In Destination Marketing

Study by Development Counsellors International • October 2012

A V I e w f r O m m e e T I N G P l A N N e r S

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Introduction and Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Influencing Meeting Planner Perceptions: Leading Sources of Information . . . . . 8

Attending Industry Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Where Meeting Planners Are Getting Their Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Best Marketing Techniques from the Customer’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The Importance of Educational (Familiarization) Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

How Meeting Planners Interact With Destination Marketing Organizations . . . 18

Identifying The Ultimate Meeting Location Decision Makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Best International Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Best North American Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

A Word About DCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Winning Strategies

in Destination Marketing

A V I e w f r o M M e e t I n g p l A n n e r s

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Executive SummaryWHEN THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CrISIS made headlines in fall 2008 and consumer spending drew to a standstill, destination marketing organizations felt the dramatic impact immediately . The meetings and incentive industry was further challenged that autumn as reporters besieged AIG when one of its subsidiaries commenced a week-long retreat to a St . regis resort, following a U .S . federal bailout package for the parent company . The resulting “AIG effect” compounded the industry’s struggles .

recovery within the global meetings and convention space has been slow, with the economic downturn directly resulting in a decline in the number of delegates at conventions globally . Today, with competition among destination marketing organizations on the rise, particularly among those in pursuit of what has been deemed the “recession proof” association market, it is more important than ever for destination marketing organizations to understand their audience .

It was with this aim that Development Counsellors International (DCI) conducted this comprehensive survey of meeting planners with global meeting planning responsibilities . Our objective was to understand best practices in marketing places by going directly to the meeting industry world’s “customer .” This report, A View from Meeting Planners: Winning Strategies in Destination Marketing, is the first survey of its kind .

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Key findings follow, based on the aggregate responses of 187 participants in the 2012 survey.

•The three leading sources of information influencing

meeting planner perceptions of international meeting

destinations are meetings with destination represen-

tatives, dialogue with industry peers and business/

personal travel.

•When evaluating meeting destinations, respondents

rely primarily on convention bureaus for information .

Meeting planners indicate that speaking to, or emailing,

convention bureau staff is by far the most common form

of interaction . A majority of respondents selected e-mail

as the preferred method for convention bureau represen-

tatives to share information on their destination .

•Meeting face-to-face, whether at trade shows, recep-

tions or educational workshops, rated as the most effec-

tive means of influencing meeting planners who may be

considering a destination that is new to them .

•Meeting planners prefer multi-destination educa-

tional workshops rather than single-destination educa-

tional workshops .

•While the majority of meeting planners did not attend

any industry conferences in the past three years, IMEX

America 2011 is the leading choice among those who

attended an industry conference .

•Meetings&Conventions magazine is the most fre-

quently read industry publication followed by Successful

Meetings .

•Online advertising is deemed the most effective

type of advertising by 73% of respondents . However, a

majority of respondents prefer reading printed versions

of travel industry publications .

• respondents indicated that social media is not currently

influential in shaping meeting planners’ perceptions of

international destinations .

•A majority of respondents consider educational trips

(familiarizations) as either important or very impor-

tant. The North American summer season is by far consid-

ered the best time to participate in education trips . Group

trips are significantly preferred over individual trips .

•When asked to select the most favorable location for

an international meeting, London, Barcelona, Paris,

Singapore and Hong Kong rated most favorably. As

a nation, Italy prevailed, followed by the United Kingdom

and Spain .

•When it came to preferred international convention

bureaus, London topped the list, followed by Singa-

pore, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Vienna .

•Within North America, Chicago, San Diego and San

Francisco topped the list of preferred meeting locations,

while San Diego, Orlando, Chicago and Las Vegas pre-

vailed as the leading destination marketing organizations .

•For associations, the Board of Directors is most often

named as the final decision maker on a meeting location,

while corporate meetings planners indicated that CEOs

most frequently made the ultimate decision on meeting

locations .

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Introduction and MethodologyIN 2012, DEVELOPMENT COUNSELLOrS INTErNATIONAL (DCI) conducted surveys of North American meeting planners with global meeting planning responsibilities to determine the “customer’s perspective” on the most effective strategies and techniques in destination marketing . This survey targeted meeting planners with direct responsibility for planning meetings in international destinations . Audience selection was heavily weighted toward the following titles: association meeting planners, corporate meeting planners and association management representatives .

The survey was conducted completely online . respondents were contacted via email and invited to participate in the survey . A hyperlink to access the online questionnaire was provided and the choice of a $10 Starbucks gift card or a $10 iTunes gift card was offered for participation . A copy of the questionnaire and email invitation can be found in Appendix A .

In total, 187 responses were received . respondents were categorized as associations (106 respondents), corporations (78 respondents) and association management com-panies (3 respondents) . All surveys were edited for completeness and the responses to open-ended questions were coded .

It is important to note that this survey is a study of perceptions . A perception is an attitude, belief or impression and not necessarily a reflection of reality . Meeting plan-ners have certain identifiable opinions and beliefs about doing business throughout the world . Some of these perceptions may be accurate and some may be genuine misperceptions .

“To grow your business, you must match

the way you market your products with the

way your prospects learn about and shop

for your products.”

— Brian Halligan, Co-Author of Inbound Marketing

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Influencing Meeting Planner Perceptions: Leading Sources of InformationTHIS SUrVEy SOUGHT TO IDENTIFy how meeting planners build their awareness of international meeting locations, honing in on what meeting planners believe are the best marketing tactics that destination marketing organizations can utilize to build favorable images .

This Winning Strategies survey asked North American (Canada and the Unites States of America) meeting planning executives with global meeting planning responsibilities to share which sources of information influence their perceptions of a destination .

respondents were asked to choose up to three of nine possible responses: articles in newspapers and magazines, business/personal travel, coverage on TV/radio, dialogue with industry peers, meetings with destination representatives, online sources, social media, word of mouth and other .

Meetings with destination representatives prevailed among meeting planners as the most important source of information influencing their perceptions of a destination . The top five responses are:

Key Sources of Influence

Meetings with destination representatives 58%

Dialogue with industry peers 55%

Business/personal travel 53%

Online sources 42%

Word of mouth 36%

The graph on the facing page shows all of the responses to this question .

While the top three answers are consistently important to both association and corporate meeting planners, corporate meeting planners indicate that they rely more heavily on online sources than do association meeting planners (corporate meeting planners 46% versus association meeting planners 39%) . Furthermore, articles in newspapers and magazines are more influential among the corporate market than association meeting planners (corporate meeting planners 27% versus association meeting planners 19%) .

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Meetings with destination representatives

Dialogue with industry peers

Business or personal travel

Online sources

Word of mouth

Articles in newspapers and magazines

Other

Coverage on TV/radio

Social media

9Influence

Attending Industry ConferencesBOTH MEETINGS WITH DESTINATION rEPrESENTATIVES and dialogue with industry peers often occur at industry conferences and expos, yet 30% of respondents indicate that they have not attended an industry conference in the past three years .

When asked to select the industry conferences and expos they had attended in the past three years from among ten options (AIBTM, ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo, EIBTM Barcelona, FICP Annual Conference & Education Forum, IMEX America, IMEX Frankfurt, MPI World Education Conference, PCMA Annual Meeting, None, Other), IMEX America garnered a 25% response rate . IMEX Frankfurt and PCMA Annual Meeting each registered 19% of the responses .

While both association and corporate meeting planners indicate that they have attended IMEX America, association meeting planners are much more likely to attend PCMA’s annual meeting (association meeting planners 26% versus corporate meeting planners 9%) and ASAE’s annual meeting and expo (association meeting planners 20% versus corporate meeting planners 6%) .

“Nothing sells better than being

able to look into your prospect’s eyes

and shake hands over a deal!”

— David Zahn, ZAHN Consulting LLC

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None 30%

PCMA Annual 19% Meeting

IMEX America 25%

IMEX Frankfurt 19%

EIBTM Barcelona 17%

AIBTM 17%

Other 15%

ASAE Annual 14% Meeting & Expo

MPI World 12% Education Conference

FICP Annual 5% Conference & Education Forum

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In Person

Where Meeting Planners Are Getting Their Industry NewsWHEN MEETING PLANNErS WErE ASKED where they receive their industry news, Meetings & Conventions magazine topped the charts with 56% of respondents selecting it as the publication they most frequently read . Successful Meetings came in second, tallying 42% of responses .

Meetings & Conventions provides information that helps meeting and event planners excel at their jobs and effectively manage their careers . Established in 1965, it is published by Northstar Travel Media, LLC . Circulation: 66,700

Successful Meetings is edited for meeting planners across all industries . It is published by Northstar Travel Media, which acquired this publication from Neilsen Business Media’s travel group in 2010 . Circulation: 50,000

When comparing association meeting planners with corporate meeting planners, it becomes apparent that the most frequently read outlets vary by market segment . While association meeting planners are more likely to read Meetings & Conventions, Association Meetings and Convene, corporate meeting planners are more likely to read Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings and Corporate Meetings & Incentives .

When asked if they preferred reading travel industry publications online or in “hard copy,” a majority of respondents (69%) indicated that they preferred reading the publication in hard copy .

Social media is not currently influential in shaping meeting planners’ perceptions of international destinations . Only 3% of respondents chose social media as a leading source of information influencing their perceptions of a destination .

69%

31%

■ Hard Copy

■ Online

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Meetings & 56%Conventions

Successful 42% Meetings

Corporate 33% Meetings & Incentives

Convene 28%

Association 26% Meetings

Associations 14% Now

None 11%

Meetings Focus 10% International

Medical 9% Meetings

Other 6%

Media 13

Best Marketing Techniques from the Customer’s PerspectiveTHIS WINNINg STrATEgIES SUrVEy SOUGHT to determine the most effec-tive marketing techniques that international destinations can harness to reach meet-ing planners . respondents were asked to rate the effectiveness of eight conventional marketing techniques used by destination marketing organizations . respondents rated each technique (advertising, destination newsletters, emails, educational work-shops, hosted lunch or dinner receptions, articles in meetings industry publications, trade shows and webinars) on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 is “poor” and 5 is “excellent .”

Meeting face-to-face, whether at trade shows, receptions or educational workshops, ranked as the most effective means of influencing meetings planners who may be considering a destination that is new to them .

This said, with the scores for the various marketing tactics all averaging between a rating of 3 to 4, all techniques are considered influential among meeting planners and none should be ignored as part of the destination marketing mix .

It should be noted, however, that corporate planners rate “hosted lunch or dinner receptions” higher than other marketing techniques (average rating of 4 .09 .)

When meeting planners were asked whether they preferred single-destination edu-cational workshops or multi-destination educational workshops, nearly two-thirds of respondents noted that multi-destination educational workshops are preferred .

While destination advertising is ranked as an effective tool in influencing meeting planners who may be considering a new destination, with a mean score of 3 .26, on-line advertising is deemed the most effective type of advertising by 73% of respon-dents . Print advertising is a distant second with 27% of the vote . radio and television advertising tallied no responses .

64%

36%

73%

27%

■ Multi-destination

■ Online

■ Single-destination

■ Print

Preferred format for educational workshoPs

most effective advertising media

14

Tradeshows

Hosted lunch or dinner receptions

Articles in meetings industry publications

Educational workshops

Emails

Destination newsletters

Advertising

Webinars

Outreach 15

All

Associations

Corporate

All

Associations

Corporate

Inviting

16

Average number of trips

taken annually by respondents:

1.6 trips

The Importance of Educational (Familiarization) TripsMOrE THAN HALF OF rESPONDENTS (53%) noted that business/personal travel influences their perception of a destination . (See page 8) . Educational (familiarization) trips totaled a mean score of 3 .98 in importance of influencing the respondents’ perception of a destination .

Among respondents, 72% considered educational trips (familiarizations) as either important (4) or very important (5) .

The North American summer season is considered the best time to participate in educational trips, with a 48% response rate . Fall in North America is a distant second, with 18% of the vote . Winter and Spring each tallied 17% of the vote respectively .

Corporate meeting planners rate the importance of educational trips significantly higher than association meeting planners (average rating of 4 .26 versus 3 .79 for associations) . While both groups rate summer as the best time for educational trips, association meeting planners rate the spring season as their second choice, while corporate meeting planners prefer fall .

yet competition for a meeting planner’s time is extremely strong, given that meeting planners participate in an average of only 1 .6 education trips annually . When they do participate in educational trips, group trips are the most preferred format, with 62% of respondent votes . While on average, individual education trips are preferred by 38% of respondents, association meeting planners are more likely than corporate meeting planners to prefer individual trips .

Not Important

SomewhatImportant Important

14% 14%

72%

Importance

how imPortant are familiarization triPs?

Not at all

ImportanceVery

1 2 3 4 5

All 3.98

Associations 3.79

Corporate 4.26

imPortance of fam triPs on influencing PercePtion

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How Meeting Planners Interact With Destination Marketing OrganizationsWHEN ASKED WHICH OrGANIzATIONS they rely upon when evaluating international destinations for meetings, of the six proposed options (international convention bureaus; destination hotels; destination management companies (DMCs); meeting planning agencies (third party planners); professional conference organizers (PCOs); other), 57% of respondents indicated that international convention bureaus were most important . Destination hotels received the second largest percentage of responses with 50% and destination management companies cracked the top quarter with 27% of responses .

When further analyzing the differences between association meeting planners and corporate meeting planners, it is apparent that associations most commonly rely upon international convention bureaus when evaluating meeting destinations (association meeting planners 64% versus corporate meeting planners 47%) . Corporate planners, however, are more apt to rely on destination hotels most frequently when evaluating meeting destinations (association meeting planners 44% versus corporate meeting planners 56%) . The most significant difference remains that corporate meetings plan-ners are much more inclined to rely on destination management companies (corpo-rate meeting planners 41% versus association meeting planners 16%) .

Meeting planners indicated that speaking to or emailing convention bureau staff is by far the most common form of interaction with a convention bureau (61% of respondents) . Slightly more than a quarter (27%) of respondents indicated that they visit a convention bureau’s website, with 9% noting that they commonly attend convention bureaus’ hosted events . Printed materials are not frequently referenced, tallying only a 2% response rate .

When asked how they prefer to be contacted by international convention bureau representatives, 67% of respondents indicated email . In-person visits at conferences and expos were a distant second, with 17% of respondents indicating this prefer-ence . Personal visits and phone calls are not commonly preferred means of providing meeting planners with information on convention destinations .

ALL ASSOCIATIONS CORPORATEALL ASSOCIATIONS CORPORATE

9%2%

5%9% 11%

27% 26% 30%

61% 65% 54%

17%

2%

9%5%

3%

9%4%

11%5%

11% 27%

67% 73% 57%

■ Attended convention bureau hosted events

■ Refer to the bureau’s printed materials

■ Visit the convention bureau website

■ Speak to an/or e-mail bureau staff

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most common interaction

ALL ASSOCIATIONS CORPORATEALL ASSOCIATIONS CORPORATE

9%2%

5%9% 11%

27% 26% 30%

61% 65% 54%

17%

2%

9%5%

3%

9%4%

11%5%

11% 27%

67% 73% 57%

■ E-mail

■ In person visit at conference or expo

■ Phone call

■ Personal visit

■ Other

International 57% convention bureaus

Destination 50% hotels

Destination 27% management companies (DMCs)

Other 16%

Professional 12% conference organizers (PCOs)

Meeting 10% planning agencies (3rd party planners)

Connecting

19

Preferred communication

organizations most relied uPon

48%

30%

18%

3%

1%

28%

43%

18%

8%

3%

Board of Directors

Executive Director

Survey of Participants

Membership Vote

Other*

*within the category, the largest sub-grounds making this decision included conference committee (5); staff (5); varies by client (4); planner (3); and ceo (2).

CEO

Director of Meetings

Survey of Participants

Director of Marketing

Other

associations

corPorations

20

Board of Directors

Executive Director

Survey of Participants

Membership Vote

CEO

Director of Meetings

Survey of Participants

Director of Marketing

Other

Identifying The Ultimate Meeting Location Decision MakersNO MATTEr THE MEANS by which a meeting planner learned about inter-national destinations, it is important to understand who has final decision making authority on the meeting location .

Associations were offered five options of “final decision makers” from which to choose (board of directors; executive director; membership vote; survey of participants; and other) . Meanwhile, corporate meeting planners were given five different options from which to choose (CEO; director of marketing; director of meetings; survey of participants; and other) .

AssociationsAmong associations who responded to this question, the Board of Directors is most frequently named the final decision maker on a meeting location, as indicated by 48% of respondents . “Other” is the next most common response, with 30% of respondents indicating this response, meaning that the final decision on meeting locations are not made by a Board of Directors or Executive Director . Among those indicating “other” as their response, 10% indicated that either the conference committee or the association staff have final decision making power on the location of the meeting .

CorporateAmong corporate respondents who answered this question, the CEO is the primary final decision maker on a meeting location, as indicated by 28% of respondents . The most frequent response is “Other”, chosen by 43% of respondents . Twelve percent of those responding “Other” named “clients” as final decision-makers, reflective of the respondents who are third-party planners .

Deciding21

International FavoritesTO DETErMINE WHICH CIT IES are winning the perception contest as the best locations to host a meeting, we asked survey respondents to name three non-North American locations perceived as being the most favorable for meetings . Overall, London is selected by meeting planners as the top destination . Barcelona and Paris tied for second in the rankings . Singapore and Hong Kong followed suit respectively .

Moving beyond the perception of the destination, meeting planners were also asked to indicate up to three “Best in Class” convention bureaus that are most helpful in meeting the needs of meeting planners .

Overall, meeting planners selected London as being the most helpful, followed by Singapore and Barcelona . Amsterdam and Vienna also ranked in the top five . No destination earned more than 10% of all mentions .

WHILE THIS SUrVEy Pr IMArILy focused on surveying North American meeting planners who plan meetings abroad, we recognize that the same population of meeting planners are also responsible for planning meetings within North America .

We replicated the International cities question to determine which cities are winning the “perception” contest as the best North American locations to host a meeting . In this question, survey respondents were asked to name three North American locations perceived as being the most favorable for meetings .

Overall, meeting planners selected Chicago as being the best location for meetings, followed by San Diego and San Francisco . Las Vegas and New york City also ranked in the top five .

Again, the survey sought to move beyond perception of the destination and identify which North American convention bureaus were most helpful in meeting the needs of meeting planners .

Topping the list is San Diego, with Orlando, Chicago, Las Vegas, Montreal and Washington, DC taking the next five slots .

North American Favorites

Best countries for international meetings

22 Favorites

London

London

Chicago

San Diego

Barcelona

Singapore

San Diego

Orlando

Paris

Barcelona

San Francisco

Chicago

Singapore

Amsterdam

Las Vegas

Las Vegas

Hong Kong

Vienna

New York City

Montreal

Washington, DC

Best cities for international meetings

Best cities for north american meetings

toP international destination marketing organizations

toP north american destination marketing organizations

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Appendix A:Questionnaire and Invitation to Participate Subject: 4-Minute Meetings Survey and Results

Dear (Salutation):

The attached survey could improve the way you do business with international destinations .

It will take you less than 5 minutes to complete these 12 questions . But your comments will provide enormous assistance to meetings professionals around the world . Please provide your opinions by clicking on the following link .

<WEBLINK>

The results of the survey will help us identify the type of support you seek from international destinations . Perhaps their collaboration could be more effective for you? We would like to know . your opinions will make a difference in how CVBs serve your needs .

The survey’s findings will be presented on October 9th at IMEX America in Las Vegas . your responses will be kept anonymous and confidential .

Thank you for your consideration of this request .

P .S . We will gladly send your choice of a $10 Starbucks or iTunes gift card for your participation . We’ll also be pleased to share an executive summary of the findings when reported in September .

Sincerely,

Alba HotchkissDevelopment Counsellors International

215 Park Avenue South, 10th Floor, New york, Ny 10003 T 212 725 0707 F 212 725 2254 E alba .hotchkiss@aboutdci .com www .aboutdci .com

2012 International Meeting Planners Survey

1) Are you involved in evaluating or selecting destinations for your organization’s meetings?

q yes (Continue)q No (Please forward this survey to the appropriate individual .)

2) What are the three leading sources of information influencing your perceptions of an international destination? (Choose up to 3)

q Articles in newspapers and magazinesq Business/personal travelq Coverage on TV/radioq Dialogue with industry peersq Meetings with destination representativesq Online sourcesq Social mediaq Word of mouthq Other (please specify _________________________________)

2a) Which social media outlet do you use most frequently for business?

q Blogsq Facebookq Industry online forums

q LinkedInq Twitterq youTube

q Other (please specify _________________________________)

3) When evaluating international destinations for meetings, which organizations do you rely upon the most? (Select up to 2)

q International convention bureausq Destination hotelsq Destination management companies (DMCs)q Meeting planning agencies (3rd party planners)q Professional conference organizers (PCOs)q Other (please specify _________________________________)

3a) Thinking about your interactions with international convention bureaus, what do you do most frequently?

q Speak to and/or e-mail convention bureau staff q refer to the bureau’s printed materials q Visit the convention bureau website q Attend convention bureau hosted eventsq Other (please specify _________________________________)

3b) What is the preferred method for an international convention bureau representative to reach you to provide information on their destination?

q E-mailq In person visit at conference or expoq Personal visit q Phone callq Other (please specify _________________________________)

4) What industry conferences and expos have you attended in the last three years? (Choose all that apply)

q AIBTMq ASAE Annual Meeting & Expoq EIBTM Barcelonaq FICP Annual Conference & Education Forumq IMEX Americaq IMEX Frankfurtq MPI World Education Conferenceq PCMA Annual Meetingq Noneq Other (please specify _________________________________)

5) On a scale of 1-5, please rank the effectiveness of the following marketing techniques as a means of influencing meeting planners who may be considering new destinations:

24

25

No Poor �¬­­¬¬¢ Excellent Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6

Advertising m m m m m m

Destination newsletters m m m m m m

E-mails m m m m m m

Educational workshops m m m m m m

Hosted lunch or dinner receptions

m m m m m m

Articles in meetings industry publications

m m m m m m

Trade Shows m m m m m m

Webinars m m m m m m

5a) What type of destination advertising do you view as the most effective?

q Online q Print q radio q Television

5b) What format do you prefer for educational workshops?

q Single-destination workshopsq Multi-destination educational workshops

6) What travel industry publications do you read most frequently? (Choose up to three)

q Association Meetingsq Associations Nowq Conveneq Corporate Meetings & Incentivesq Medical Meetingsq Meetings Focus Internationalq Meetings & Conventionsq Successful Meetingsq I don’t read travel industry publicationsq Other (please specify _________________________________)

6a) Do you prefer reading travel industry publications online or in hard copy?

q Online q Hard copy

7) On a scale of one (not important) to five (very important), how would you rate the importance of educational or “fam” trips on influencing your perception of a destination?

q 1 (not important)q 2q 3

q 4q 5 (very important)

7a) What is the best time of year for you to participate in educational or “fam” trips?

q Fall q Winter q Spring q Summer

7b) On average, how many educational or “fam” trips do you attend each year? _________________________________

7c) Do you prefer group or individual “fam” trips?

q Group q Individual

8) When thinking about North American meeting destinations, which destinations do you view most favorably? (Select up to 3)

9) When thinking about meeting destinations outside North America, which destinations do you view most favorably?

10) When thinking about North American convention bureaus that you’ve worked with in the past, which ones do you feel are the most helpful?

11) When thinking about convention bureaus outside North America that you’ve worked with in the past, which ones do you feel are the most helpful?

For Association Meeting Planners:

12) Who makes the final decision on the destination for your meetings?

q Board of Directorsq Executive Directorq Membership voteq Survey of participantsq Other (please specify _________________________________)

For Corporate Meeting Planners and Association Management Companies:

12) Who makes the final decision on the destination for your clients’ meetings?

q AMC Executive Director q AMC Account Executive q Clients’ Board of Directors q Clients’ Executive Director q Association membership vote q Survey of participants q Other (please specify _________________________________)

Thank you for participating in this brief survey .

We will be delighted to send you a $10 Starbucks or a $10 iTunes Gift Card to express our gratitude for your valuable time . Simply provide your contact information requested at the end of the survey . Should you have any questions, please contact DCI’s Director of research, robyn Domber at robyn .domber@aboutdci .com . All responses will be kept anonymous and confidential . Click “Next Page” to get started .

Name: __________________________________________________

Title: ___________________________________________________

Company: _______________________________________________

Mailing Address: _________________________________________

City, State, Postal Code: ___________________________________

Please send me

q a $10 Starbucks Card

q a $10 iTunes Card

26

Appendix B: Most Favorable Meeting Location rankings

Favorite International Destinations

% of Responses

London 20 .2%

Europe 12 .9%

Barcelona 10 .1%

Paris 10 .1%

Italy 8 .4%

Singapore 7 .3%

United Kingdom 7 .3%

Spain 6 .7%

Hong Kong 6 .2%

rome 6 .2%

France 5 .6%

Vienna 5 .6%

Australia 5 .1%

Caribbean 5 .1%

Mexico 5 .1%

Asia 4 .5%

Berlin 4 .5%

Most Helpful International CVBs

% of Responses

London 14 .8%

Singapore 9 .9%

Barcelona 6 .3%

Amsterdam 5 .6%

Vienna 5 .6%

Dubai 4 .9%

Germany 4 .9%

Scotland 4 .9%

Melbourne 4 .2%

Berlin 3 .5%

Glasgow 3 .5%

Hong Kong 3 .5%

Copenhagen 2 .8%

Dublin 2 .8%

Mexico 2 .8%

Paris 2 .8%

Favorite North American Destinations

% of Responses

Chicago 20 .8%

San Diego 18 .5%

San Francisco 18 .0%

Las Vegas 16 .3%

NyC 14 .0%

Florida 13 .5%

Orlando 13 .5%

Washington D .C 11 .8%

California 10 .7%

Vancouver 10 .1%

Boston 9 .6%

Miami 9 .0%

New Orleans 6 .7%

Arizona 6 .2%

Phoenix 6 .2%

Toronto 6 .2%

Canada 5 .6%

Dallas 5 .1%

Montreal 5 .1%

Hawaii 4 .5%

Most Helpful North American CVBs

% of Responses

San Diego 13 .5%

Orlando 11 .5%

Chicago 10 .3%

Las Vegas 10 .3%

Montreal 7 .7%

Washington DC 7 .7%

Miami 7 .1%

Vancouver 7 .1%

Los Angeles 6 .4%

Scottsdale 6 .4%

Boston 5 .8%

New Orleans 5 .1%

Toronto 5 .1%

New york City 4 .5%

San Francisco 4 .5%

Baltimore 3 .2%

Dallas 3 .2%

Florida 3 .2%

Phoenix 3 .2%

San Antonio 3 .2%

Seattle 3 .2%

27

A Word About DCIDevelopment Counsellors InternatIonal (DCI) is the leader in marketing places. since 1960, we have worked with more than 400 cit-ies, regions, states and countries, helping them attract both visitors and investors. We specialize exclusively in all phases of tourism and economic development marketing.

our areas of expertise include:

• Meeting and Incentive Sales • Talent Attraction

• Travel Trade Marketing • Social/Digital Media

• Editorial Placement/Media Relations • Media Training

• Prospect Development/Qualification (PDQ) • Special Events

• Economic Development Marketing • Marketing Blueprints

• Location Advisor Relationship Building • Website Development

• Perception Studies (Media/Corporate executives)

• Crisis Communications

Headquartered in the media capital of the world, new York City, DCI has worked with more tourism organizations than all other marketing agencies in North America. The firm also has frequently formed alliances with local advertising and marketing agencies to provide specialized tourism input.

In addition to Winning strategies in Destination marketing, DCI has con-ducted its Winning strategies in economic Development marketing survey six times (1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011). this survey of corporate executives with site selection responsibilities identifies the “customer’s perspective” on the most effective strategies and techniques in economic development marketing.

Interested in learning more? We’d love to explore how we might assist your destination marketing organization or convention bureau.

Karyl Leigh Barnes, Senior Vice President/PartnerDevelopment Counsellors International215 park avenue south, 10th Floornew York, nY 10003t 212-444-7123e karyl.barnes@aboutdci.com@aboutdci www.Facebook.com/AboutDCIwww.aboutdci.com

“The best way

to predict the

future is to

create it.”

— Peter F. Drucker

Development Counsellors International

215 Park Avenue South, 10th FloorNew York, NY 10003Phone: 212-725-0707 Fax: 212-725-2254

www.aboutdci.com