As the only regional organization with the mission of stimulating the MetroWest Boston 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 MBVB 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 Boston, 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 MBVB 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 MBVB 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 MBVB knows that a collaborative effort, with diverse representation and with plenty of avenues for communication and input, not only puts MetroWest Boston on the map, but keeps revenue right here at home.
Financial support: As a designated RTC, the MBVB 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 Boston 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.
With direct flights from 48 international destinations to Boston’s Logan International Airport, as well as hundreds of connecting flights to Providence’s T.F. Green International Airport and Worcester Regional Airport, you can get to MetroWest from anywhere in the world!
Logan Express offers direct bus service from Logan Airport to the Framingham/Natick border near the Natick Mall, and also serves as a depot for Peter Pan and Greyhound bus lines to other parts of Massachusetts and New England.
MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) provides all-day and weekend service to transportation hubs, shopping, and businesses throughout the region. Their CatchConnect program also provides door-to-door shuttle services to attractions in Framingham, Natick, Hudson, and Wellesley, as well as connections to the MWRTA bus lines and the MBTA train stations, providing easy access to all parts of the region. For routes, visit www.mwrta.com.
Six of our towns (Natick, Framingham, Ashland, Southborough, Westborough, and Franklin) also offer Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail stations with train service directly into both downtown Boston, MA and Providence, RI. Visitors can travel to other areas of the region from those towns using the MWRTA bus system and CatchConnect. For routes, visit www.mbta.com.
Most visitors to our communities travel by car. Four Massachusetts 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 Boston Visitors Bureau (MBVB) 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 MBVB 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 Boston 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 MBVB 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.
