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Home My WebLink AboutVLMDAC Minutes August final 1 Minutes Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Thursday, August 20, 2015, 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM The Antlers – Caribou/Pronghorn Room VLMDAC Members Present: Laurie Mullen, (West Vail Liquor Mart) (Vice Chair) Skip Thurnauer   Jenn Bruno (Vail Town Council) Michael Holton (Vail Valley Medical Center)   Jamie Gunion (Vail Recreation District) on phone Dale Bugby (Vail Town Council Alternate) John Dawsey (Colorado Mountain Express) Jim Kellen (Vail Resorts) VLMDAC Members Absent: Beth Slifer Mark Herron (Four Seasons Resort Vail) Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail) Chris Romer (Vail Valley Partnership) Jill Lammers (Vail Valley Partnership) Haley McNeill (Vail Valley Partnership) Kristin Yantis (Malen Yantis Public Relations)   Jen Hartwick (Booyah) Sirena Rolfe (Booyah) Tom Boyd (Vail Valley Foundation) Duncan Horner (Vail Valley Foundation) Lorena Melott (Vail Resorts) Kendyl Severino (Vail Resorts) Meggen Kirkham (Site) Satchele Burns Ellie Bray (Vail Resorts) Jeff Looper (Vail Resorts) Sybill Navas (Town of Vail) Carlie Smith (Town of Vail) Caroline Watson (Emico) 2 I. July 2015 Monthly Financial Report – Carlie Smith – see packet for details Currently, revenue up 7% ($1.9 million). Approximately 66% of 2015 revenues have been collected. Lodging tax collections for July were $106,000. The fund balance is $1.38 million. II. Approval of July 23, 2015 Meeting Minutes Thurnauer/Bruno -passed unanimously. It was noted that Dale Bugby is the alternate Vail Town Council representative if Jenn Bruno is not present. III. Additional Results to Date - See slides for details Kelli McDonald & Jim Kellen - 2015 goals and results were presented. June sales tax was up 7%. July sales tax is up 5.4% from last year. Results have just been made available. Sales tax is trending the way it was expected to for summer 2015. May sales tax collection was down, observation is that rain played a factor. Destination visits are up from last year. It was noted that International visits are under reported. Schools in Mexico got out later than normal for summer 2015. Net promoter score is up to 84. It was noted that Local vs. visitor ratio mix is where it needs to be. Chris Romer Group Sales – Monthly report included in packet. Met with lodging representatives and stakeholders to determine how to better report numbers of room nights. Group numbers tend to fluctuate year-over-year, group impact is hard to track involving weddings and sporting events. VVP will work with lodging community to get better mid week reports. Leads data was presented. It was noted that there is positive momentum for groups and bookings. Booyah – Jen Hartwick & Sirena Rolfe – Search and display results were presented. Year-over-year comparisons were presented. Display creative and results for each were presented. Breakdown of specifics for creative was distributed to board members. DMA breakdown was presented for display performance. Some direct bookings dropped off. Digital comp set was presented for Aspen, Park City, Breckenridge and Steamboat. It was noted that it should be considered to remove digital display for Mexican market due to high cost. Display is paid on impressions. It was noted to revisit the performance data for 2016 planning and to expect some similar results for the display channel. Overall site visit numbers are higher this year. Data will be pulled to compare year-over- year and will be presented in October. IV. SEO plan Vail Resorts Kendyl Severino – see slides for details Steps for a successful SEO plan were presented . Those steps are: goals, content to support goals and promotion of content. The presented steps will take place from September to November 2015. Vail Resorts is working with another company to fine tune content creation. Will launch in spring of 2016. V. Kantar Competitive Media Spend Caroline Watson EMICO – see slides for 3 details Kantar is a reporting source for media buys. Competitive spend report was presented. It was noted that cable is the biggest missing medium not included in the report. Comp set summer media spend was presented for Park City, Vail, Aspen Snowmass and Breckenridge. Share of voice for comp set was presented. Total spend by month was presented – June is biggest month for spend and attracting consumers. Spend by medium was presented. Dollars spent by market were presented. Vail spend by month was presented along with by market spend and month. Comp set spend was presented, it was noted that Aspen spend is coming from both the chamber and town. It was noted that Vail is spending money on TV/video in Dallas and Houston and no other comp set is. Discussion ensued about key booking windows and opportunities through the fall. VI. Burke Research Site Meggen Kirkham – see slides for details Research recap was presented. Sample size was increased for both CO and destination markets. Sample size compared to 2014 was presented. Demographic/qualifications were presented. Meggan, Kelli and Jim worked with Burke and looked for areas in attributes to really understand why consumers considered a destination and then converted to booking. VII. VLMD 2016 Strategic Plan and Budget all – see slides for details Town of Vail Council goals were presented. Marketing objectives were presented with a few changes. The Net Promoter score will be measured via email suvey after the guest has left Vail. Expected to drop 20 to 30 points with new measurement. Monitoring will be key as the method for measurement has changed. Discussion ensued about change in measurement and what to expect – larger sample size (VR will do this across the board for summer/winter). It was noted that the last strategy was based on awareness and no longer is. The new strategy is getting on the consideration list. 2015 goals and results were compared to 2016 goals and results. Discussion ensued about importance of getting accurate tracking information and dialing in opportunities to improve. It was noted that sub metrics could be captured to better be able to see improvements. Media target audience was presented and the importance of the aging baby boomers as well as millennials was noted. 2016 strategies were presented. 2016 budget pie chart was presented. Year over year budget shifts were presented. Budget by partner document, was passed out. Booyah – international and destination will shift based on performance. Site – slight increase for destination, traditional advertising especially in the Chicago market. Front Range will have a slight increase to advertise in key, special sections in the Denver Post. This summer Denver Post marketing was reduced. 5280 advertising was also eliminated for summer 2015 and summer 2016 might be a good time to be included. VVP – funds were allocated for event hosting fees to host: Travel and Tourism Association event and Colorado Society of Association Executive next summer. 4 Those funds will be used in hosting a group of professionals for welcome reception and additionally, host city hosting responsibilities required to host these groups. Looking to get Governors Conference on Tourism back to Vail as it has currently been many years since the conference was in town. Additional funds would be used for a direct sales cost to bring in a Vail only sales representative. MYPR Public Relations – Plans to shift locations of market visits and what they do. No shifts in budget. Photography and video – new photography allocated to align with new creative execution. Otherwise budget will be flat. Discussion ensued about distributing photos to lodging properties. Research – Burke is done every other year. 2017 will be next study. Branding – Slight increase to alter summer branding materials. Professional fees – flat from last event. Broken down by company of handed out budget. Almost, all flat to last year. Event funding – Funds allocated for new event or the return of the US Pro Challenge. Some money was shifted in 2015 in the absence of the USPC. What is new for 2016 was presented. New events are being actively recruited. Technology – website and information systems are a priority along with tracking opportunities. Town of Vail 5 year strategic plan was presented. It was noted that a better metric for international tracking is needed. Discussion ensued about presentation of budget and shifts in strategy, especially the NPS changes in tracking. Emerging trends in travel were presented, especially the slides that are most valuable for Vail Town Council. Discussion ensued about CRM and how it relates to both the value and luxury traveler. Discussion ensued about millennials and boomers presentation information. Discussion ensued about fall event opportunities.  Motion to approve 2016 purposed budget Thurnauer /Bruno. Passed unanimously. VIII. Other Business   Discussion ensued about changing tag line. Two slots are available for the golf tournament with VRD/VCBA happening Aug. 21. Reusable bags were handed out to remind everyone that Vail has banned plastic bags. IX. Adjournment – Thurnauer/Kellen Upcoming Meetings:   VLMD 2016 Operating Plan. September 1, Time TBD Council Chambers 5 VLMDAC Meeting, September 17, 2015, 8:30-11:30 a.m. Antlers