CVB rebranding includes retiring ‘What Progress Has Preserved’

The Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau is in the process of both rebranding itself and preparing to roll out a new city slogan to attract tourists and meeting groups to the area.

“Instead of calling ourselves a CVB, we’re going to refer to ourselves as Visit Columbus GA,” said Peter Bowden, the visitors bureau’s president and chief executive officer. “This is brand new ... so we’re in the process of rolling this out.”

In essence, the change clearly notes the mission of the organization, while also making a call-to-action to anyone considering a weekend getaway, a longer vacation or a meeting in a downtown area that has changed dramatically in recent years. Aside from more retail, restaurants and people in general, that includes the addition of the whitewater and zip-line courses on and above the Chattahoochee River.

The Columbus market already brings in nearly 2 million visitors annually, pumping more than $340 million into the local economy through hotel stays, restaurant dining, entertainment and shopping. About 4,500 people also are employed because of tourism and meetings in the city.

Bowden said the name Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau will continue to be used in all legal contracts and documents, but that when his staff speaks to customers and the media, it will be using the phrase, Visit Columbus GA.

As that rebranding occurs, the CVB also is working to come up with a new slogan to replace the one that has been used since April 2004. That would be, “Columbus, Ga., What Progress Has Preserved.” Bowden said there are good reasons for the upcoming change, even though the old slogan has served its purpose well.

“It has a 97-percent recall with our customers, both local and out of town,” he said. “But we’ve been through a recession. We’ve been through how many years of war? We’ve got whitewater now. We’ve got a lot of things happening. So it’s time for us to make a game changer. What you’ll see will be super exciting.”

When “What Progress Has Preserved” made its debut in 2004, Frank Brown, then-president of Columbus State University, perhaps put it best: “It is really a pretty profound statement. We got here because we preserved the right things and improved others.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 1:55 PM with the headline "CVB rebranding includes retiring ‘What Progress Has Preserved’."