Membership
Thank you so much for your interest in membership in the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, the unified voice of Georgia’s destination marketing organizations. This past year has been one of much growth for our organization and we look forward to even more exciting developments in 2012 and beyond. GACVB strives to continue to meet the needs of our members by providing:
- Industry-specific educational opportunities through conferences and webinars
- A voice on state committees and boards as they relate to the tourism industry
- Collaboration with other industry organizations to advocate issues of importance to the Georgia General Assembly
- Professional development opportunities in committee leadership roles
- Networking opportunities for CVB professionals to share best practices
- Benchmark of Excellence Certification Program for bureaus
- Leadership Excellence Certification Program for individuals
- Tuition scholarships to STS Marketing College and the Governor’s Tourism Conference
- A resource for a wealth of tourism industry information and helpful documents
- Free directory advertisements for Corporate members
- An exclusive online network for CVB members
- The annual printed association directory and access to updated e-file directories throughout the year
Member Programs
Benchmark of Excellence Certification Program for Georgia CVBs
Benchmark of Excellence Certification for Georgia Bureaus (BEC)
Destination marketing organizations in the state of Georgia are diverse and have unique operations, programs, and structures. However, the GACVB believes there is a distinct set of measures of quality and professionalism achievable by Georgia DMOs of all sizes. In 2008, the GACVB launched its Benchmark of Excellence CertificationProgram for Georgia Destination Marketing Organizations .Theprogram was designed to provide a road map for continually creating and maintaining a standard of excellence in all areas of operation.
The Benchmark of Excellence program presents the opportunity for organizations to measure their practices and achievements against a defined set of competencies which seve to increase the overall profes-sionalism and effectieness of the organization. BEC Certificationshows stakeholders that their DMO operates by standards of excellence and best practices recognized and acclaimed by industry peers.
The BEC is available at three levels – Bronze, Sliver, and Gold .Having three levels of certification makes the pocess accessible to all Georgia CVBs regardless of the size of their organization.
The cetification pocess is exclusively offeed to GACVB members. Certification is alid for a term of three years, terminating on the anniversary of the most recent certification .Certification is renewable.
Certificatio is administered through the Cunningham Center for Leadership Development at Columbus State University, a unit of the University System of Georgia.
Leadership Excellence Certification for Individuals (LEC)
To access your LEC course credits, please click here: http://cunningham.columbusstate.edu/gacvb_lookup.php
The Leadership Excellence Certification Program includes twenty-four hours of coursework in three areas of leadership focus: Supervising Excellence, Organizational Excellence, and Strategic Excellence. Upon completing all three tiers, evaluations, and a Personal Leadership Development Plan, the Leadership Excellence Certification designation will be awarded at the annual Governor’s Tourism Conference.
TIER 1 Supervising Excellence
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TIER 2 Organizational Excellence
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TIER 3 Strategic Excellence
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For the first three-tier cycle (2009 – 2011) all eight hours of certification courses were offered only at the GACVB Winter Meeting. For our second three-tier cycle (2011 – 2014) courses that lead to certification will be offered annually at the GACVB Winter Meeting and at the Governor’s Tourism Conference:
- 2011 Governor’s Tourism Conference = four hours of Supervising Excellence offered
- 2012 GACVB Winter Meeting = four hours of Supervising Excellence offered along with four hours of Supervising Excellence Advanced for those who have met their Supervising Excellence requirements
- 2012 Governor’s Tourism Conference = four hours of Organizational Excellence offered
- 2013 GACVB Winter Meeting = four hours of Organizational Excellence will be offered along with four hours of Organizational Excellence Advanced for those who have met their Organizational Excellence requirements
- 2013 Governor’s Tourism Conference = four hours of Strategic Excellence will be offered
- 2014 GACVB Winter Meeting = four hours of Strategic Excellence will be offered along with four hours of Strategic Excellence Advanced for those who have met their Strategic Excellence requirements
Helpful Documents
- Building a Destination Management Organization Brick by Brick
- Sample Personnel Policies and Practices (with permission from DMAI)
- Community Travel Development Manual (with permission from the Southeast Tourism Society)
- Glossary of Terms (with permission from NTA – off-site link)
- Recommended Standard CVB Performance Reporting Handbook (with permission from DMAI)
GACVB Members
| Acworth CVB Albany CVB Alpharetta CVB Alpine Helen-White County Americus CVB Athens CVB Atlanta CVB Atlanta Magazine-Emmis Publishing Augusta CVB Bainbridge CVB Braselton Visitors Bureau Authority Byron Convention & Visitors Bureau Carrollton Area CVB Cartersville-Bartow County CVB City of Chickamauga City of Gainesville City of Union City Clayton County CVB Cobb Travel & Tourism Columbia County CVB Columbus CVB Conyers CVB Covington-Newton County CVB Coweta County CVB Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center Dalton CVB Darien-McIntosh Chamber of Commerce Dawson County Chamber of Commerce and CVB DeKalb CVB Douglasville CVB Dunwoody Convention and Visitors Bureau Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce Fannin County Chamber of Commerce Fitzgerald Area CVB Forsyth-Monroe County Chamber of Commerce GA Dept of Economic Development Golden Isles CVB Gordon County CVB Great Southern Publishers Gwinnett County CVB Habersham CVB Henry County CVB Historic Roswell CVB Jekyll Island Authority Johns Creek CVB Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce |
Kingsland CVB Lake Lanier CVB Lawrenceville Tourism & Trade Association Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce Macon-Bibb County CVB Madden – Preprint Publishing Madison CVB Marietta Welcome Center & Visitors Bureau Marshall Travel Consulting McDonough Hospitality & Tourism Milledgeville-Baldwin County CVB Oconee County Tourism Department Okefenokee Chamber of Commerce Peachtree City CVB Perry Area CVB Pine Mountain Tourism Association and RVIC Port Wentworth Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center Rabun County CVB Authority Renfroe Hospitality Consulting Richmond Hill CVB Rome CVB Sandy Springs Hospitality & Tourism St. Marys CVB Statesboro CVB Streeter Printing Thomaston Chamber of Commerce Thomasville/Thomas County CVB Thomson-McDuffie County CVB Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association Towns County Tourism Association UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center Valdosta-Lowndes County CVB Vidalia Area CVB Villa Rica Tourism Bureau Visit Savannah Warm Springs Area Tourism Association Warner Robins CVB Washington-Wilkes County Tourism Waycross Tourism Bureau & Visitors Center Brenda Price Gary Greenhut Ginger Taylor Hal Williams Spurge Richardson |