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Home My WebLink AboutVLMDAC Minutes June DRAFT 1 Minutes Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Thursday, June 18, 2015, 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM The Antlers – Caribou/Pronghorn Room VLMDAC Members Present: Laurie Mullen, (West Vail Liquor Mart) Skip Thurnauer   Beth Slifer (Chair) Jenn Bruno (Vail Town Council Alternate) Mark Herron (Four Seasons Resort Vail) Michael Holton (Vail Valley Medical Center)   Jamie Gunion (Vail Recreation District) on phone Dale Bugby (Vail Town Council Alternate) VLMDAC Members absent: Jim Kellen (Vail Resorts) John Dawsey, Treasurer (Colorado Mountain Express)  Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail) Mark Gordon (Vail Town Council) Melanie Wong (Vail Daily) Jill Lammers (Vail Valley Partnership) Haley McNeill (Vail Valley Partnership) Kristin Yantis (Malen Yantis Public Relations)   Taylor Prather (Malen Yantis Public Relations) Janelle Patrick (Malen Yantis Public Relations) Laura Waniak (CSE Liaison) Sirena Rolfe (Booyah) Meggan Kirkham (Site) Amy Schwilling (Site) Satchele Burns Sybill Navas (CSE) Jack Afflack (Jack Afflack Photography) Danae Kingsley (Goodness Mfg) Ellie Chadwick (Goodness Mfg) Jonathan Smith (Vail Resorts) Mia Vlaar (East West Resorts) Alison Wadey (Vail Chamber & Business Association) Brad Jeffers 2 I. May 2015 Monthly Financial Report – Kelli McDonald – see packet for details Lodging tax revenue collections are currently doing well and Vail is on pace to have another record year. Lodging collections currently ahead of projections. Any extra funds will go into fund balance. Total fund balance today is $1.4 million 50% fund balance. So far this year, $350,000 has been taken out. II. Approval of February 19, 2015 Meeting Minutes -Thurnauer/Mullen-passed unanimously III. Five Year Strategic Plan – Ellie Chadwick and Danae Kingsley goodness mfg – See slides for details Goals were presented. Target audience profile was presented. Audience personas were presented. Brand strategy was reviewed. “Luxury wilderness” was also reviewed. Consumer decision journey was reviewed. It was asked if the travel planning time period has changed and it was answered that is has not changed. It was asked as to why Tahoe and Breckenridge were above Vail and it was answered that they have not researched why. Park City is not in the top 5 destinations as of now. It was noted that the consumer makes a group decision to come to Vail. Brand and category analysis were presented, strengths were reviewed. Brand awareness and brand promise was reviewed and success in messaging was reviewed. Weaknesses and threats were presented. Cultural context was presented. “Boomers” are the generation currently visiting Vail. Reasons why millennials are coming to Vail were presented. Boomers and millennials have the same sense of adventure and place family importance as a top priority. It was asked if “boomers” are the parents of the “millennials” and it was answered yes, in some cases. Trends in maximizing work-life balance were presented. Millennials do not see it as a work-life balance but as a work-life integration. It was noted that as millennials start having kids, their travel behavior will change. It was noted that Denver tourism is up 10% which presents opportunity for travel from Denver to the mountains. It was asked where “gen x” falls, and it was answered that millennials are spending a disproportionate amount of their salary on travel and that is why they are a focus now. Adventure trends were presented. “Millennials top priorities are food and music. Millennials are seeking a physical environment to enjoy. Millennials are also seeking mindfulness in both technology and experience. Icons were presented. Opportunities were presented. Discussion ensued about behavior around experiences of millennials. Discussion ensued about opportunity to share data with restaurant community in order to seek out opportunities to provide more curated experiences late night, to stay on trend with unique experience opportunities. Nightlife was a recurring theme. It was noted that 75% of recent hires at Town of Vail are Millennials, 35% of total TOV employees are Millennials. 3 IV. Photography Update Meggen Kirkham & Jack Affleck, Ellie Chadwick - SITE – see slides for details Burke research is about to begin and it was asked to increase the sample size of study and would cost $6000 more. Destination guest sample size group would go from 200-400. Discussion ensued about importance of increasing size.  Motion to increase Burke Study spend to increase sample size of study from 200-400. Mullen/ Thurnauer. Passed unanimously. “Enchanted” art direction photos were presented for themes of luxury amenities, active adventure, fall, family, village, athletic/kids/events, athletic adult, music and culinary. Proposed shot list was presented. It was asked if there will be specific millennial photo shots and it was answered that all shots will be cast to fit the likes of millennial and approach some activity and socializing shots to incorporate generation needs/likes. It was noted that Epic Discovery will be shot but it’s a separate effort. Discussion ensued about current photos being used, ideas to improve and proposed shot list for 2016. It was noted that since millennials favor authenticity, more efforts should be taken to incorporate authenticity/ believability. Proposed shot list was presented for village brand, luxury brand, event images, PR requested images and group sales images. Discussion ensued on opportunities for potential shots.  Motion to approve action items to move forward from presentation. Herron/Bruno. Pass unanimously. V. Millennial Presentation - Nate Fristoe RRC – see slides for details Nate Fristoe introduced himself and Boulder based firm (RRC Associates). RRC does a significant amount of consumer research work in mountain markets. Including Vail Mountain/winter guests. Attention has been spent on millennials because of how large the group is. For every baby boomer that passes away, two people have to replace that person, based on spend. Ground rules were presented about this group. Generation breakdowns were presented. Graphs were presented to show change in skier days by generation. Millennials don’t have as much vacation time as other generations, yet still seek travel and value it. Technology use differences were presented. Facebook is not used much, Instagram is favored. Skiing is off the radar for many Bay Area millennials, they found that the effects of drought, took too much effort to ski and it was noted that Fristoe thinks an entire generation lost interest in skiing due to weather conditions and efforts to mitigate that issue. Video was shown to show reactions of millennials to the word “resort.” Many pointed out that expense was associated with what a resort is to them. Recreational equipment use was reviewed and it was noted that girls who start out snowboarding eventually leave the sport completely. It was noted that millennials are very safety 4 conscious. The role of skiing/snowboarding in recreation was presented. Many millennials don’t understand the point of skiing/snowboarding. Some millennials featured in videos indicated that they thought “fun” was the point. It was also noted that some see it as a sport young professionals are supposed to do. Accommodation perceptions and expectations were presented via a video. Authenticity is a high priority and appealing. Discussion ensued about AriBnB experiences. Discussion ensued about presentation and millennial behavior generalizations and research. VI. International Update Vail Resorts – see slides for details Postponed to next month. VII. CSE Meeting Recap All – see slides for details It was a great meeting. CSE is performing well and has raised the bar. More discussion to come at the next meeting. VIII. Other Business   IX. Adjournment  - Slifer adjourned meeting. Upcoming Meetings:   Joint Meeting with VEAC July14, 2015, 8:00 – 10:00 a.m., Lion Square Lodge VLMDAC Meeting, July 16, 2015, 8:30 – 11:30 AM, Antlers  