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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVLMDAC Lodging April DRAFTMinutes Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Joint Meeting with Property General Managers Thursday, April 17, 2014 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Grand View Room – Lionshead Welcome Center VLMDAC Members Present: Mia Vlaar, Vice Chair (East West Resorts) Skip Thurnauer Davy Ratchford (Vail Resorts) Michael Holton (VVMC) Jamie Gunion (Vail Recreation District) John Dawsey, Treasurer (CME) Beth Slifer, Chair (Slifer Designs) Dale Bugby (Vail Town Council Alternate) Laurie Mullen (West Vail Liquor Mart) VLMDAC Members Absent Jenn Bruno (Vail Town Council) Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail) Sybill Navas (Town of Vail) Meggen Kirkham (SITE Marketing) Taylor Cook (MYPR) Crystal Stewart (Booyah!) Jenn Hartwick (Booyah!) Chris Romer (Vail Valley Partnership) Jill Lammers (Vail Valley Partnership) Haley McNeill (Vail Valley Partnership) Laura Waniuk (Event Marketing Liaison) Ellie Chadwick (goodness Mfg) Kristyn Dunlap (goodness Mfg) Jonathan Smith (Vail Resorts) Carrie Henderson Cathy Ethington Frank Johnson (Vail Mountain Lodge & Spa) Heidi Schoenbein Jeanne Fritch Johannes Faessler (Sonnenalp Resort) Kellie Newman Lance Thompson (Sebastian) Laura Lodge Mark Herron (Four Seasons Resort) Miles Gifford Mark Dubovy Anne Sullivan Farrow Hitt Chris Hanen Geoff Wright Don McLachlan John Garth Jonathan Brownlee Matt Ivy Michelle Maloney Packy Walker (Lift House) Stephan Nicolas I. Vail Local Marketing District Overview Introductions were made. Brand properties, competition conversion rates and summer campaign creative was presented by Ellie Chadwick from goodness Mfg – see slides for details. II. Summer Business Preview – Davy Ratchford – see slide for details Presented goals, strategies and data collection. Encouraged partnership to continue to be successful. Pointed out that competition is getting better at doing what Vail does well. Vail has to continue to separate itself from the other resorts. SITE Marketing – Meggen Kirkham – See slide for details Presented 2014 summer goals. Discussion ensued about how Aspen compares in international visitors. The international marketing funding was increased 1% since last year to 3%. McDonald explained the most recent Town Council effort to better understand the data and to stay ahead of the competition. The goal is to grow market share of destination visitor. VR contributes a lot of time using the best people in the industry and works year round to help promote summer and winter. Vail Valley Partnership – Chris Romer – See slides for details Presented and explained DestiMetrics. May 1- Oct. 31 is how summer is tracked. 65% of bed base is currently participating and the VVP is looking to increase participation of lodging properties. Explained that there is a gap in hotel vs condo bookings. III. Open Discussion How was your winter? Snow conditions helped lodging. They saw good numbers and felt good. I-70 is always an issue and has potential to cause real issues. The Air Alliance and importance of support for the airport will continue and is a long term solution. It was pointed out that the airport does not help with group sales as most groups are not coming from the same place. Expressed need for reliable drive market. California resorts saw little snow this winter which helped conversion rate for Vail. Vail Resorts - Jonathan Smith – Vail Beaver Creek Reservations – See slides for details - Information was presented and the importance of the international sales lines were emphasized. VBCR was thanked for efforts in site tours. Booyah – Crystal Stewart – see slides for details - Efforts and goals were introduced. Currently tracking of booking is lost outside of Vail.com. Would like to be able to track offsite by adding a tracking pixel to all lodging websites. Will be used to better measure marketing dollars and better understand what kind of information can be collected. This tracking pixel does not capture personal information. This information would not be shared with VR and is data secure. The idea is to track results and is the next step in tracking performance. It is easy to do and the Booyah team will help any interested lodging properties. International business – how are we matching up as a community to our competitors in international markets? A lot of feedback revolves around how organized lodging properties are getting rates out ahead of the next season. Currently, one of the biggest opportunities to grow business. Data indicates that Vail bookings are late to the game. Early booking is considered 6-8 months out. East West Resorts is working to get owners of condos to provide schedules sooner. 2015 World Championships stressed as a major opportunity - the entire valley could be sold out in the first two weeks of February 2015 for World Championship ski races. It was noted that “Sochi problems” social media trending is something Vail can learn from for 2015 World Championships. More engagement is importation in order to make this event a success for everyone. Faessler will continue to provide feedback and things to remember. Vail has an opportunity to speak to the ski world. Important to mitigate concern and maximize opportunity. Brand USA and CO tourism have partnered to better bring international visitors to the US. Opportunities to better represent Vail to those who would like to host a video shoot. Recycling program procedures were briefly discussed by Dale Bugby.