Cobb County, Georgia

Convention and Visitors Bureau Organizational Action Plan

The Cobb County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is at a critical crossroads. In the midst of a jobless economic recovery with declining tax revenues, the CVB has recently struggled to find appropriate funding and strong programmatic relevancy within the community. Cobb County boasts many attractions, including Kennesaw National Battlefield Park, historic downtown Marietta, the Silver Comet Trail, and world class shopping from both national retailers and locally-owned boutiques. The CVB must better understand its current market identity, the overall impact of tourism, and its own internal organizational dynamics. Then it must proceed with a plan to strengthen the organization to secure long-term sustainability and provide the maximum value to Cobb County and its communities. This process is designed to respond to those needs to create a research-informed Organizational Action Plan.

At the CVB’s request, Market Street Services will lead the organization in a comprehensive process to guide it into its preferred future. Our firm will partner with two firms on the core research components. This process, which involves two phases, includes the following components:

 

Phase 1: SWOT Analysis

1. Market Identity – Market Street will partner with The Schapiro Group, a nationally recognized polling firm, to survey visitors via the Internet to gauge the opinions of travelers in the Southeastern U.S. for the Cobb County CVB. Based on the survey results, Market Street will develop a current market identity statement to concisely summarize the tourism industry segments in which Cobb County can most successfully compete.

2. Economic Impact – Prior to the economic impact assessment, Market Street will compose an asset inventory for Cobb County, which will catalog the County’s current tourism assets. Market Street will partner with Bill Riall, Ph.D., to provide the CVB an economic impact assessment of tourism in Cobb County to help the Cobb County CVB better understand the market in which they operate and to quantify the broad impact that tourism has on the local economy.

3. Organizational Dynamics – One of our core philosophies at Market Street is that “form follows function.” Market Street will interview key staff members and partners to identify what is working well within the CVB and what is not working and where there are opportunities for additional collaboration with partners. The results of these interviews will be analyzed alongside available materials, reports, and websites to perform a review of the Cobb County CVB mission, structure, and programs.

Phase 2: Organizational Action Plan

Results from all of the gathered research in the SWOT Analysis will be used to create an Organizational Action Plan which will outline goals, objectives, and implementation guidelines for the future. Market Street will develop a Plan inclusive of both short and long-term recommendations to be achieved over a three-year time period. Best practices from three convention and visitors bureaus nationwide will also be presented in order to provide the CVB with context for evaluating funding levels, the value of its programs, and its internal organization.