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Home My WebLink About2012 Oktoberfest RecapEvent Recap: Vail Oktoberfest Town of Vail Commission on Special Events November 7, 2012 Presented by 2012 Event Marketer Magazine's "Top 100 Event Agency" Vail Oktoberfest Lionshead: Sept. 7 – 9 in and Vail Village: Sept. 14 – 16, 2012 2012 Presenter: Jeff Brausch, HIGHLINE, Founder/CEO Office: 970.476.6797 x 103 Mobile: 970.393.2128 jeff@gohighline.com 2 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 Vail Brand Compatibility “Premier International Mountain Resort Community” 3 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 Standard of excellence met by: •Vail Oktoberfest creates a space and place for the Vail guest to enjoy all that the mountain has to offer during these primary autumn weeks and bring them into town for a celebration of the season. •Incorporating a variety of lifestyle elements including Fall culinary, music, athletic and community aspects Event Strengths & Weaknesses 4 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Exceeded expectations: •Strong sponsorship – Vail Oktoberfest was presented by Beck's, Town of Vail and Arrowhead Water and sponsored in part by Jagermeister, Sonnenalp Resort of Vail, Klement’s Sausage Company, LOKI Gear, Sports Authority, Jewelry Lady of Red River, Vail Daily and KZYR the Zephyr •Estimated attendance/visitors in Vail during the weekends of Vail Oktoberfest was 50,000. The best attended Vail Oktoberfest ever •Festive and well mannered audience •The Oktoberfest Fun Run was well attended and raised much needed funds for the Children’s Garden of Learning Event Strengths & Weaknesses 5 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Exceeded expectations: •The entire venue was streamlined to enhance the authentic look and high quality standards including the following: •Each vendor was supplied with a blue or white tent (and blue table cloth) to create consistency and a sharp look and feel throughout the venue •There was a strong vendor presence with Bavarian food varieties from eight of the ten vendors. Vendor signage was limited to create a more uniform look throughout the venue •Additional elements were added including a photo opportunity near the kids entertainer area, Bavarian Costume contest and Stein Lifting Competition which took place on Saturday and Sunday of each weekend Event Strengths & Weaknesses 6 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Measures that could be taken for event improvement: •Highline can take further steps to require uniform signage for vendors throughout the venue •Add pricing information to the website (steins, average food costs, detailed schedule) and add the ability for guests to use credit cards •If the footprint were to grow, it would be ideal to increase the seating •For repeat event, comparison to past years: •The aesthetics of the venues greatly improved this year. Highline supplied vendors with table to ground length table clothes, limiting additional sponsorship and vendors that weren’t relevant to autumn in the mountains and working with vendors to create a variety of menus stepped things up Event Budget 7 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Total event budget: $250,000 •CSE funds: $50,000 •Profit and loss: 0 •Funding utilization: Operations and marketing •In-kind sponsorship: $1,500 (media) •Cash sponsorship: $72,750 Estimated Results* Attendance Numbers 8 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 * Based on survey results. •Estimated attendance: 50,000+ •Through surveying, observation and interviews, it was apparent that the 2012 Vail Oktoberfest audience was very similar to years past. Oktoberfest captured a wide range of visitors to include young singles (21+) as well as couples and those married with children. •% of people in Vail specifically for event: 60% •% of people attended previous years: 53% Estimated Results* Demographic Profile 9 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Attendees came from (local, regional, out of state, international): •Local: 41%, of those 8.5% are seasonal residents •Regional: 19% •Out of state: 40% •Average age and income bracket of attendees: •Average age was 40-45 with avg. HHI at $150,000+. * Based on survey results. Estimated Results* Event Attendee Estimated Spending 10 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Lodging: •Nearly half of attendees stayed overnight for the event and of those, 80% stayed in Vail •Average amount spent on lodging/day: $195.05 •Estimated room nights booked due to event association: 34,560 •Lodging call to action: •For the third year, Highline secured an official lodging partner for Vail Oktoberfest. The Sonnenalp Resort of Vail ran an Oktoberfest package for several weeks leading up to and throughout the event which was publicized via website inclusion, email -blasts, social media mentions, print advertising and press releases. In addition to Highline’s efforts, The Sonnenalp Resort of Vail also conducted a marketing campaign including the lodging package in their email newsletter and highlighted on their website. * Based on survey results. Estimated Results* Event Attendee Estimated Spending 11 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Dining: Of the Vail Oktoberfest attendees, 90% had drinks or dined in a Vail restaurant and the average spent per person was $150/day •Shopping: Of the Vail Oktoberfest attendees surveyed, 59% went shopping and the average spent per person was $114/day •Other Activities: Of the Vail Oktoberfest attendees, 15% of attendees participated in other Vail activities including hiking, biking, spa services, rafting and more. The most popular activity among those surveyed was hiking * Based on survey results. Estimated Return on Investment (ROI)* 12 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Additional Town of Vail spending event generated: $7,600,000 •Ratio of increased revenue to amount of funding received: 5-to-1 •Additional sales tax revenue generated by event accrued to Town of Vail:** $350,000 * Based on survey results. ** Town of Vail sales tax = 4%. Lodging tax = 5% Visitor Intent to Return* 13 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 Satisfaction ratings: •92% would recommend Vail Oktoberfest to a friend •99.3% would recommend Vail to friends •91.8% were satisfied with Vail Oktoberfest as a whole •53.5% were satisfied with the children’s and family activities while 44.3% were indifferent. Of those surveyed, less than 1% had children under 17. * Based on survey results. Topline Marketing Efforts 14 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Print advertising – multiple ads were placed in the front range, locally in the Vail Daily and Vail Daily weekly, and in the mountain regions including the Summit Daily, Glenwood Post Independent and Vail Daily Weekly totaling 367,500+ •Vail Daily, Summit Daily, Daily Weekly, Aspen Times Daily, Glenwood Post Independent, Gourmet on Gore Program •Radio advertising - Mountain Range Ad Placements •KZYR - The Zephyr: Two separate ads, with sponsor mentions, aired multiple times over a three-week period leading up to and during the event •Oktoberfest Fun Run ad aired multiple times over the same time period •In conjunction with KZYR, Oktoberfest steins were sold, at a discount, at participating liquor stores throughout the Vail Valley; promotional support came from KZYR with radio shout-outs, call-ins, commercials and liners •Oktoberfest packages were used as promotions through True Local Deals which included an e-blast to KZYR true local deals followers as well as through their text promotion Topline Marketing Efforts 15 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Event information was included in multiple email blasts from numerous organizations, including Town of Vail and Highline •Event information, sponsor logos and hyperlinks were all featured online on the official event page, www.vail-oktoberfest.com •Event information included on the event page at www.vail.com •Facebook and Twitter •Information about the event was distributed through the event’s official Facebook page, facebook.com/vailoktoberfest •A Facebook advertising campaign also ran for both weekends, generating 898,695 impressions •Information and content about Vail Oktoberfest was distributed through the event’s official Twitter handle, @VailOktoberfest Topline Marketing Efforts 16 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Print advertising – multiple ads were placed in the front range, locally in the Vail Daily and Vail Daily weekly, and in the mountain regions including the Summit Daily, Glenwood Post Independent and Vail Daily Weekly totaling 367,500+ •Vail Daily, Summit Daily, Daily Weekly, Aspen Times Daily, Glenwood Post Independent, Gourmet on Gore Program •Radio advertising - Mountain Range Ad Placements •KZYR - The Zephyr: Two separate ads, with sponsor mentions, aired multiple times over a three-week period leading up to and during the event •Oktoberfest Fun Run ad aired multiple times over the same time period •In conjunction with KZYR, Oktoberfest steins were sold, at a discount, at participating liquor stores throughout the Vail Valley; promotional support came from KZYR with radio shout-outs, call-ins, commercials and liners •Oktoberfest packages were used as promotions through True Local Deals which included an e-blast to KZYR true local deals followers as well as through their text promotion Community Contribution 17 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •Impact on Vail’s sense of community: •Oktoberfest positively impacts Vail’s sense of community. This event offers an authentic Bavarian atmosphere and feel, a variety of high quality Bavarian food options, allowing attendees to truly celebrate and enjoy beer, food, dancing and music – while enjoying fall in the mountains. It is awesome to see the variety of people from the community and visitors alike joined together for the Fall celebration. •“This is great. Look at all of these people…the venue looks great.” - Sheika Gramshammer, Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer Sustainability Efforts Green Measures 18 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •All vendors were specifically asked to use compostable/ recyclable service items •Hand sorted portions of the trash and recycling streams •Vendors were required to use compostable/ recyclable service items •Staff used Going Green as a selling point for purchasing beer steins •Staff carpooled, from Denver and from down valley •Public was encouraged to recycle •98% of all cardboard was recycled Additional Information 19 Town of Vail | CSE | 11/7/12 •See link to the 2012 photo gallery Additional documents attached to presentation: