Our Story

The Simpleview Timeline

A new company, 220 Solutions, was formed in 2001 with a shared vision among Ryan George, Bill Simpson, and Scott Wood, backed by a loan from Ryan’s father. Rich Reasons, owner of cvbTV, also played a vital role in establishing its direction. Together, their vision kicked off a new era in destination marketing.

In 2002, they introduced the first web-based CRM system exclusively designed for DMOs. Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB was the company’s first client (and remains a client today!) The first Simpleview Summit (then called a “Users Summit”) was held in 2006 when the company had a grand total of 20 employees.

Simpleview was officially created when 220 Solutions and cvbTV merged in 2007, comprised of 100 destination clients. In 2008, the Destination Travel Network began offering revenue-generation services to DMOs. In 2009, Simpleview CRM 3.0 was released.

In 2010, Simpleview acquired New Media Gateway and its portfolio of CRM and CMS clients, including larger North American destinations. Simpleview gained its first customer outside of North America in 2011, when Malaysia signed on for CRM services. In 2014, Simpleview acquired Pittsburgh-based Software Management, Inc., adding 92 new DMOs to its client count.

Over a period of three years, Simpleview opened offices in the UK and Mexico City. A series of acquisitions helped us better serve our clients. Of note, 2Synergize boosted our ability to help destinations gain a competitive edge in the meetings and events market, while our acquisition of Jackrabbit Systems enabled DMOs to offer direct booking to local lodging partners. With Eventsforce added to our portfolio, our clients have event management solutions that can be scaled to fit their needs.

Heading into 2020, the total staff surpassed 350 employees.

With hard-won resolve, Simpleview supported its clients during the pandemic that began in 2020 and decimated the tourism industry. It has since been laser-focused on helping DMOs emerge well-positioned to take advantage of the leisure and meetings recovery, including through its joint venture with Destinations International to enhance MINT+, the world’s largest meetings database. More than 90% of North America’s top 50 meetings destinations rely on Simpleview as the go-to solution for lead nurturing, RFP development, event management, staying in the planners’ spotlight, and benchmarking their destination with data-driven insights.

Simpleview’s global portfolio of products, services, and partners is evolving as the industry and economy evolve. Among the recent partnerships are ICCA, Tourism Economics, and ASM Global. Trusted by over 1,000 destinations, we’re proud that over 400 million visitors discover destinations each year on DMO websites powered by Simpleview’s technology and digital marketing services.

As we move forward, our journey is clear — we’ll remain at the forefront of the destination marketing industry and help DMOs boost tourism, engage, and support stakeholders, and win bids for meetings and events with the industry’s most trusted CRM, CMS, and integrated marketing services.