You don't need to sell Gary Sherwin on the value of public relations. As the new president and CEO of the Newport Beach (CA) Conference & Visitors Bureau, Sherwin
has been there and done that and knows the game.
"My background has been in public relations," says Sherwin. "I am a big believer in the role of public relations as a marketing tool, particularly in the travel industry."
Sherwin, who was appointed to his new job last month, has racked up more than 20 years of destination marketing, sales, public relations, and community relations within the CVB
industry. He previously ran his own Palm Springs-based CVB consulting firm, Believable Brands, LLC, was vice president of market development for the Palm Springs Desert
Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority and managed marketing and public relations for CVBs in Long Beach, Los Angeles and Fort Worth, TX.
"A CVB cannot exist and prosper without a good public relations component," he observes. "I've worked in enough organizations where they've not recognized the value of good
public relations. In today's marketplace, public relations is becoming even more important in terms of market direction than it was 10 years ago. Unless people have an awareness
of a destination, they won't know where to look."
Sherwin is an APR and is also a board member and co-chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the California Travel Industry Association, a lecturer for the
Destination Marketing Association International and the co-author of the book Destination BrandScience. However, he is not adverse to offering criticism to CVBs in
regard to its B2B PR endeavors.
"The world of CVBs is remarkably inconsistent in doing that," he laments. "One city's CVB might roll out the red carpet and provide a wealth of information, but you can go to
another city and their CVB will do nothing. Every city is set up so differently that there is no baseline standard."
Contact: Gary Sherwin, [email protected].