What
is the Austin Convention & Visitor Bureau?
The mission of the ACVB is as follows: "The
Convention and Visitors Bureau is organized as a 501(6) Non-Profit
corporation operating for the purpose of attracting overnight
visitors and conventions to the community and therefore advancing
the economic impact such visitors and conventions have upon
the entire community."
For visitors, CVBs are like a key to the city.
As an unbiased resource, CVBs can serve as an
official point of contact for convention and meeting planners,
tour operators and visitors.
They assist planners with meeting preparation
and encourage business travelers and visitors alike to visit
local historic, cultural and recreational sites.
Funding for the CVBs, including the Austin Convention
& Visitors Bureau (ACVB), comes from a local lodging tax
that is collected from visitors staying in local hotels. The
current lodging tax in Austin is 3%.
Meetings, sports and tourism events are important because:
Travel and tourism enhances the quality of life
for a local community by providing jobs, bringing in tax dollars
for improvement of services and infrastructure, and attracting
facilities like restaurants, shops, festivals, and cultural
and sporting venues that cater to both visitors and locals.
What is the impact of Austin tourism?
In 2007, Austin hosted over 160,000 visitors
who attended conventions, sporting events, were leisure travelers,
group tour participants and Festival goers. These visitors
have been attracted to the city and state through the efforts
of the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau and their tourism
partners in Austin and across the state. These visitors spent
an estimated $20,000,000 in Austin during their 2007 stay.
