HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-14-2024 TBID Agenda Packet
Tourism Business Improvement District Board
AGENDA
Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 10:00 a.m.
City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo
The Tourism Business Improvement District Board holds in-person meetings. Zoom participation will
not be supported at this time.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT:
Public Comment prior to the meeting (must be received 3 hours in advance of the meeting):
Mail - Delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Address letters to the City Clerk's Office at 990
Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, 93401.
Email - Submit Public Comments via email to advisorybodies@slocity.org. In the body of your
email, please include the date of the meeting and the item number (if applicable). Emails will not
be read aloud during the meeting.
Voicemail - Call (805) 781-7164 and leave a voicemail. Please state and spell your name, the
agenda item number you are calling about, and leave your comment. Verbal comments must be
limited to 3 minutes. Voicemails will not be played during the meeting.
*All correspondence will be archived and distributed to members, however, submissions received
after the deadline may not be processed until the following day.
Public Comment during the meeting:
Meetings are held in-person. To provide public comment during the meeting, you must be
present at the meeting location.
Electronic Visual Aid Presentation. To conform with the City's Network Access and Use Policy,
Chapter 1.3.8 of the Council Policies & Procedures Manual, members of the public who desire
to utilize electronic visual aids to supplement their oral presentation are encouraged to provide
display-ready material to the City Clerk by 12:00 p.m. on the day before the meeting. Contact
the City Clerk's Office at cityclerk@slocity.org or (805) 781-7114.
Pages
1.CALL TO ORDER
Chair Pearce will call the Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business
Improvement District Board to order.
2.PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
At this time, people may address the Committee about items not on the agenda.
Comments are limited to three minutes per person. Items raised at this time are
generally referred to staff and, if action by the Committee is necessary, may be
scheduled for a future meeting.
3.CONSENT
3.a MINUTES OF TBID REGULAR MEETING ON JANUARY 10, 2024.5
3.b SMITH TRAVEL REPORT (STR)9
3.c TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (TOT) REPORT 11
3.d SLO CHAMBER PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTHLY REPORT 13
3.e SLO CHAMBER GUEST SERVICES MONTHLY REPORT 15
3.f NOBLE STUDIOS & DCI MARKETING MONTHLY REPORT 17
3.g BADGER BRANDING ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT 27
4.PRESENTATIONS
4.a BRAND SENTIMENT STUDY RESULTS (25 MIN)
Representatives from Noble Studios will present the results from the
recently deployed brand sentiment survey.
5.BUSINESS ITEMS
5.a SLO TBID FUND BALANCE & BUDGET UPDATE (20 MIN)
Staff will present the SLO TBID Fund Balance for the Board's review
and allocation.
5.b PUBLIC RELATIONS MEDIA MISSION (20 MIN)
Representatives from DCI will present a consideration for the board to
allocate budget towards a public relations media mission in Southern
California.
5.c EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY UPDATE (30 MIN)
Representatives from Noble Studios will present an update on Visit San
Luis Obispo's email marketing strategy.
6.TBID LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATION
6.a HOTELIER UPDATE – LIAISON REPORTS
6.b PCC UPDATE – LIAISON REPORT
6.c VISIT SLO CAL UPDATE – LIAISON REPORT
6.d TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE – STAFF REPORT
7.ADJOURNMENT
The next Special Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board
is scheduled for February 28, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Hearing Room
at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo.
LISTENING ASSISTIVE DEVICES are available -- see the Clerk
The City of San Luis Obispo wishes to make all of its public meetings accessible
to the public. Upon request, this agenda will be made available in appropriate
alternative formats to persons with disabilities. Any person with a disability who
requires a modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting
should direct such request to the City Clerk’s Office at (805) 781-7114 at least
48 hours before the meeting, if possible. Telecommunications Device for the
Deaf (805) 781-7410.
Agenda related writings or documents provided to the Tourism Business
Improvement District Board are available for public inspection on the City’s
website, under the Public Meeting Agendas web page:
https://www.slocity.org/government/mayor-and-city-council/agendas-and-
minutes. Meeting video recordings can be found on the City’s website:
http://opengov.slocity.org/WebLink/Browse.aspx?id=61016&dbid=0&repo=CityCl
erk
Page 4 of 34
1
Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes
January 10, 2024, 10:00 a.m.
City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo
TBID Board Present: Member Lori Keller, Member Winston Newland, Member Nipool
Patel, Member Prashant Patel, Member Sandy Sandoval, Vice
Chair Lydia Bates, Chair Clint Pearce
City Staff Present: Economic Development & Tourism Manager Molly Cano,
Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-
Charlesworth, City Clerk Teresa Purrington
_____________________________________________________________________
1. CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Tourism Business Improvement
District Board was called to order on January 10, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. in the
Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, by Chair
Pearce.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Public Comment:
Kristen Carlson, Visit SLO CAL made an introduction.
Representative from Petit Soleil made an introduction.
Representative from Quality Suites made an introduction.
Member of the public.
Shea Hanson, Wayfarer made an introduction.
3. CONSENT
Motion By Member Nipool Patel
Second By Member Prashant Patel
To approve Consent Items 3a through 3g.
Ayes (7): Member Keller, Member Newland, Member Nipool Patel, Member
Patel, Member Sandoval, Vice Chair Bates, and Chair Pearce
CARRIED (7 to 0)
Page 5 of 34
2
3.a MINUTES OF TBID SPECIAL MEETING ON DECEMBER 18, 2023
3.b SMITH TRAVEL REPORT (STR)
3.c TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (TOT) REPORT
3.d SLO CHAMBER PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTHLY REPORT
3.e SLO CHAMBER GUEST SERVICES MONTHLY REPORT
3.f NOBLE STUDIOS & DCI MARKETING MONTHLY REPORT
3.g BADGER BRANDING ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT
4. PRESENTATIONS
4.a PUBLIC RELATIONS & GUEST SERVICES QUARTER REPORT
Jim Dantona, SLO Chamber presented Guest Services activities and
Hollie West, SLO Chamber presented the second quarter report on Public
Relations.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Action: No action taken on this item.
4.b CONTENT MARKETING QUARTER REPORT
Katy McGrath and Molly Burchett, Badger Branding presented the second
quarter report on content marketing and organic social media activities,
and responded to inquiries.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Action: No action taken on this item.
5. BUSINESS ITEMS
5.a MARKETING SERVICES QUARTER REPORT + Q3 MEDIA PLAN
REVIEW & APPROVAL
Hayley Corbett, Gabbi Hall and Danni Winter, Noble Studios and Siobhan
Chretien, DCI presented the staff report and responded to inquiries.
Page 6 of 34
3
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Action: No action taken on this item.
5.b MIDWEEKEND ASSETS & PLAN APPROVAL
Gabbi Hall and Hayley Corbett, Noble Studios presented the staff report
and responded to inquiries.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Action: No action taken on this item.
5.c ETOURISM CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Economic Development & Tourism Manager Molly Cano presented the
staff report and responded to inquiries.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Motion By Vice Chair Bates
Second By Member Sandoval
To approve up to $3,500 from the TBID tradeshow budget for the eTourism
Summit
Ayes (7): Member Keller, Member Newland, Member Nipool Patel,
Member Patel, Member Sandoval, Vice Chair Bates, and Chair Pearce
CARRIED (7 to 0)
6. TBID LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATION
6.a HOTELIER UPDATE – LIAISON REPORTS
Vice Chair Bate provided an update from Hotel SLO.
6.b PCC UPDATE – LIAISON REPORT
Economic Development and Tourism Manager Molly Cano provided a brief
update on PCC activities.
Page 7 of 34
4
6.c VISIT SLO CAL UPDATE – LIAISON REPORT
Economic Development & Tourism Manager Molly Cano provided a brief
update on Visit SLO CAL activities.
6.d TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE – STAFF REPORT
Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth
provided a brief update on the tourism programs.
7. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 11:48 a.m. The next Special Meeting of the
Tourism Business Improvement District Board was cancelled and the next
Regular Meeting is scheduled for February 14, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. in the Council
Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo.
APPROVED BY TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BOARD:
XX/XX/202X
Page 8 of 34
January 2024
WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total
California 51.91 55.20 52.85 176.36 168.81 174.10 91.54 93.19 92.01 6.57 -0.93 4.21 9.71 -2.51 5.74 16.92 -3.43 10.20
City of Paso Robles 51.52 48.36 50.62 141.55 157.44 145.89 72.93 76.14 73.85 10.06 -11.74 3.11 12.79 4.44 9.24 24.14 -7.82 12.64
City of Pismo Beach 64.63 60.75 63.52 185.43 194.51 187.91 119.84 118.16 119.36 39.21 26.11 35.36 8.19 -1.56 4.93 50.60 24.14 42.04
City of San Luis Obispo 54.30 56.49 54.93 140.01 149.59 142.83 76.03 84.50 78.45 22.25 7.63 17.56 7.13 -3.71 3.04 30.96 3.64 21.14
City of Morro Bay 51.19 50.99 51.13 114.83 120.46 116.43 58.79 61.42 59.54 20.86 8.94 17.20 11.19 -1.73 6.64 34.39 7.06 24.98
WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total
California 55.30 63.26 57.57 229.66 181.22 214.45 127.00 114.64 123.47 -5.31 4.01 -2.57 -1.04 4.06 -0.27 -6.29 8.24 -2.83
City of Paso Robles 46.75 61.27 50.90 130.16 176.37 146.06 60.85 108.07 74.34 -13.79 11.18 -6.57 3.96 3.90 5.77 -10.38 15.52 -1.18
City of Pismo Beach 42.90 65.88 49.47 142.77 195.67 162.90 61.25 128.91 80.58 32.13 83.63 47.92 2.95 -0.99 3.93 36.04 81.82 53.73
City of San Luis Obispo 49.58 68.27 54.92 127.59 162.24 139.90 63.27 110.76 76.83 14.22 46.41 23.89 7.06 9.80 9.50 22.29 60.76 35.66
City of Morro Bay 40.81 60.07 46.31 105.12 136.59 116.78 42.90 82.05 54.09 -4.70 32.57 6.38 1.17 8.94 5.89 -3.58 44.42 12.64
WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total
California 55.76 58.95 56.67 167.26 168.97 167.77 93.27 99.60 95.08 -0.60 -7.23 -2.66 1.59 -2.93 0.11 0.98 -9.94 -2.56
City of Paso Robles 54.68 57.41 55.46 133.89 164.23 142.86 73.21 94.29 79.23 1.75 -22.34 -6.80 4.89 2.78 2.74 6.73 6.73 -4.24
City of Pismo Beach 48.76 57.38 51.22 168.03 182.97 172.81 81.93 104.99 88.52 42.89 -2.96 24.12 10.66 -7.18 1.43 58.12 58.12 25.89
City of San Luis Obispo 51.54 58.69 53.58 131.48 155.72 139.07 67.77 91.39 74.52 0.51 -4.27 -1.04 0.57 -3.36 -1.07 1.08 1.08 -2.09
City of Morro Bay 46.23 52.80 48.11 106.50 134.36 115.24 49.24 70.95 55.44 3.58 -5.63 0.51 0.77 5.08 1.89 4.38 4.38 2.41
WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total
California 59.71 64.94 61.20 176.36 175.87 176.21 105.30 114.21 107.85 -4.41 0.57 -2.95 2.18 1.26 1.90 -2.33 1.83 -1.10
City of Paso Robles 48.40 62.12 52.32 138.70 183.57 153.92 67.12 114.03 80.52 -20.99 -11.12 -17.90 0.67 -1.59 0.57 -20.46 -12.53 -17.43
City of Pismo Beach 47.46 70.73 54.11 140.92 195.61 161.35 66.88 138.35 87.30 -5.96 3.58 -2.61 -6.21 -0.91 -3.28 -11.80 2.63 -5.80
City of San Luis Obispo 54.45 67.26 58.11 135.84 162.83 144.76 73.96 109.51 84.12 1.84 -2.53 0.35 4.57 2.41 3.54 6.49 -0.18 3.91
City of Morro Bay 39.67 55.87 44.30 106.35 127.21 113.87 42.19 71.07 50.44 -15.34 -5.02 -11.89 0.66 -0.76 0.60 -14.78 -5.74 -11.36
WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total
California 59.68 62.77 60.56 177.15 180.60 178.17 105.72 113.36 107.90 -0.64 -6.16 -2.34 1.82 -1.13 0.86 1.17 -7.22 -1.50
City of Paso Robles 48.10 60.14 51.54 142.27 191.72 158.76 68.43 115.29 81.82 -15.96 -14.68 -15.54 2.58 2.95 2.84 -13.79 -12.16 -13.14
City of Pismo Beach 44.02 56.36 47.55 150.59 211.86 171.33 66.29 119.39 81.46 -4.04 -21.87 -10.93 2.19 0.24 -0.43 -1.94 -21.69 -11.31
City of San Luis Obispo 54.95 60.55 56.55 132.29 164.08 142.02 72.70 99.35 80.32 -0.67 -19.38 -7.26 1.23 -6.09 -2.85 0.55 -24.29 -9.90
City of Morro Bay 41.02 52.86 44.40 107.60 135.17 116.98 44.14 71.45 51.94 -19.47 -16.99 -18.64 -0.33 -8.51 -3.50 -19.74 -24.06 -21.49
For the Week of January 28, 2024
to February 03, 2024
For the Week of January 21, 2024
to January 27, 2024
For the Week of January 14, 2024
to January 20, 2024
For the Week of January 07, 2024
to January 13, 2024
For the Week of December 31,
2023 to January 06, 2024
RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar Occupancy (%)ADR
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar Occupancy (%)ADR RevPar
Page 9 of 34
Page 10 of 34
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24
Change +/- to
previous FY
July 508,195$ 541,806$ 591,184$ 636,778$ 699,845$ 761,346$ 844,845$ 877,391$ 861,241$ 884,317$ 913,019$ 530,064$ 1,214,080$ 1,300,061$ 1,244,066$ -4.3%
August 511,564$ 542,194$ 574,395$ 623,655$ 674,244$ 732,271$ 774,501$ 765,232$ 728,932$ 775,513$ 826,465$ 623,523$ 992,620$ 1,089,326$ 1,035,032$ -5.0%
September 400,023$ 437,543$ 490,524$ 508,583$ 505,954$ 557,002$ 643,127$ 650,117$ 693,704$ 682,810$ 720,414$ 660,405$ 965,595$ 1,040,391$ 1,024,818$ -1.5%
October 414,870$ 442,586$ 437,805$ 469,977$ 509,435$ 594,032$ 642,221$ 628,049$ 601,208$ 650,101$ 711,393$ 632,733$ 889,485$ 986,882$ 986,381$ -0.1%
November 280,913$ 330,924$ 347,437$ 359,163$ 425,769$ 475,360$ 468,016$ 497,162$ 513,487$ 556,885$ 593,403$ 422,488$ 722,487$ 772,110$ 753,195$ -2.4%
December 246,684$ 274,417$ 314,784$ 319,451$ 355,315$ 391,132$ 429,600$ 434,836$ 473,701$ 488,296$ 488,757$ 236,391$ 638,253$ 630,527$ 623,248$ -1.2%missing 3 hotels
January 230,279$ 256,351$ 276,165$ 302,153$ 331,853$ 400,239$ 387,304$ 396,559$ 415,690$ 465,547$ 520,813$ 302,621$ 557,369$ 526,691$
February 273,373$ 302,246$ 323,359$ 344,160$ 366,980$ 431,510$ 466,915$ 439,735$ 503,451$ 524,327$ 596,021$ 426,144$ 716,045$ 718,467$
March 326,099$ 333,783$ 392,266$ 426,879$ 448,103$ 520,795$ 559,235$ 549,642$ 577,285$ 602,781$ 268,458$ 614,973$ 820,473$ 805,947$
April 423,158$ 451,133$ 475,913$ 486,850$ 564,617$ 610,894$ 609,439$ 708,724$ 641,919$ 741,364$ 69,184$ 742,477$ 1,068,408$ 1,057,701$
May 372,997$ 433,874$ 447,116$ 489,862$ 546,916$ 601,614$ 598,093$ 645,114$ 630,820$ 665,603$ 174,982$ 760,006$ 919,831$ 910,444$
June 490,326$ 512,543$ 578,234$ 610,948$ 630,729$ 727,028$ 731,038$ 765,362$ 796,899$ 835,727$ 409,945$ 973,975$ 1,100,000$ 1,147,826$
Total/Average 4,478,481$ 4,859,400$ 5,249,181$ 5,578,460$ 6,059,758$ 6,803,224$ 7,154,334$ 7,357,923$ 7,438,338$ 7,873,272$ 6,292,853$ 6,925,799$ 10,604,646$ 10,986,373$ 5,666,741$
2022-23 2023-24 Change +/-2022-23 2023-24 Change +/-2022-23 2023-24 Change +/-
July 82.6 83.5 1.1%206.04 199.85 -3.0%170.2 166.97 -1.9%
August 75.8 74 -2.4%191.58 190.04 -0.8%145.18 140.59 -3.2%
September 72.7 71.2 -2.1%192.94 194.69 0.9%140.26 138.57 -1.2%
October 69.9 70.1 0.3%182.95 184.24 0.7%127.88 129.19 1.0%
November 61.6 62.7 1.8%168.42 164.58 -2.3%103.79 103.23 -0.5%
December 54.1 56.5 4.4%151.40 149.65 -1.2%81.88 84.56 3.3%
January 50.4 136.70 68.90
February 66 157.11 103.64
March 64.1 159.05 101.91
April 74.0 188.24 141.32
May 67.5 181.38 122.36
June 74.2 206.77 153.52
Total/Average 67.74 0.01 176.88$ -0.01 121.74$ 0.00 Updated: 02/09/2024
Occupancy ADR RevPAR*Figures from Smith Travel
Research Report
TOT Comparison
Page 11 of 34
Page 12 of 34
Report to City of SLO – TBID and PCC
Public Relations Contract
January 2024
PR ACTIVITY
Implementation/Proactive Work
Hosted travel writer E'Louise Ondash
Continued planning for travel writer Alexa Mellardo's upcoming visit
Implemented communications/PR copy and strategy for SLO Restaurant Week
Implemented communications/PR copy and strategy for Eat Local Bonus
Implemented communications/PR copy and strategy for Lunar New Year Palm Street Block Party
Continued working with the City and Noble Studios/DCI on overall tourism marketing campaign
Responsive leads
Pitched "Will You Be My Valentine?", "All Things Golden" and "Golfer's Paradise" story ideas to Visit California
Partnerships
Continued planning for SoCal Spring Media Mission with DCI
Continued planning for group FAM during the Film Festival with DCI and SLO International Film Festival
Began planning for Mdiweekend in partnership with the City
PUBLICATION PLACEMENTS UVPM AD VALUE PILLARS RESULT OF
WESTWAYS San Luis Obispo, much more than a college town 4,900,000.00 Cultural MEDIA HOSTING IN PARTNERSHIP W/DCI
BACKPACKER The Best Hiking Destinations for Every Month in 2024 666,000.00 $144.82 Outdoor MEDIA HOSTING IN PARTNERSHIP W/DCI
A-TOWN DAILY NEWS Spend $100, get $25 at local restaurants with city of SLO's bonus program 1,000.00 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
PASO ROBLES DAILY NEWS Spend $100, get $25 at local restaurants with City of SLO’s bonus program 85,000.00 $6.39 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
KSBY Dine out and get gift cards back: SLO launches Eat Local Bonus program 478,000.00 $39.54 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
PASO ROBLES DAILY NEWS Diverse cultural offerings revealed in San Luis Obispo's event lineup 85,000.00 $6.39 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
PATCH Local Event: SLO Restaurant Week 2024: San Luis Obispo 13,350,000 $1,370.29 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
KSBY Dozens of San Luis Obispo restaurants offering deals for SLO Restaurant Week 478,000.00 $39.54 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
YAHOO NEWS Go out to eat in SLO, earn a gift card. Dining bonus is back and here's how it works 180,340,000 $156,947.30 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
THE TRIBUNE Go out to eat in SLO, earn a gift card. Dining bonus is back and here’s how it works Read more at: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/entertainment/restaurants/article284090893.html#storylink=cpy21,000.00 $2,668.27 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
PASO ROBLES DAILY NEWS Diverse cultural offerings revealed in San Luis Obispo's event lineup 85,000.00 $6.39 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
PASO ROBLES DAILY NEWS Lunar New Year celebration planned this February in San Luis Obispo 85,000.00 $6.39 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
A-TOWN DAILY NEWS Lunar New Year celebration planned this February in San Luis Obispo 1,000.00 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
YAHOO NEWS SLO to celebrate 150th birthday of Ah Louis Store with a block party and drone show 180,340,000 $156,947.30 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
THE TRIBUNE SLO to celebrate 150th birthday of Ah Louis Store with a block party and drone show 21,000.00 $2,668.27 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
KSBY How SLO's Buy Local Bonus program brought nearly $950,000 to local retailers in just 30 days 478,000.00 $39.54 Support Local PROACTIVE PITCHING
TRAVEL DREAMS MAGAZINE California Town Pays Homage to its Chinese Settlers during Lunar New Year Block Party 4,000.00 $0.22 Cultural PROACTIVE PITCHING
TIMES OF INDIA California's guide to the best culinary and drink trails 31,130,000.00 $2,007.65 Beer/Wine RESPONSIVE PITCHING
WORLD ATLAS 6 Best Towns in Southern California to Visit in 2024 5,080,000.00 $305.33 Cultural
BON TRAVELER The Best Family-Friendly Hotels in California 70,000.00 $6.19 Family
VISIT CALIFORNIA 6 Secret California Bars 230,243.00 Beer/Wine
INSIDE THE TRAVEL LAB How to Plan Your San Francisco to Santa Barbara Road Trip 39,000.00 $1.34 Cultural
CALIFORNIA UNPUBLISHED Things to Do in Central California: A Guide to the Best Activities and Attractions 14,000.00 $0.68 Cultural
EXPLORE This Vintage-Charmed Inn Is Sure To Leave You Swooning On Valentine's Day 632,000.00 $0.12 Cultural
TOTALS
25 418,613,243.00 $323,211.96
TOTAL YTD 876,737,678.00 $513,300.83
109 1,295,350,921.00 $836,512.79
Page 13 of 34
Page 14 of 34
Jan Dec Jan
2023 2023 2024 Asia 0%
Walk-ins 9,551 14,148 10,931 Europe 33%
Phone Calls 826 563 616 Australia/NZ 0%
Emails & Digital 1,385 2,073 1,587 UK 22%
N. America 33%
C. America 0%
Jan Dec Jan S. America 11%
2023 2023 2024
Calls 72 20 46 West Coast 22%
Southwest 0%
Midwest 39%
Jan Dec Jan South 6%
2023 2023 2024 East Coast 33%
Referrals 1,157 39 42
Northern CA 12%
Central Coast 77%
Jan Dec Jan Central Valley 1%
2023 2023 2024 Desert 1%
Email 81 81 94 Southern CA 9%
Phone Calls 257 101 82
Jan Jan Jan
2023 2024 2024 YTD
Fulfilled N/A 22 VisitSLO.com 17 17
INFORMATION REQUESTS EVENTS SHARED
REPORT TO CITY OF SLO - TBID & PCC
GUEST SERVICES CONTRACT
JANUARY 2024
DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT
International Travelers
VISITOR INTERACTION
CALLS TO 877-SLO-TOWN
HOTEL REFERRALS
HOTEL AVAILABILITY TRACKER
Domestic Travelers
California Travelers
VISITOR CENTER ACTIVATIONS
No external activations
VISITOR CENTER HIGHLIGHTS
1) Eat Local Bonus Program - full tilt!
3) Supporting Restaurant week
2) Getting those next set of gift cards
Page 15 of 34
REPORT TO CITY OF SLO - TBID & PCC
GUEST SERVICES CONTRACT
JANUARY 2024
Page 16 of 34
Agency Report ·January 2024
SLO-TBID
Page 17 of 34
Agency Repor t
January Activity &Performance
What’s Ahead:
●Quarterly Marketing Plan FY23-24:
Visit SLO - 30/60/90 Marketing Plan - FY23-24
Paid Media
Paid Search
In January,paid search drove 26,175 impressions (+13%YoY),3,955 clicks (+41%YoY),15%CTR
(+24%YoY),a 53%conversion rate (+53%YoY),a $3.99 average CPC (-6%YoY)and 5,152 sessions
(+61%YoY)while driving 1,595 hotel referrals (+106%YoY),170 homestay referrals (+89%YoY),
and 187 things to do referrals (+167%YoY)at a 33%increase in cost YoY.
This graph shows PoP data as YoY comparisons within the GA4 dashboard are not available,as GA4 was
implemented less than one year ago.
2
Page 18 of 34
Paid Social
Paid social drove 2,712,697 impressions (+145%YoY),826,856 users reached,and 37,519 clicks
(+161%YoY)across Facebook and Instagram with a 1.38%CTR for FB/Instagram (+7%YoY)for
14,436 sessions (+144%YoY)while driving 8 hotel referrals (+33%YoY),1 Homestay referrals
(-67%YoY),and 1 things to do referral (+100%YoY)at a 101%increase in cost YoY.
Display
Display drove 1,807,969 impressions (-6%YoY),4,780 clicks (-13%YoY),a 0.26%CTR (-8%YoY),
and 3,252 sessions (-41%YoY)while driving 22 hotel referrals (+57%YoY),2 homestay referrals
(-75%YoY),and 1 things to do referral (-67%YoY),at a 4%decrease in cost YoY.
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This graph shows PoP data as YoY comparisons within the GA4 dashboard are not available,as GA4 was
implemented less than one year ago.
Video
Video campaigns drove 433,290 impressions (+163%YoY),6,168 clicks (+549%YoY),a 1.42%CTR
(+147%YoY),and 4,241 sessions (+1,488%YoY)while driving 4 hotel referrals,3 things to do
referral,and 1 newsletter signups,at an 18%increase in cost YoY.
Proactively monitored and optimized paid media placements ($38,434 spend).
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Email Marketing
Monthly Newsletter
In January,we sent a monthly newsletter to all subscribers that highlighted the return of The
MidWeekend deal.This email also featured a link to vote for Mission Plaza in USA Today’s “10 Best
Rankings”,ways to be well in the new year,and kid-friendly fun.We also tested adding a new SLO
Life Tip block to the bottom of the page.The MidWeekend link significantly drove the most clicks at
71%of total clicks.While we saw slight decreases in total website sessions,average session
duration,and engagement rate,we saw a significant increase in total partner referrals PoP.
January Newsletter Snapshot
●Email Campaigns Sent:1
●Audience Reached:All Newsletters Subscribers
●Recipients:22,737
●Open Rate:40.2%
●Click Rate:1.1%
●Number of Website Sessions:420 (-6%PoP)
●Average Session Duration:2:14 (-5%PoP)
●Pages /Session:2.43 (+23%PoP)
●Engagement Rate:54.76%(-1%PoP)
●Total Partner Referrals:114 (+256%PoP)
●Total Lodging Referrals:35 (+40%PoP)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)&Content Creation
Organic search traffic increased 25%period-over-period and increased 47%year-over-year.
Year-over-year organic hotel partner referrals increased 205%,homestay partner referrals increased
166%,and things to do referrals increased 58%.YoY Average Session Duration decreased 2%and
pages per session increased 14%.
Page 1 keywords decreased by 6%PoP,and total keywords decreased by 4%.This slight decrease
for the month of January could be in part from a shift in focus during the month of December.In
December,we audited the website’s images and SERP appearance for Google’s Search Generative
Experience (SGE)queries and identified oppor tunities to improve our ranking potential for SGE
queries in the future.We are continuing to monitor SEO performance across all of our pages since
our new website launched in July,and are seeing good organic improvements across the board.
●SEO Optimizations completed
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○Cal Poly
○Golf Courses
○Things To Do
○Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
○Technical SEO:Audit the caching,server response time,and JS execution time to
ensure fast load of content
Website
In January,the website saw 69,908 total sessions (+86%YoY).The engagement rate averaged 43%
(+66%YoY),with the highest engagement coming from paid social,organic search,display,and
paid search.January saw an average of 2.22 pages per session (+17%YoY)and an average session
duration of 1:39 (+68%YoY).In January we saw 2,864 Hotel Referrals (+123%YoY),344 Homestay
referrals (+97%YoY),and 2,363 Things to Do referrals (+50%YoY).
MRO Updates:
●Plugin Updates
●Fixed SLO Life Tips display in backend (eyebrows and CTAs rendered with wrong styles,
and eyebrows were not always readable)
●New CTA edit control,this one finally makes sense and is simple
●Disabled WP core patterns so that patterns list is cleaner.This makes patterns more usable
as a "starter template"tool
●Some code cleanup
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Web Retainer
Includes the injection of 10 hours for the approved SLO International Film Festival and Harvest on
the Coast campaign support.
Monthly Progress
Task Hours Accomplishments
Monthly Maintenance,
Coordination,and
Management
48.25 New filter listing for stakeholders/hotels,homepage and event
updates,partner blog posts implemented,updates to new
neighborhood pattern
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Creative Services
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Monthly Progress
Task Hours Accomplishments
Monthly Maintenance,
Coordination,and
Management
1.5 IHeart radio scripts
PR,Media,And Influencer Relations
Proactive Pitch Development:
●One Town,Many Flavors (Wine,Farmers’Market,Public Market)-In Progress
●SLOMA After Dark -Monitoring for Coverage
●SLO Named an ‘A List City’by the Carbon Disclosure Project -Monitoring for Coverage
●Lunar Year Block Party –Monitoring for Coverage
Proactive/Reactive Pitching and Outreach:
●Farley Elliott,SF Gate,Car-Free Dining
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●Janet O’Grady,Architectural Digest
●Josh Jackson,Paste Magazine,Wine and Wellness
●Linda Laban,NY Post
●Steve Drake,Drift Travel,Lunar Year Block Party
●Tim Controneo,Travel Dreams Magazine,Lunar Year Block Party (story ran)
●USA Today’s 10 Best,Wine Country Hotels,Tamara Gane
●Sucheta Rawal,Thrillist,Under-the-Radar Romantic Destinations
Hosted Media Visit or Influencer Partnerships (3-5 visits/partnerships in 2023-24)
●Individual Media Visits -4 Complete
○Lina Lecara,LA Weekly,August 2-4
○Eileen Ognitz &Andrew Yemma,Taking the Kids,August 9-11
○Susan Lanier-Graham,North Peoria Lifestyle,October 26
○Erica Zazo,Backpacker Magazine,December 6-9
●Upcoming Individual Media Visits (Confirmed)
○Alexa Mellardo,Eat This,Not That,March 6-9
○Matt Meltzer,Fifty Grand,December 20 (Canceled)
DCI’s All Client Pitch Initiative
Proposed:(4-6 pitches throughout 2023-24)
Progress:
5 Complete:What’s New in 2024 (July 2023),Hispanic Heritage Month (August
2023),Foodie Destinations (September 2023),Babymoons (October 2023),
Accessibility (November 2023)
DCI 2023-24 SLO Coverage Grid:
●https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X5vv8eqMyV4HSLq4nod-fio_XtbqSyap54Hau1w
V7yY/edit?usp=sharing
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January 2024
ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT
Date: 2/14/24Page 27 of 34
Followers: 28,868 ( 2.3%)
Total Follower Gain: 636
Total Posts: 213
Total Impressions: 578,965 ( 54%)
(includes both organic & paid)
Total stories: 207
Total Engagements:13,509 ( 31.4%)
Engagement Rate: 2.3% ( 55%)
INSTAGRAM
TOP POSTS:
In January, we gained over 600 new followers, keeping our average monthly increase intact. We saw an increase in
impressions with more users seeing our content come across their page. We did see a decrease in engagements and
engagement rate due to a monumental influx during the comparison period with the viral reel.
Page 28 of 34
Page Followers: 98,219 ( 0%)
Total Net Audience Growth: 36
Total Posts: 28
Total Impressions: 3,059,943 ( 944%)
Total Organic: 47,182 ( 15.3%)
Total Engagements: 51,222 ( 1,402%)
Engagement Rate: 1.67 % ( 43.9%)
FACEBOOK
TOP POSTS:
In January, we saw an increase in analytics across the board due to running paid advertising which extends our reach
across the platform. The best performing posts remain local experiences and what’s new in San Luis Obispo.
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Followers: 60
Total Net Growth: 3
Total Impressions: 2.3k ( 30%)
Total Saves: 34 ( 0%)
Engagements: 118 ( 24%)
Total Audience: 1.51k ( 43%)
Engaged Audience: 71 ( 33%)
In January, we saw an increase in followers, total audience, and engaged audience. This means our content is reaching
more new users and engaging returning users. We also saw an increase in impressions which again shows our extension
in reach across this platform.
TOP POSTS:
PINTEREST
Page 30 of 34
Total Audience: 214
Total Net Growth: 13
Total Posts: 4
Impressions: 402 ( 20%)
Engagements: 31 ( 0%)
Engagement Rate: 7.7% ( 19.5%)
LINKEDIN
TOP POSTS:
In January, we stayed far above the industry standard in engagement rate. We saw an increase in audience growth and
impressions, keeping the viewership of existing followers and gaining new ones with our content.
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Total Posts: 2
Story Views: 94 ( 5.6%)
Story Impressions: 7.3k ( 1.4%)
Interaction Rate: 66% ( 2%)
(Average Rate: 67%)
Completion Rate: 53% ( 5.5%)
(Average Rate: 52%)
CA Travel Stories - Crowdriff
POSTS THIS MONTH:
In January, we saw an increase in story views, impressions, and completion rate. This means more users are seeing our
content and watching the entirety of the story when viewed. Interaction rate slightly decreased, but stays right near the
standard. These stories are entirely exposure-based and depend on high quality images, clear content focusing on SEO, and
short duration.
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WHAT WE WORKED ON THIS MONTH:
- Eat Local Bonus
-Intro Reel, Food/Bev Related Posts (Brunch in SLO, Mocktails
in SLO)
- SLO Restaurant Week
-Intro Reel, 3 Perfect Pairing Reels w/ Adam Montiel
- New in SLO Content / Cutting Edge
- 4 New Murals in SLO, New Businesses in SLO
-National Plan Your Vacation Day
-Quick Tips for Sustainable SLO Travel
- Video Content Focus
- POV: You’re A Dog in SLO (18k+ impressions)
- ”We’re in SLO” Viral Reel Still Growing (207k+ impressions)
-Ticket Tuesday Giveaways
-Through Eyes of Glass W.S., The Center Yoga Membership Page 33 of 34
FEBRUARY’S FOCUS:
-Black History Month
-Black-Owned Businesses
-MidWeekend Campaign
-Intro Reel, 3 Related Posts
-Lunar New Year Palm Street Block Party
-Basket Giveaway, 3 Related Posts
- Galentine’s Event Giveaway w/ @thepenny
- Food / Bev Features
-Pizza in SLO, New Sips in SLO
- SLO Fun Facts Feature, SLO Nightlife Feature
-Sustainable Travel in SLO, Farmers’ Market
-SLO Direct Flight (Dallas) Feature
-Arts and Culture
-Live Shows in SLO (Fremont Theatre, SLO Rep Theatre, etc.)Page 34 of 34