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Home My WebLink About03-14-2018 TBID minutes Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 1 Minutes TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BOARD Wednesday, March 14, 2018 Tourism Business Improvement District Board CALL TO ORDER A Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board was called to order on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:14 a.m. in the Embassy Suites, located at 333 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, California, by Chair Wilkins. ROLL CALL Present: Board Members Clint Pearce, Pragna Patel-Mueller, Bruce Skidmore, LeBren Young- Harris, Vice Chair Nipool Patel, and Chair Matthew Wilkins Absent: Board Member Kimberly Walker Staff: Tourism Manager Molly Cano, Tourism Coordinator Chantal Burns, and Recording Secretary Kevin Christian PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA None. CONSENT AGENDA ACTION: MOTION BY VICE CHAIR PATEL, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER PATEL- MUELLER, CARRIED 6-0, to approve the Consent Calendar Items C1 through C6. C1. Minutes of Meeting on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 C2. Smith Travel Report, January and February Activities C3. Chamber Public Relations Report, January and February Activities C4. BCA + Matchfire Marketing Report, January and February Activities C5. Chamber Guest Services Report, January and February Activities C6. Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) Report Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 2 PRESENTATIONS 1. Funding the Future of SLO Presentation Shelly Stanwyck, Parks and Recreation Director, presented the “Funding the Future of SLO” initiative to inform the board on the process and to receive their feedback to bring to City Council. A review of the City’s Major City Goals was presented, along with funding concerns related to the closure of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, unfunded pension liabilities, and projected costs for future projects and ongoing maintenance. Measure G funding was reviewed, with discussion on increasing maintenance needs and its mechanism for funding new projects. Possible future funding options presented were a Cannabis tax, sales tax increase, a general obligation bond, and community facilities district fees. Feedback will be presented to City Council on April 17, 2018, in order to be considered for a possible ballot measure on the upcoming regular November Election ballot. Public Comments: None ---End of Public Comments--- No action was taken on this item 2. Marketing Agency Monthly Report Representatives from AMF Media Group + MatchFire reviewed their marketing activities for January and February. It was noted the Rainy Day promotion has sold out. Additional highlights included that their website metrics are outperforming industry averages, that they have modified their Pandora outreach for improvement, and that the Craft Beer Festival sold out with page views up 100% over last year. A review of email marketing metrics and two new promotional videos was presented. The Board discussed a desire to promote longer stays at any future Craft Beer events given this event has sold out twice. Public Comments: None ---End of Public Comments--- No action was taken on this item Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 3 3. SLO Chamber of Commerce Monthly Report Chamber of Commerce representative Molly Kern, Director of Communications and Business Education, reviewed the public relations activities for January and February. Highlights included: a piece in the Alaska Airlines “Beyond” magazine, coverage in the blog Lush Palm, three pieces highlighting the TBID sponsored Rainy Day promotion in Bay Are News publications, a new ranking as #17 Best Place to Live in the US, coverage from 7x7 through a partnership with SLO CAL targeting the Bay Area, and media hosting related to the SLO Film Festival. Public Comments: None. ---End of Public Comments--- No action was taken on this item. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. TBID Budget Update Tourism Manager Cano reviewed the mid-year 2017-18 budget, 2016-17 fund balance and presented the proposed budget process for the development of the 2018-19 budget. It was noted that TBID funds are not impacted by the City budget through the Fiscal Health Response plan work. Staff presented that the 2016-17 audited TBID fund balance was reported at approximately $274,000 based on increase in revenues collected and the incremental savings within the TBID program allocations that fiscal year. Staff stated that those funds are available at the Board’s direction for one-time use and can be allocated as needed. The Board also has approximately $29,000 in unallocated budget for 2017-18. The 2018-19 budget timeline was reviewed as follows: - Contractors will present during the April meeting. - The Management committee will review allocations during their May meeting and make recommendations to the Board. - TBID will make final decisions at the May meeting. Public Comments: None. ---End of Public Comments--- No action was taken on this item. Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 4 2. 2018-20 Marketing Plan – Approach & Research Tourism Manager Cano introduced the proposal by AMF Media Group for market data research, as an added component of the TBID 2018-20 Marketing Plan. The project has previously been reviewed and recommended by the TBID Marketing committee. The goal of the project is to incorporate research results on visitor desires/needs into insights that will inform the development of the 2018-20 Marketing Plan. The research objective is to better understand why (California) vacationers chose their California travel destinations, including San Luis Obispo, and to determine if-and-why the city of San Luis Obispo is losing market share to other destinations. Agency representatives reviewed four potential study targets of the project as: - Base Proposal: Conduct an online study of 800 adults within California, but outside San Luis Obispo County. - Element 1: Add an additional study group of 400 from Denver and Seattle. - Element 2: Conduct an intercept survey consisting of 200 people in three locations within the County. - Element 3: Email data base – 20,000 targeted “persona” and “lifestyle.” The total cost for the research project is $58,800 and staff recommended that funding for this research could come from the available 2016-17 fund balance. Responding to Board questions, AMF representative Cox noted that the collected data findings should be valid for up to four years and that the data will be collected in May. Public Comments: None. ---End of Public Comments--- No action was taken on this item. ACTION: MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PEARCE, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER SKIDMORE, CARRIED 5-1 (PATEL-MUELLER - NO), to approve the AMF Media Group data collection research proposal in the amount $58,800. Staff confirmed with the Board the funding for this project would come from the 2016-17 fund balance revenue. Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 5 3. Visit SLO CAL Research CO-OP The Board discussed a co-op participation in the Tourism Economic Impact and Visitor Volume Analysis reports with Visit SLO CAL and how it uniquely differs from the market data research project proposed by AMF Media Group. The pricing for this co- op is based on the number of destination participants and ranges from $5,000-$6,000 for the Economic Impact study and $3,500-$4,500 for the Visitor Volume study. Public Comments: None. ---End of Public Comments--- ACTION: MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PATEL, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER SKIDMORE, CARRIED 6-0, to approve participation in the Economic Impact study and the Visitor Volume study as a Visit SLO CAL co-op. Staff confirmed with the Board that the funding for this co-op project would come from the remaining SLO CAL co-op allocation within the Market Agency budget. 4. Election of Chair and Vice Chair Tourism Manager Cano reviewed the bylaws for election of Chair and Vice-Chair for the term of April 2018 to March 2019, noting that Chair Wilkins is not eligible for another term as Chair. Public Comments: None. ---End of Public Comments--- ACTION: MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PEARCE, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER PATEL-MUELLER, CARRIED 6-0, to elect Board Member Skidmore as Chair. Per the TBID bylaws, Board Member Wilkins becomes the Vice Chair. TBID LIAISON REPORTS &COMMUNICATIONS 1. Hotelier Update Tourism Manager Cano reported that the Monterey Street property “La Quinta” owned by Andrew Firestone is expected to be open by this summer. Board Member Skidmore reported the Holiday Inn Express is going independent. Chamber of Commerce Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 6 representative Molly Kern, requested that liaisons let them know updates so they may have the information for the public. 2. Management Committee Update Tourism Manger Cano reviewed the Management committee discussion on an annual retreat, noting that the decision was not to hold a retreat. 3. Marketing Committee Update Tourism Manager Cano reviewed discussion on the Visit SLO CAL co-op, and noted that the committee approved Horizon advertorial insert into Wall Street journal with funds from the Advertising budget. 4. Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC) Update Chair Wilkins and Tourism Manager Cano reported on work done on the PCC Strategic Plan update which has a goal of refining the focus of the committee. It was also noted that there were seven applicants for two open seats on the committee in the recently concluded recruitment. 5. Visit SLO CAL Update Board Member Pearce reviewed the destination development plan. Tourism Manager Cano noted that a new Communications Director is starting in April and they are in the final process of recruitment for a Destination Development Director. 6. Tourism Program Update Tourism Manager Cano reviewed and reported on the following: - GIA applications close on March 16th - Trade show participation: The VR glasses experience was a success at the San Diego show. The next show to be attended will be in Denver the week of 03/19/18. - Taste of Washington, part of “SAVOR on the Road” is scheduled for 03/22-23. - IPW tradeshow, May 19-24 in Denver - CCTC meeting, April 18-20 in Solvang - SLO Discovery Weekend: Approximately 60 parents participated in the first session held in February. It was well received, and improvement opportunities were noted for inclusion during the upcoming session, May 11-13. - The Rainy Day promotion sold out approximately one month faster than last year, and that almost 1800 room nights have already been reserved. It was noted that a “strong response” has been received from the Seattle WA area. - The Advisory Bodies will be recognized at the upcoming March 20th City Council meeting. New member appointments will follow. Minutes – Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting of March 14, 2018 Page 7 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:11 p.m. The next Regular meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board is scheduled for Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., in the Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California. APPROVED BY THE TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BOARD: 04/11/2017