As the only regional organization with the mission of stimulating the MetroWest economy by marketing the region’s assets, we have served hundreds of businesses, nonprofit agencies, and municipalities since our founding. This independent nonprofit organization markets the region’s cultural and recreational venues, retailers, restaurants, accommodations, and educational and other services to visitors and residents alike. These marketing efforts also serve to brand the region, build collaborations across sectors and towns, support jobs-producing enterprises, and celebrate the diverse and vibrant MetroWest community. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts matches each dollar raised by the Visitors Bureau, which doubles the impact of every revenue source.
As a regional economic development initiative, our MWVB is working not only to attract travelers to the area, but to guide local residents looking for a service, family activity, fantastic meal, cultural experience, getaway, and more. Our goal is to compile all that the region has to offer and then make this compelling information as accessible as possible to a host of audiences.
By showing off the best of MetroWest, we’ll be giving more people more great reasons to spend more dollars right here.
Who benefits? The benefits of an RTC aren’t limited to organizations who cater to visitors. In addition to the hospitality and restaurant industries, the MWVB works directly with sports and recreation, retail, cultural and historical attractions, performing arts, and community gatherings such as street fairs and farmers’ markets.
By bringing more visitors to our region, and by encouraging residents to “visit” other venues in their own backyard, our work yields significant tax revenue for our municipalities and for the Commonwealth’s general fund.
The MWVB is truly a collaborative effort, with the heads of four area Chambers of Commerce serving on our Founding Board of Directors along with representatives of major attractions, the hospitality industry, colleges and universities, and historical and cultural nonprofit organizations.
The result of four years of study and discussion by the Creative Economy Initiative (see History), the MWVB knows that a collaborative effort, with diverse representation and with plenty of avenues for communication and input, not only puts MetroWest on the map, but keeps revenue right here at home.
Financial support: As a designated RTC, the MWVB is eligible for state funding through the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism. Currently, we are grateful for a matching grant of state funds, which matches, dollar-for-dollar, the revenue we bring in through other means, such as sponsorships, advertising, and other fee-for-services. For information about our Sponsor program, please contact Erin Lynch at erin@metrowestvisitors.org.
The MetroWest Visitors Bureau serves organizations and businesses in 30 municipalities throughout MetroWest and its bordering towns.
In 2010, state legislation designated 19 municipalities as the Visitors Bureau’s core service area:
Ashland, Bellingham, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Medway, Milford, Millis, Natick, Northborough, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland and Westborough.
In addition to these 19 municipalities, another 12 (surrounding the core of 19) are served by our organization.
It’s Easy To Come To MetroWest – With low-cost bus and train service from Logan Airport and Boston’s Back Bay, MetroWest is accessible from virtually any place in the world.
Buses run on the half-hour all day from Logan International Airport to our shuttle terminal in Framingham. The commuter rail ride west from Boston’s South Station or Back Bay Station delivers you to our front door in a half-hour to one-hour.
Hanscom Field in nearby Concord is open to your private plane or civil aviation flight, with convenient limousine service available to take you directly to your business meetings.
MetroWest Transportation Authority provides all-day and weekend service to transportation hubs, shopping and businesses throughout the region. That can make your stay here both economical and environmentally friendly.
Logan Express in Framingham also serves as a depot for Peter Pan and Greyhound bus lines
Most visitors to our communities travel by car, and for good reason. Three Mass Turnpike (Route 90) interchanges mean quick, direct access to
Elsewhere in the region, Routes 135, 9, 20, and 30 provide direct access to many of our smaller towns.
A collaborative effort between four Chambers of Commerce and such regional nonprofits as Framingham History Center and New England Wildflower Society’s Garden in the Woods, the MetroWest Tourism & Visitors Bureau (MWTVB) is the result of four years of conversation by a volunteer Creative Economy Initiative, which enjoyed the support and participation of a number of MetroWest legislators.
In 2010, the task force formed a Founding Board of Directors and incorporated as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit; the organization has 501(c)(3) status through its fiscal sponsor, the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce’s Education Foundation.
Through legislation proposed by Senator Karen E. Spilka, the MWTVB was designated as the state’s 16th Regional Tourism Council (RTC), making it eligible for state funding through the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.
The MetroWest Visitors Bureau is generously supported by the efforts of volunteers serving on our committees. Committee members share their time and expertise to help the Visitors Bureau increase awareness of our regions’ many assets. For more information, or to inquire about joining a committee, please email info@metrowestvisitors.org.
Tour and Travel Committee
Meetings and Conferences Committee
Hospitality Advisory Committee: Thirty representatives of MetroWest hotels, inns, and restaurants participate in this committee, which meets quarterly. People who are not members of MWTVB are welcome to attend a meeting to get to know the group and its agenda.
Cultural Convening: Representatives of arts and cultural nonprofit organizations, arts businesses, and municipal departments convene quarterly.
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