Jacksonville, Florida Looks To Provide “Stimulus Boost” For 2021 Meetings
March 16, 2021
Visit Jacksonville, the City’s not-for-profit Destination Marketing Organization, has launched the Group Giveback Promotion to encourage more meetings in 2021. In 2020, COVID-19 brought the $2.5 trillion annual Global Meetings, Events, and Conference industry to a standstill. Most of the 26 million worldwide employees in the tourism industry were at least temporarily unemployed by the pandemic and the cancellation of travel and meetings.
“While most of those meetings that canceled have rescheduled their events for future years, the local industry could use a boost for the remainder of 2021,” said Michael Corrigan, President & CEO of Visit Jacksonville. “That’s where this promotion comes into play, incentivizing groups willing to bring their conference or meeting here to Jax in 2021.”
According to the iMeet Survey of Meeting Planners, close to six in 10 (58%) anticipate resuming face-to-face events in the second half of 2021. “Our local hotels are struggling. While transient travelers have begun to return to Jacksonville, we still need a strong base of conference business to get Jacksonville back to our pre-COVID tourism numbers,” said Jeanne Bothwell, Director of Sales for Visit Jacksonville.
“We want to do our part to ensure that meetings will grow and thrive for the local tourism industry.”
Meetings and conferences that meet the qualifications are eligible to receive an incentive payment to be used toward their meeting or conference held in a Duval County hotel. Incentive Eligibility is based upon meeting in 2021, groups not already being contracted with a local hotel, and the number of rooms expected to be used. This incentive can be used for groups looking to book multi-year meetings, but the first must take place in 2021.
To learn more about the Group Giveback Promotion, you can visit visitjacksonville.com/meetingspromo. Feel free to reach out to Visit Jacksonville for more details on how to book your meeting here in Jacksonville in 2021.