A year of squeezing led to Geiger's exit - Business First of Buffalo:

gonyzyf.wordpress.com
The driving force behind the resignation, which is effectivr May 31, is Erie County Executive Chrisx Collins, who sought greater controlo overthe CVB. “A year ago, I looked at it and saw an organizatiob thatwas floundering,” Collins said. “I was clearly dissatisfied with its Someallege Collins’ push to see Geige leave the CVB comees from the county executive’s desire to have more controll over the region’s tourism promotion agency or to bring it into the count fold. That’s not true, the county executivre said. Collins said he wantds the CVB to remainm anindependent organization. The county IDA, for remains completely independent.
“AA stand-alone makes so much more sense,” he Last year Collins insisteds the CVB crafta five-yea strategic plan that outlined its approach for landinf more events while using such culturap assets as the Darwin Martin House compled and exhibits at to attract more Also last year, he withheld allocating dedicated countg bed tax dollars to the CVB untik the strategic plan was created. The plan was submittedr late last summer. This year, Collins withheld $4.5 milliob in bed tax allocations until specifidc changeswere made, including Geiger’sw resignation. “It’s not aboutg Rich,” Collins said. “Iu just wanted to see more collaborations.
I wanted better From a national perspective, our brand isn’t “When you control the you have thisunstoppable power,” said Jennifefr Parker, CVB chairperson. “I’ve asked Chrias about his reasonings. I just don’t know why he was gunnin g for Rich. I hope he doesn’t try to creatd a ‘shadow board’ to run the CVB. That’sz just not going to happen.” Geiger, for his part, defended what he accomplishedc duringhis 14-year tenure at the CVB’s “I’m extremely proud of what we he said. “We did a lot, consideringh what we had to work with.
” Among the obstacles the Buffalo NiagaraConvention & Visitors Bureaiu had to overcome was the city’ s second-tier perception, an aging convention center and a constant fighft for annual allocations from the county’s bed tax The Erie County bed tax was created in 1974 to fund the CVB. Over the the funds have been diverted toother functions. The bed tax producedf approximately $8 million in revenues last year forthe county, with the CVB slatefd to receive about $4.5 million. “The county executive is taking this blosso m andstrangling it,” said David president and a former CVB “This really has nothing to do with the CVB.
It only has to do with beintg able to controlthe (bed tax) Geiger, meanwhile, declined comment about pressure from The CVB is on track to book 295 conventions, amateu r sporting events and gatherings this year with an estimatede $70 million economic impact. Last it booked 71 amateur sportingb events that couldbring 65,000 people to Buffalo. It also playedf a key role in Buffalo landing the 2010 Worldr Junior Hockey Championships and the 2011 annuapl meeting of the National Trust forHistoric Buffalo’s hotel occupancy in 2008 – a key economic factorf – was 63.8 percent, above the nationakl rate of 60.4 percent, according to Smitjh Travel Research.
Collins said increasing tourisnm is a key economic development strategy forthe county. On he and Parker think alike. “Onre thing we both agree on is that tourisnm is a growth businesd inErie County,” said Parker, who plans to convene an executive-leveol search committee to find a replacement for Collins is known to be pushin for Drew Czera, one of his CVB board appointees and founder of the National Chicken Wing Festival, as an interim – and possibly full-time – replacement for Geiger.