Intercity Visit

An intercity visit is a trip to another city or region taken by a diverse delegation comprised of leaders from a community’s public, private and nonprofit sectors.

ACCE has an Intercity Visit Community Peer Group which consists of chamber executives that run regular trips between a delegation from their community to another destination. Participation in this group is open to any ACCE member who facilitates a trip of this nature.

Thinking about where to go for your next intercity visit? Try the Chicago Fed’s Peer Identification Tool. It matches metro regions based on categories like equity, resilience, outlook and housing, so you can find your closest matches using the metrics you care about.

On an intercity trip, the visiting delegation discusses challenges and opportunities their community is facing with leaders from the host community. The visit provides an opportunity for interaction among city leaders and facilitates exchange of best practices and lessons learned between the two cities. These visits are often organized annually, serving as a regularly scheduled opportunity for collective community visioning.

It is important to distinguish an intercity visit from a trade mission or a delegation conducting research for a specific project. While participants on an intercity visit may bring back new ideas for a project or establish a new business connection in the host city, neither of those valuable outcomes is the primary reason for the visit.

A newer twist on such programs is the intracity visit, which features the same kind of programming in a chamber’s home region.

Program Rationale

Community Best Practices
The most tangible reason for doing an intercity visit is to introduce your civic leaders to innovative ideas and programs that may be adapted and implemented in your community. Candid speakers in the host city can also alert your delegation to the challenges they are struggling with. Select a destination city based on specific facing issues your community so that the visit can focus on best practices and be a true learning experience.

Networking
Networking and relationship building that happens on an intercity visit is equally important for your community leaders. Through shared experiences and a common foundation of understanding, delegates return from an intercity visit as a more cohesive team working to solve problems on behalf of the community.

Economic Development
Intercity visit trips yield new ideas and strengthened connections that can translate to big gains for your community's quality of life and quality of place. The trips are an excellent opportunity to showcase the interconnectedness of economic and community development.

Government Relations
Every chamber faces a host of difficult decisions when setting their public policy agenda. Creating a knowledgeable, broad based delegation to support those issues is not an easy task. The intercity visit provides a unique opportunity to build consensus around important public policy and community investment issues. Rarely will you have the level or breadth of leadership all in the same room as you will on an intercity visit. You will have the opportunity to create a learning experience that frames the issue and provides in-depth understanding.

Chamber Image
By taking the lead role of convening a delegation of your community’s top elected, business and civic leaders, the chamber’s profile is heightened. The best practice sharing and relationship strengthening that come out of an intercity visit are tangible benefits that your members will notice and appreciate.

Non-Dues Revenue
An Intercity Visit can be a great source of revenue if the registration fee is set appropriately and sponsorship opportunities are maximized.

Examples of Chamber Intercity Visits

Chambers on the Move - List of Intercity visits from 2012-2018
Chambers on the Move - List of Intercity visits from 2004-2011
Austin Chamber of Commerce (Texas) - Intercity Visits
Denver Metro Chamber's (Colo.) - Leadership Exchange program has been active for 25 years. Check out their online video explaining some of the innovations they have implemented in their community after learning from other cities.
Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce (N.C.) - Intercity Visit
Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce (Fla.) - Benchmarking Visits
Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (Calif.) - Study Mission - This chamber program has been in place since 1999. In 2016, the Chamber visited Minneapolis/St. Paul. See 2016 Trip Brochure here.
View all Intercity Visit examples from ACCE's Samples Library

Articles & Books

Nashville: Welcoming host, Gracious guest - by Hannah Nequist, Chamber Executive magazine (Spring 2017)
Richmonders Hit Nashville - by Hannah Nequist, Chamber Executive magazine (Spring 2017)
Field Trip: Chattanooga, Tennessee, by Kelly Hall, CCE, Chamber Executive magazine (Fall 2013)
New Concepts in Inter-City Visits by Natalie Haskins English, Chamber Executive magazine (Spring 2011)
City to City: Best Practices, by Joan Mobley and Ian Scott, Chamber Executive magazine - Convention Issue 2008
A Guide to Intercity Visits: Community Development through Leadership Exchange (2008) - This ACCE handbook explains the value of intercity visit programs and provides a detailed guide for how to get a program started. If you already lead and intercity visit program, this handy guidebook is full of new ideas to energize your program.
Making Intercity Visits Profitable, by Joan Mobley, Chamber Executive - Convention Issue 2007
Learning from Intercity Visits, by Joan Mobley, Chamber Executive magazine (Jan/Feb 2005)

Intercity Visit Template Example Docs

Intercity visits generate a lot of paperwork. Download and modify these samples to help save time.

Production Timeline - A general overview of key intercity visit production tasks
Recommended Invitation List - Individuals from your community to consider inviting on your trip
Invitation Letter - General language and structure to frame your program invitation letter. For a specific example, see the Charlotte Chamber's (N.C.) 2016 invitation email.
Registration Form - A template registration form and invoice. See also Charlotte Chamber's (N.C.) 2016 registration form.
Program Profile for Hotel - Basic info the hotel will need to know
Budget - One file with 3 sample budgets side-by-side to help you calculate trip participation fees
Site Visit Sample Itinerary - Shows how to plan your first site visit to maximize effectiveness
First and Final Speaker Letters - Communications to confirmed speakers
Speaker Response Form - Form to collect confirmation and relevant information from your session speakers
Transportation Requirements Form - Form sent to transportation companies to assist them in preparing a proposal for your trip
Departure Notice - Information for delegates on the morning of departure
Pre-Trip Orientation Invitation - General language for your pre-trip orientation meeting invitation
Pre-trip Orientation Agenda - Items you should cover in a pre-trip orientation meeting
Speaker Intro Script - Sample script for your session moderators
Work Suite Supply List - Items you will need on hand in the work suite
Wrap-Up Process - Suggestions for how to conduct your program wrap-up
Thank You Reception Invitation - General language for your 'thank you' reception invitation
Intercity Visit Final Report- Greater Topeka Chamber (Kan.) visits Fort Collins, CO.

Videos, Webinars & ACCE U Resources

An Introduction to Intercity Visits - Panel discussion with Commerce Lexington and Joan Mobley, JTM Consulting, ACCE University Webinar (free)
Intercity Visit Impact - This audio tutorial (question and answer format with Joan Mobley of JTM Consulting) provides an overview of the value chambers and communities can expect from launching an intercity visit program.
Things to Consider - This audio tutorial outlines the four key questions to ask yourself before launching your intercity visit. Spending time to carefully consider these four questions at the beginning will allow you to shape a program with realistic objectives.