Located at 848 W. Heritage Park Boulevard, Suite 201 (in the Roosters/Corbin's building), one of the CVB’s roles is to serve as a tourism visitor information center.
The CVB is an “information clearinghouse, convention management consultant, and promotional body for the community at large,” says its CEO, Barbara Riddle.
Visitors can find brochures on virtually everything there is to do in Davis County, from Lagoon and Cherry Hill to Antelope Island, golf courses, and lots more. Or they can access many of those brochures and other information online at www.davisareacivb.com.
The “Kids Summer of Fun” is a one-page list of sites they can visit around the county. If they get a stamp at each site, they can turn it in at the CVB for a small price and the chance at season passes to Lagoon or Cherry Hill. It is divided into activities and attractions, events, arts and crafts and hikes and trails.
Riddle calls Antelope Island the “undiscovered crown jewel” of Davis County. One of the most popular of Utah’s state parks, it draws thousands of visitors – not only from across the country but from many foreign countries. It allows visitors, especially from other countries, to experience the “Old West” and to see the Great Salt Lake, one of the world’s only saltan seas.
The CVB is funded through tourism-related taxes – not property taxes. It partners with hotels, restaurants, golf courses, resorts, meeting venues and more. Its goal is to bring more tourists and conference and event attendees into the county.
For example, its staff works closely with the Legacy Events Center to help bring shows highlighting horses and dogs, in particular, but also for BMX and other events. Similar efforts promote the South Davis Recreation Center and Davis Conference Center.
“Familiarization trips (or Fams)” regularly draw media representatives from such diverse agencies as the BBC or other foreign TV networks and print journalists, who often visit Antelope Island. Several documentaries have been produced following those trips, seen by millions of people – some of those viewers or readers eventually finding their way to Davis County and the island, Riddle says.
“Whether traveling for business or leisure, visitors benefit our area in terms of expenditures, tax dollars and job creation,” Riddle says.
Hundreds and even thousands of jobs in the county can be attributed to tourism-related activities, whether they be in hotels or restaurants, or tourism venues.
The CVB now makes use of “social networking” opportunities, such as Twitter and Facebook, to get the word out. An ever-growing number of inquiries are handled not only by phone, but electronically via the website.
For more information, call 801-774-8200.
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