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Home My WebLink AboutTDA Board Meeting October 26 2022 NEW HANOVER COUNTY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS October 26, 2022 PRESENT Kim Hufham, President/CEO – NHC TDA Angela Rhodes- NHC County, Restaurant Bill Saffo, Mayor – City of Wilmington Zach Brigman- Wilmington Hotel Manager (150+) Jim Kitts-NHC Vacation Rental Properties Ross Pittman- NHC Bed & Breakfast Lynn Barbee- Mayor, Town of Carolina Beach Eric Credle – New Hanover County Chief Finance Officer Tom Ullring – Carolina Beach Hotel Manager, (150+rooms) Hap Fatzinger- NHC Attractions Nicole Jones- Wilmington Hotel Manager (150-) Zeke Partin- Wrightsville Beach Board of Alderman EXCUSED: Mary Baggett-Wrightsville Beach Hotel Manager, (150+rooms) Craig Bloszinsky, Mayor – Town of Kure Beach Natalie English- Chamber of Commerce Deb Hayes, Commissioner – New Hanover County STAFF: Kim Little, Administrative Services Manager, Recording Secretary Linda Brothers, Senior Financial Analyst, New Hanover County Connie Nelson, Communications/PR Director Karla Thompson, Technology/Systems Administrator John Sneed, VP Sales Shawn Braden, VP Marketing GUESTS: April Adams, Cherry Bekaert CPAs & Advisors (Via WebEx) Chad McEwen, City of Wilmington Liaison Chairman Nicole Jones called the meeting of the New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority Board of Directors to order at 5:05pm. The meeting was held at the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce/CVB in the River Room. 1 ITEM #1 – EXCUSED – Mary Baggett, Mayor Craig Bloszinsky, Natalie English, Deb Hayes, ITEM #2 – APPROVAL OF BOARD MINUTES FOR August 31, 2022, and September 28, 2022- NICOLE JONES \[Motion made by Lynn Barbee and seconded by Tom Ullring and unanimously accepted to approve minutes as read of the August 31, 2022, and Motion made by Tom Ullring and seconded by Lynn Barbee and unanimously accepted to approve minutes as read of the, September 28, 2022 TDA Board meeting\] ITEM #3 – AUDIT PRESENTATION – APRIL ADAMS VIA WebEx April Adams of Cherry Bekaert, CPA’s gave a summary of the audit presentation for FY 21-22. April briefly addressed the role of the auditors which includes actions involving performing procedures to obtain audit evidence concerning amounts and disclosures in the financial statement, results that financial statements are free of material misstatements, requirement communications on audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for their audit opinion, etc. April stated they make sure internal controls are in place. Financial results showed revenues more than expenditures for FY 22/23 (budget to actual). April said they had full cooperation of New Hanover County during their audit process and that the TDA was given a clean/ unmodified opinion. This is the highest that can be received. (Copy of presentation attached.) ITEM #4 – BUDGET AMENDMENT APPROVAL – ERIC CREDLE Eric Credle, NHC Chief Finance Officer, presented the following Budget Amendments.  BA#2023-01- to appropriate the Purchase Order rollover for a Visitor Survey for Wrightsville Beach activity funds, approved by the Board March 30, 2022, and account for the payment against the Fiscal Year in which the expense is paid. \[Motion made by Mayor Saffo and seconded by Lynn Barbee to unanimously accepted to approve Budget Amendment BA#2023-01 in the amount of $54,625 as presented.\]  BA#2023-002- Part A- to appropriate the available fund balances as outlined in nd the FY21/22 Annual Audit of the 2 3% ROT for the promotions at Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Wrightsville Beach and District U. 2 Part B- to appropriate the available fund balances as outlined in the FY21/22 nd Annual Audit of the 2 3% ROT for the Activities at Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach. Part C- to appropriate remaining funding received in FY21/22 from the City of Wilmington for Convention Center Marketing. \[Motion made by Mayor Saffo and seconded by Tom Ullring to unanimously accepted to approve Budget Amendment BA#2023-02 in the amount of part A: $4,007,326, part B: $2,053,427, part C: $86,763 as presented.\]  BA#2023-003- to appropriate an out-of-state marketing awareness campaign as identified by the New Audience Research Study. Funds appropriated in FY2022 were not spent and rolled back into Fund Balance. \[Motion made by Mayor Saffo and seconded by Jim Kitts unanimously accepted to approve Budget Amendment BA#2023-03 in the amount of $250,000 as presented.\] \[A copy of the budget amendments and details of the financial numbers can be found in the Exhibit Book\] ITEM #5 – FINANCIALS/ROT REPORT – ERIC CREDLE Eric Credle – presented the financials & ROT report to the board. Please refer to the financial reports in the Exhibit Book XIII. ITEM #6- CVB UPDATE/PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS- KIM HUFHAM Budget Update: New phone system is needed for the CVB. The software for our phone system is near its end of life (December 2022). It would require moving to a subscription-based system. The current phones are out of warranty & processors cannot handle the new software. The current estimate for the update/upgrade and system migration is $12,000. There are funds available in the current budget in Contingency line item. *ADMINISTRATION: 3  Economic Scorecard Meeting  22/23Program of Work Industry Presentation  WWAY Interview  GWBJ Interview  NHCTDA Work Session-Program of Work  All-Blue Committee  Comprehensive Economic Mobility and Prosperity Strategy  NC Oyster Trail  WCC Advisory Meeting  Griffin-Estep Insurance  Wilmington Area Hospitality Meeting *MARKETING HIGHLIGHTS:  Launched Wilmington and Beaches Tik Tok social channel.  Further development on Mobile Trip Guide scheduled to launch March 1  Finalizing 2023 research plan objectives with Destination Analysts and negotiating final contract with new research partner Adara including visitor spend analysis data  Finalizing 2023 ad creatives for all four destinations upon selection of new images and video footage from September shoots  Kicking off out of state influencer plan to vet 2023 influencer invitations  Preparing new website content for transition to holidays; Refreshing content on core website pages featuring things to do, food and drink  Conducted aerial shoot of main sports facilities to develop a sports marketing virtual tour  Developed top 10 sports events photo shoot list kicking off shoot with Ironman  Preparing creative for video direct mailer to 300 meeting planner prospects  Developed Convention District proposal template for new Send Sites platform.  Submitted 2023 Visitor Guide updated content and designed cover; all ad space has been sold.  Preparing for FY23-24 Strategic Planning with agencies in December SALES & SERVICES:  Year to date: 24 events with 10,458 TRN. This pacing is at 60% compared to 2019.  Year to date Leads: 22 events with $15,807 TRN. This pacing is at 72% compared to 2019. 4 • Sales Missions planned for the 3 major metro areas in state, Triad, Triangle, and Charlotte. rd • Sales FAM Tour planned for spring; this FAM will focus on 3 party planners. • The 2159 starting athletes for the 2022 Ironman North Carolina 70.3 triathlon attracted an estimated crowd of 7006 people, including athletes, staff, friends, and family. It had an estimated economic impact of $7,019,096. • Convention District Sales Meeting *COMMUNICATIONS/PR: • Fall press trips: Arundel Kids (Maryland), ), Second Act Media (Canada), Good Food (Australia), Carolina Country, as well as bloggers @NikSnacks, @AshleyontheMove, @BetsiWorld, and @TriangleFamiliesExplore, and more. • Media Events: • VisitNC’s In-state Media Mission in Durham • New York City Media Missions • Hosted a local sports media meet and greet with local event organizers. • Early November participate in the Society of American Travel Writers’ virtual media marketplace. • Recent accolades/coverage: • TripSavvy.com includes Wilmington (#5) in its roundup of “10 Places Food Lovers Should Visit in 2023”: www.tripsavvy.com/best-food-cities-of-2023-6740144 • Wilmington, N.C. is included among Conde Nast Traveler’s 2022 roundup of Best Small Towns in the U.S. which cites the city’s National Register Historic District and local TV film credits, along with signature attractions Airlie Gardens and the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA. ITEM #7 – CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS – NICOLE JONES 5 As there was no further business, meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Next NHC TDA Work Session – Wednesday, NOVEMBER 30, 2022 ______________________________ __________________________ Kim Hufham, President/CEO Angela Rhodes, Secretary Minutes located in TDA Board Minutes Book XIII 6