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Home My WebLink About4.20.17_VLMDAC Draft Minutes_FINALVail Local Marketing District Advisory Council (VLMDAC) Thursday, April 20, 2017, 8:30am – 11:30am Grand View Room, Vail VLMDAC Members Present: Laurie Mullen (Vice Chair) Jessie Klehfoth (Vail Rec District) Kendyl Severino (Vail Resorts) Skip Thurnauer - Via Phone Jenn Bruno (Vail Town Council) - Via Phone Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail) Melissa Delekta (MYPR) Anna Robinson (VVP) Sandra Perrig-Holst (VVP) Ainslie Fortune (Cactus) Sarah Berkheimer (Cactus) Satchel Burns (Deadline) Pierre Boussier (Vail Resorts) Yann Benjamin (Vail Resorts) Carly West (Bravo! Vail) Meghan Del Sole (Group 970) Sarah Franke (Group 970) Chris Cremer (Intrawest Retail Group) Carli Smith (TOV) Laura Waniuk (TOV) Meggen Kirkham (SITE) Cathy Ritter (CO Tourism Office) Gabe Shalley (Vail Resorts) March 2017 Monthly Financial Report (Carli Smith, TOV) – See Slides for Details Carli reviewed the 2016 Financial Report and gave an update on current financial position. Sales tax revenue $67.5M, healthy reserves, no debt, but down ~2%. Will budget conservatively in fiscal 17. Reviewed December Destimetrics report on lodging occupancy, avg daily rate & comparison to competition (see slides for details). Real Estate Transactions were under budget until sale of Four Seasons. Marketing & Special Events summary – summer sales tax revenue growth percentage was higher than winter growth for the first time - this has always been the goal of the VLMD. Total budget ~ $6M for events & summer marketing – higher than competitive set. Development/Construction Update & future projects (Cascade, VVMC, Double Tree, The Lion) CO Tourism Office Update (Cathy Ritter, CTO) - See slides for details Cathy provided a Statewide Strategic Plan Update comprised of learnings from 10 months of Listening Sessions. She shared the 2015 Economic Impact Numbers – 1.13 billion in tax revenue, up 31% from recession – twice the US average (2016 available in June – will be higher!) Highlights from Research: Visitor Spending by region – 75% of revenues come from Denver Metro & Mountain Resort Areas; Change in where visitors are coming from – drop of 11 % in Rocky Mountain, biggest increases in Pacific & Northeast regions. Summary of Image and Perception Study – competitive set, ranking in Rocky Mtn West (#1 in majority of categories!) Presentation of new Vision & Mission for the CO Tourism Office: - Vision: Colorado is the premier US destination for active, outdoor and unique experiences that make you feel truly alive. - Mission: Drive traveler spending through promotion and development of compelling, sustainable travel experiences throughout our four-corner state. - Pillars: Compete (Strengthen competitive position & resiliency), Create (Destination Architects – create & brand new traveler experiences – ex. CO Hot Springs Loop), Steward (Sustainable Tourism), Advocate (communicate the power of tourism to drive benefits) Marketing Overview: YOY Media Spend (projection $516 in revenue for every $1 spent on media); Regional Branding – focusing on regional brands that speak to travelers; International Markets – China projected to be #3 market by 2022; In State travel initiative (3, 5, 7 day itinerary suggestions); Comingtocolorado.com – teaching people to travel like a local (low/no impact); Suggested budget from study: Parity Budget: $29M (instead of current $19.8M). Current legislative recommendation is actually to cut budget by $750k. Not final yet. Upcoming Dates: - 2018 IPW Conference is coming to Denver! (1991 was last time) – May 23rd – 26th (weekend before Memorial Day Weekend) Economic Impact will be big! - Governor’s Tourism Conference: Oct 25 – 27 2017 in Grand Junction (very close to booking this conference in Vail in 2018) Air Update (Gabe Shalley, Vail Resorts) – See Slides for Details Summer Service Update: 10 month continuous service from Dallas/Ft Worth. Houston service will go from 3/week to 2/week but will extend by 3 weeks to include Labor Day weekend. Discussion ensued. Summer Competitive Comparison (Caveat – all other destinations are at least 4 hours from major airport while Vail is 2. More reliant on flights for visitation.) Discussion ensued re: competitive set. Winter Performance Results: 69% Load Factor (slightly down from 70%); Chicago, Newark and Toronto Up, all others down but several due to capacity changes. Phoenix & DC performed very well (new flights). Those new flights generated approximately 4000 travelers & $6 million in spending Discussion ensued on financial performance & new markets (Bay Area next winter if it fits in budget) There was some extra money in air budget – being used for additional summer marketing efforts. Creative Executions (Cactus) – See Slides for Details Showed :30s & :15s brand spots aimed at the 3 target segments: Active Professional, Dynamic Family and Super Boomers – some start running as early as next week. Event spots will be available at next meeting. Recap of print/display/OOH/TV that was approved after last meeting. Discussion of overlay – decided to eliminate. Epic Discovery (Yann Benjamin, VR) – See slides for details Gondola One opens June 2, Lionshead Gondola on June 9. Epic Discovery opens June 23 (weather pending) New this summer: Kids Ride Free Gondola Ride – One 12 & under for each paid adult. Epic passes do not apply – must have paying adult. Paramount Peak Climbing Wall. Children’s Playground & Forest Adventure Course (elevated, netted, wooden walkway) – these two are pending USFS approval. A la carte options are new this year (not all guests want an entire day – want a “tasting”) Summary of media strategies including expansion into front range, earlier flighting, focus on individual components/activities instead of Epic Discovery as a whole, targeted & personalized messaging (leisure vs. adrenaline) Yann showed creative samples. Discussion ensued re: demographics and marketing outlets. Summer Pricing (see slides or Vail.com for details). Discussion of layering full Vail logo on top of Epic Discovery (Breck is introducing the same concept this summer). Breck will not reach front range this summer, will stay hyperlocal. VLMDAC Trip to Aspen (Kelli McDonald, TOV) Group had discussed several different trips, but will plan on only Aspen for now. Possibility for one more in late summer/fall. Kelli will send out an email with criteria to review and will also reach out to contact in Aspen to discuss dates. Committee needs to create list of things they want to learn from the trip. Paid Search (Kendyl Severino, VR) Recommending a shift in how Paid Search is executed (Change to year-round instead of May – Oct.) This will mean shifting management of Paid Search budget from Cactus to VR team due to the year round nature. This is expected to cost $92,000 which is already in the budget. Reporting should remain seamless and will be done by Cactus. Paid Media buy will be managed by media team in Broomfield and Kendyl will manage the relationship between Broomfield and Cactus. Discussion ensued regarding possible future implications, paid search vs. display (paid search is based on demand, not segmenting) and bandwidth of VR team to take this on (new structure has a dedicated staff person, so Kendyl is confident in bandwidth). Summer Content Contributor (Kendyl Severino, VR) VR does not have the bandwidth to capture rich, timely content during the summer months. They are recommending a content contributor on staff to capture this real-time content for Instagram, snapchat, Facebook Live, etc. The purpose of this person is to showcase more than on-mountain activities. Financial ask for this position is $15K for May – Oct. Schedule will be approximate 40 hours a week, Monday – Friday with flexible hours for events) and this position will report to Kendyl. Vail Resorts will still need approval to add to their Marketing Department head count, even though VLMD is paying the salary. Discussion ensued re: need for content calendar in collaboration with key partners. Content Calendar to be approved at next meeting. Also discussed how to ensure content is relevant to audience (i.e. – GoPro vs Bravo). Is this a year round role? (Intent is yes) Discussion ensued re: Town-wide Story vs just mountain/events. Content Calendar will be in place, but additions can be made as needed. Discussed budget, job description & KPIs. Budget recommendation is to use some of the $100k event contingency budget (from bike race that is not coming through Vail this summer). Other Business: - Kelli McDonald – need to have a VLMD meeting. June 20th works best for majority of people. Around 1pm. Main objective is to take a high level look at summer efforts. Informational only, no vote. - Note that Jenn Bruno is not here because Town Council is interviewing Town Manager candidates. Vote to Approve March 16, 2017 Minutes/Change of Paid Search Management from Cactus to Vail Resorts/ Hiring of Content Management Position through Vail Resorts - Edit to Minutes: Laurie Mullen listed as call-in, but was present - Motion/Second/Passed (Klehfoth/Thurnauer/Unanimous) Announcements: None Upcoming Meetings: VLMDAC: Thursday, May 18, 2017 from 8:30 – 11:30am (Antlers at Vail) VLMD: Tuesday, June 20th, 2017 at 1:00pm (Council Chambers)