DANVERS — For museums, hotels and other members of the Tourism industry, Hosting Celebrities and other VIPs can be intense. But it’s often interesting, and the key is to be prepared and consider the rules.

A morning panel, titled “Improve your customer service: Hosting VIPs and celebrities,” was one of several offered throughout the day, and was aimed at informing the 60 or so Industry Professionals who sat in on the session of the do’s and don’ts of dealing with VIPs — the North of Boston region, after all, has become a desirable filming and events locale for all sorts of celebrities.

Moderated by Deb Belanger, executive director of the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, the panel featured three speakers.

“A lot of work goes into bringing in a VIP to a business or a town,” said the first speaker, Patrick Cornelissen, General Manager of the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. 

Cornelissen discussed how today, VIPs are movie and television stars, sports stars and techies. He also noted the importance of employees keeping the presence of a VIP under wraps by not posting about anything on social media, denying the fact to the public and declining to give comments to the media.

“We’ve had a guest ask ‘Is Elton John staying with you?’ Even if he had walked by at that time, we still would have said no. Always deny it,” said Cornelissen. 

The next speaker, Karen Nascembeni, the general manager of North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, shared a number of her experiences hosting celebrities at the theater, either as performers or audience members.

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