The county is moving forward with merging the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau – also known as Discover Prince William – with Prince William County Department of Parks and Recreation.
Read our earlier story about the transition for Discover Prince William here.
According to a release, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) voted unanimously on the merger, and the organization will now become the Office of Tourism.
“The merger comes after the board’s internal audit of the CVB revealed specific risk factors with the organizational structure of the CVB. High risk factors included the governance of the CVB, a memorandum of understanding that had expired in 2013, and finance/accounting practices. Moderate risk factors included purchasing guidelines and monitoring and evaluating contractors,” stated a release.
More on the merger, from a release:
The CVB has had success in marketing Prince William County as a tourism destination and even recently earned its accreditation as a destination marketing organization. The merger keeps the CVB staff in place, and addresses the issue of governance by eliminating the agreement, consolidating accountability so that one organization is now responsible for tourism in the county, and allowing more staff time to be devoted to specific tourism initiatives instead of administrative issues. The merger also creates a net savings in transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenues of $191,400, which will be applied to further tourism initiatives.
“This past year, much success has occurred,” said Rojan Robotham, the current vice chair of the CVB Board. “The… team has achieved national accreditation… won a national award for video content marketing and a state award from the Virginia Convention of Visitor’s Bureau for sales manager of the year…. However, I believe that the new organizational construct will enable Ann Marie and her team to accomplish even more than we did this past year. I continue to remain excited about the future of Prince William County being a top destination and look forward to the team’s continued success under this new organizational structure.”
The Office of Tourism will receive guidance from a Tourism Advisory Board comprised of members of the tourism industry. This will leverage the private sector resources and expertise to make certain Prince William County continues to address the needs of the county’s tourism industry.
Now that the BOCS has authorized the merger, county staff will work with the Discover Prince William staff to wind down their operations and move positions over to Parks and Recreation, as well as create a tourism industry advisory board, according to a release.
“This decision eliminates the barriers that have impeded our organizational growth. The merger allows us to expand upon our successful, award-winning and accredited marketing and sales programs with a stronger voice from the tourism and hospitality community while utilizing an increased share of the county’s many resources,” stated Discover Prince William President and CEO Ann Marie Maher in an email.
