REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Discussion and Direction to City Manager on a Governance Model for a Convention-Visitors Bureau (CVB)
Report
BACKGROUND
The Convention-Visitors Bureau Agreement (Chamber CVB Agreement) was an annual agreement with the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) that provided convention and visitor services through the Chamber's Convention-Visitors Bureau operation. These services included marketing and scheduling of the Convention Center and Santa Clara to large groups and citywide events; visitor destination marketing and communication; and, operation of a City Store.
Shortly following the Council's June 26, 2018 decision not authorize a new one-year agreement with the Chamber for convention and visitor services, the Chamber released its CVB employees and closed the CVB. Because the Santa Clara Convention Center Management Agreement with the Chamber contained a marketing responsibility as part its contracted scope of services, a portion of this work effort was moved from the CVB to Chamber staff at the Convention Center.
In October 2018, City Council approved a procurement strategy for Convention Center management services with the possibility of including convention and requested proposers to consider including the addition of convention and visitor services through a CVB.
On February 5, 2019, City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Global Spectrum L.P dba Spectra Venue Management (Spectra) for the management and operation of the Santa Clara Convention Center. The scope of the Management Agreement did not include the provision of convention and visitor services. Understanding that Spectra would not provide the CVB services through its agreement, concurrently the Council approved an Amendment No. 2 to an Agreement with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), to interface with the Tourism Improvement District (TID) to discuss potential governance and operating models of a possible new destin...
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