Membership revenues of the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau dipped 8.3 percent in 2002, prompting the bureau to look at cuts in marketing and special promotions.

The bureau attributes the drop to the slumping economy because 37 of 96 firms that quit the bureau last year cited budget pressures as the main reason. Another 11 firms went out of business. The remaining 48 firms didn't give a reason for dropping out.

Despite the declining numbers, the bureau did have some success, recruiting 72 new members.

For all of 2002, a total of 624 members paid dues of $354,145, down from 648 for a total of $428,438 a year ago.

"There were different marketing initiatives that we weren't able to do," bureau spokeswoman Julie Harrison Calvert said. "We have to re-evaluate things, delay them or scale them back."

Ms. Calvert declined to say which programs have been cut.

The bureau has worked hard to bolster its membership. In November, bureau staff called more than 300 firms in an attempt to add members. It also has extended discount offers for members of the African-American Chamber of Commerce.

Boosting membership and diversity will be a major goal for the bureau in 2003, Ms. Calvert said.

Ken Alltucker