As seen in the February edition of the Chamber Voice, the 2018 Annual Report offers a summary of each Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce division’s accomplishments in 2018. An extended version of each division will be profiled on the Voice of Business Blog. The next department summarized is Visit Rogers.
- Sales team exceeded goals in all sales categories including future sourced roomnights (183 percent of goal), future definite roomnights (233 percent of goal), leads sourced to partners (127 percent of goal), new business leads sourced to partners (165 percent of goal) and new definite business roomnights (132 percent of goal).
- Sales team conducted 42 site inspections and hosted four (4) familiarization tours (FAMs) for prospective buyers in Rogers.
- Meetings market digital presence update through development of new collateral, rebuilt CVENT page, targeted digital program with Northstar, overhauled meetings webpage, industry blog featured on meetings page, first-hand articles written through interviews with HB and Destinations International, and creation of new meeting planner digital marketing kit.
- New business signed included National State Park Directors 2019 Annual Meeting, Solution Tree Learning Groups PLC and RTI, and 2019 Trout Unlimited Annual Meeting. Sports and group tour wins were Basscat Owners Tournament, all team rooms for the 2018 NCAA Baseball Regionals, all team rooms for the 2019 Men’s and Women’s Golf Championship in May 2019.
- Sports and group tour markets serviced through new web and newsletter content, collaborative sales efforts with industry partners throughout Arkansas, co-op sponsorships at major tradeshows such as American Bus Association, Travel Alliance Partners, TEAMS and Sports Conferences, and development of regional itineraries for the group and international travel segments.
- Visit Rogers team continued professional development and education by attending Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College, NASC Market 4S Summit, PCMA Education and Industry Conferences, Destinations International Annual Convention, IOM Winter Institute, STS Connections Conference, Google Streetview Summit and Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
- Sports & Tourism Marketing Manager Kelly Parker was selected as a participant in Leadership Benton County.
- Meetings & Conventions Manager Luke Wiggins received a scholarship to attend STS Marketing College as a first-year student.
- Rogers was awarded to host the 2019 Basscat Owners Fishing Tournament in April 2019.
- Tourism website VisitRogersArkansas.com saw record numbers of users, page views and sessions during 2018. Likewise for Visit Rogers social media channels.
- Visit Rogers, along with a select group of DMOs from around the world, attended the Google Streetview Summit in San Francisco, gaining insights and training into the latest Google products for destinations and the tourism industry.
- Visit Rogers represented Northwest Arkansas at international travel trade shows Travel South International and IPW, part of the Arkansas Tourism Department’s new focus on attracting inbound international travel to the state.
- Visit Rogers and its media partners produced three new videos for digital distribution. Videos now live on VisitRogersArkansas.com and the new Arkansas.com.
- Visit Rogers debuted the first destination brand channel on the homepage of the newly launched Arkansas.com, featuring six (6) articles and three (3) videos of Rogers content to all state tourism website visitors.
Marketing Communications Manager Kelly Parker, Executive Director J.R. Shaw, and Convention Sales Manager Luke Wiggins lead the Visit Rogers team. Go to VisitRogersArkansas.com for more information.