Ocala/Marion County VCB Fact Sheet
The Ocala/Marion County VCB: Three Letters, One Mission
A Visitors & Convention Bureau (VCB) is a non-profit destination marketing organization dedicated to increasing visitor activity and thereby enhancing the local economy. VCBs got their start in the early 1900s when a group of Detroit business leaders launched an initiative to bring more meetings to their city. Many VCB’s are 501 c-6 nonprofit organizations, some (about 5 percent) are part of the area’s Chamber of Commerce and still others—like the Ocala/Marion County Visitors & Convention Bureau—are part of local government.
VCB’s play an important role in Florida’s economy, where tourism is the number one industry and a major reason why there is no state sales tax. In Marion County in particular, travel and tourism supports thousands of jobs and adds millions of dollars to the economy at all levels.
In 2004, a county ordinance created a two percent “bed tax” on transient accommodations that is used to help support and grow the local tourism industry. The Marion County Board of County Commissioners formed a nine-member volunteer Tourist Development Council (TDC) to oversee the application of these funds to attract leisure and business travel to our community.
Functioning as the TDC's operational arm, the Ocala/Marion County Visitors & Convention Bureau has a full-time staff of three. Attending trade shows and sales conferences, working with community groups, responding to visitor and group-travel inquiries are some of the VCB's key day-to-day functions. The VCB also works closely with its marketing communications agency, GOLD, to develop and implement a wide array of promotional initiatives, including branding, traditional and online advertising, Web site development, collateral creation, public relations and more.
With a love for helping visitors discover all that Marion County has to offer and a passion for new modes of communication and cooperation, the VCB will help tourism in our community flourish for years to come.
Please direct media inquiries to Ann Sternal, Executive Director of the Ocala/Marion County Visitors & Convention Bureau at 352-873-1368 or ann.sternal@marioncountyfl.org or Keith Gold at GOLD & Associates at 904-285-5669 or gold@strikegold.com.
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