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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-08 Tourism Commission MinutesTourism Commission Meeting Minutes February 9, 2016 The following individuals were in attendance: Commission Members – Tourism Commission Chair and Council Secretary Mary Knight; Mayor Rick Meehan; Councilman Dennis Dare; Councilman Matt James; Greg Shockley, Maryland Tourism Development Board; Brett Wolf, OC Chamber of Commerce; Todd Ferrante, OCDC; and Michael James, Economic Development Committee. Staff members present were Doug Miller, City Manager; Donna Abbott, Tourism Director; Larry Noccolino, Convention Center Director; Frank Miller, Special Events Director, and Lisa Osman, Tourism Department. Also present was Melanie Purse, OC Chamber of Commerce; Susan Jones, OCHMRA; Greg Ellison and Katie Tabelion, Ocean City Today; and Shawn Soper, Maryland Coast Dispatch. Mary Knight called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. Mary introduced the new City Manager, Doug Miller, to the meeting attendees. Approval of Minutes The vote was unanimous to approve the minutes from the January 11, 2016 meeting. Mary shared some good news from the Smith Travel Report for 2015. Ocean City had the highest occupancy increase at 5.4%, the highest occupancy overall at 58%, the highest daily average rate at $156, and the highest revenue per available room at $90. Return on Investment from Special Events Frank Miller gave a presentation on the new Return on Investment formula being used for all private event applications. The presentation showed how the new private event application process works and how department heads now rate event applications based on numerous categories. 2015 Zip Code Report Donna Abbott reported that part of the 2015 strategic plan was to start having a measurement of zip codes to show who our visitors are so we can be more strategic in our advertising placement in the various markets that we’re in. We were not successful in getting hotels to share their zip code information, which is not unusual for the industry. We collected zip codes at the Visitor Center in the Convention Center, the Boardwalk Information Cottage, the Chamber of Commerce, some various summer events, as well as one vacation rental company. Donna sent all the zip code information that we had collected from Memorial Day through Labor Day to MGH to combine into a report. Andy Malis presented the report to the group, which showed the areas that our visitors are coming from, broken down by state. Andy added that it would help to have the same data set for several years in a row. It was suggested that the reports be presented at the Tourism season kick-off meeting in the spring to show the hotels why the zip codes are needed and what they are used for in the report. Mary suggested to Susan that she present the reports to each hotel one-on-one so she can explain why the zip codes are needed. Updates from Departments & Organizations: Chamber of Commerce Melanie Pursel distributed a chamber newsletter, a rack card with all Chamber events and the new 2016 visitor guide. The Small Business Expo at the Carousel was well attended with about 40 businesses participating and over 200 attendees. The OC Job Fair is coming up on March 26 at the Convention Center. Melanie will be attending the Taste of the Eastern Shore Legislative Reception this Thursday in Annapolis. Tourism Day is February 26. The Post-Labor Day school start bill is drafted and ready to go. A bill was introduced about the hours, which would help the effort. Instead of 180 days of school, it would be 1800 hours, so that would allow that flexibility to add on 10 minutes to each day of school. Thus, schools are getting in the amount of hours and not necessarily the amount of days. Economic Development Committee Michael James reported that the EDC meeting on February 3 went well and the speaker from Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) did a great job. The next meeting date has not yet been set, but will focus on the legislative wrap-up of this year’s General Assembly. HMRA Susan Jones reported their next dinner meeting is February 18 at Touch of Italy with United Way representative as the guest speaker. HMRA has partnered with them to create a new restaurant promotion, Dine United OC. They are in the process of gathering restaurant participants to have a promotion this summer, which will basically be a competition between the restaurants and their employees. They will ask the restaurant to create a special cocktail or appetizer where $1 of that will go to United Way. The 42nd Annual Trade Expo is March 6-7 and is the main source of income for HMRA. They have 400 exhibit booths occupying three exhibit halls. The EARN Hospitality classes are coming up. HMRA, the Chamber and Wor-Wic have partnered on the classes, both supervisor classes and front-line employee classes are currently in development and will be held in April. Maryland Tourism Development Board Greg Shockley reported that the state tourism budget had a modest increase of approximately $100,000 as presented by the Governor. OCDC Todd Ferrante reported that OCDC has been awarded some grants by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. The Phase 2 demolition work that was being done downtown, the old Beach Patrol building as well as the Police Department is completed. There will be temporary parking on that lot this year. Their board has made the final payment to David Turner for the dolphin sculpture at Route 90. They have finalized the schedule for Sunset Park events and will have Sunset Park Party Nights (concerts) every Thursday this summer. Department of Tourism Donna reported that the consultant, Lyle Sumek, will be speaking with several members of the Tourism Commission on Sunday, February 21, by phone as work begins on updating the tourism strategic plan for 2016. The Tourism Commission’s session with Lyle in person will be Wednesday, March 9, at the Convention Center. Donna received formal notification from the State Tourism Office that we will receive our grant this year in the amount of $479,000, which is the largest tourism grant to be awarded in the state. Convention Center Larry announced that he is anxiously awaiting the start of Phase 3 construction. The Seaside Boat Show is being held this weekend, which will generate over 15,000 attendees. Special Events Frank Miller reported that his team is in the process of finalizing everything for Springfest, May 5-8. They will be announcing the Friday night headliner this week. Also in the process of finalizing acts for Concerts on the Beach and Sundaes in the Park. Sundaes in the Park will add Labor Day weekend to its schedule this year. Michael James made a motion to go into closed session. The next Tourism Commission meeting will be held on April 11, 2016 as the Tourism Commission will have its one-day strategic planning session on March 9.