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Home My WebLink About011023M Tourism Coordinating Council – Jefferson County Minutes of the Meeting of the Coordinating Council January 10, 2023 (DRAFT) The January 10, 2023 meeting of the Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC) for Jefferson County, convening a hybrid meeting In person from the Anderson Suite – The Inn at Port Ludow, and via Zoom, was called to order at 2:02 PM by TCC Chair Diana Smeland. A quorum was in attendance. Council members present: Diana Smeland, Bill Roney, Aaron Terada, Crystie Kisler, Marsha Massey, Bethany Smith Valued Partners: Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour, Dan Ventura, Tim Caldwell TCC Marketing Coordinator: Steve Shively No Public Comments received. Approval of Agenda was moved for acceptance by Bill and seconded by Bethany. Approved unanimously. Consent Agenda The TCC December 13, 2022 minutes as well as the current TCC budget were approved by consent. JeffCo. and Olympic Peninsula Hotel Room Tax reports were reviewed Commissioner’s Update – Commissioner Eisenhour shared the following: • Glad to be back with TCC. Commissioner Brotherton and Heidi agreed that the continuity of LTAC and the year-round work of TCC would best be served by one Commissioner staffing both councils. • Dan Ventura’s TCC appointment is scheduled to be approved by BoCC on January 17. • Draft consideration of RFP for operations of Olympic Peninsula Gateway VIC will be on the January 17, 2023 BoCC agenda. Current due date for responses will be February 8, 2023. CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMENTS CONSENT AGENDA COMMISSIONER REPORT OPTC Highlights – Marsha shared the following: • Partners planning meeting for 2023 OPTC to be held later this week. • Still working on accounting results related to fall/winter joint marketing campaign. • WSDOT’s Steve Roark will be at the February OPTC meeting, delivering construction updates. • 2023 TP (Travel Planner) “lite” is being sent off to printers, for initial 100k print run. • Good 2022 Olympic Peninsula lodging tax numbers from Dept. of Revenue. Cautions against expecting more years of extreme growth in 2023. • Steve and other members of sub-committee are finalizing Sustainable Tourism Strategic plan RFP for distribution by middle of January. Marketing Report - Steve – technical issues aside - reviewed with TCC the following: • Dept. of Revenue room tax report for 2022 showed, as predicted, that Jefferson Co. finished the year on par, +1.80%, above 2021’s lodging tax revenue numbers. Supporting the logic behind our 2023 allocation request to JeffCo. LTAX being the same as funds received for 2022. • Status of strategic plan RFP development process for Jefferson and Clallam Co. was updated. • Prolific highlights shared from initial TCC’s content of North America TALK. Content creator who was on assignment at Kalaloch, Port Ludlow, Old Alcohol Plant, and elsewhere, has already delivered very impressive results from initial articles and posts! • Build up to TCC sponsored OlympicPeninsulaWedding.com display at Seattle Wedding Show. • 2023 updates with Sound Publishing, Premier Media Group and Craig Romano E. Jefferson hiking guide projects. • Discussion of trending news regarding community impacts resulting from lack of staff at destinations, failure of Wild Olympic wilderness expansion in Congressional funding bill. OPTC REPORT TCC MARKETING COORDINATORS REPORT • Anticipated return of Chinese international travelers – most likely by 2024 – to PacNW. • The 2023 Legislative Session is underway, and our support of House Bill 1258 will help continue the important statewide work of State of Washington Tourism (SWT). Save the date for March 14, Tourism Advocacy Day in Olympia. Old Business – Gateway VIC transition with anticipated RFP for management. Moved to end of agenda and under Executive Session. Area Updates: Marrowstone – Aaron shared this news: • Fort Flagler reported 47 campgrounds will be off-line through much of 2023 due to road construction. • Not too much damage suffered from King Tide. Marrowstone point will most likely flood again with January 21 high tide. Chimacum – Crystie shared the following update: • Getting into the rhythm of the new year. Return to regular winter hours for Finnriver. • Adding to expanded event line up offerings this spring. • Hoping to book more private holiday parties and events in the new year. • Still keeping eye on several key properties on the market in Chimacum so we’re curious about the long-term fate of Chimacum Cafe, Keg and I, etc. Tri-Areas – Bethany shared: • Pleased with growth in wine dinner offerings. Wind Rose Cellars dinner up next. • Bayside Housing having taken over the former Hadlock motel, and continued OAP tower conversion into possible retail accommodations. • Looking forward to wedding show participation. Brinnon & Hood Canal – Dan was again welcomed to TCC. Details he shared included: • Shrimpfest has rebranded as “Fjord Fest” focusing on Olympic Coastal Cuisine beyond our local Spotted Shrimp. Very pleased that the top-three sponsorships have already been secured. • N. Hood Canal Chamber is off to a great start of 2023. They are interested in responding to the Olympic Peninsula Gateway VIC RFP from JeffCo. • SCUBA Diving interest is returning to Hood Canal. Long known as a destination, the last of contemporary services and amenities have hampered recent activity. Pleased that Camp Parsons BSA, and various dive companies are restoring services at Pt. Whitney and elsewhere. Port Ludlow – Diana shared these highlights: • The Fireside will continue with weekly Wednesday Pasta night thru January featuring Chimacum Valley Grainery flour in many of their pastas. • Plenty of winter dinner and golf events underway. • The Ludlow Village Arts hosting “Take 3” Band January 23. • Preparing for both Kitsap and Seattle Wedding Shows. Gateway VIC – Bill reported: • Working on Gateway’s 2023 operations and transitions. • 2022 visits of 9,600 visitors at the VIC was essentially same as in 2021. Scanned QR activity of digital informational brochures offered on the VIC porch indicate popular usage of these afterhours features. • Adding digital kiosk with real-time Hood Canal Bridge and local ferry details along with public WiFi service should be helpful to visitors. Kalaloch - West End – Marsha and Steve reported on behalf of Amy: • Kalaloch Lodge is down seven cabin units from their inventory, with 5 of the bluff cabins now out of commission for bluff erosion / safety. It's a long-term project for ONP to figure out how / where to move those cabins, etc. TCC MARKETING COORDINATORS REPORT (cont.) OLD BUSINESS AREA UPDATES • current storms have taken out their stairs again this year (the lower part), so there's no beach access currently from Kalaloch Lodge itself. Amy reports that will be handled sometime in April, after the winter storms but hopefully before they hit full season. • F&B wise, at present, the Creekside Restaurant is serving dinner only. They expect to be back to full service sometime in April. • Kalaloch is presently changing over to a new property management system. SWT – Marsha reported that besides the current legislative session, State of WA Tourism is arranging FAM tours, attending Go West in Alaska, and partnering with Visit Seattle, and Port of Seattle for a number of international FAM events, many which will visit the Olympic Peninsula. Additional Opportunity for Public Comment - no public comments received. TCC Adjourned for Executive Session regarding Old Business at 3:14PM TCC Reconvened at 3:54PM with motion by Bethany and second by Bill to approve TCC special committee content for submission to the upcoming JeffCo. RFP for Olympic Peninsula Gateway VIC management. Motion unanimously approved Adjournment – Diana adjourned meeting at 3:56PM Next meeting of TCC is Tuesday February 14, 2023 – 2:00 PM hybrid – in-person at Resort at Port Ludlow or access via Zoom. Respectively Submitted – Steve Shively AREA UPDATES (Cont.) PUBLIC COMMENTS EXECUTIVE SESSION RECONVENED ADJORN NEXT MEETING