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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-08-2025 TBID Agenda Packet Tourism Business Improvement District Board AGENDA Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 10:00 a.m. Council Hearing Room, 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. Attendees of City Council or Advisory Body meetings are eligible to receive one hour of complimentary parking; restrictions apply, visit Parking for Public Meetings for more details. 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 must 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 SEPTEMBER 10, 2025 5 3.b SMITH TRAVEL REPORT (STR)11 3.c TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (TOT) REPORT 13 3.d SLO CHAMBER PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTHLY REPORT 15 3.e SLO CHAMBER GUEST SERVICES MONTHLY REPORT 19 3.f NOBLE STUDIOS & UNIQUELY DRIVEN MARKETING MONTHLY REPORT 23 3.g BADGER BRANDING ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT 31 4.PRESENTATIONS 4.a PUBLIC RELATIONS QUARTER REPORT (20 MINUTES) Representatives from Noble Studios, Uniquely Driven and the SLO Chamber will present the first quarter report for public relations activities for the SLO TBID. 4.b GUEST SERVICES QUARTER REPORT (10 MINUTES) Representatives from the SLO Chamber will present the first quarter report on the Guest Services contract activities for the SLO TBID. 4.c CONTENT MARKETING QUARTER REPORT (15 MINUTES) Representatives from the Badger Branding will present the first quarter report for the content marketing support and organic social media activities with the SLO TBID. 4.d SECOND QUARTER MEDIA PLAN (10 MINUTES) Noble Studios will present a refresher to the Board on the second quarter media plan. 5.BUSINESS ITEMS 5.a MISSION PREP CHRISTMAS CLASSIC (15 MINUTES)41 The Board will consider the funding request for the Mission Prep Christmas Classic for sponsorship support. 5.b BRAND SENTIMENT STUDY PROPOSAL (15 MINUTES) The Board will consider the proposal for the revaluation of the Brand Sentiment survey. 6.TBID LIAISON REPORTS & COMMUNICATION 6.a HOTELIER UPDATE 6.b MARKETING COMMITTEE UPDATE 6.c MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE 6.d PCC UPDATE 47 6.e VISIT SLO CAL UPDATE 6.f TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE 7.ADJOURNMENT The next Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board is scheduled for November 12, 2025, 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 1 Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes September 10, 2025, 10:00 a.m. Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo _____________________________________________________________________ 1. CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Tourism Business Improvement District Board was called to order on September 10, 2025, 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: None --End of Public Comment-- 3. CONSENT Motion By Member N. Patel Second By Vice Chair Keller To approve Consent Items 3a. to 3g. Ayes (5): Member N. Patel, Vice Chair Keller, Member Specchierla, Member Eads, and Chair Pearce. Absent (2): Member Nelson, Member P. Patel TBID Board Present: Member Mark Eads, Member Christine Nelson, Member Nipool Patel, Member Dante Specchierla, Vice Chair Lori Keller, and Chair Clint Pearce TBID Board Absent: Member Prashant Patel City Staff Present: Economic Development & Tourism Manager Laura Fiedler Page 5 of 50 2 CARRIED (5 to 0) 3.a MINUTES OF TBID REGULAR MEETING ON AUGUST 19, 2025 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 & UNIQUELY DRIVEN MARKETING MONTHLY REPORT 3.g BADGER BRANDING ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT 4. BUSINESS ITEMS 4.a FY 2024-25 TBID ANNUAL REPORT APPROVAL (15 MINUTES) Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism Manager, presented the draft FY 2024-25 TBID annual report for recommendation to City Council on October 7, 2025. Pending the City Council’s approval of the report, the annual public hearing for the TBID will be scheduled for October 21, 2025 Public Comment: None --End of Public Comment-- Motion By Vice Chair Keller Second By Member Specchierla To approve recommending the draft FY 2024-25 TBID annual report to the City Council for meeting on October 7, 2025. Ayes (5): Vice Chair Keller, Member Specchierla, Member Eads, Member N. Patel, and Chair Pearce. Absent (2): Member Nelson, Member P. Patel CARRIED (5 to 0) Member Nelson joined the meeting at 10:09 a.m. Page 6 of 50 3 4.b FY 2024-25 TBID ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHT VIDEO (5 MINUTES) Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism Manager presented for review the draft FY 2024-25 TBID Annual Report Highlight Video to be shown at the October 7, 2025, City Council meeting. Public Comment: None --End of Public Comment-- Action: No action taken on this item. 4.c SLO LIFE COACH CAMPAIGN INVESTMENT (15 MINUTES) Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism Manager, and Gabbi Hall and Hayley Corbett from Noble Studios, presented an opportunity for additional investment in short-form videos for the SLO Life Coach campaign, on the recommendation of the Marketing Subcommittee. Public Comment: None --End of Public Comment-- Motion By Member Eads Second By Member N. Patel To approve up to $45,100 from TBID’s fund balance for additional investment into short-form videos for the SLO Life Coach campaign (4 video cutdowns of existing SLO Life Coach videos and 30 SLO Life Tips videos, plus creative direction and project oversight). Page 7 of 50 4 Ayes (6): Member Eads, Member N. Patel, Member Specchierla, Member Nelson, Vice Chair Keller and Chair Pearce Absent (1): Member P. Patel CARRIED (6 to 0) 5. TBID LIAISON REPORTS & COMMUNICATION 5.a HOTELIER UPDATE No update at this time. 5.b MARKETING COMMITTEE UPDATE At the Marketing Committee meeting on August 27, 2025, the committee voted to move forward for recommendation to the full TBID Board the opportunity for additional investment in the SLO Life Co ach Campaign (item 4c on this agenda). The committee also reviewed the performance of the SLO Life Coach Campaign since its launch and the long-form videos. 5.c MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE The Management Committee did not meet in August but was provided by email a copy of the draft Annual TBID report for review. 5.d PCC UPDATE Member Specchierla provided a brief update on PCC activities. Page 8 of 50 5 5.e VISIT SLO CAL UPDATE Molly Cano, Vice President of Marketing from VISIT SLO CAL provided a brief update on Visit SLO CAL activities, including on the upcoming filming and production for the Turns Well Taken campaign, the Visit SLO CAL Summit in November, and a strategic plan update. 5.f TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism Manager, provided an update on the tourism program, including on sponsorships and partnerships with Hotel Beds, the Spartan Race, Cal Poly Athletics, the California Main Street Conference in San Luis Obispo, and support local promotions. 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:53 a.m. The next Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board is scheduled for October 8, 2025, 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 9 of 50 Page 10 of 50 SEPTEMBER 2025 WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total California 60.34 72.29 63.76 171.50 195.96 179.42 103.49 141.66 114.40 1.18 -1.12 0.43 3.13 1.74 2.55 4.35 0.60 2.99 City of Paso Robles 60.71 74.50 64.65 170.99 270.98 203.91 103.80 201.89 131.82 11.98 11.21 11.72 -1.69 10.10 3.09 10.09 22.44 15.17 City of Pismo Beach 63.74 79.67 68.29 238.29 291.49 256.02 151.88 232.23 174.83 4.19 -0.47 2.59 3.96 4.12 3.80 8.32 3.63 6.49 City of San Luis Obispo 63.15 80.15 68.00 159.34 233.26 184.24 100.62 186.97 125.29 -4.87 -1.84 -3.87 5.17 7.41 6.39 0.05 5.43 2.28 City of Morro Bay 60.14 76.01 64.68 144.01 199.97 162.80 86.61 151.99 105.29 0.36 -0.44 0.08 -1.84 2.42 -0.19 -1.49 1.96 -0.11 WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total California 68.56 74.66 70.30 189.98 196.61 191.99 130.25 146.79 134.97 -5.89 -1.52 -4.60 -0.92 -0.54 -0.77 -6.75 -2.05 -5.34 City of Paso Robles 70.61 78.84 72.96 167.03 271.61 199.32 117.93 214.13 145.42 23.82 3.91 16.90 5.64 -0.42 0.70 30.81 3.47 17.72 City of Pismo Beach 70.09 85.92 74.62 213.66 322.41 249.44 149.76 277.01 186.12 7.99 6.12 7.37 8.61 8.97 8.58 17.29 15.64 16.58 City of San Luis Obispo 71.14 80.34 73.77 197.33 274.52 221.35 140.39 220.55 163.29 12.80 -0.90 8.15 33.83 18.44 25.71 50.96 17.38 35.95 City of Morro Bay 63.53 77.30 67.46 133.42 199.97 155.20 84.76 154.57 104.70 2.66 -2.97 0.75 -2.23 0.93 -1.41 0.37 -2.06 -0.67 WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total California 73.57 79.43 75.24 210.83 200.77 207.79 155.11 159.46 156.35 0.69 -1.93 -0.12 -1.37 -3.26 -1.91 -0.69 -5.12 -2.03 City of Paso Robles 66.71 80.97 70.78 168.39 280.23 204.95 112.33 226.91 145.07 -3.93 -5.22 -4.35 -4.67 -2.21 -3.73 -8.41 -8.41 -7.92 City of Pismo Beach 65.95 82.29 70.62 203.42 305.71 237.47 134.16 251.56 167.70 -11.23 -6.94 -9.85 -3.48 -1.18 -2.10 -14.32 -14.32 -11.74 City of San Luis Obispo 68.80 80.44 72.12 166.52 215.03 181.98 114.56 172.96 131.24 -10.23 -9.64 -10.05 -15.84 -11.97 -14.39 -24.45 -24.45 -22.99 City of Morro Bay 63.65 78.17 67.80 128.57 191.24 149.22 81.84 149.50 101.17 -11.25 -10.74 -11.08 -9.05 -8.20 -8.65 -19.28 -19.28 -18.77 WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total WD WE Total California 66.18 78.01 69.56 178.84 200.92 185.91 118.36 156.73 129.32 -7.98 -4.12 -6.78 -6.86 -3.72 -5.72 -14.29 -7.69 -12.11 City of Paso Robles 63.64 78.25 67.81 165.80 267.67 199.39 105.51 209.45 135.21 -1.70 -8.58 -4.08 -1.40 -4.78 -3.78 -3.07 -12.95 -7.71 City of Pismo Beach 62.75 80.97 67.96 200.38 298.39 233.74 125.75 241.59 158.85 -3.73 -3.93 -3.80 4.83 -0.06 2.62 0.91 -3.99 -1.28 City of San Luis Obispo 64.65 80.72 69.24 150.47 216.43 172.44 97.28 174.71 119.40 -1.63 -5.28 -2.88 4.78 -6.39 -0.62 3.08 -11.33 -3.48 City of Morro Bay 62.66 81.22 67.96 125.62 213.72 155.70 78.72 173.58 105.82 -5.24 -4.03 -4.83 -6.24 0.79 -2.94 -11.16 -3.27 -7.63 RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar ADR RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR Current Week Totals Percent Change Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar Current Week Totals Percent Change Occupancy (%) ADR For the Week of September 21, 2025 to September 27, 2025 For the Week of September 14, 2025 to September 20, 2025 For the Week of September 07, 2025 to September 13, 2025 For the Week of August 31, 2025 to September 06, 2025 RevPar Current Week Totals Percent Change Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar Current Week Totals Percent Change Occupancy (%) Page 11 of 50 Page 12 of 50 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 2024-25 2025-26 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$ 1,297,863$ 1,245,883$ 1,296,972$ 1,309,954$ 1.00%*missing 1 properties 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$ 1,057,478$ 1,037,434$ 1,118,215$ 1,160,196$ 3.75%*missing 4 properties 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$ 1,039,589$ 1,024,869$ 935,689$ 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$ 993,400$ 986,681$ 921,418$ 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$ 770,599$ 757,010$ 825,128$ 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$ 628,735$ 628,260$ 637,018$ 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$ 554,408$ 621,595$ 696,606$ 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$ 735,450$ 687,480$ 745,586$ 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$ 807,997$ 850,274$ 806,319$ 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$ 1,056,663$ 1,025,966$ 1,034,160$ 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$ 910,508$ 989,619$ 1,025,327$ 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$ 1,160,330$ 1,201,226$ 1,317,578$ 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$ 11,013,020$ 11,056,297$ 11,360,016$ 2,470,150$ 2024-25 2025-26 Change +/-2024-25 2025-26 Change +/-2024-25 2025-26 Change +/- July 83.3 81.5 -2.2%203.44$ 203.66$ 0.1%169.32$ 166.07$ -1.9% August 77.0 78.4 1.8%194.96$ 195.11$ 0.1%150.17$ 152.98$ 1.9% September 70.0 184.04$ 128.89$ October 69.3 178.14$ 123.46$ November 66.8 171.03$ 114.16$ December 59.8 146.17$ 87.41$ January 62.4 144.12$ 89.99$ February 67.1 161.94$ 108.66$ March 65.8 161.67$ 106.36$ April 73.2 183.34$ 134.22$ May 70.0 181.88$ 127.38$ June 75.9 216.12$ 165.02$ Total/Average 70.05 177.24$ 125.42$ Updated: 10/03/2025 Occupancy (%) ADR RevPAR*Figures from Smith Travel Research Report TOT Comparison Page 13 of 50 Page 14 of 50 SLO Chamber of Commerce Public Relations Contract Report to the City of San Luis Obispo – TBID & PCC September 2025 Page 15 of 50 SLO Chamber of Commerce Implementation and Proactive Work Hosted travel writer Vanita Salisbury Continued planning for Midweek Influencer Fam Began planning for travel writer Natalie Zimmerman's upcoming stay in partnership w/Uniquely Driven Continued planning for travel writer Dahvi Shira’s upcoming stay Continued outreach to TBID stakeholders to inform Visit SLO Influencer Strategy Continued working with the City, Noble Studios, Uniquely Driven and Badger Branding on overall tourism marketing campaign 2 Responsive Work & Partnerships Pitching Pitched "Golden discoveries: Museums only locals know" and "Professional meetings and events: Farm-to-table futures" story ideas to Visit California Partnerships Reviewed October social media calendar for Central Coast Tourism Council Attended Visit SLO CAL PR Mixer Began planning for Visit SLO CAL LA Media Mission Participated in 30/60/90 Planning Session with Noble, Uniquely Driven & Badger Branding Continued planning for ARTober with the City, Badger Branding and Verdin Continued planning for Buy Local Bonus with the City, Badger Branding and Verdin Continued planning for SLO Restaurant Month with the City, Badger Branding and Verdin Media Features Proactive Work Yahoo: My mom and I have gone on a trip together every year for the past decade. We've mastered the art of planning them. | UVPM: 390,330,017 As a result of hosting Alexa Mellardo in SLO in March 2024 Business Insider: My mom and I have gone on a trip together every year for the past decade. We've mastered the art of planning them. | UVPM: 33,944,294 As a result of hosting Alexa Mellardo in SLO in March 2024 AOL: My mom and I have gone on a trip together every year for the past decade. We've mastered the art of planning them. | UVPM: 28,025,399 As a result of hosting Alexa Mellardo in SLO in March 2024 Page 16 of 50 SLO Chamber of Commerce Media Features Media Monitoring SEPTEMBER TOTALS: Placements: 12 UVPM: 911,820,838 YEAR TO DATE TOTALS: Placements: 26 UVPM: 2,178,805,610 3 PUBLICATION PLACEMENTS UVPM YAHOO Highway 1 Road Trip: 5 Can’t-Miss Coastal Stops in SLO CAL 390,330,017.00 MEDIUM Top 5 Best Things to do in San Luis Obispo, USA November 2025 43,759,397.00 THE INDEPENDENT The 9 best California cities and towns to visit, from LA to Santa Barbara 9,832,406.00 WORLD ATLAS 7 California Towns That Locals Love 7,515,130.00 WORLD ATLAS The Best Small Towns To Retire In California 7,515,130.00 VINEPAIR Forget the Hotel Bar - Welcome to the Bar Hotel 549,760.00 MY FAMILY TRAVELS 10 California Roadside Attractions That Are Worth a Detour 10,782.00 SAVORED JOURNEYS 15 Unforgettable California Road Trips You’ll Want to Drive Now 5,793.00 WANDER WORTHY This Stretch of California’s Highway 1 Turns a Scenic Drive Into the Road Trip of a Lifetime–and No, It's Not Big Sur | Wander Worthy 2,713.00 Page 17 of 50 Page 18 of 50 SLO Chamber of Commerce Guest Services Contract Report to the City of San Luis Obispo September 2025 Page 19 of 50 SLO Chamber of Commerce VISITOR INTERACTION Sept. 2024 Aug. 2025 Sept. 2025 Walk-Ins 5,011 5,126 4,368 Phone Calls 190 173 139 Email & Digital 1,136 1,448 1,675 2 CALLS TO 877-SLO-TOWN Sept. 2024 Aug. 2025 Sept. 2025 Calls 23 37 23 HOTEL REFERRALS Sept. 2024 Aug. 2025 Sept. 2025 Referrals 46 56 64 HOTEL AVAILABILITY TRACKER Sept. 2024 Aug. 2025 Sept. 2025 Email 178 94 66 Phone Calls 153 142 110 INFORMATION REQUESTS Sept. 2024 Aug. 2025 Sept. 2025 Fullfilled 57 2 4 EVENTS SHARED Sept. 2025 YTD VisitSLO.com 22 200 DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT International Travelers Asia 11% Europe 49% Middle East 5% Australia/NZ 8% UK 14% North America 12% Central America 0% South America 1% Domestic Travelers West Coast 19% Southwest 16% Midwest 26% South 15% East Coast 23% California Travelers Northern CA 28% Central Coast 37% Central Valley 2% Desert 1% Southern CA 32% Page 20 of 50 SLO Chamber of Commerce Other Highlights 3 Guest Quote of the Month “I had family that lived here in the 1870s so I came to learn more about San Luis Obispo and what life would have looked like for them.” A gentleman from Albuquerque, New Mexico has been tracing his genealogy and found a family member on a San Luis Obispo census record from the 1870s. New Hires The Visitor Center welcomed 3 new Information Specialists: Emmerson Spann Celina Jimenez Emma Major Page 21 of 50 Page 22 of 50 SLO Marketing Activities Report Key Performance Highlights September 2025 At-a-Glance Highlights ● Total Website Sessions: 75,622 (+12% YoY) ● Top Traffic Source: Paid Social (+80% YoY) ● Total Lodging Referrals: 3,735 (-5% YoY) ● Top Performing Ads: YoY, SLO Life Coach Ads across Display, Demand Gen, and PMAX channels saw: ○ +187% increase in website sessions ○ +42% increase in impressions ○ +55% increase in lodging referrals ○ all at a +7% increase in cost ● PR Media Mentions: Travel + Leisure: This Is California’s ‘Last Great Beach Town’—and It Has One of the Most Peaceful Beaches in the State With No Crowds ○ Total estimated reach of 41M+ as the article was syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News Malaysia as well YTD KPI Performance Expected Pace through September: 25% Page 23 of 50 Overall Performance Summary In September 2025, despite seeing a 25% decrease in organic traffic YoY, paid media channels saw an explosion of growth thanks to strong performance with the new SLO Life Coach campaign that helped diminish the overall impact of the organic traffic losses. Paid media saw a 42% increase in website sessions, a 30% increase in total partner referrals, and a 24% increase in average session duration at only a 3% increase in cost YoY. Our new SLO Life coach campaign continues to strongly resonate with our target audiences and drive more traffic and partner referrals at a greater ROI than previous campaigns. Organic search saw a 25% decrease in YoY traffic which is in the low-end of the range that roughly 400 other DMOs are experiencing in 2025 (-20-40% decreases). As the ways that people continue to search and plan their trips increasingly lean on AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews, Visit SLO has been seeing strong improvements in being cited as a source in these AI tools (+292% since May 2025). While still contributing relatively low overall traffic volume, traffic from AI sources has increased by 2,171% YoY. This is a trend that is expected to continue into the next several years as the sophistication and adoption of these tools grows. In September, we also refreshed our Welcome Series Newsletter automation and built a new gated email for the Wine Map that is already seeing great results since its launch on 9/19/25. Next Steps: We are wrapping up the schema audit and implementation on VisitSLO.com to provide clearer context cues to search engine crawlers and enhance page visibility. We are also developing new SLO Life Coach itinerary-style content designed to perform well in AI-generated responses and rich SERP features. We will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving search landscape and adapt our strategies to reach potential travelers in the right channels at the right time. In addition, we plan to review September 2025 TOT performance to gain deeper insight into visitation trends to better inform future campaign strategies. Paid Media Snapshot ● Paid Search ○ Impressions: 52,283 (+60% YoY) ○ Clicks: 5,069 (+15% YoY) ○ CTR: 9.70% (-28% YoY) ○ Sessions: 5,104 (+27% YoY) ○ Lodging Referrals: 2,252 (+19% YoY) 2 Page 24 of 50 ○ Cost: $14,774 (+1% YoY) ● Paid Social ○ Impressions: 1,256,732 (-15% YoY) ○ Clicks: 44,969 (+55% YoY) ○ CTR: 3.58% (+81% YoY) ○ Sessions: 21,563 (+80% YoY) ○ Lodging Referrals: 67 (-3% YoY) ○ Cost: $16,006 (+2% YoY) ● Display, Demand Gen, & PMAX ○ Impressions: 1,941,112 (+42% YoY) ○ CTR: 0.86% (-17% YoY) ○ Clicks: 16,631 (+17% YoY) ○ Sessions: 19,725 (+187% YoY) ○ Lodging Referrals: 233 (+55% YoY) ○ Cost: $7,062 (+7% YoY) Key Insight: The new SLO Life Coach campaign has been showing signs of strong resonance among our target audiences across display, demand gen, PMAX, and paid social channels, resulting in significantly more sessions, more conversions, higher engagement rates, longer time on site, and more pages per session. 3 Page 25 of 50 Owned Media Snapshot Email Marketing In September we temporarily paused on sending emails to build and implement a new SLO Wine Map gated email and revamp our Welcome Series automations, both incorporating the SLO Life Coach. These email updates provide a refreshed experience through updated campaign imagery and messaging and provide Visit SLO with tools to further build up the total newsletter audience. Since the launch on 9/19/25, the SLO gated wine map has already gathered 12 entries, 116 views and a 10.3% conversion rate. 4 Page 26 of 50 Website ● Total Sessions: 75,622 (+12% YoY) ● Lodging Partner Referrals: 3,735 (-5% YoY) ● Avg. Pages/Session: 1.76 (-8% YoY) ● Average Session Duration: 2m 09s (+18% YoY) ● Top Lodging Referral Channels: Paid Search (60%), Organic Search (16%), Referral (7%) SEO + Content ● Organic Sessions: 15,042 (-25% YoY) ● Organic Partner Referrals: 5,579 (-33% YoY) ● Organic Impressions: 1.49 Mil (-10% YoY) ● Organic Clicks: 10.8K (-35% YoY) ● Organic CTR: 0.7% (-30% YoY) ● Page 1 Keywords: 4.5K (-11%) ● Sessions from LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc): 159 (+2,171% YoY) ● Top Losses: things to do in San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, Sunset Drive-In Next Steps: We’re continuing to build out a new MidWeekend itinerary page aimed at providing in-depth, helpful content that highlights the benefit of midweek travel to SLO. This page leans into a new strategy that works to curate more content to our specific audiences, helping Visit SLO show up in Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other AI tools where travelers are planning their trips. We’re also working on auditing/optimizing schema across many of our key pages, as this additional data will become more important as we move further into the AI era of search. 5 Page 27 of 50 While organic traffic is down 25% in September, we’ve been improving Visit SLO’s ability to be cited as a source in Google’s AI Overviews. Since May of 2025, we’ve seen a 292% increase in the number of AI overviews the website has been cited in. As organic search pages continue to increasingly have Google’s AI overview responses, the way that people search continues to change and organic traffic declines are felt across the Travel and Tourism industry, among many others. Key Insight: YoY drops in Organic traffic are industry-wide and are tied to a roughly 46% decrease in organic CTRs related to a rapidly evolving search engine results page, which now features AI responses and significantly more SERP features, allowing searchers to get more information without the need to click through to a website. A study done by Simpleview across over 400 DMOs showed that the average decrease in organic search traffic was 20-40% in 2025. We’re continuing to lean into new strategies to improve Visit SLO’s visibility in this new era of search. Traffic trends for 400+ DMOs 6 Page 28 of 50 Creative & Web Maintenance Website Maintenance, Repair & Optimization (MRO) ● Theme Updates ○ Stakeholder randomization updates ○ Home hero overlap fix ● Plugins and Updates ○ WP 6.8.3 ○ ACF Pro ○ Gravity Forms ○ Permalink Manager Pro ○ Safe SVG ○ Events Calendar ○ Community Events ○ Events Calendar Pro ○ Tiny PNG ○ Wordpress Importer ○ WP Mail SMTP ○ Yoast Website Services ● September Website Services Efforts: ○ 6.25h out of 120 hours were utilized for September 2025 (Remaining hours: 106.25) 7 Page 29 of 50 ○ Work Accomplished: SLO Wine Map page, Homepage Updates, Cider Page updates, Arts and Culture Page updates, Budget/Pet Hotel Page updates, Chamber Stakeholder Meeting. Creative Services ● September Creative Services Efforts: ○ 5.5h out of 150 hours were utilized for September 2025 (Remaining hours: 139.25) ○ Work Accomplished: SLO Gated Wine Map Design. Earned Media Activity Earned Media Highlights Total Impressions/Circulation: 0 Placements: 0 Pitches Sent: 46 Press Coverage Upcoming Individual Press Trips: ● October 1-4: Ligaya Malones (San Diego Magazine, Lonely Planet, Travel + Leisure) ● October 17-19: Natalie Zimmerman (Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine) 8 Page 30 of 50 September 2025 SLO TBID - SHARESLO ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT Date: 10/08/25Page 31 of 50 Followers: 41,027 ( 1.2%) Total Net Growth: 488 Total Posts: 154 Total Views: 680,736 ( 17%) Total stories: 178 Total Engagements: 7,639 ( 34%) Engagement Rate: 1.1% ( 44%) INSTAGRAM In September, we saw an increase in followers and views. We saw a decrease in engagements, which paired with the increase in views resulted in a decreased engagement rate. The most successful posts this month were a Ticket Tuesday giveaway and Reels. TOP POSTS: Page 32 of 50 Page Followers: 107,889 ( .5%) Total Net Audience Growth: 581 Total Posts: 16 Total Impressions: 1,318,926 ( 11%) Total Organic: 259,505 ( 66%) Total Engagements: 5,633 ( 72%) Engagement Rate: .4% ( 69%) FACEBOOK TOP POSTS: In September, we saw an increase in page followers. Compared to last month’s extremely high increases, we saw decreases in impressions, engagements, and engagement rate. The analytics are evening back out, which is expected. Top performers were all Reels on this platform. Page 33 of 50 Followers: 2,841 ( 7.4%) Followers Gained: 195 Impressions: 34,585 ( 17%) Engagement: 2,194 ( 29%) Engagement Rate: 6.3% ( 14%) In September, we saw an increase in followers by 195 users! We saw decreases in impressions, engagements, and engagement rate. We are still happy with the success we are seeing on this platform. For engagement rate, the industry standard of success reports that anything above 5% is exceptionally strong, and we report 6.3%. TIKTOK TOP POSTS: Page 34 of 50 Total Audience: 488 ( .6%) Total Net Growth: 3 Total Posts: 0 Impressions: 185 ( 63%) Engagements: 11 ( 67%) Engagement Rate: 6% ( 16%) LINKEDIN TOP POSTS: In September, we had a connection issue and our posts did not go live this month. We put safeguards in place to make sure this does not happen again. The analytics we are reporting are still accurate. We still saw an increase in followers on the platform, but this is why our other analytics decreased. We greatly apologize for this mistake. Page 35 of 50 Impressions: 2.98k ( 49%) Engagements: 121 ( 22%) Outbound Clicks: 3 Saves: 32 ( 3%) Total Audience: 1.78k ( 47%) Engaged Audience: 94 ( 36%) PINTEREST In September, we continued to perform a trial of mirroring Instagram posts to Pinterest and still saw great success. We saw increases in impressions, engagements, total audience, and engaged audience this month. TOP POSTS: Page 36 of 50 WHAT WE WORKED ON THIS MONTH: - Viral Trend Reel Continues to Grow -Tiktok : August (86.1k Views) —> September (99.1k Views) -2 Ticket Tuesdays (Cafe Roma & Rod & Hammer Rock) -Blast to the Past Reel (Collab w/ Sunset Drive-In) (63k Views) -Hub ‘n’ Spoke Series : Avila Valley Barn Collaboration (13.3k Views) -Two Successful Trends -Where We Hope Your Email Finds You (7.2k Views) -Unfortunately We Love (10k Views) -Local Legends in SLO (37.2k Views) -SLO Life Coach & SLO Life Tip Reel & Stories -Sharing PR Placements on Stories w/ Links & Created News Highlight -Sharing Stories Directly Linking to Visitslo.com Blog Pages -Accepted Collaboration w/ @SLOCAL & SLO Airport (10k Views, 205 Interactions) -Accepted Collaboration w/ @kindtraveler (7.9 Views, 305 Interactions) -ARTober Launch Reel Page 37 of 50 OCTOBER’S FOCUS: - Hub ‘n’ Spoke Series Continues - Sensorio - ARTober Weekly Series / Piano in the Plaza - Performances, Museums, Live Music, Workshops, & Public Art - 3 Kid-Friendly Outdoor Adventures in SLO - Cideries in SLO - Seasonal Bites in SLO - Ticket Tuesday Giveaways - Noodle Making Class, San Luis Creek Lodge & Lure, Autumn Soirée - Date Night Experiences in SLO - SLO Life Tip Reel - New Businesses in SLO - Upcoming Events in SLO Page 38 of 50 THANK YOU! Page 39 of 50 Page 40 of 50 SLO Happenings Event Promotion Sponsorship APPLICATION EVENT NAME: Mission Prep Christmas Classic EVENT DATE(S): December 19-23 EVENT VENUE LOCATION: 682 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo EVENT WEBSITE URL: mcpchristmasclassic.com EVENT ORGANIZATION:Mission College Prep High School X-Non Profit ORGANIZATION ADDRESS:682 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo WEBSITE URL:missionprep.org ORGANIZATION’S PHONE NUMBER:805-543-2131 POINT OF CONTACT: Terrance Harris_ POSITION/TITLE: Basketball Coach PHONE NUMBER: 805-748-9075 EMAIL: terrancel.harris@yahoo.com IS APPLICATION WRITER DIFFERENT FROM LISTED POINT OF CONTACT: X SAME ___DIFFERENT *Please add application writer ’s contact information here if different: Page 41 of 50 FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Application Date: Application Status: Committee Review Date: Total Net Score: # of Room Nights Requested: Estimated $ Hosted: Requested group/individual hosted: Committee Notes: 1 1. Event Description: The Mission Prep Christmas Classic is a premier high school basketball tournament. Since 1999, we have had the pleasure of hosting teams from across the country and even a few international teams EVENT QUESTIONS for this tournament. The tournament has been successful for a few key reasons. There is quality competition, great hospitality, and people love the location on the central coast. This is a destination tournament because of our beautiful central coast location. In order to attract teams to this tournament, we end up helping teams with their travel accommodations. This is a sticking point for many of the teams we have been able to attract, including a high school team from Arizona and Washington this year. Over the years, the tournament has played host to dozens of players that have gone on to play professional sports including names like Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Jared Goff, Jdru Holiday (and his brothers Justin and Aaron), Demar Derozen, Jalen Green, and the list goes on. Fans from around the central coast attend this event and have told us that it is their favorite sporting event in the area. This year we will have teams from the San Diego area, Sacramento, Utah, Washington, Arizona, Bakersfield,Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. 2. Describe how you track your event, success and attendees (ticket sales, actual event attendance, attendee demographics, survey of event satisfaction, etc.) We sell tickets daily tickets as well as tournament passes. In addition, individuals who have statewide CIF cards are permitted to attend. Event success is largely dictated by the experience of the coaches and visiting teams. The attendance is a factor in overall satisfaction. However, the quality of the tournament is impacted overall by the hospitality, hotel accommodations, the engagement in the city of SLO, and the competitive nature of the tournament. This is a tournament that provides for a true destination experience. Page 42 of 50 3. Provide information on event ticketing (ticket requirement, price range, ticket platform used, etc.) : Tickets range in price from $5 to $10. We use GoFan as our platform to sell tickets to this event. 4. Describe your event ’s target audience (including but not limited to age, interests, area of residence, household income, families/couples, etc.) The target audience is families and sports fans from the area as well as fans and family who travel with the teams. We typically have students from local high schools and their families attend this tournament even when their schools are not playing. We will also have general members of the community who attend. All of the teams who travel traditionally bring fans with them which makes for a great atmosphere. This year we have St. Joseph High School attending the tournament. St. Joseph has been nationally ranked in recent years and has players on their team who are top recruits in the country. This will draw additional individuals from the Santa Maria community as well as additional fans from the San Luis Obispo area who know that they are having an opportunity to see some of the premier players right in their backyard. 5. Historical event attendance (n/a if first time event. An annual event with a new series, speaker, team, musician or show does not constitute as a new event) . Event attendance has ranged from 3500-5000 total attendees depending on the year. We expect good crowds this year given the mix and quality of the teams attending. Aside from the in person attendance, there is value in the online presence we will create through this tournament. For instance, Last year our Christmas Classic Instagram page received 122,500 views between November 29 and December 28 alone. During this same time frame, nearly 3400 visited our profile page. Visit SLO is prominent in all posts and on our profile during the tournament bringing added attention to your offerings. 70% of the views were from individuals who were not already following our page…bringing new awareness and a new audience. In addition, all of our games are livestreamed on Youtube. An additional 8,200 visits were made to the YouTube page which again promotes VisitSLO. Lastly, we received nearly 10,000 views of our website which also provides direct links to the VisitSLO material. 6. Historical percentage of in-county versus out-of-area event attendees (must equal 100%) • Page 43 of 50 12.5% % of Local/In-County Event Attendees 82.5 ___% of Out-of-Area Event Attendees (Resides 50+ miles outside of San Luis Obispo) • ___ n/a New startup event 7. Expected total number of event attendees: We will have 16 teams participating. Each team will bring with them an average of 16 players and coaches. In addition, typically ⅓ of those players and coaches will bring family members along with them. In all, we expect approximately 500 participants in the tournament to go along with the fans that will watch the tournament. 8. Expected percentages of in-county and out-of-area event attendees • 12.5% of Local/In-County Event Attendees • 87.5% of Out-of-Area Event Attendees (Resides 50+ miles outside of San Luis Obispo) 9. Have you requested funding from other organizations/entities: X_Yes ___No • If yes, please provide the names of these organizations and funding entities: We request sponsorship from several local businesses to help supplement the cost of the tournament. Sponsors from last year can be found here: https://www.mcpchristmasclassic.com/sponsors-1 10. What are you willing to offer the City and TBID members in exchange for the in-kind hosted lodging sponsorship for your event. SELECT ALL That APPLY X: Exclusive lodging partnership X: Promotion for event attendees tied to SLO lodging X: Complimentary tickets for additional promotional use X:_ Other ideas are welcome as we value the partnership and want to make it meaningful. 11. Please provide any additional information on what sets your event apart from others taking place in San Luis Obispo: Our tournament is the best quality basketball tournament in the area. We will have approximately 500 guests in town for up to 5 days exploring San Luis Obispo right in the heart of downtown. Because our guests are here to watch their students play, they relish the opportunity to explore the local community. We have a captive audience that, with this partnership, we will require to stay in San Luis Obispo which provides tax revenue to the city. The tournament also provides great family entertainment during the holidays and provides another reason for people from the Santa Maria Valley to head to town. We intentionally promote the location as an important factor in the tournament. We have teams traveling from Arizona and Washington, which are both areas with a direct flight. Many will be repeat travelers. We anticipate 250-300 room nights for teams alone plus those of traveling families. 12. Hosted Lodging Plan -please provide a robust and complete plan for the option(s) applying for. Page 44 of 50 Attach additional pages or supporting documents to support the hosted lodging plan and request. b. Event Speakers/Influencers a. Estimated # of Rooms Requested: We expect up to 100 rooms total b. Estimated # of Nights Requested/Room: most teams will stay 4-5 nights. e. Lodging/Room Type Specifics or Requests: c. Estimated $ Amount Requested: $15,000 d. Estimated # of Teams Hosted:14 __________________________________________________ f. Who will be hosted: _______________________________________________________ g. Benefit of hosting: We will ask our teams to stay in a local hotel. We have a handful of teams that we have committed to paying for their rooms in one of our SLO hotels. The largest portion of this money will go directly to paying the cost of those hotel rooms. This is money reinvested in the hotel industry. Page 45 of 50 Page 46 of 50 1 Promotional Coordinating Committee Minutes September 10, 2025, 5:30 p.m. Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo PCC Members Present: PCC Members Absent: Committee Member Maureen Forsberg, Member Dan Fredman, Member Dante Specchierla, and Chair John Thomas. Committee Member Anni Wang, Committee Member Samantha Welch and Vice Chair Robin Wolf. City Staff Present: . Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism Manager _____________________________________________________________________ 1. CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Promotional Coordinating Committee was called to order on September 10, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, by Chair Thomas. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA Public Comment: None --End of Public Comment-- 3. CONSENT Motion By Committee Member Fredman Second By Committee Member Specchierla To approve Consent Items 3a through 3f. Ayes (4): Committee Member Fredman, Committee Member Specchierla, Committee Member Forsberg, and Chair Thomas. Absent (3): Committee Member Wang, Committee Member Welch and Vice Chair Wolf. Page 47 of 50 2 CARRIED (4 to 0) To approve Consent Items 3.a to 3.f. 3.a MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ON JULY 9, 2025, AND SPECIAL MEETING ON JULY 15, 2025 3.b 2025-26 COMMUNITY PROMOTION BUDGET REPORT 3.c SLO CHAMBER MONTHLY PUBLIC RELATIONS REPORT 3.d SLO CHAMBER GUEST SERVICES REPORT 3.e SLO CHAMBER GRANT SUPPORT REPORT 3.f TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (TOT) REPORT 4. PRESENTATIONS 4.a PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTHLY ACTIVITY UPDATE (15 MINUTES) Hollie West from the SLO Chamber of Commerce presented the report for the public relations activities that occurred over the past two months. Public Comment: None --End of Public Comment-- Action: No action taken on this item. 4.b PUBLIC ART IDENTITY PROJECT UPDATE (10 MINUTES) Laura Fiedler, Economic Development and Tourism Manager, shared an update on the public art identity project and the recently released community survey. Public Comment: None --End of Public Comment-- Action: No action taken on this item. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS 5.a ARTOBER PROGRAM PLAN (25 MINUTES) Page 48 of 50 3 Ashlee Akers from Verdin Marketing and Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism Manager, presented the ARTober program plan and the paid media plan for the Board's consideration and approval. Motion By: Committee Member Forsberg Second By: Committee Member Specchierla To approve up to $10,000 for Verdin Marketing to execute the paid media plan as presented out of the ARTober line item in the Community Promotions 2025-26 budget line item . Ayes (4): Committee Member Forsberg, Committee Member Specchierla, Committee Member Fredman, and Chair Thomas. Absent (3): Committee Member Welch, Committee Member Wang, and Vice Chair Wolf. CARRIED (4 to 0) 6. PCC LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATION 6.a CACP LIAISON REPORT Chair Thomas provided an update on behalf of Committee Member Welch on the Renaissance Festival and Concerts in the Plaza. 6.b COMMITTEE OUTREACH UPDATE No updates at this time. 6.c TBID BOARD REPORT – TBID Meeting Minutes: July 9, 2025 Committee Member Specchierla provided an update on items the TBID has been working on. 6.d TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE – Staff Report Laura Fiedler, Economic Development & Tourism manager provided an update on the Economic Development and Tourism Program. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:07 p.m. The next Regular Meeting of the Promotional Coordinating Committee is scheduled for October 8, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo. Page 49 of 50 4 _________________________ APPROVED BY PROMOTIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE: XX/XX/202X Page 50 of 50