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Home My WebLink AboutM051419 Tourism Coordinating Council – Jefferson County Minutes of the Meeting of the Coordinating Council May 14, 2019 (DRAFT) The May 14, 2019 meeting of the Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC) for Jefferson County, was called to order at 10:06 am by TCC Chair Roney, noting a quorum was achieved with the arrival of Council member Cleone Telling. (Note: Jefferson Co. BoCC has yet to confirm replacement of Diana Smeland for Debbie Wardrop.) • Voting TCC Members present were: Bill Roney, Marsha Massey, Cleone Telling • Partners Present: Commissioner Greg Brotherton, Diana Smeland, Christina Pivarnik • TCC Marketing Coordinator present: Steve Shively CALL TO ORDER Bill welcomed all, April minutes are corrected regarding spelling of Diana’s name. The TCC consent docket, including corrected minutes from the meeting conducted on April 9, 2019, was moved by Cleone, Seconded by Bill and available April 2019 TCC financials, Moved by Bill, Seconded by Marsha were approved, each by unanimous votes. CONSENT AGENDA Commissioner Brotherton shared information on the following topics of tourism related interest and insight: • Legislation HB1406 is on Governor’s desk awaiting signature. It has implications for rural communities’ tax revenue and might be why the April JeffCo Budget Committee added a primer regarding various tax authorizations. • Current WSDOT timetable regarding SR104 Round About for SR19 at SR 104 construction is 2020, with Shine at SR 104/Hood Canal Bridge slated for 2021, after additional public input. • The Duckabush estuary bridge replacement is one of three major Federal projects with Fish and Wildlife. Next step is engineering. • A troubling observation of mortality of salmon smolt shared at a recent Marine Resource Committee (MRC) meeting indicates a potential correlation between Hood Canal Bridge pontoons and impacts of smolts surviving beyond the bridge. • Rhody Fest – Last year at Memorial has been authorized – HJ Carroll Park is the alternative site in case of heavy rains. • PUD survey regarding broadband is part of qualifying for a USDA “Rural Reconnect” grant. This project is focusing on broadband via fiber vs. 5G wireless technologies. • Ongoing issues related to State Parks and the anticipated Brinnon sewer vs. simply a large- scale septic. In Port Hadlock engineering continues. The new project will seek to provide hook-ups for 456 ERU (Equal, Residential Units). Currently there are 356 hook-ups ready for connection. • Greg met with GM Joe Alfano at Kalaloch Lodge. He also had a meeting regarding the upper Quinault Lake road loop, and new lodging and dining development in area. • Scotch Broom management underway in the Westend. They are participating in a supervised trial for hyper-targeted glyphosate application directly onto plant stump. Early findings indicate positive weed eradiation with no toxins leaching into ground water. OPTC Update: Marsha Massey updated TCC on OPTC’s recent meeting held in Port Angeles, highlighting: • NPS news included seasonal openings of May 17 Log Cabin Resort, and Staircase planning to reopen Memorial Day. Final phase of Hwy 101 construction around Lake Crescent will involve scheduled 4 hour delay’s M-Thur. • WTA/WTMA’s $3M in State’s 2019-21 biennium budget going forward. Kudos regarding the WTA presentation in Spokane. WTA has been representing the state at lots of trade shows, including IPW and a booth at World Travel Market in London. COMISSIONER’S UPDATE OPTC UPDATE • WA State Visitors Magazine, eNew blast with WA Tourism Alliance, and most Spring Campaign OPTC ads are out. The universal call-to-action is – Order a Travel Planner. • OPTC web travel planner via website is up 700 over YTD last year. • 400 new leads generated from NW Travel & Life’s special section. Bill and Steve confirmed that the OPTC sample brochure mailing to ~250 VIC’s and regional AAA are generating very good responses. • FAM tours include: Julie Miller “Traveler AU” magazine from Australia. Recently toured the Hoh. 22 German travel agents in this weekend, and a UK Travel company’s team of product managers will be out in June. • “Erik the Travel Guy” is finishing up N. Olympic filming for season three of syndicated PBS travel show. OPTC and campaigns partners will have access to a whole bunch of B-roll film. • Growth in OPTC social media with 47K Facebook followers. New Business Hood Canal Bridge – Diana and Bill shared insights regarding Hood Canal Bridge closures. Bill tallied bridge closures and ferry back-ups this past weekend, 1:00 PM, Friday, May 10th to 8 PM, Sunday, May 12th. During this time there were 8 bridge closures, with many occurring during peak travel times. Ferry delays noted were: Kingston to Edmonds 9 delays/ one hour, Bainbridge to Seattle 8 delays/ one hour, Port Townsend 4 delays/ one hour. Marketing Report Steve provided a TCC briefing of current marketing activities, including: • Briefed TCC on the additions to JeffCo. Hotel Lodging Tax reporting, doubts that the additional % Difference vs. Prior Year column will be as accurate as their legacy 4 year average trend indicator, and the on-going out-of-sync reporting with monthly DOR figures shared with OPTC. JeffCo. shows 5.52% YTD ahead of budget as very good, especially since February’s snows resulted in large cancelations across Peninsula. • Detailed the digital planning funnel created by the OPTC OlympicPeninsula.org (“Inspirational”) page, and TCC’s itinerary planning call-to-action at EnjoyOlympicPeninsula.com via our subscription to UTrip’s planning widget. • With UTrip announced their ceasing operations in early June, and Google+ no longer supporting the business page used by Olympic Gateway VIC, TCC is underway developing a new business directory itinerary planning website. • Until then, TCC is running one last Gear Giveaway social media promotion, leveraging our UTrip’s trip planning functionality. • Social media campaigns and engagement numbers are good. • A FAM tour of Erin James with SIP Publishing was hosted last month. Her digital article has just dropped, already producing very good engagement, especially with a 66% men vs. 34% women audience reach. • TCC’s participation with the current “Erik the Travel Guy’s” filming included support for crew’s visit to Kalaloch, Finnriver, and Port Ludlow accommodations. • A NWTL “Food Traveler” sponsored article based on TCC’s “A Culinary Dive into Olympic Peninsula’s Chimacum Valley” popular itinerary on UTrip will be featured in print this spring. • The TCC’s full page display ad and traditional accommodations matrix in the Port Townsend Leader’s annual Getaway Guide was reviewed. • Spring into Summer Print ad buys by TCC include: o 2019 - Washington State Visitors' Guide o 2019 Homeport Seattle o MV Coho o OutdoorsNW OPTC UPDATE (Continued) NEW BUSINESS TCC MARKETING COORDINATORS REPORT o Strait Up o Adventures NW o 1889 Washington’s Magazine o ExperienceWA.com E-News o ShrimpFest Coop Ad Area Updates: Port Ludlow – Diana shared a wonderful printed listing of upcoming events, including: • Tall Ships in Marina May 31 – June 5 • Cruise-In Port Ludlow every Wednesday has started off well with about 20 cars every week. Adding food vendors and other fun. • Annual Outdoor Moving Night, Saturday August 24 – movie is “Free Willy” • Golf Course features upcoming Callaway and Taylor Fitting Days • Golf Channel Pro Am will tee off June 8th • Fireside Restaurant begins seasonal Farm Suppers every Wednesday. Al Fresco Cooking class on June 14, and Guardian Wine Dinner June 28. Gateway VIC – Bill • The updated Activities Map is out, 12K distributed already! • Seasonal build-up at VIC is underway. Summer hours 9AM -5PM starts Memorial Day weekend. • Parking lot regarding scheduled to be done soon! Quilcene – Cleone Quilcene little league starts today! • “Permit purgatory” continues for the Worthington House. As they process Conditional Use Permit conversion from single family dwelling, • Looking for volunteers to be docents. • Beautiful craftsmanship with School of Wooden Boat Building student providing excellent window trim restoration and finishing. • ShrimpFest in Brinnon May 25-26! Chimacum – Tri-Areas. Crystie was hosting “Erik the Travel Guy” and unable to attend. She sent the following news: Report from Chimacum: • lively month with lovely weather • things are hot and heavy at the Corner Farmstand nursery • Fun new event launched at Finnriver with the annual Bedazzled Chimacum jewelry craft fair in partnership with Chimacum Arts & Crafts • getting ready at Finnriver for big weekend of music and food for Memorial Day weekend • lots of hiring of staff (70 paychecks last month!) but getting more and more concerned about housing for our employees • growing our Youth crew program of Cider Garden attendants and doing neat program at Chimacum High School called FEED (with non-profit Community Wellness Project) program to connect kids with local food economy • Looking for ways to stay graceful and grounded throughout the summer! Westend (care of Marsha) • Kalaloch awarded Best Beach in the West by King5’s Evening Magazine, along with the Olympic Discovery Trail as best biking. • Forks VIC is piloting a phone tree with last minute area lodging info. AREA UPDATES • Rome beyond and Rome Trailers. – planning new sites south of Kalaloch. Working with the Quinault Nation. Adjournment - There being no further business the TCC meeting was adjourned at 11:55 AM Next meeting of TCC is Tuesday June20, 2019 – 10:00 AM at the Inn at Port Ludlow. ADJORN