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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-26-20091 NEW HANOVER COUNTY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS August 26, 2009 PRESENT: John Andrews, County Restaurant Anne Marie Hartman, Ho tel – 150+ Wrightsville Beach Kim Hufham, President/CEO – NHC TDA Frank Jones, Hotel – (-)150 Wilmington Bob McKoy, NH County Vacation Rentals Donna Moffitt, County Attraction Chuck Pennington, County Bed and Breakfast Ronnie Pernell, Hotel – Kure Beach Avril Pinder, NHC Authority Finance Officer Jimmy Pope, Hotel – Carolina Beach Steve Whalen, Mayor – Wrightsville Beach EXCUSED: New Hanover County Commissioner Bill Caster, Scott Cromartie, Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, Mac Montgomery, Mayor of Kure Beach, Bill Saffo, Mayor of City of Wilmington ABSENT: W. Chris Green, Hotel - +150 Wilmington, Joel Macon, Mayor of Carolina Beach STAFF: Jeanette Foster, Administra tive Services Manager/Recording Secretary Lee Nettles, Vice-President of Marketing Mikie Wall, Vice-President Sales and Services Connie Nelson, PR/Communications Director Sheila Boyd, NHC Finance GUESTS: Mary MacNaughton – Lumina News Michelle James, Kure Beach Town Administrator Chairman Ronnie Pernell called the meet ing of the New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority Board to order at 5:35 p.m. at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher. Chairman Pernell introduced Michelle James, Town Administrator for Kure Beach who attended for Mayor Mac Montgomery. 2 ITEM #1 – EXCUSED ABSENCES Commissioner Bill Caster, Scott Cromar tie, Mayor Mac Montgomery, Mayor Bill Saffo. ITEM #2 – MINUTES APPROVAL – MAY 26, 2009 AND JUNE 23, 2009 [Motion made by Jimmy Pope, seco nded by Mayor Steve Whalen and unanimously carried that the minutes of May 26, 2009 be approved as read.] Ronnie Pernell had one correction to the June 23, 2009 minutes and asked for a motion that the adoption of the Budget for FY 2009-2010 was unanimously approved. [Motion made by Frank Jones, seconded by Anne Marie Hartman to approve the correction to the minutes of June 23, 2009 that the adoption of the Budget for FY 2009-2010 had been unanimously approved.] ITEM #3 – FINANCIALS AND ROT REPO RT – AVRIL PINDER Avril Pinder presented current financials no ting that as of July 31, 2009, expenses are high, but this is due to up-front costs being paid in advance for such things as trade show registrations, advertising expenses, etc. At this time, revenues are not showing as being received, but feel will have some positive numbers to report at the next meeting. For FY July, 2008 – June, 2009, NHC ROT collections down 8.73% compared to the same period last year for first 3%; for 2 nd 3% for same period, Carolina Beach down 6.68%; Kure Beach do wn 0.31%; Wrightsville Beach down 9.66%. [Motion made by Anne Marie Harman , seconded by Mayor Steve Whalen and unanimously approved to accept the financial report as presented.] ITEM #4– EXPENDITURE RE QUESTS FOR CAROLINA AND WRIGHTSVILLE BEACHES – KIM HUFHAM CAROLINA BEACH: Kim Hufham, President/CEO advised th at the Town of Carolina Beach had requested funding in the amount of $168,570.80 (2/1/09 – 7/2/09) for reimbursements for expenses incurred fo r donations to the Chamber of Commerce and Boardwalk Makeover as well as expenses for lifeguards and various events. The breakdown of this included: 3 Lifeguards and Benefits - $86,547.50; Boardwalk Makeover - $14,670 (to date has been spent); Donations to the Chamber of Commerce - $64,600; Employee Assistance for Various Events - $2,753.30. Funds are available for above reimbursements. Comments: Chairman Ronnie Pernell noted that some se paration in expenses in each category needs additional clarification. Kim advise d that the breakdown of expenses which is included with the reimbursement expens es could be summarized to show where each expense is going. The audit of these expenses goes through Kim, Jeanette, Avril and Sheila prior to checks being written. Avril further iterated that all expenses are definitely accounted for prior to reimbursements for any expense. Chuck Pennington requested photo results for any projects which TDA funds assist with. Feels this would also be helpful to the Board. Chairman Pernell asked for show of hands of those approving the above request for reimbursement of expenses incurred by Ca rolina Beach’s requests. Motion carried unanimously. The Town of Carolina Beach respectfully request TDA funding in the amount of $347,550 in expenses for lifeguards for the period of July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. The Town begins its lifeguard service on Memorial Day on the Beach strand as well as Freeman Park and the amount requested is an approximate amount needed. President/CEO Hufham advised the Town is actually requesting funding for FY 2009-2010, but funding will not be reimbursed until funds are available and receipts have been received for ac tual monies spent. [Motion made by Frank Jones, seco nded by Anne Marie Hartman and unanimously carried to approve fundi ng for FY 2009-2010 for lifeguards.] WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH: Kim Hufham, President/CEO stated the Wr ightsville Beach Board of Aldermen respectfully request TDA funding in th e amount of $30,000 to be favorably considered to help fund costs associated with fireworks, advertising, public relations and media support associated with the planning and presentation of the 2009 4 Holiday Flotilla. Again, these expenses will be reimbursed as the actual invoices are received and audited. Mayor Whalen indicated these funds are rea lly critical this year as the Town is having a difficult time finding sponso rs to offset expenses for 2009. Says Wrightsville Beach helps supplement cost s of fireworks and $20,000 is used towards marketing. [Motion made by Donna Moffitt, seconded by Chuck Pennington and unanimously carried to approve the request for funding of $30,000 to help toward the expenses of the 2009 Holiday Flotilla.] The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen is respectfully request ing funding in the amount of $12,000 to help support the necessi ty to maintain a pub lic restroom in the hub of Wrightsville Beach’s business are a, commonly known as the Trolley Stop. Previous requests for this have b een approved dating back to 2004. Question was asked what this cost actua lly entailed and Mayor Whalen advised it was the actual lease of the space. [Motion made by Anne Marie Hart man, seconded by Bob McKoy and unanimously carried to approve th e request for funding of $12,000 to maintain a public restroom in the hub of Wrightsville Beach’s business area, commonly known as the Trolley Stop.] The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen respectfully request TDA funding in the amount of $2,000 to help fund the purchase of new decorations and hardware to support the continued effort to create a traditional Christmas Holiday decoration display at Wrightsville Beach. Previo us requests took place in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Mayor Whalen went over the history of what has been purchased in the past and supplementing these in 2007 and 2008. This year’s request will basically maintain the decorations which have already been purchased. [Motion made by Anne Marie Hartman, seconded by Donna Moffitt and unanimously carried to approve the request for funding of $2,000 to help fund the maintenance of the Chris tmas Holiday decoration display at Wrightsville Beach.] The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen respectfully request TDA funding in the amount of $17,500 to help fund the purchas e of 22 new VHF radios to support the Town’s Ocean Rescue operation. In 2008, 4 new radios were purchased. It was noted by Anne Marie and the Mayor that this past weekend had been a prime example of why radios are needed. Th ey had 65 ocean rescues take place. 5 Chairman Pernell added that we should ma ke sure word is out that we are tourist friendly with proper rescue facilities, etc. Mayor Whalen says he feels this is a reason tourists come back because they know they are protected. [Motion made by Anne Marie Hartman, seconded by Frank Jones and unanimously carried to approve funding of $17,500 to help fund the purchase of 22 new VHF radios to support the Town’s Ocean Rescue operation.] The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen respectfully request funding in the amount of $5,000 to help fund the purchas e of a new ATV to replace a similar vehicle that has been in service since 2004. [Motion made by Anne Marie Hartman, seconded by Donna Moffitt and unanimously carried to approve funding in the amount of $5,000 to help fund the purchase of a new ATV to replace a similar vehicle that has been in service since 2004.] ITEM #5– MARKETING PLAN PRES ENTATION FOR 2009-2010 – KIM HUFHAM AND LEE NETTLES President/CEO Kim Hufham began the presen tation stating how interesting it had been to put together this marketing plan with the budget reductions which had to take place. The staff had worked hard to keep programs together and that she is very pleased with the results. President Hufham presented the State of To urism’s economic impa ct statistics for 2008: • What goes up, must come down. We have had success stories in years past, but having an economic downturn right now. The figures released by the NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sport s Development have come out for the year 2008 and show that we had a decrease of only 0.8% in revenue over 2007 revenues); that the economic impa ct for domestic travel in New Hanover County was estimated at $422.65 million. • New Hanover County still maintained its rank as number 8 among North Carolina’s 100 counties in tourism expenditures. • Coastal N.C. counties collectively grew at a slower rate than the State average. Collectively, nine coas tal counties were up only +0.93%. • New Hanover County generated 37.14 millio n in state and local tax receipts. • The County provided more than 5,510 jobs in travel and tourism. • Travel generated state and local tax revenues saved each county resident approximately $193.16. 6 President Hufham went over some of the th ings we have had to deal with this past year: Economy and other external factors combined for negative impact. Recession started in the fall. Unemployment rose. Gas prices up. Real estate tumbles and foreclosures. Film incentives not as strong (other s around us had more incentives and able to take film busin ess from this area.) This past Fiscal Year was down 8.73% over the past Fiscal Year. For the Calendar Year (through June, 2009), we are down 12.5%. But some good news on the horizon shows th at July is showing some positive feedback in occupancy. Fiscal Year 08-09 posted negative growth. National projections from Smith Tr avel Research is still reflecting negative occupancy, ADR and REVPAR. President Hufham said that al though we are in difficult ti mes, we can’t sit back, we have to continue to be aggressive: Advertising and marketing efforts as will be emphasized in the Marketing Plan. Although we had to make budget cuts for FY 08-09, revenues came in slightly higher than what decreases were expected to be and this helped us a little as well as helping fund balance. Spending levels are being maintained. Good news is that visibility is up. Web site traffic has inc reased 13% over last year. Destination sites are up 17%. General inquiries are up 14% while trackable inquiries are up 39%. Although we had to implement budget cu ts, we have been able to maintain all of our marketing efforts. Have nearly completed all of the ROT audits. Able to overcome the “S ave Our Summers” threat. Started introducing social media effo rts for Cape Fear Coast and beach municipalities as well. Started participating in several partners hips to include 55 Plus Magazine in Canada, Wrightsville 110 Nights, Visit NC.com in their sweepstakes. Generated 10,711 column inches of free editorial. Generated 102 group leads. Hosted 41 travel writers. Challenges we are looking at for 2009-2010 include: Economy, gas prices, competition. 7 Weathering the down turn in tourism. Maintain our visibility despite budget cuts. Moving convention center planners from cautious to committed. Preservation of our “Save Our Summers” legislation. Lee Nettles, Vice President of Marketing presented our Program of Work. Lee noted we had plenty of challenges this ye ar. Most notably, having less money to market, etc. Some of the things we want to do include: Know who you are talking. Build relationships. Stretch our dollars. Continue to work with our touris m partners…be a tourism advocate. Goals: Increase inquiries. Expand social media efforts (facebook and twitter). Introduce a blog. Introduce and market Sunny Savers Pr ogram and negotiate package deal with VisitNC, including web, prin t and online advertising and video production. Purchase targeted e-line advertising – key N.C. areas. Utilize public relations for ef ficient brand visibility. New Program Goals: Advertise to military in eastern North Carolina. Expand presence in tradeshows and associations by leveraging with convention center efforts. Begin to develop a sports marketing program. Seek/participate in trip giveaway promotions. Lee highlighted some of the ef forts for the Beach communities: Carolina Beach: Eliminated PITV. Shifted some funds into social media. Adding military efforts (print). Expand film and fireworks ads to in clude the boardwalk and amusements. Kure Beach: Kure had the best year with a flat ROT (did not decrease in ROT). 8 Continue eastern North Carolina focus (community newspapers, etc.) by updating ads, etc. Update the web site. Add social media. Wrightsville Beach: Have entered FY 2009-2010 with a budget reduction and greatly diminished fund balance. Want to continue to seed the vitality brand message. Continue with TV (PITV and ACC), pr int, public relations and search engine advertising. Add outdoor ads. Social media and military (print) being added. Revamp website. Plan for advertising conversion study. Convention Center (presented by Kim Hufham, President/CEO). Slated to open in the fall of 2010. Have hired a Convention Sales Manager (John Sneed). Attending key tradeshows; participating in relevant associations/organizations, etc. Direct sales calls to those potential clients. Site visits/inspections coming in. Web site has been launched. Direct mail campaign, prints ads have started (to reach state, regional and national organizations. Kim indicated that we have had challeng es, but we are committed to making this year a good one and have put together a strong plan. Hope as the year progresses to be able to add some of the programs back into the plan which had to be cut. Frank Jones wanted to know that as a Boar d should we not send a letter to the City stating how important an adjacent hotel is for the convention center. Kim indicated this was a wonderful idea and she would be glad to draft a letter from the Board for the Chairman’s signature. The City has indicated they do want us active and a letter would be very helpful. [Motion made by Frank Jones, seconde d by Ronnie Pernell and unanimously approved that a letter be sent from the Tourism Development Authority to the City on how important an adjacent hotel is for the convention center.] 9 ITEM #6 – PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS – KIM HUFHAM President/CEO Kim Hufham thanked the Bo ard for all of their continued support throughout the year. ITEM #7 – OLD BUSINESS/NEW BUSINESS Frank Jones wanted to know if we could a pply for a grant to have power lines taken down to bring in cruise ships. Kim advised this was a tough topic; that she thought there was more to it than just the power lines . She said that back in the 90’s this had been approached; however, we are 26 miles upriver and the larger cruise ships want to be within one mile or so from the ocean so this in itself is a major hurdle. There are other components to this as well which would be a deterrent. John Andrews says that sometimes private en tities might assist with some of the entertainment expenditures taking place at beach communities. Perhaps this could be looked into instead of using all TDA funds (2 nd 3%) on some of the marketing efforts to bring tourists to the municipalities. ITEM #8 – CHAIRMAN’S CO MMENTS – RONNIE PERNELL Ronnie asked that we go back and check to make sure all old or new business has been taken care of. Staff will chec k and report back to the Board. Chairman Pernell thanked the Aquarium fo r hosting our meeting and what a great job they had done. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. [Motion made by Frank Jones, seco nded by Anne Marie Hartman and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting at 6:45 p.m.] ______________________________ __________________________ Kim Hufham, President/CEO Ronne Pernell, Chairman 10