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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM090820Tourism Coordinating Council —Jefferson County Minutes of the Meeting of the Coordinating Council September 8, 2020 (DRAFT) The September 8 meeting of the Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC) for Jefferson County, was CALL TO ORDER called to order at 10:00 am by TCC Chair Roney. A quorum assembled with Council members Marsha Massey, Cleone Telling, Diana Smeland, Aaron Terada, and Bill Roney in attendance. Partners present: Bethany Smith, Arlene Alen TCC Marketing Coordinator present: Steve Shively Consent Agenda Moved for Approval by Marsha of the — corrected - August 11, TCC minutes, CONSENT AGENDA motion seconded by Cleone. Cleone moved acceptance of current TCC Financials as presented, motion seconded by Diana. Both actions approved by consent OPTC Highlights — Marsha shared various items of OPTC information, including: • Recap of August OPTC (Olympic Peninsula Tourism Council) meeting. • Lots of summer updates. Reasonable to good July and August reported, e.g. Clallam Co. OPTC REPORT Parks enjoyed consistent 80-90% occupancy. #Recreate Responsibly challenges found everywhere, E.g. Staircase / Lake Cushman closures due to overcrowding and bad visitors. • Olympic National Park's July and August were busy. Hurricane Ridge drain field and Hurricane Hill paving projects both completed. Hwy 101— road work late Sept. • Relocating Hurricane Ridge pay station in 2021. Enabling commercial & pre -paid lanes • WTA photo shoot and return to WA state marketing campaign ready to launch. • Save the Date for State Tourism Oct. 8! • Fall Marketing Campaign with BlackBall Marketing reviewed, moving ahead with launch of Fall/Winter digital, bus ads and TV campaigns launching this week. • Travel Planner for 2021 discussion of potential revision of 'normal' printing and distribution cycle. Still to be determined, initial plan is to refresh vs. 100% new travel planner in 2021. Marketing Report Steve provided a TCC briefing of COVID-19 marketing highs and lows, including: • Financial update review, August still well below budgeted amount, but JeffCo. is performing as well as other Phase 2 communities around the Peninsula. • Current travel trends include work from home tech companies mandating vacation breaks. • Large convention hotel's reporting uptick in 2nd Quarter 2021 conference bookings as Zoom is not the sustainable replacement for in person meetings, networking, and learning. • "Travel shaming" places a challenge for marketing to visitors with appropriate messaging. • Europe is starting to explore return of cruise ships + a clamp down on bad visitor behaviors. • TCC marketing emphasis continues for masking, COVID updates and Leave No Trace ethics. • Staycation and retro family focused activities, coupled with promotional programs designed to infuse patronage of area restaurants are popular global tourism marketing efforts • TCC reviewed various initiatives and trends promoting local shopping and dining. • "Regenerative Travel" has replaced "Sustainable Tourism" as new destination goal. • Partnering with Olympic Culinary Loop and the Eat Local First — Olympic Peninsula cooperative the full month of September is a Eat Local campaign with Jefferson Farm Tour and a September restaurant month. • On -going marketing with Sound Publishing's awarded matched marketing grant for print and digital, focusing in Federal Way Mirror, Seattle Weekly, Mercer Island Reporter and others, all focusing on the 1-5 corridor `Staycation' audience. TCC MARKETING COORDINATORS REPORT • "Dark Divide" movie screening campaign and NOAA's Blue Star economy initiatives are new. • TCC encourages all to consider attending October 8 WA State Tourism virtual conference. TCC MARKETING COORDINATORS Area Updates: REPORT (Cont.) Port Ludlow - Diana shared: • Leisure travelers' segment continues exceeding numbers, aiding in picking up lost group AREA UPDATES revenue. Largest growth continues on Monday and Tuesday nights of stay. • Two golf tourney's — Mitch Black Memorial tourney — raising scholarship for students • Hosted first micro wedding ceremony — went well. Still unable to offer reception hosting. • Planning for fall with "What you can do locally in the rain" — inspirational campaign. • Diana represented Port Ludlow as the only Olympic Peninsula supplier at GoWest last weekend — meeting with —30 tour operators. Each 30-minute meeting produced good leads. • Research shows that travelers are planning "doughnut" style. i.e. avoiding big cities (the `hole') and seeking unique, less crowded, experiences in outlining areas. Calls for ground transportation options, e.g. Kenmore Air / BlackBall ground transit, proves this theory. Gateway VIC — Bill noted: • Fire yesterday due to a lack of #RecreateResponsibly parking lot users. No damage resulted • 40-50% off from normal volume for same period. Still operating on reduced hours. • Concern regarding about maintaining brochure supply levels into future. • General tone of travel is positive. More education and COVID compliant visitors seen. • Ongoing learning process — still little or no signing digital registry for contract tracing Quilcene — Brinnon — Cleon reported: • There are Coho Salmon in river! Experts say they are returning a year earlier than usual. • Plenty of proud -parent photos shared of the Worthington House commercial drain fields • Observations of good pivots to outdoor seating at Gear Head Deli and Geoduck Restaurant. • Lots of Kayakers enjoying Bioluminescence in water. • Cleon shared a 1918 quote from Josephine Yar of Fort Worden. "We only have 5-months of school because all the other months had the flu." Giving us reassurance that others have traveled these difficult roads before. Tri-Area — Chimacum Valley & Marrowstone Island - Aaron shared • Fort Flagler enjoyed a very good summer. Busier than normal for summer. Good revenue levels, despite museum still closed, limited points of visitor contact with reduced hours. • WWI historic facilities renovations should be completed by end of September. Enabling the welcome back to independent travelers. (Group facilities still under renovations) • New basketball court and new concessionaire - Kayak Tours LLC - opened in August. • Majority of visitors are from WA state, especially the Puget Sound area. Bethany shared regarding Port Hadlock — • Old Alcohol Plant noticing similar length of stay and day of week travelers as Pt. Ludlow. • A continuation of a super short booking window. • Farmers Market Food and Garden commercial Freeze Dryer tests continued with Chef Troy. • 90% of restaurant produce is grown on property • Hotel at full occupancy for last 3-weeks. Expanded inventory into Bay View Housing Authority • Closed Art Gallery —yet rotating art in hallways. No live music permitted at this time. West End — Marsh shared: Pivot on Forks "Forever Twilight Festival", has canceled their full festival, instead focusing AREA UPDATES on virtual offerings and still expected an uptick in visitors over traditional mid -Sept. Twilight (cont.) festival weekend. Port Townsend — Arlene shared: • Wooden Boat Fest will be — virtual this year. • Chamber will also be virtual — with annual Leadership awards. • PT's VIC — continues with new model of operations — leveraging more tech and less volunteers. Examples include: o Creating more packets — e.g. Relocation packets moved to digital over print. o Updating old County tourism website to a landing page format. • New Certified Folder supplied rolling rack goes outdoors every morning and is very popular. • Averaging about half of last August's visitation numbers. However, it's 'Apples to Oranges' tracking and monitoring compared with pre-COVID methodology for the collection of stats. ADJORN Adjournment - There being no further business the TCC meeting was adjourned at 11:35 AM Next meeting of TCC is Tuesday October 13, 2020 —10:00 AM at location TBD (the Inn at Port Ludlow if "Stay At Home" order has been lifted. Otherwise via Zoom).