St. Louis. St. Lou Is... All Within Reach.
St. Louis CVC History
The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC) is the sales and marketing organization responsible for selling St. Louis City and St. Louis County as a convention and meeting site and as a leisure travel destination. In addition, the CVC manages and operates the America's Center convention complex which includes 502,000 square feet of prime exhibit space, 83 meeting rooms, the Edward Jones Dome at America's Center, the 1,411-seat John Ferrara Theatre, a 28,000 square-foot ballroom and the St. Louis Executive Conference Center.
The organization's mission statement is: To increase visitor demand and visitor spending.
The CVC traces its history to 1909 when a group of business owners, seeing the success of the 1904 World's Fair, formed the St. Louis Convention & Publicity Board as a means of further economic development for the city. The name of the organization was later changed to the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater St. Louis.
In 1984, the Bureau was restructured and combined with the St. Louis County Office of Tourism to form the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, a regional commission of the State of Missouri.
In 1991, the CVC's board was reorganized to reflect the organization's new role in managing the expanded America's Center convention complex. (Prior to the expansion, the convention center had been operated by the City of St. Louis.) The CVC's 11-member Board of Commissioners is headed by a chairman appointed by the Governor of Missouri. Five Board members are appointed by the Mayor of the City of St. Louis and five are appointed by the St. Louis County Executive. According to the organization's enabling legislation, three of each official's appointees must be actively engaged in the St. Louis hotel industry.
The CVC is funded by a 3.75 percent tax on hotel sleeping rooms in St. Louis City and County, 11/15th of which is used by the CVC for its sales and marketing programs and operations. The remaining 4/15 of the tax supports the programs of the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission. The CVC also receives dues income from nearly 700 member businesses from the St. Louis metropolitan area. Members of the CVC work with and support the $3.8 billion St. Louis hospitality industry and take advantage of business leads generated by the Commission and networking opportunities with other CVC members. Members include hotels, restaurants, attractions, retailers, transportation companies, civic organizations, corporations and providers of goods and services used in the industry.
The CVC works to bring citywide conventions, one hotel meetings, group tours and individual leisure travelers to St. Louis. The Commission also books sporting and special events into the Edward Jones Dome at America's CenterSM and other venues throughout St. Louis, and works closely with the St. Louis Sports Commission to bring special amateur and professional sports events to St. Louis. The CVC provides office space for the St. Louis Sports Commission.
An economic impact study, conducted by University of Missouri St. Louis professor of economics and public policy Don Phares Ph.D., concludes that the CVC's sales, marketing and facilities operation efforts generate a $2 billion positive annual impact on St. Louis' economy (based on data collected in 2000 and 2001), including $1.08 billion in direct spending and $112 million in government revenues.
"By any measure the operations and associated activities of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission and the America's Center convention complex provide significant input to the St. Louis economy, and, beyond this, to the state of Missouri," writes Professor Phares.
