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It is not exactly two cities in one, but a new sales partnership between the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau (FWCVB) and the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA) is nearly as unique. David DuBois, President/CEO, FWCVB, and Tom Noonan, President/CEO, BACVA, have completed an innovative dual city sales agreement designed to streamline marketing efforts and generate increase conventions and meetings business.

"This exciting new agreement between Fort Worth and Baltimore will allow both cities to aggressively market and sell their convention and meeting opportunities to groups that typically book meetings on a geographic rotation," said DuBois.

According to DuBois, the sales model will enable multiple-year contracts with many organizations. "Often these groups will choose an East Coast venue one year and move to the Midwest the following year," explained DuBois. "This is a unique opportunity for both cities, and we look forward to the success of this sales and marketing program."

According to DuBois and Noonan, the Fort Worth/Baltimore partnership follows sales models used by national hotels that incentivize organizations to sign multi-year contracts with one brand, allowing for their meetings to alternate between different properties within that brand around the country. Fort Worth and Baltimore are the first cities to apply this sales approach to the convention business. "This type of partnership is a new approach to selling a city," says Noonan. "It will be an effective sales strategy that will enable us to pool our resources and expose Baltimore to new business that may not be familiar with the Baltimore market."

By joining forces, Fort Worth and Baltimore have the ability to be more competitive by offering possible discounts for booking both cities. Or, if one city isn’t a good fit for a group, the sales manager will work to book the business in the other city. DuBois and Noonan have agreed to share two sales managers to sell both destinations. The first manager hired is Ann Garvey who is based in Maryland and will focus on East Coast-based Corporate Meeting planners, especially pharmaceutical companies.  The yet to be named second manager will focus on Midwest-based Meeting Planners. Only time will tell if this bi-city marketing effort will succeed, but Noonan and DuBois are apparently confident about the effectiveness of the venture—it’s report the two CVB execs are looking to expand the program into a tri-city format and are talks with bureaus on the West Coast in hopes that expanding the geographic rotation sales potential will increase the appeal to planners.