The newly created Howard County Tourism & Promotion Sales Department will implement all of the strategies and tactics of the group sales effort to promote and sell Howard County, Md., as a destination for business and leisure travel in a manner that maximizes the economic impact on Howard County. Its primary responsibility is to solicit association; meeting; social, military, educational, religious, fraternal (SMERF); sports; consumer; and group tour business through a variety of methods including sales missions, telemarketing, direct sales calls, trade show attendance and site inspections.
Its secondary responsibility is to maintain relationships with partner hoteliers, conference centers, meeting venues, group-friendly attractions and sports facilities; ensure that Howard County Tourism & Promotion partnership privileges are represented to planner and conference participants; and maintain relationships for referrals with the Maryland Office of Tourism Development, Destination DC and Visit Baltimore.
And although in the 21st century technology certainly has made an enormous impact on how companies do business, still no technology can replace face-to-face meetings and networking — you just can’t text, e-mail or fax a handshake.
To that end, below are the new cooperative sales and marketing opportunities that Howard County Tourism & Promotion’s Sales Department will be participating in during fiscal year 2012 to bring customers to local businesses.
Taffy Rice (second from left) hosts a sales team from Destination DC for a site visit at Terrapin Adventures at Savage Mill in Howard County.
HSMAI National: Washington, D.C.
Sept. 7 & 8, 2011
HSMAI’s Meetings Conference & Exposition attracts planners from all sectors of the industry who attend looking for quality resources to enhance their meetings and events.
TEAMs: Las Vegas
Oct. 3–7, 2011
The world’s leading conference and expo for the sports-event industry offers a conference program with leading experts who share the latest information on sports development. This trade show will bring more than 300 sports-event suppliers and hundreds of sports-event coordinators together.
Rejuvenate: San Jose
Nov. 7–9, 2011
Rejuvenate Marketplace is an educational conference designed specifically for meeting planners who organize meetings and conferences for faith-based organizations. The three-day event includes a reverse trade show with one-on-one appointments between planners and suppliers.
Meetings Quest: Washington, D.C.
Nov. 22, 2011
Since 1984, Meetings Quest has provided a one-day trade show event specifically designed for the busy meeting professional. It offers valuable educational seminars, an exhibit hall where one can do a month’s worth of business in one day and outlets for networking with industry peers.
ABA National Conference: Texas
Jan. 6–10, 2012
The American Bus Association Marketplace is the premier business event for the group travel industry. The appointments are the core of the show, which allow buyers and sellers to meet face-to-face in prescheduled seven-minute meetings. In addition, Marketplace offers professional education seminars and numerous networking opportunities.
Destinations Showcase Conference & Expos: Washington, D.C.
February 2012
Destinations Showcase Conference & Expos are the meeting industry’s largest forums, bringing corporate, government, association and independent meeting planners together with exhibiting destination marketing organizations from the U.S. and beyond.
ASAE Springtime: Washington, D.C.
May 1–2, 2012
The Springtime Expo is the largest one-day show in the meetings industry. The Springtime Expo trade show floor is open to qualified association and meeting professionals only.
Collaborate: Las Vegas
April 25–27, 2012
Collaborate Marketplace is a conference and trade show that brings together qualified corporate meeting planners with destinations from across North America, the Caribbean and Europe. Collaborate Marketplace is a reverse trade show where the supplier circulates the trade show floor to meet with meeting planners in pre-set appointments in a “speed-dating” style — six minutes each.
Taffy Rice is the new director of sales for Howard County Tourism & Promotion. She can be reached at Taffy@visithowardcounty.com.
