Ana María Viscasillas, president & CEO, Puerto Rico Convention Bureau has been named Board Chairwoman of the Best Cities Global Alliance.
Celebrating its tenth year, BestCities is the world’s first and only convention bureau alliance of destination marketing and sales organizations and represents the first time an executive from the partner destination of San Juan has led the organization.
Viscasillas kicked off her tenure during one of the meeting industry’s most important international tradeshows, IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany this May.
Meeting with BestCities partner-representatives from Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Singapore and Vancouver, Viscasillas and her partners outlined a number of goals and initiatives to set the stage for further growth and development of the organization.
“We’re committed to establishing the best practice standards in serving the international meetings market. By working together to expand our reach and further realize our vision, our goal is to be recognized globally for setting new standards and innovations within the industry and delivering the world's best convention bureau practices for the meetings industry,” stated Viscasillas.
Several key goals during her tenure include:
- Working together in partnership to increase leads and sales for each of the members of the alliance; and
- Strengthening the expansion of the Alliance with new, qualified member-cities into the organization; and
- Increasing the close cooperation between alliance members to share resources and better serve meeting planners.
“In a competitive global marketplace, we need to remain focused on our mission and work together to reach our goals,” continued Viscasillas.
“With a shared commitment to providing the best possible experience to meeting planners and their delegates, our dedication to service extends across a platform of organizations, cultures and countries.”
BestCities Global Alliance is a unique and innovative partnership among eight top convention cities - Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Melbourne, San Juan, Singapore and Vancouver.
The Alliance was officially launched in Melbourne in February 2000 and since then, it has attracted and shared hundreds of client referrals and developed its own set of Client Service Standards that have been praised by international meeting clients.
In 2008, the partners of BestCities became the first and only Destination Marketing Organizations to have service standards certified by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).
This is the first world-wide certification program for convention bureau organizations. Certification by LRQA guarantees to clients that the partners live up to these standards.
The BestCities Global Alliance stands for a promise of quality, expertise and professionalism and is recognized for the cooperative spirit that enhances each Partner's contribution and investment. Through resource pooling and leveraging on the exceptional reputation of its Partners, the Alliance continues to build sustainable advantage.
The vibrant sharing of best practices, intelligence and knowledge among partners has sharpened each one's competitive edge. The commitment to uphold the standards under its Quality Management System underscores the spirit of excellence in the delivery of services to all clients.
