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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVEAC Minutes 11-08-2016 FINALVEAC Meeting – November 8, 2016 Page 1 of 5 Vail Economic Advisory Council (VEAC) November 8, 2016 MEETING MINUTES ________________________________________________________________________ VEAC Members Present: Phil Metz, Chris Romer, Greg Moffet, Kim Newbury-Rediker, Michael Kurz, Rayla Kundolf, Alison Wadey, Jenn Bruno, Greg Moffet, Bob Boselli, Brian Nolan, Nick Brinkman, Mike Ortiz, Matt Ivy Town of Vail Staff Present: Kelli McDonald - Economic Development Manager, Laura Waniuk - Event Liaison Specialist, Kathleen Halloran – Finance Director, Stan Zemler – Town Manager, Molly Eppard - Art in Public Places Coordinator Others Present: Ryan Kelsey – The Antlers, Doug Lovell – Vail Resorts, Kendyl Severino - Vail Resorts, Joe Cleary - Resort App Vail Resorts Winter Preview, Vail Resorts Marketing Team (40 minutes) Please see presentation for further detail. Severino said Vail Resorts marketing is using Cactus, the same ad agency as VLMDAC. Vail Resorts continues to make the brand more consistent with a focus on brand character. Vail Resorts Brand Pillars include The Mountain, Village Sophistication and Culture. The Brand Positioning is more inclusive and reflects multiple groups. They have included more focus on the town, groups and multiple segments so the print ads are varied and targeted. Vail Resorts will be testing ads to see which is performing best. Bruno asked about the lack of mention of night life and après, Severino stated that the brand continues to evolve. Moffet asked how Vail Resorts identifies their demographic, through household income, zip codes. Metz said that it’s more about behavior modeling since the majority of the efforts are digital. For example, Millennials are a large group; they need to be split into smaller categories. Vail Resorts refers to them as “young and independent”. There are ways to implement traditional marketing using household income and zip codes. The rate at which Vail Resorts collects guest data at the ticket window is close to 80%. They are doing a lot of research on their digital marketing and seeing what resonates with each group. Metz said they have to continue introducing people to the brand and getting them to return to Vail. There is different messaging for guests that have never been to Vail or have visited only once. Metz noted that it’s important not to lose the art of storytelling. Zemler asked if the rest of the resorts owned by Vail Resorts have access to this data, Metz said yes. The data will help inform the type of guest who comes mid-week or on off-peak times and allow for research to locate more guests of that type. There is a larger group of people who are in the “skier” group outside of the Vail and Beaver Creek loyalists. Kundolf stated that there isn’t as much communication about what Vail Resorts is doing and what the retailers/merchants are doing. She suggested that Vail Resorts VEAC Meeting – November 8, 2016 Page 2 of 5 goes out and speaks to Vail business owners one on one. Kundolf noted that she doesn’t feel that Vail is as “special” as it used to be because many resorts have similar activities like Epic Discovery. Kundolf mentioned that it would be good to encourage the marketing campaigns be more real. Metz explained that Vail Resorts uses forums such as the VEAC, TOV Economic Development Office, VCBA and VVP to reach businesses. Severino explained that the language used in this presentation is internal and that the messaging is in fact authentic storytelling. Severino covered events happening from December to April 2017. There will be no parade for CarniVail due to the dates being so close to Burton US Open. Spring Back to Vail will be held the weekend before closing date; it will be on-mountain activation and not in town. This is the last year of the current Burton contract, Vail Mountain is having discussions with Burton regarding following years. Bruno asked about the other mountain resorts and how their model for similar event differs from the Vail Mountain version of Spring Back to Vail and would like to have further discussion on the topic. Metz discussed Vail Mountain priorities including Chair 9, Guest Experience and Safety. Kurz asked about the yellow jacket program and quantity of staff on the mountain, Metz said he would look into it and return with an update. Metz said that Vail Resorts has begun working on the “white label” websites for lodging partners to be able to purchase tickets. There is another program “low tech, high touch” that is in process and training will continue. McDonald asked about delaying opening day and Lovell sai d as of today there are no plans to delay. Romer reviewed the Destimetrics data of lodging on the books and said there will be more data on or around Thursday of this week. Romer said that he thinks the March 18- 25 is the peak week for Spring Break and will be an extended period of time. Financial Report, Kathleen Halloran (20 minutes) Upon receipt of all sales tax returns, September collections are estimated to be up 13.4% compared to budget and up 8.3% from the prior year. RETT collections through October 25 total $4,326,216 down 18.6% from this time last year. Please see presentation for further detail. Rent by owner update on the ordinance and business licenses, the town has added just over 300 individual owner licenses. The town is also working with Destimetrics to try to gather information on inventory of number of units. Halloran reviewed the revenue items that make up the 2017 budget, including sales tax, RETT, lift tax and parking. Vail App, Joe Cleary (10 minutes) Please see presentation for further detail. VEAC Meeting – November 8, 2016 Page 3 of 5 The app is considered the complete digital Vail vacation guide. Cleary said that it’s important to keep it simple and appeal to guests. Cleary reviewed all the different icons on the app home screen: deals, friends, maps, eat/drink, transit, shop, events and rentals. There is a function for real-time messaging to friends and families. Included is a custom mapping feature that allows for better navigation and more detail for each business in Vail. There are multiple varying costs and levels for business advertisement and inclusion in the app, but every Vail business gets a free listing... Cleary said analytical tracking on the back end and that information will be communicated to the business owner. The transit section will be broken into parking and transit to direct guests around town. There will be bus routes included as well. In addition, there will be a comprehensive event calendar that will be updated as needed. Notifications can be customized and tracked within the app. Art In Public Places Update, Molly Eppard (30 minutes) Please see presentation for further detail. Eppard updated the group on new acquisitions. The Town’s public art collection includes 47 works ranging from painting, sculptures, murals, playground components, to site-integrated art. 34 works are by Colorado artists. November 14 will see the first of the Ford Park markers installed. They are carved sandstone with some metal elements. The Booth Creek playground installations will occur spring of 2017. The underpass installation will be created by Gordon Heuther and will serve as a headlight screen. The artinvail.com website got an update and a new interactive collection map to learn more about the works. Starting in January, the winter art walk will be held on the first and third Wednesdays. The tours are about an hour in length. Winter programming has been sponsored by two local patrons. There will be two workshops held for lantern making and walks. The lantern walk will be a separate event from the tree lighting and will end at the Gore Creek Promenade at the Vail Winterfest Ice Theater, for the grand opening. There will be a number of animated films shown this year. Kurz said that there is a connection between the Planning and Environmental Commission board and Art in Public Places board in terms of private art installations. For example, the Lion property has commissioned a Mexican artist to create a work of art. This will be reviewed by the AIPP board. The Vail Arts Pass is targeted at patrons or appreciators of art to create art experiences. The annual fee is $50, and includes “field trips” to other art collections, museums or private collections. They are working with the Alpine Arts Center to host hands-on experiences and classes. Kurz said that the overall strategy of AIPP has changed from just placing art to creating a community and interactive experience. VEAC Meeting – November 8, 2016 Page 4 of 5 Town Manager’s Report, Stan Zemler (15 minutes) Update on Vail Golf Clubhouse from Ortiz: Nordic staff moved in yesterday. There will be grill service, Mon. through Thurs. and a menu of light fare for Friday to Sunday. Grill and pro shop are the focus to open first. They have been given the date of November 14 to have significant items completed. Ortiz said it will be spectacular for the community. Moffet said it has been 5 years since the election to build it. The focus will be on golf food and they won’t be serving dinner. Zemler stated that the council adopted the town budget for 2017 at the last council meeting. Zemler went to the CAST meeting (Colorado Association of Ski Towns) and reported that most every resort town was full this summer. The budget shows a few new FTEs to cover additional needs, like snow plowing, etc. The additional staff was added to the public works or service side. Currently there are no significant capital expenditures in the budget for 2017. There is further investigation being done on the town buildings and needs for repairs. The council continued discussion with regard to the housing strategy, there are a wide variety of people who fit into some of the financial categories. There is a targeted spring start for the Chamonix project. The two-way traffic on the frontage roads will be back to normal in the next few weeks. Major construction on the underpass will shut down in the next few weeks. Boselli asked about Lions Ridge and the status. Zemler reported it is fully leased. Zemler also said that there will be continued renovation on the Timber Ridge buildings over the next couple years. There is no plan for a redevelopment of those building. Zemler was asked about Lionshead summer parking, the council considered increasing the lift tax, but have moved away from that direction. There has been research into previous years of parking, how did the town of Vail end up where it is today. There are many different ways to look at the parking strategy and then approach the council with some recommendations. The summer of 2017 will be different because the Lion property will be finished. The hospital will not have a major impact on parking until fall of 2018. Next year summer parking will be a return to a more “normal” situation. The town will also be more prepared for 2017 parking on the frontage roads. The request has been submitted for the Marriott Residence Inn, with a special development district. They want to build higher floors; they are offering deed restrictions and apartments within the structure. They are starting to go through the town’s process and there is some opposition because of the scale of the property. There is no other project like it in the town. The benefit is the deed restricted apartments. Citizen Input N/A VEAC Meeting – November 8, 2016 Page 5 of 5 Other Business Mullen stated that they have a vacancy in one of her rental properties. Wadey noted that there is a presentation to local businesses on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at the Sebastian. They are also hosting a “Small Business Saturday” workshop. McDonald reminded the group that December’s meeting will be with the Town Council on Tuesday, December 20. Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 20, Council Chambers, Time TBD Joint Meeting with Town Council