati
• Robert Wright - Fire Chief, City of Cincinnati
• Carla Walker- Chief of Staff, City of Cincinnati
• Kathy Harrell – President, Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police
• Chief Tom Streicher - Chief of Police, City of Cincinnati
• Michael Cureton - Assistant Chief of Police, City of Cincinnati
• Bill Halusek - Police Sergeant, City of Cincinnati
• Dan Kowalski - Cincinnati Police
• Steve Reece, Sr. - Imperial Director of Promotions, Sinai Temple #59, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine
• Sidney D. Broadnax, Jr. - Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine
• Bob Jones - Local Representative, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine
• Homer L. Buchanan - Imperial Chief Rabban, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine
• Duane Weems - Illustrious Potentate, Sinai Temple #59, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine

Wendell P. Dabney Diversity Award

•  Alfonso Cornejo - President, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Pinnacle Award for Outstanding Service

• Jonathan Cody - Bellman, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza
• Claude Aka - Houseman, Millennium Hotel
• Anna Martin - Ovations Catering

Partnership Award
 

• Rock ‘ n Roll Hall of Famer and Cincinnati advocate Bootsy Collins for his efforts with meeting planners considering Cincinnati USA for future conventions
• Lisa Thal, General Manager, Radio One, the CVB’s official radio partner for the Gospel Music Workshop of America
• Mary McCullough-Hudson, President and CEO, the Fine Arts Fund, for community leadership regarding the Cincinnati 2012 World Choir Games.

Strong Event PartnershipsThe 2010 Annual Meeting of the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau was presented with help from the CVB’s Official Annual Meeting Sponsors, including the Duke Energy Convention Center, Ovations Food Services, Prestige AV & Creative Services, Partech Lighting Systems, Accent on Cincinnati, Procter & Gamble and Delta Air Lines. Annual Meeting Event Partners included The George Fern Company, ColorNine, and Dan Ledbetter Photography.