To help you get to know who’s who in Illinois tourism, ITN profiles an industry leader each month. This month, we introduce Fran Bolson, president of the Greater Woodfield CVB.

August’s industry insider is Fran Bolson, who brings years of experience and accomplishment to her new position as president of the Greater Woodfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. Bolson took over the presidency in March and has since been working hard to develop Greater Woodfield into a premier destination for business and leisure travel. She is also current president of the Chicagoland Regional Tourism Development Office, a marketing association of 15 area convention and visitors bureaus.

In 1996 Bolson began her tourism career by joining the Lisle Convention and Visitors Bureau, serving as its president and CEO until 2001. During this time, Bolson volunteered to author a chapter on strategic alliances for the book Fundamentals of Destination Management and Marketing. Published by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association for the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB), the book is targeted at tourism professionals and academic programs. It provides insights from 18 industry experts, including Bolson, who offer details and personal experiences to explain modern CVBs’ processes and techniques to generate visitors.

Bolson’s chapter on alliances provides examples on the benefits of partnering CVBs with various governments as well as private and nonprofit organizations to maximize the success and awareness of both entities. To illustrate her point, Bolson cites the public-private partnership between Benedictine University and the Lisle CVB in the development of the Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex, a project she worked on during her term as LCVB president.

“Without the LCVB working with the university and the municipality to attract events that create additional overnight stays to the area,” Bolson writes, “the sports complex would not exist.” Further proving her point, the complex has hosted two NCAA events since its opening and is slated to host the 2007 USA track and field events. By working together, these two separate groups have “boosted tourism to the area, improved civic and business operations, and enhanced the community’s quality of life.”

A Certified Destination Marketing Executive (CDME), Bolson currently is chair of the education committee of Destination Marketing Association International, the worldwide association for convention and visitors bureaus. Bolson is interested in their new accreditation process which was recently revealed at their annual conference in Austin. She looks forward to this certification as it will hopefully create a “renewed attention to the perfection of standards and metrics” for all CVBs.

Bolson holds a master's degree in education and human resource development from the University of Illinois and an undergraduate degree from DePaul University. In addition, she was a retail executive for Sears, Roebuck & Co. and an adjunct faculty member of the College of DuPage, where she taught business and information technology courses.

Bolson lives in Naperville with her husband and teenage son and daughter.