Roles, issues, and strategies for convention and visitors' bureaux in destination planning and product development: a survey of Canadian bureaux

Convention and Visitors Bureaux (CVBs) are primarily destination marketing organizations, typically established at the community level for the purposes of fostering meetings and leisure travel. Although many do not get involved in destination planning or product development, some bureaux have become pro-active on the supply side. Their potential roles and strategies in these areas, however, are somewhat controversial. Through a survey of Canadian CVBs a profile of bureau involvement is revealed, together with a number of critical issues. There are substantial barriers to CVB involvement in product development, but facilitating or producing events is popular with bureaux. A number of theoretical implications are explored and several research questions suggested. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.