HomeMy WebLinkAbout02. VEAC Minutes 04-11-2017 FINALVEAC Meeting – April 11, 2017 Page 1 of 6
Vail Economic Advisory Council (VEAC)
April 11, 2017
MEETING MINUTES
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Packet materials found here: http://bit.ly/2lvpZPs
VEAC Members Present:
Phil Metz, Greg Moffet, Rayla Kundolf, Brian Nolan, Lori Pohl, Matt Ivy, Bob Boselli,
Mark Gordon, Laurie Mullen, Mike Glass, Alison Wadey, Mike Imhof, Mike Ortiz
Town of Vail Staff Present:
Kelli McDonald – Economic Development Manager, Laura Waniuk - Event Liaison
Specialist, Carlie Smith – Budget & Financial Analyst, Patty McKenney – Acting Town
Manager, Ernest Saeger – Special Events Coordinator, Suzanne Silverthorn – Director
of Communications, Chris Hartman – Welcome Center
Others Present:
Zach Meyers - The Arrabelle
2016 Year End Report, Carlie Smith (15 minutes)
Please see presentation for full details. Gordon asked specifics about town reserves
and how they relate to the spend on Chamonix. Smith updated the group on the 10 year
sales tax collections, lodging was down due to closed lodging properties and
construction on hotel properties. McDonald mentioned that the Cascade is closed and is
the largest group hotel, which impacts lodging tax collections. Metz said that he thinks
the Doubletree will bring in new guests to Vail, partially due to their strong loyalty
program. Gordon is seeing some high end activity in the real estate sector. The lack of
snow has impacted Spring Break visitors and international buyers have been declining.
Summer tax collections now represent 32% of sales tax revenue while winter makes up
the remaining 68%. For the previous past 5 years, the summer has been steady at 30%
of sales tax revenues. The annual growth for summer for the past 5 years has averaged
8.7% as compared to winter that has had an average growth of 6%. 2018 Town of Vail
budget process will most likely begin in July or August.
Mullen stated that group business was lost due to Cascade closure and moving forward
the town will most likely lose group space due to positioning of Hotel Talisa as a luxury,
high end brand. This may not appeal to groups that have stayed there before due to
higher cost. Mullen said that the town doesn’t really have an entry level hotel with group
space. Meyers from the Arrabelle said their groups are mostly weddings. McDonald said
that the Golf Clubhouse is booking weddings into 2018.
Financial Report, Carlie Smith (15 minutes)
Revenue Highlights
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Upon receipt of all sales tax returns, February collections are estimated to be down
3.1% from last year. Year to date is down 3.1% from the prior year. RETT collections
through March 29 total $1,439,428 down 19.2% from this time last year.
Winter Review/Summer Preview, Phil Metz (30 minutes)
Please see presentation for full details. Metz said that despite the late opening and
weather, they still saw a strong destination visitation. They did see a decline in local
visitation, from Eagle County and Front Range visitors. There is strong performance
with loyal guests which will continue to drive visitation. The lack of snow in March had
an effect on visitation also. Metz said travel to EGE from Chicago was up 9.2%+.
Houston, Dallas were relatively flat to last year. Miami was down because the airline
reduced the number of seats; there was a 14% decline. New York out of JFK was flat,
but out of Newark it was up 3%. Washington DC flight was at 71% load factor. Phoenix
was at 70% load factor in year one, which was positive. Kundolf said she sold to guests
from DC, Chicago, NY earlier in the season. She didn’t see many Latino visitors from
Miami. Toronto flight was up 7.3% and Atlanta was down 1.9%. McDonald will f ollow up
with Shalley to get final numbers for EGE. Boselli asked about Vail Resorts focus on
marketing in these locations, Metz said that Shalley has specific marketing dollars for
areas that need increased penetration. Moffet said that EGE is in all the large markets
besides Charlotte, Metz mentioned potentially adding the Bay Area. He also said the
next market could be Mexico with a direct flight. Metz believes that the airport is one of
the biggest advantages for attracting affluent guests to the county. There are 4x as
many airplane seats into Aspen.
Vail will end the year at 63 Net Promoter Score. The measurement has changed to
post-trip surveys rather than on mountain. They are seeing a little slippage in the score
on trail conditions, which is impacted by weather. The Epic Local, Epic 7 and Epic 10
passes are significantly lower than a regular day rate. Concierges should communicate
and purchase passes ahead of time for their guests for more savings. Metz discussed
Epic Discovery, new attractions and gondola open dates. Please see presentation for
specific dates and pricing.
Welcome Center Hours, Chris Hartman & Suzanne Silverthorn (10 minutes)
Please see presentation for full details. Hartman discussed open hours changing this
year; they are open 365 days per year. They will coordinate their calendar with Vail
Resorts. Hartman also showed the average hourly visitors across both visitor centers for
the ski season. Only 6% of guests come in between 5-7pm. Silverthorn stated that when
the Lionshead visitor center moved from the Frontage Road to the new location they
began with new extended hours to support the local merchants. As they evaluated the
hours of operation, they looked for a recommendation from the previous operator and
didn’t really have solid information on visitation patterns. Hartman said that it makes
sense to have more staff during heavier periods of time than during extended hours.
The Lionshead Welcome Center originally was thought to be where pedestrians would
get assistance and the Vail Village Welcome Center would have more drive up traffic.
However, both centers are showing drive up traffic and walk-ins. They are seeing a
VEAC Meeting – April 11, 2017 Page 3 of 6
decline in lodging booked out of the welcome centers due to use of smart phone
bookings and have done away with that service.
Silverthorn said that the internal town management of the Welcome Center allows for
more nimble adjustments in management. Mullen asked about before and after hour
guests and what information is provided to them, Hartman said that there is literature
available in the transportation center. Nolan said that it might be premature for the
Welcome Center to change their hours before being open for the summer. Nolan said
that W histler has information staff that walk around and answer questions. Hartman said
they manage the town host program and they walk around town from 8am-4pm. Kundolf
said that from her store she rarely sees a red coat (town host) in her area. Hartman said
that he is using the Vail App as a great resource for the guest . Nolan suggested starting
a program from 5-9pm to address evening guests coming down from the mountain or
after dinner. Kundolf suggested that there is a person holding a sign on a pole outside
of the Welcome Center to capture guests from the shuttles or buses.
Boselli said that his stores get 15 guest questions per hour; he suggested the welcome
center train his staff to provide updated information. Moffet suggested downloading the
Vail App. Ivy asked what type of information is asked in the welcome centers, Hartman
said it’s a good mix. Guests ask about where the ski ticket office is located as well as
people coming off I70 are asking what to do if they have 3 hours to spend in Vail.
Hartman mentioned that Zinn and he discussed having a more active host program in
the summer.
Boselli asked that Joe Cleary for Vail App add businesses that are missing. McDonald
said to please send her updates for the app.
Town Manager’s Report, Patty McKenny (15 minutes)
McKenny introduced herself and provided her background to the group.
Town Manager Candidate Meeting – Tuesday, April 18 from 5-7pm at Donovan
Pavilion, there will also be a community panel and town department director
panel.
Parking & Transportation Task Force Committee – Please see memo for
recommendations, there will be no changes made to 2017 summer parking, the
Lionshead demand will be reduced due to some construction completion. Next
council meeting there will be discussions about cost impacts for extending bus
service to East Vail. Summer guests will collect and return parking tickets as they
enter and exit the parking structures in order to collect data and plan for 2018.
Gordon mentioned it would be interesting for the Vail parking task force to speak
with the Breckenridge parking task force and Cherry Creek Shopping Center to
see how their parking changes are going. There will be parking hosts at the
entrance of the structures.
Development Agreement for Chamonix – It was executed. Moffet asked about
the modular build vs. stick built. McKenny said that she would update once she
heard from Ruther.
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Slifer Square – Redesign is over budget. The project is deferred except to deal
with water quality issues.
Ford Park/Bighorn Park Improvements – Moving forward with some updates.
The construction kick off meeting is Wednesday April 12.
Council Action Plan Review – Early summer there will be an update about a
process for West Vail master planning, the civic plan is another master planning
process which includes the library, Dobson and the town building. Red
Sandstone will be seeing a major remodel which will probably include a parking
element.
Spring Back to Vail – Parking is changing a bit at Ford Park due to the concert.
I70 Construction Underpass – There is information on the website.
Neighboring Businesses Reports, All (35 minutes)
Questions:
1. How was your business this ski season?
2. How was it different from last ski season?
3. What plans do you have in place for this coming summer?
4. Who do you expect your customer to be this summer?
5. Which 2 events do you think are the best and why/which 2 could we eliminate and
why/what type of event are we missing?
6. Are there any suggestions you have to make things better?
Nolan covered the Lionshead area, not as many international/Mexican guests are
visiting this year. Restaurants are flat or down, retail flat or down, lodging up.
Projections for summer, none, but they hope that there are fewer construction workers
in the parking structure.
Kundolf discussed Meadow Drive and Solaris, overall reaction that business was flat,
and below average. They are seeing less foot traffic this year. One merchant said they
are expanding their business outside of Vail, another said that they hope for Texas
guests. They didn’t see a lot of international guests. The businesses on average said
that Farmers’ Market and Bravo! Vail were the favorite events, a few people mentioned
Oktoberfest and Vail Film Festival. She asked about what event they would like to see.
They said a contemporary music event at Gerald A Ford Amphitheatre; they want to see
the concerts move from Solaris to GRFA. McDonald discussed the concert at GRFA in
August. Lodging prices are too expensive and a single day ticket is too pricey. Vail has
become a weekend resort for guests from the Front Range and New York; there are
very few mid-week guests. In terms of zoning, preserve the town and keep the town
beautiful and don’t let the developers take over. They also suggested lighting the streets
down Meadow Drive. They feel like there should be fewer family oriented events
because families don’t come into shops. They would like to see more
conventions/groups. They would also like to see more consistent hours for retail shops.
Boselli said that they plan to keep the Vail Style store open later.
Boselli said that his sales matched February sales tax reports. His stores were down
over 10% in March. In April Boselli is closing stores because of lack of traffic. The last
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few weeks of March were really disappointing. Pink Vail and Gaper Day didn’t really
help traffic in retail, etc. There was nothing in April in terms of events. Concerts don’t
attract the correct guest to Solaris. As far as events, they all like GoPro Mountain
Games. Farmers’ Market should extend into Lionshead. Jazz nights are good.
International visitation was down. For summer merchants need free parking and more
parking. Aspen is up double digits this ski season.
Wadey’s feedback was neighborhood-based and some merchants like Oktoberfest,
Gourmet on Gore, etc. They feel the event promoter relationships have improved with
the merchants. The Lionshead merchants are really excited about GoPro Mount ain
Games expanding into their area and also that there is no construction in that area. A lot
of the businesses are planning to be open that weekend. They requested more signage
directing people west to Lionshead. Suggestion was to move Spring Back to Vail to
spring break to attract more guests. Lodges attending the Mountain Travel Symposium
felt overall that the attitude toward Vail was a lot less positive than in the past. The
feedback is that it’s more expensive to visit Vail. They also said that the group discount
is too small and feeling that Vail isn’t interested in hosting groups.
Mullen spoke to a new retailer and they said their expectations were met for the location
and as far as events the store manager didn’t have a sense for them. He just said they
care about heads in beds. The Frontage Road parking is a lot of construction workers.
Mullen also spoke to one of the grocery stores and they were concerned about winter
business. The higher end clientele doesn’t really support their offerings. The manager
understands the market and adjusts accordingly. One of the restaurants said their
business has been slow/busy/slow. They had an outside promoter put on 4-5 larger
music acts and that had a good impact. They might do some interior upgrades. They
said that their customer is sports teams, locals, groups and families. They said that they
like events that extend valley wide because attendees stop off in West Vail on their way
down valley. They would like some marquee or street signage to direct guests to the
West Vail businesses. Mullen said that they will work on getting signage. Another
retailer said that business is down overall, March is down about 10%. It’s a significant
hit to the business. They are doing upgrades to their store; they are also the exclusive
sponsor of the Vail Craft Beer Classic. They are busy with weddings and events right
now. The best events for them are the sporting events and team events that bring a lot
of families. Transactions are down. The average sales are up. Burton US Open brings
good business for them. Nolan said as the ADR goes up fewer guests come.
Ivy discussed East Vail; he said that the lodging will be down about 3%.The numbers
from the Front Range evaporated with no snow. The last few weeks of March they are
not seeing the business. GoPro Mountain Games, Burton are good events f or East Vail.
For summer businesses are looking about even to last year.
Ortiz said that they had a good year at the Nordic Center, more season passes were
purchased, but day business was down in March due to snow conditions. They have
some opportunity to work with local partners to open up their programming at the
Clubhouse.
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Citizen Input (5 minutes) – N/A
Other Business (5 minutes)
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, May 9, 2017, Antlers, 8:00-10:00 AM