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Home My WebLink About01-13-2016 TBID Minutes Minutes Tourism Business Improvement District Board Wednesday, January 13, 2016 Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Tourism Business Improvement District Board was called to order on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Hearing Room, located at 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, by Chair Patel. ROLL CALL Present: Board Members Matthew Wilkins, LeBren Young-Harris, and Vice-Chair Clint Pearce, and Chair Nipool Patel Absent: Board Members Kimberly Walker and Dean Hutton Staff Present: Tourism Manager Molly Cano and Deputy City Clerk Heather Goodwin PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Chuck Davidson, Visit SLO County, introduced Becky Singh as the new Director of Marketing; provided an update to the Visit SLO County’s marketing committee; announced that an educational seminar will take place on February 3, 2016; stated that the Morro Bay City Council approved to have an in-house Tourism program at their January 12, 2016 City Council meeting. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve Consent Calendar Items C1 thru C6. C1. MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015 MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve the Minutes of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board meeting of December 9, 2015, as presented. C2. SMITH TRAVEL REPORT MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve the Smith Travel Report. City of San Luis Obispo, Title, Subtitle Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes of January 13, 2016 Page 2 C3. CHAMBER PUBLIC RELATIONS REPORT MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve the Chamber Public Relations Report. C4. BCA + STUDIOGOOD MARKETING REPORT MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve the BCA + StudioGood Marketing Report. C5. CHAMBER VISITOR CENTER REPORT MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve the Chamber Visitor Center Report. C6. TOT (TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX) REPORT MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS CARRIED 4-0, to approve the TOT Report. PRESENTATION ITEMS 1. MARKETING AGENCY QUARTERLY REPORT Representatives from BCA + StudioGood presented an activity report for their marketing activities over the previous quarter for the SLO TBID; stated that the Visit SLO County Visitors Guide will be published late February 2016; announced that January is Restaurant month; spoke about the TripAdvisor advisor banner campaign, noting that the focus will be on indoor activities during the holiday season; stated that Helium’s website integration is underway; reported that there have been an increase in the total of website users specifically in mobile traffic; reported that Central Coast Tourism Council (CCTC) are continuing to do blog posts for promoting purposes; spoke about upcoming events such as Helium website integration, Basketball Site Event, February eBlast, Long Beach and San Francisco Trade Shows, SLO Film Festival, and SLO Marathon + Half Marathon. 2. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE QUARTERLY REPORT Representatives from the SLO Chamber presented their activity report for the public relations and phone/availability contracts from the previous quarter for the SLO TBID; stated that there has been an increase in hotel referrals to the Visitor Center; stated that Visitor Center staff have been trained to help answer public questions; stated that walk- ins and phone calls are up but email traffic were down; noted that there has been an increase in calls from the retirement community locally and outside of the area; reported on guest demographics. City of San Luis Obispo, Title, Subtitle Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes of January 13, 2016 Page 3 3. SLO WINE MID YEAR REPORT Representatives from the SLO Wine Country Association presented their activity report for the annual partnership contract status with the SLO TBID; spoke about brining awareness to San Luis Obispo County; stated that SLO Wine will be hosting a membership barbeque and several mixers; reported on website branding and partnering with iiiDesign; stated that social media and website visitors have increased; spoke about upcoming opportunities such as Roll Out the Barrels, the Road Shows in San Diego and San Francisco, Familiarization Tour, and Taste the Place Campaign. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. HOMESTAY MEMBER WEBSITE REPRESENTATION The Board received a proposal from Studio Good for the listing of the Homestay properties on the tourism website, SanLuisObispoVacations.com and responded to Board Member inquires. Representatives from Studio Good spoke about making minor changes to the SanLuisObispoVacations.com website, noting that the board is not asking for additional funds; explained that the website will have an option to select either a hotel or homestay which would then direct them to Helium’s website. Board Member Harris questioned whether all homestays will be represented on the SanLuisObispoVacations.com website. In response to Board Member inquiry, Tourism Manager Cano explained that all permitted homestay properties will be able to opt-in to be listed on the site. Board Member Patel questioned whether homestays will have their own link on the SanLuisObispoVacations.com website. In response to Board Member inquiry, Tourism Manager Cano explained that there will be a direct link under the stay section for homestays. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PEARCE, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, CARRIED 4-0, to approve the final website design for site launch. 2. HELIUM LAUNCH APPROVAL The Board reviewed the final Helium demonstration for the consideration to launch the system on the website and responded to Board Member inquires. Tourism Manager Cano provided an update to the launch of Helium’s website; stated that the were major server updates which caused a delay in the launching of the website; stated that at the time of the launch there would be minimal to no inventory and rooms loaded into the system which would not allow visitors to book and room. With this lack of inventory in the system, Zeppelin has stated that they will not be able to launch marketing efforts included in the contract and would not be able to make their guarantees The Board discussed focused outreach to the hotels to encourage adding inventory and rates. Once more properties are in the system then the Board would request Zeppelin to initiate the advertising and booking guarantees. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS, CARRIED 4-0, to approve do a soft launch of Helium and revisit marketing elements at a future meeting. City of San Luis Obispo, Title, Subtitle Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes of January 13, 2016 Page 4 3. SUPPLEMENTAL ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES The Board received a presentation from their marketing agencies, BCA/Studio Good on supplemental advertising opportunities for consideration and responded to Board Member inquires. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PEARCE, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, CARRIED 4-0, to approve up to $80,000 from the 2014-15 un-appropriated funds balance for the supplemental advertising opportunity referred to as the “Rainy Day” promotion. 4. CENTRAL COAST TOURISM COUNCIL RETREAT SPONSORSHIP The Board considered a sponsorship commitment for the hosting of the Central Coast Tourism Council Annual Planning Retreat and responded to Board Member inquires. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER PEARCE, CARRIED 4-0, to approve up to $4000 for the sponsorship support of the CCTC Annual Retreat expenditures. 5. MID-YEAR EVENT PROMOTION FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS The Marketing Committee presented the funding recommendations for the 2015-16 Mid-Year Events Promotion sponsorship program and responded to Board Member inquires; the Board asked staff to work with Cal Poly on their sponsorship application in order for the Board to fund the events in a way that would better serve the TBID and present that opportunity at a future meeting. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER HARRIS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, CARRIED 4-0, to approve $8,000 in sponsorship funding for the 2016 San Diego Bacon & Barrels and $27,000 in sponsorship funding for 2016 SLO Craft Beer Week. TBID LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATION 1. HOTELIER UPDATE No further report. 2. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE No further report. 3. MARKETING COMMITTEE No further report. City of San Luis Obispo, Title, Subtitle Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes of January 13, 2016 Page 5 4. PCC UPDATE Vice Chair Pearce provided an update from the PCC. 5. VISIT SLO COUNTY UPDATE Vice Chair Pearce reported on the activities from Visit SLO County. 6. TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE Tourism Manager Cano reported on program updates. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m. to the next Regular meeting, to be held on Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Respectfully submitted, Heather Goodwin Deputy City Clerk