GREATER ROCHESTER VISITORS ASSOCIATION INC
45 East Avenue Suite No 400, Rochester, NY 14604 www.visitrochester.com

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Organizations Filed Purposes: To advocate for appropriate destination development, investment, and increased community awareness, appreciation and support for the visitor industry.

Publicize the City of Rochester and Monroe County, promote its reputation and enhance its image.

Convention/Meeting Sales and Services:This division initiates direct sales contact with organizations and individuals throughout the United States who can choose Monroe County as a site location for meetings and conventions. It develops and executes programs that project a positive image of Greater Rochester to association and meeting planner markets. Professional staff works to familiarize meeting planners with Greater Rochester's features and benefits that support a site choice for conventions, meetings, tradeshows and events. Sales programs include personal sales, tradeshows exhibition, direct marketing, familiarization tours, sales missions and collaborative promotions with Greater Rochester's hospitality industry. (Continued on Schedule O)The department routinely evaluates Greater Rochester's resources relative to competitive destinations and uses the information to strengthen the local product and enhance bid proposals for group business.A vital component of successful convention marketing is the endorsement of local and regional residents who are members of, or affiliated with, targeted organizations. The sales and marketing process extends to local individuals in a way that cultivates their support of a bid for Monroe County to be a meeting site for a specific organization.An extensive array of convention services are offered during the sales process and provided to organizations prior to and during their stay in Monroe County. These services enhance the delegates' overall experience and result in higher attendance, lengthened duration of stay and an increase per person visitor expenditures.In 2019, the Convention Sales and Services Division: - Booked meeting and convention business that collectively resulted in 67,656 delegates - Created 58,889 room nights worth of future business for Monroe County lodging facilities - Distributed 120,509 pieces of Rochester promotional material to convening delegates

Tourism/Leisure Marketing: Tourism (leisure) marketing and development attracts visitors who spend time and money at Monroe County's attractions, cultural institutions, festivals and events and in recreational pursuits. Leisure tourism likely comprises a majority of out-of-town visitors and spending at cultural institutions, family attractions and special events. It is a market that creates the most personal impressions of the area because of how these visitors spend their time and what they experience while here. Monroe County has significant appeal to leisure travelers and is geographically located to capitalize on its internationally known attractions. (Continued on Schedule O)GRVA's tourism division develops and implements advertising programs, collateral distribution systems, resource enhancement programs, market promotions and travel-trade partnerships that reach broad tourism markets and special interest groups. Many programs are developed in collaboration with GRVA member organizations and with regional destination marketing partners including entities in the Finger Lakes Region, the Erie Canal Corridor and Seaway Trail.Target markets include:- A major focus for year-round visitation encompassing markets within a 250-mile radius including Canadian populations, attracted through digital and print tactics- Family travelers from the downstate region of New York state, I-81 corridor in Pennsylvania and surrounding drive-in markets this area, attracted through a major co-op marketing program funded in part through grant dollars awarded by New York State- Travelers who are already in, or planning visits to nearby regions with an ability to include our county in their travels- International visitors who are traveling by ground transportation from New York City to Niagara Falls, attracted through a program called Wine, Water, and Wonders of New York State in conjunction with Corning Museum of Glass, Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance and Niagara Falls USA- Group tour/travel trade, attracted through direct sales programs and with the help of packaged visits that include nearby attractions, wineries, etc.- Encouraging local residents to invite their families and friends- Additional tourism investments seek to intercept passing travelers encouraging them to choose Rochester for lodging, services and attractionsGRVA estimates that at least 360,000 tourism/leisure visitors came from at least 50 miles away as individuals, families and small traveling units in 2019. Specific tracking of programs is difficult and research is generally accomplished with regional and state partners. Locally, anecdotal information provided by attractions, weekend and holiday hotel occupancy and comparative event attendance is largely the source used to measure tourism and related expenditures. Activity indexes are used as a reliable source to help determine leisure interest and resulting business.

Rochester NY Sports Commission:GRVA has full responsibility for the sales administration and market programming for what formally was known as the Monroe County Sports Commission. The Rochester NY Sports Commission works diligently to promote Monroe County through its sports marketing efforts and highlights the important impact athletics have on our community's economic vitality and quality of life. (Continued on Schedule O)Results are reported for 2019, the second year of total integration: - Booked tournament and sports-related event business that collectively resulted in 155,255 delegates - Created 35,293 trackable room nights worth of future business for Monroe County lodging facilities

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Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202031759349300923_public.xml