The DCVB: A Successful Year in Review
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by Cambria Mueller and Jen Rogers, Door County Visitor Bureau
Since 1891, the Door County Visitor Bureau (DCVB) has been marketing Door County as a destination for leisure travel. As we head into November, we’re pausing to acknowledge and honor the achievements of each DCVB department.
When you’re a DCVB industry partner, your message becomes our message. Our membership department keeps knocking it out of the park, spreading the great word about being a DCVB member. Yvonne Torres, our membership manager; and Phil Berndt, director of membership, started January 2019 with 700 members. They have supported those 700 members and have added an additional 20 members.
To those of you who have been longtime supporters, and to those who are just starting out with us, know that we appreciate you and thank you for everything you do! If your business would like to learn more about becoming a DCVB member, contact Yvonne Torres at [email protected] or 920.818.1139, or visit doorcounty.com/membership.
DCVB’s visitor information (VI) specialists – our front line – are extraordinary people. When visitors walk through the welcome center’s doors, it’s Jordan, Liz, Laura or Pat who greets them with a smile and answers galore. Even as born-and-raised locals, we find ourselves listening in on the information and tips they provide to visitors and learning something new ourselves. So, if you haven’t visited the welcome center, stop in during your next trip to Sturgeon Bay. Even locals have questions sometimes, and we’re pretty sure you’ll find answers through one of our VI specialists.
Year to date, more than 45,000 people have come through the doors at the welcome center, and the VI specialists have answered more than 13,000 phone calls. Well done, VI!
Our communications and public relations team welcomed 60 journalists and travel writers to Door County this year (and keep an eye out because more writers will arrive during the next few months), which has created more than $2.1 million in ad value equivalency (AVE). The best part of this program is that we don’t have to pay the $2.1 million – the writers publish their work in various media, and the AVE figure represents what it would have cost. We extend a big thank-you to everyone who have welcomed these journalists into their businesses and showed them a great time in Door County!
The marketing department produces our Official Visitor Guide and Winter Guide, which has a combined printing of 275,000 copies. Our marketing department also maintains our DoorCounty.com website, which has had more than 1.3 million views this year. That’s a lot of people looking for and finding information about Door County!
Here at the DCVB, we’re truly grateful to our home community and eager to share it with a wider audience. We’re also thankful for the many people who help to make Door County a popular tourist destination, attracting more than 2 million visitors each year.
