“More and more, we’re putting the CVB at the table — if not, we’re going to be eaten for dinner.” Gary Sain, president and CEO, Orlando/Orange County CVB, was talking with me about the importance of partnering with community stakeholders from elected officials and business leaders to the arts community. The message was loud and clear at the 95th annual convention of the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) in Atlanta July 28-30, where Sain participated in a panel about DMAI’s Futures Study, focusing on these strategic partnerships and future trends.

Attendees got an unwelcome confirmation of Sain’s remark at the opening of the convention with national news outlets airing the story of yet another government agency meeting being mocked and continuing reports that U.S. government agencies have prohibited meetings in certain cities. Hidden news cameras and knee-jerk reactions hardly tell the real story of meetings, but they do capture headlines.

The Meetings Mean Business campaign has delivered facts and introduced faces that strongly illustrate the impact of business travel and meetings on jobs and tax revenues, but information presented by DMAI leaders and CVB activists at this convention should go a long way in reinforcing and elevating the industry position. “We have to give our government colleagues bullets, not sweeping statements,” says Steve Moore, president and CEO, Greater Phoenix CVB. Some of the bullets he purposed include numbers he’s collected during the past six months combing through tax rolls to prove that the yield on visitor dollars is far greater than that from residential taxes.

“It’s an amazing snapshot of the contributions visitors make to the local economy,” he said. “Hotel taxes average $10,000 per room per year,” Moore said, comparing that number to an average home tax yield of $3,800. Speaking at a media briefing, Moore said CVBs have to become more creative in talking to the “fabric” of the community and making key partners aware of not only the tax contributions of visitors but also the dollars collected from employee taxes, vendor taxes, off property spend, and consumption of utilities, equipment and other essential supplies.

Tom Caradonio, president and CEO, Northern Kentucky CVB, offered another take on the impact of meetings. “We’re the only industry that can bring in big companies,” he said. “A big convention of 3,000 to 5,000 attendees is similar to a company employing 2,000 people. If you do 18 [conventions] a year, it has the same effect as a long-term business.”

This kind of thinking and the numbers to back it up — the results of a new study on the ROI of business travel and face-to-face meetings set to be released in September is highly anticipated — will go a long way to improve the industry’s clout. The individual CVBs have to make sure they follow up by delivering the message back home and to their representatives on the state and federal level.