Tourism is down nation wide. Qudos to the Metro Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau for thinking outside the box.  Check out the MTCVB annual report – HERE.  From the MTCV newsletter;

Bold New Programs Target Meeting Business
The MTCVB has launched a bold program to draw group meetings and conventions to Tucson. We are offering up to $20,000 credit to groups booking meetings in Tucson in 2009.  In December, we began an electronic and direct-mail campaign offering groups $1,000 – $10,000 credit per meeting for their master accounts, dependent upon the number of peak room nights booked. We will provide half the appropriate credit, and participating meeting hotels/resorts will pay the other half in the form of master account credit. Groups booking consecutive multi-year events (2009 and 2010) will receive incentive funding for both meetings. Meetings booked in 2009 for 2010 dates will receive 50 percent of the outlined incentive credit.

A separate but complementary incentive program rewards Tucsonans who provide the MTCVB with qualified leads that result in booked meetings. Every individual who submits a qualified lead referral will receive a $100 gift certificate to Tucson Originals restaurants and be entered into a drawing for prizes, including a $1,000 shopping spree at La Encantada, a $500 spa day at Miraval Tucson Resort, a $5,000 radio advertising schedule at a Citadel Broadcasting Radio Station with a custom marketing consultation, and a set of roundtrip airline tickets.

The goal of these programs is to stimulate meeting business for Tucson hotels and resorts and to aid meeting professionals with budgetary concerns. For more information, contact Graeme Hughes, MTCVB Director of Convention Sales, at 770-2174.