Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism And Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Trustees approve $85,944 membership with Chicago's North Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau; bureau presents marketing data
Summary
The board voted to authorize the Village of Wheeling to execute an $85,944 membership agreement with Chicago's North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau’s executive director presented annual highlights and data on hotel, meeting and leisure promotion efforts.
The Village of Wheeling Board of Trustees on June 2 authorized a membership agreement with Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) in the amount of $85,944, following a presentation on the bureau’s year of activity.
Gina Speckman, executive director of the CVB, told trustees the bureau’s budget is about $3 million and said staff recently added a meeting-and-events specialist who focuses on weddings and special events. She highlighted programs that support Wheeling hotels, including leads for meeting business, paid social-media boosts for member events, a new aerial “Skynav” feature that offers 3-D and 360-degree community imagery, and a printed map to be distributed to 100,000 households in Cook and southern Lake counties.
Speckman said the CVB provided 26 posts focused on Wheeling assets in 2024 and boosted those posts for a total ad spend of $19,412. She described data from a Cook County grant showing visitor origination and behavior that the bureau shares with hotels and attractions; among the CVB’s findings, she said a high share of hotel guests patronize Restaurant Row and that O’Hare Airport ranked as a significant origin point for visitors to Wheeling.
“58% of the people that are staying at that hotel are dining at Restaurant Row,” Speckman said, describing one dataset she shared with members.
Trustee Papantos moved approval of the resolution authorizing the village president and village clerk to execute the agreement; Trustee Vogel seconded. The board voted unanimously in favor.
No changes to the village budget appropriation were discussed at the meeting; the vote authorizes the village to enter the membership agreement. The CVB representative said members receive leads, marketing support and cooperative advertising programs intended to support hotel occupancy and local special events.
