the cvb exec

Paul W. McCallum

Tall in Texas
Winter 2011-12

PAUL W. McCALLUM is the president and CEO at the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau, a
position he has held for the past 25 years.

Paul was born and raised in Australia and educated in Melbourne, Victoria and Houston.  He established Grapevine’s first wine festival in 1987 with three participating wineries and about 900 people in attendance.  This past year the festival grossed over $1.5 million and had an attendance of over 264,000 people.  It’s now the largest wine festival in the U.S.

His many industry honors include a Lifetime Achievement Award from Texas Department of Transportation, the Gene Phillips Hospitality Award and the Hall of Honor by the Texas Festivals and Events Association.  This year, the Texas Travel Industry Association presented Paul with its highest honor, their Tall in Texas Award.

MPG:   Tell us the story of what attracted you to the travel & hospitality industry.  What was your first industry-related job?

I had been working internationally in the tradeshow and exhibition business.  At the time I returned to Australia, a position was open at the Melbourne CVB.  After being abroad for a number of years, it was appealing to be able to promote and sell my home country.

During the TTIA “Tall in Texas” Award ceremony, you said that your success came, “standing on the shoulders of your family.”  Tell us more about how your family helped with your success.

Building a destination requires an immense amount of time, much of which comes from beyond a standard work week and would normally be time you would spend with your family.  My family gave up a significant amount of time with me in order to support me in my career.

Some Americans are focused on short-term results and quick fixes.  Under your 25 years of leadership, Grapevine, TX and the CVB have both enjoyed “long-term” success.  Please share some your secrets in helping an organization or a destination accomplish ongoing success.

Listen to the leadership of citizens of the community and they will tell you what they would like to do and what they would like to see within their community.  In building a destination, long-term goals take years to accomplish. It’s important for the architects of the destination to hold the course of commitment to the final outcome and not let short-term trends interfere with long-term planning.

You are known for your expertise on the topic of “partnering.”  Please share several examples of how partnering has helped with your community’s long-term success.

There are three groups that bureaus should view as critical partners for the destination’s development. 

In Grapevine, our first critical partner is our hotel community.  We worked with our hotel partners to form a foundation of understanding that we would need to use non-traditional strategies to achieve our destination’s status.  This effort requires ongoing destination education each time a hotel general manager changes.  It’s important to take the time to educate the new leaders in the long-term plans of building the destination.

The second critical partner is various departments within the city.  Without complete support and endorsement of the City Manager, the Public Works Director, the Community Development Director, the Economic Development Manager, Police and Fire Chiefs, the Parks and Recreation Department, long-term plans are more likely to have a limited chance of success.  It’s necessary for all of a city’s management to understand that the convention and hospitality industry is a key contributor to the economic viability and development of the city. 

And the third critical partner is the civic and service organizations and special interest groups within the city.  These groups play a vital role in communicating the city’s long-term plans in their neighborhoods, in a grass roots style effort. It’s critical that these groups are informed about the long-term plans for the destination’s development.

What is your advice to both meeting professionals and to the lodging industry to help ensure the long-term success of their professions/industries?

Meeting planners and lodging industry professionals should be ever-vigilant in staying ahead of the changing needs of the membership or hotel guests. If members or guests have to tell you what they need, it’s too late. By constantly listening and adapting to the changing needs of membership or guests, meeting planners and hotels will lay the foundation of sustainability.

Help us look to the future?  What changes do you see for the travel and meetings industry?

Today, we are faced with the issue of being time-deprived.  With the advent of new forms of technology making more demands on our time almost on a daily basis, this issue affects how we process work and make decisions.  To this end, the transportation industry is changing dramatically and as this happens, the cost of holding meetings and the time required to attend those meetings is also changing.  Destinations are going to have to work closely with the changing travel patterns and schedules of the airline industry.  The hotel and convention industry will have to be able to react on a short-term basis to attract business.

Any closing thoughts?

For bureaus to remain relevant, they will need to be a key stakeholder in the ongoing building of their destination.  They will also need to be in very close partnerships with transportation and lodging partners as well as meeting planners.  In particular, bureaus will need to continue to partner with third party planners who control a large portion of short term business.   

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