A Message from Chamber President Dennis Goldstrand:

CVB helps visitors get to know Stockton

FEBRUARY 2009  - The Stockton Conference & Visitors Bureau (CVB) has been a division of your Chamber since 2004.  Its mission is to market the greater Stockton region for economic growth by facilitating conventions, attractions, cultural and sporting events while addressing the needs of visitors and tourists.

The CVB is staffed by Wes Rhea, Director; Monica Slingerman, Group Sales; and Michelle Flores, Administration/Visitors Services.  It receives its funding from the City of Stockton and the Tourism Business Improvement District.

Some of the activities and projects include the website, adoption of the “Celebrate Stockton” branding, visitors guide, tradeshows and advertising. The website, www.VisitStockton.org, had 194,593 visitors in 2008 for an average of 533 per day, which was a 25 percent increase over 2007.

Be sure to tour the website and sign up for the Weekly Stockton Activities Guide e-mail.

In early 2009, there will be a complete redesign to reflect the new Stockton brand, logo and tagline. 

Also in 2009, Web 2.0 technologies such as RSS Feeds, Streaming Video, Photo Library, Itinerary Builder and PDA compatibility will be integrated. The “Celebrate Stockton” brand will be adopted with the domain www.CelebrateStockton.com to drive local traffic.

There were 35,000 Official Visitors Guides printed in 2008.  Distribution is worldwide to visitors upon request, meetings and conference planners, tour operators and group travel leaders.  The guides are also available at local hotels, restaurants, art & entertainment venues, City Hall, Downtown Stockton Alliance, Chamber events, and citywide meetings, conference and sporting events.  There is also a Stockton Visitors Guide online.

To promote the greater Stockton area as a destination, the CVB markets itself in various magazines and other publications, travel guides and websites.  Attending various tradeshows is an important component also.

I express my appreciation to Wes, Monica and Michelle for their dedication in taking the Chamber’s CVB so far in four years and their ambitious plans for the future.

As with most marketing, it takes awhile to see results.  Our team has made tremendous progress and Stockton and the business community will benefit greatly from their efforts.