Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors

What Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors does

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors Bureau (GLCVB), operating publicly as Choose Lansing, is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Michigan's Capital region. Founded in 1960 and headquartered at 500 E. Michigan Avenue in Lansing, the non-profit promotes the Greater Lansing area — including Lansing, East Lansing, and surrounding Ingham County communities — to leisure visitors, meeting and convention planners, and sports tourism organizers. Its mission is regional economic development through tourism promotion.

The organization's core product is a destination marketing platform anchored by lansing.org, a Simpleview-powered website that aggregates visitor information across attractions, hotels, restaurants, events, Michigan State University content, accessible travel, and a meeting planner toolkit with RFP functionality. Adjacent digital surfaces include lansingsports.org for sports tourism and a member-facing extranet portal. The Simpleview CRM/CMS stack provides directory listings, event management, member management, and payment processing. Content is distributed through a visitor guide, an e-newsletter, blog, social channels branded #LoveLansing, and a physical Visitor Information Center. Products are organized around eight primary service lines: destination website, membership services, visitor guide, sports tourism, MSU campus tourism, local business directory, event calendar, and accessible travel resources.

The business model combines recurring annual membership subscriptions from local hotels, restaurants, attractions, and venues with what is almost certainly supplementary public funding via tourism taxes and the Pure Michigan state co-marketing program, though revenue is not publicly disclosed. GTM is dual-pronged: direct-to-consumer destination marketing through the website, newsletter, social, and VIC, plus a B2B sales motion targeting association, corporate, and MSU meeting planners and sports tournament organizers. Customer segments are horizontally split across individual leisure visitors, meeting/convention organizers, sports event organizers, MSU visitors, and group tour operators.

Name

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors

Legal name

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors Bureau

Website

https://lansing.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors Bureau (Choose Lansing) is the official non-profit destination marketing organization for Michigan's Capital region, promoting leisure tourism, conventions, and sports events to visitors and meeting planners via its website, visitor center, and member business network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Destination Management (Ground Handling & Onsite Operations) (THAHADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

MICE & Event DMCs (Meetings/Incentives/Conferences) (THAKAEAB), Group Accommodation Sourcing & Contracting (Room Blocks, Allotments) (THAHADAD)

Keywords

• Destination marketing services
• Convention sales services
• Sports tourism development
• Visitor information services
• Meeting planner support

Headquarters

HQ city

Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Programs: The organization generates revenue through membership fees from local businesses including hotels, restaurants, attractions, and venues. Members gain access to the member portal, listing on the website, networking events, and promotional opportunities through Choose Lansing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors Bureau is a non-profit destination marketing organization (DMO) that promotes the Greater Lansing, Michigan region as a destination for conventions, meetings, sports tournaments, group travel, and leisure visitors. It sells group/convention and sports sales services to event organizers, provides free visitor information and trip-planning resources to individual travelers, and supports local hospitality businesses through membership-based marketing programs operated under the Choose Lansing brand.

Product overview

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors operates a destination marketing platform centered around its main website (Choose Lansing) that serves as the primary digital hub for tourism promotion. The platform aggregates visitor information across multiple service categories: trip planning resources including visitor guides and e-newsletter subscriptions; membership services for local businesses with portal access and event networking; Michigan State University campus tourism featuring attractions, athletics, and dining; a comprehensive local business directory covering restaurants, hotels, attractions, and shopping; an events calendar showcasing festivals and sporting events; sports tourism services connecting event planners with venues; meeting and event planning resources with RFP capabilities; and accessible travel resources. The organization functions as a regional destination marketing organization (DMO) rather than a technology product company, with no modular software architecture or API offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Convention and Meeting Sales Services Sales and servicing support provided to meeting planners and convention organizers evaluating Greater Lansing as a destination, including RFP response, hotel sourcing, venue recommendations, and on-site convention services coordination for events that drive group room nights.
• Sports Tourism Development and Sales Sales support to sports tournament organizers and rights holders, providing access to local fields, arenas, lodging partners, and community coordination for youth, amateur, and collegiate sporting events hosted in the region.
• Choose Lansing Destination Website Official destination information portal providing leisure travelers, meeting planners, and media with searchable listings for hotels, attractions, restaurants, events, and trip-planning resources for the Greater Lansing area.
• Visitor Information Center Services In-person visitor information services providing maps, brochures, lodging referrals, and personalized trip-planning assistance to individuals and groups visiting the region.
• Member Marketing and Partnership Program Membership program for area hotels, attractions, restaurants, and hospitality partners that provides collective regional marketing exposure, inclusion in bureau sales efforts, lead engagement through the bureau's CRM, and cooperative promotional opportunities under the Choose Lansing brand.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.

• Michigan State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSU is a major regional partner and anchor attraction. The CVB promotes MSU campus attractions, athletics, and events. Special pages dedicated to MSU visitor information including hotels, restaurants, things to do, and MSU-specific events.
• Simpleview Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite platform provider for lancng.org. Simpleview provides the CRM, website CMS, and extranet member portal technology powering the destination marketing operations.
• Pure MichiganmoderateGTM or Marketing PartnerState tourism marketing initiative (michigan.org) featuring Greater Lansing as part of Michigan's statewide tourism promotion.
• Destinations InternationalmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal trade association for destination marketing organizations, providing industry resources, standards, and professional development.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Experience Grand Rapids: Official DMO/CVB for Grand Rapids, Michigan. Most directly comparable peer as a same-state, similar mid-size city destination marketing organization competing for the same Michigan tourism and convention demand.
• Visit Detroit: Detroit's official DMO/CVB. Same-state peer of larger scale; comparable in mandate (leisure tourism, conventions, sports tourism) and member-based business model, providing a relevant scale benchmark.
• Destination Ann Arbor: Washtenaw County CVB. Same-state, university-anchored (University of Michigan) DMO with a comparable meeting planner and leisure tourism mandate to GLCVB's MSU-anchored model.
• Destination Cleveland: DMO/CVB for Cleveland, Ohio — a Midwest mid-market city with similar scale, university/medical anchors, and a comparable leisure-plus-convention-plus-sports tourism mandate.
• Visit Pittsburgh: Official DMO for Pittsburgh, PA. Comparable mid-size Rust Belt market with similar university/healthcare anchors, sports tourism vertical, and convention sales motion.
• Visit Indy: Indianapolis DMO. Closely comparable in scale and mid-market positioning, with a strong sports tourism overlay (NFL, NBA, IndyCar) that mirrors GLCVB's Lansing Sports strategy.

Broad incumbents

• Pure Michigan: Statewide Michigan tourism marketing initiative operated by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Functions as an umbrella DMO of which GLCVB is a sub-destination; comparable in mission and audience, broader in geography.
• Destination DC: Official DMO/CVB for Washington, DC. Larger-scale incumbent operating in the same destination marketing category with comparable meeting/convention/leisure promotion mandate.
• Choose Chicago: Chicago's official DMO/CVB. Larger-scale peer in the same regional catchment (Greater Lansing sits within a few hours of Chicago), competing for Midwest convention and leisure demand.

Others

• Destinations International: Global trade association for destination marketing organizations of which GLCVB is a member. Comparable as an industry ecosystem player setting standards, providing training (Certified Tourism Ambassador program referenced in GLCVB's offering), and benchmarking peer DMOs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/greaterlansing
• Instagraminstagram.com/chooselansing
• Facebookfacebook.com/GreaterLansingCVB
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ChooseLansing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors