(May 31, 2011) - Minneapolis - Meet Minneapolis, Official Convention + Visitors Association, was ranked as the third best convention and visitors bureau (CVB) out of 46 cities in North America in the biannual Watkins Research Group, Inc., survey for 2010. Cities are rated on eight characteristics on a scale from 1 to 9 where 1 is "strongly disagree" and 9 is "strongly agree." Meet Minneapolis rose from fourth place in the last, 2008, survey on "Superior CVB-DMO."

The latter measure is specific to Meet Minneapolis as a CVB or Destination Management Organization (DMO), which ranked 3 of 46 total cities and 1 of 9 cities in its competitive set, which includes Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Orleans and St. Louis.

In fact, Minneapolis ranked 1 of 9 in the competitive set on "Superior convention center facilities" and "Superior convention center services," as well.

The characteristics measured by the survey include (with Minneapolis average score): Great all-around convention city (6.93), Easy to get to (6.91), Hotels well-suited for my largest meetings (7.44), Easy accessibility within the city (7.15), Safe and secure (7.47), Superior convention center facilities (7.18, Superior convention center services (7.18) and Superior CVB-DMO (7.62). Meet Minneapolis markets and sells the City of Minneapolis as a tourism and convention destination by attracting conventions and large meeting groups, as well as group tours and other visitors. Last year, the economic impact of the business Meet Minneapolis booked was $250 million.

"The team at Meet Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Convention Center has never been stronger," said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis. "I am proud of their many accomplishments, including this one. Their work benefits not only the organization, but the entire City of Minneapolis, by positively affecting the local economy."

Meet Minneapolis staff includes Destination Sales & Services, Tourism & International Relations, Branding & Strategy (marketing & partnership) and Internal Operations teams.