NORTHEAST
Credit: GoProvidenceOperated by the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, GoProvidence serves as the official destination sales and marketing organization for Providence and Warwick, R.I. Its primary function is to drive economic impact by promoting the region as a premier Northeast destination for leisure travel, conventions, trade shows and sporting events.
The agency helps meeting professionals with sourcing venues (like the Rhode Island Convention Center), vendor liaising (coordinating logistics with more than 300 local hospitality businesses, catering partners and transport systems) and financial incentives (managing programs that lower costs for booking weekday events). In addition, the organization serves as the definitive guide for leisure travelers exploring the area, while a separate division endeavors to attract major athletic tournaments for the city.
Reinforcing its role as a trusted resource for meeting professionals, Destination DC helps by navigating changing attendance patterns, international travel concerns and compressed planning timelines. Sales leaders prioritize direct outreach, timely messaging and hands-on support. The convention services team assists clients with hotel room block management, attendee microsites, communication tools for international delegates and coordination with hospitality partners to ensure events operate smoothly despite external disruptions.
Redefining what a destination marketing organization can be, Visit Baltimore engages in innovative sales and promotional programs, strong planner assistance and a commitment to supporting local businesses while creating positive economic impact throughout the city. What truly sets the agency apart is its ability to connect planners directly with the people, culture and creativity that make Baltimore unique, giving planners a firsthand look at the authentic experiences available to their attendees.
SOUTHEAST
Credit: Visit OrlandoThis Florida destination, nicknamed “the City Beautiful,” is represented by Visit Orlando as its official destination marketing and tourism organization. Its representatives connect planners with trusted local businesses, strong community resources and innovative services that simplify the planning process. With Visit Orlando as a partner, planners can design immersive group programs at Universal Epic Universe or intimate dining experiences at Michelin-recognized restaurants. The organization also keeps planners informed about major expansions happening at both the Orange County Convention Center and Orlando International Airport.
Visit Orlando has enhanced its Orlando Virtual Tours platform, which now featuring 14 neighborhoods, more than 1,100 locations, 14 new or upgraded hotels, and six venues/attractions. Built with authentic imagery, the platform allows planners to explore the destination independently or alongside a Visit Orlando expert, with detailed site information for efficient decision-making.
Committed to providing outstanding destination experiences for meetings and incentive trips, Visit Sarasota County provides bespoke concierge services tailored to each event. On Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, the agency promotes event spaces unique to the area, such as the Ringling, a large estate and art gallery once owned by circus icon John Ringling, or the Mary Selby Botanical Gardens, an in-town oasis that captures the magic of the local subtropical flora and fauna.
For 30 years, Visit Loudoun has helped establish Virginia's Loudoun County as one of the Southeast's distinctive event destinations by focusing on executive retreats, leadership meetings, incentive programs and small-to-mid-sized gatherings seeking a more curated experience. The organization serves as a true partner to planners, providing site-selection assistance and hands-on support for successful events. The agency recently unveiled its Visitor Profile Study that provides valuable insights into traveler behavior and spending patterns.
Offering strong value for meeting and incentive planners, Visit Alexandria in Virginia promotes unique venues (some 40 event spaces supporting everything from executive retreats to gatherings of up to 800 attendees), cost-efficiency, accessibility and personalized service enabling customized programs. Acting as a strategic partner, the agency provides complimentary end-to-end support from RFP distribution and venue sourcing to site visits, vendor connections and attendee tools.
Acting as the official tourism and convention marketing agency for Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Coastal Mississippi is committed to providing exceptional service, personalized support and creating memorable experiences that help meeting planners succeed. Promoting South Mississippi worldwide to attract leisure, business, sports and convention visitors, the agency offers hands-on assistance from site selection through event execution, while leveraging strong partnerships across its coastal communities.
The capital of North Carolina, Raleigh is a city rife with qualities that make it attractive to meeting planners and groups, including state-of-the-art facilities, a vibrant culinary and arts scene, and robust destination support from Visit Raleigh. The organization offers comprehensive destination marketing, visitor support and event-planning assistance, including site selection, hotel assistance and requests for proposal. In addition, custom web pages on visitraleigh.com can be created for qualifying conventions and groups
The staff at Visit St. Pete-Clearwater consider their organization to be more just than a destination marketing organization. Their role is to serve as a dedicated partner to event planners, hospitality stakeholders and the local community. The agency’s meetings and conferences team serves as an extension of each planner's staff, providing personalized support from site selection through event execution. They assist with hotel sourcing, venue recommendations, transportation logistics, promotional materials, site inspections and attendee experiences, all in the service of successful event outcomes.
MIDWEST
Credit: Experience Grand RapidsThe second most populous city in the state of Michigan, Grand Rapids is ably represented by a destination marketing organization whose sales and services teams work together to host site visits, providing an explanation of after-sale support in between venue and city tours so that clients will know exactly what they can expect when they book. Experience Grand Rapid’s sales managers provide the services staff with details like the number of people flying in and whether off-site venues are needed, so the team can start strategizing before a services manager first contacts the client. This synergistic approach enables the agency to customize their services for each group and deliver a meeting experience that is truly unique.
Grand Rapids is currently in the midst of one of the nation’s largest river revitalization efforts, which includes a new outdoor amphitheater, a new professional soccer stadium and the restoration of recreational rapids in the Grand River, all just steps from the city’s downtown convention center and hotels. The team at EGR is excited about these additional opportunities to customize the meeting experience and boost attendance.
Serving seven communities in Washtenaw County, Mich., Destination Ann Arbor is dedicated to partnering with meeting professionals to create meaningful, memorable and inclusive events. The agency helps planners identify ADA-compliant hotels, venues, transportation, attractions and experiences so all attendees can fully participate.
DAA provides personalized support from site selection and housing assistance to vendor referrals, accessibility guidance, sustainability planning and logistics coordination. The organization also helps planners create purpose-driven events through customized CSR opportunities with local nonprofits, schools and community organizations.
Ohio’s capital city is represented by Experience Columbus, an agency that strives to elevate the meetings and conventions experience through strategic leadership, innovation and a strong commitment to client success. Earlier this year, EC opened a reimagined Columbus Welcome Center just steps from the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The space serves as an immersive hub, showcasing local art, retail and experiences that help visitors connect to the destination.
SOUTHWEST
Credit: Visit IrvingSparing no expense, the team at Visit Irving likes to create custom client events that show planners exactly how luxury levels up with Texas swagger. For example, a recent promotional gathering titled "Art of the Unexpected in the Lone Star State" took place in New York City’s trendy Fifth Avenue Hotel, treating partners to an upscale Texas tasting menu with table favors and premium spirits. The highlight of the evening was the planner selection of handcrafted Lucchese boots made to order.
The Visit Irving team applies its relentless attention to detail from the moment a client officially books to when they bring their attendees into the destination. From managing complex housing blocks and designing custom, hands-on site visits to coordinating personalized welcome touches that make every traveler feel like a VIP, the team ensures the on-site attendee experience perfectly mirrors its own red-carpet promises. Providing both planners and their attendees with this level of creative partnership helps Visit Irving promote its tradition of award-winning hospitality in the Southwest.
A forward-thinking destination marketing organization in Southwest Texas committed to delivering exceptional service, innovative tools and meaningful experiences for the meetings industry, Visit Sugar Land works closely with the local hospitality community in a collaborative partnership that ensure seamless execution from the site visit through to the post-event follow-up. The agency’s newly enhanced destination website was designed with the meeting planner experience in mind, offering streamlined navigation, real-time resources and simplified access to venue details, local experiences and planning tools.
Located at the center of the Texas Triangle, College Station is within a three-hour drive of Houston, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Visit College Station works tirelessly to promote the city and its landmarks, such as Texas A&M University and the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. The DMO offers solid advice on where to stay, where to meet and where to eat among the city's diverse dining scene and range of attractions.
FAR WEST
Credit: Meet Long BeachMeet Long Beach was founded in 2023 to market the city of Long Beach, Calif., as a prime destination for meetings, conventions and events. The organization employs a team of seasoned sales professionals placed in key markets throughout the U.S. to pursue major convention business for the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, with the goal of generating overnight hotel stays. This mission has been met with great success as it has created an estimated $1.8 billion in economic impact for the city each year.
Seattle Southside is a region of Western Washington, officially made up of the cities of SeaTac, Tukwila and Des Moines. The area’s namesake destination marketing organization, Explore Seattle Southside, is an unusually inventive organization that provides event planners with a wide range of enticements, including self-guided excursions such a UFO Mystery Trail and a Happy Hour Trail. The agency also offers a free digital savings pass with exclusive discounts at local area restaurants, attractions and shops.
Among its recently developed programs is the Best of Seattle Southside People's Choice Awards, which gives planners a community-validated shortlist of the best local restaurants and food spots. Over 8,000 votes across categories like best brunch, best happy hour and best bubble tea spotlight local businesses that have earned the trust of the community. Another new program, Hospitality Heroes, puts the spotlight on the frontline professionals who are the living proof of the destination’s service culture. These are the people who solve challenges on-site, anticipate planners' needs and leave a lasting impression on attendees.
An aggressive and effective destination marketing organization, Visit Boise in Idaho actively invests millions annually to attract meetings, conventions and corporate events to the region. Offerings include direct financial sponsorship incentives of $1,000 to $5,000 for organizations booking multi-day events (based on several basic criteria). The agency further reduces booking hesitation by letting qualified planners experience the city firsthand through fully hosted familiarization trips and by creating group itineraries that comprise many of the city’s premier cultural institutions.
From intimate Pacific coastal retreats to award-winning resorts, planners can choose from a variety of venues in Carlsbad, Calif., and the choice for many is to let Visit Carlsbad show them the lay of the land. The agency’s familiarization tours are carefully designed experiences that allow planners to see the destination through the eyes of an attendee. Recent programs have included oceanfront sound baths, artisan-led pottery workshops, culinary food tours, and opportunities to connect directly with local businesses and hospitality partners.
INTERNATIONAL AND U.S. TERRITORIES
Credit: Vienna Convention BureauIn charge of attracting meetings business to one of the world’s leading destinations for international gatherings, the Vienna Convention Bureau in Austria continues to set a standard for excellence, having helped the city record its most successfully year ever for meetings business in 2025. That year, Vienna hosted 7,196 congresses and corporate events, welcoming nearly 795,000 participants and generating more than 2.5 million meeting-related overnight stays.
Behind these results is a destination management organization that consistently delivers for planners and attendees, helping them choose among three major convention centers, enjoy more than 250 unique event venues and stay in a growing portfolio of luxury hotels, all helping to create programs that are seamless and memorable. Attendee satisfaction further reinforces the VCB’s success: A recent study of meeting participants shows that 93 percent would recommend Vienna and 90 percent intend to return.
A private, nonprofit organization that promotes Medellîn and the Antioquia region in Colombia as a premier destination for tourism, conventions and major events, the Greater Medellin Convention & Visitors Bureau works alongside more than 200 industry stakeholders and runs initiatives such as the Legacy Program, which connects meetings and events with local communities, social initiatives, cultural preservation efforts, environmental actions and sustainable suppliers. Through this strategy, events hosted in Medellín generate impact beyond their duration, transforming tourism into a tool for social and economic development.
More than just destination support, VisitScotland Business Events serves as a strategic partner to meeting and incentive professionals for creating experiences that extend far beyond the meeting room. Through major industry events, executive programs, FAM trips and regional activations, VSBE works closely with hotels, DMCs, venues and local communities to create immersive programs that support businesses, cultural organizations and local economies across Scotland. This includes collaborating with local artisans, Highland dancers, musicians and makers such as Prickly Thistle to ensure delegates experience Scotland’s heritage, culture and creativity firsthand.