The Roswell Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors earlier this month held its 24th Annual Meeting and Community Awards banquet.

The event attracted more than 250 people, who all filed into Andretti’s banquet facility to celebrate the city’s economic and tourism-related successes. 

The Roswell Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors governs the Roswell Inc., the city’s economic development program, and the city’s Visit Roswell Georgia tourism program. 

Serving on the Board of Directors are 34 active leaders, representing Roswell businesses, residents, property owners, attractions, restaurants, lodging facilities, event facilities and the arts.

After a welcome by CVB President Ken Davis, the featured speaker for the evening, Craig Lesser, spoke on the importance of both economic development and tourism.

Lesser is the managing partner of the Pendleton Consulting Group. Prior to joining The Pendleton Consulting Group, Craig served as the managing director and head of international public affairs for McKenna Long & Aldridge, a law firm based in Atlanta. His primary focus was on expanding the firm’s presence abroad and interfacing with international businesses operating in the United States.

Following Lesser’s presentation, Roswell Inc. Executive Director Steve Stroud gave a report on the organization’s activities and successes.

Recently, the Visit Roswell tourism program conducted a Conversion and Return on Investment Study by a professional research firm, North Star Destinations Research Division. 

The report, which an be viewed here, included the following information:

• Tourism-related activity brought in $91,109,455 in spending to the city of Roswell (this does not include property tax, jobs and salaries/wages generated).
• Based on the results of the survey, $55,576,767.41, or 61 percent, of tourism spending can be directly attributed to marketing efforts by Visit Roswell.
• For every $1 invested in the Visit Roswell tourism program, the city of Roswell reaps $110.76 in tourism economic activity.
• Non-resident visitors to Roswell that were engaged by Visit Roswell account directly for $11,228,591 in tourism related economic activity (these were people who either saw an ad and requested additional information, visit the Visit Roswell website and contacted the bureau for additional information, or came into the Roswell Visitors Center to get additional information). The return on investment for this portion of the Visit Roswell program is $21.58 per every $1 invested (CVB’s of Roswell’s size typically have a Return on Investment between $4 and $6).
• Non-resident visitors to Roswell who indicated that Visit Roswell’s advertising/marketing efforts directly influenced their decision to visit accounted for $6,849,360; a Return on Investment ratio of $12.77 per each $1 invested. CVB’s of Roswell size typically have an ROI between $2 - $3 for this area of activity.
• The tourism efforts by Visit Roswell continue to reap benefits far beyond the fiscal year in which they are funded. The report clearly reflects that Visit Roswell far out-performs other Destination Marketing Organizations of its size in terms of its ability to leverage its marketing efforts, far out-performing similarly sized and resourced CVBs. Of particular note is the fact that Visit Roswell has generated Returns on Investments in all categories of tourism economic impact that are double and triple those of other CVBs of its size.

The annual meeting also included revealing who won the CVB’s annual awards. Winners were: 

• Tourism Partner Award: Roswell Ghost Tour/Dianna and Joe Avena.
• Young Professional Award: Brendan Walsh, with Lehigh homes.
• Economic Development Award: Lennar Corporation for the Roswell City Walk project and its Economic Impact on the city of Roswell.
• President’s Award (given to an individual who has assisted the CVB in many areas and has been willing to give of their time and talents to help with CVB objectives): Alex Paulson with Randall Paulson Architects.
• History Maker of the Year Award: Nancy Tolbert-Yilmaz, owner and founder of the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance.

The History Maker of the Year award is presented to someone who has given consistently to the community of Roswell for more than 25 years. This year’s honoree grew up in Roswell and with urging from Maurice Hilliard, Frances McGahee and Emily Dolvin, she opened her business in 1979 in a little house on Canton Street.

Announcing the opening of her new venture, she was amazed that on the first day 350 people showed up to register for programs. The business has grown significantly since then and its reputation is prized in Roswell and throughout the world.