Council MONTHLY REPORT

Transcription

1 Council MONTHLY REPORT DEPARTMENT: CVB MONTH: January 2016 VISITORS CENTER In the month of January the Visitors Center registered a total of 65 visitors: 57 were from Texas; 8 were from out of state. The following is a snapshot of activity: 14 requests for Shenandoah and local information; 11 requests for maps; 10 requests for directions; 9 inquiries about the CVB; 4 requests for police assistance 3 inquiries for brochures of other cities in Texas; 1 request of things to do. The Visitors Center has registered a total of 259 visitors for the fiscal year. HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX The graph and table below show comparisons for hotel occupancy tax receipts for stays in December reported in January. As shown, receipts are up 2.60% over the same month in Hotel Report Occupancy Tax FY FY OCT 81, , NOV 96, , DEC 80, , JAN 74, , FEB 82, MAR 97, APR 116, MAY 102, JUN 125, JUL 102, AUG 96, SEPT 100, Page 1

2 The table and graph below show comparisons for hotel occupancy tax receipts over the past four fiscal years. Increases have occurred every year, month to month with the exception of February, April and May in Hotel Receipts - Five Year Comparison FY FY FY FY FY OCT 54, , , , , NOV 64, , , , , DEC 45, , , , , JAN 40, , , , , FEB 56, , , , MAR 58, , , , APR 68, , , , MAY 68, , , , JUN 72, , , , JUL 61, , , , AUG 55, , , , SEPT 65, , , , Page 2

3 The table and graph below show tax receipts for individual hotels. Homewood Suites Hampton Inn Monthly Hotel Comparison Clarion Suites La Quinta Inn America's Best Value Inn Days Inn TownePlace Suites Courtyard Marriott OCT 17, , , , , , , , , NOV 20, , , , , , , , , DEC 18, , , , , , , , , JAN 14, , , , , , , , , FEB - MAR - APR - MAY - JUN - JUL - AUG - SEP - Total 70, , , , , , , , , Total Page 3

4 The table below shows receipts by hotel for stays in December, reported in January, compared to last fiscal year. The pie chart shows the market share for each hotel. Comparison of December Hotel Reported in January Homewood Suites 18, , TownePlace Suites 17, , Hampton Inn 11, , La Quinta Inn & Suites 9, , Clarion Suites 3, , Days Inn 5, , America's Best Value Inn 2, , Courtyard Marriott 7, , Total 74, , HOTEL UPDATES The following provides an update on the status of new or potential hotels: Name Location Rooms Stories Owner Target of Completion Holiday Inn David Memorial Thind Hotels March 2016 Home2 Suites 223 David Vetter Hotel Ventures TBD Staybridge David Memorial Thind Hotels TBD Cambria Tamina Choice Hotels TBD Aloft David Memorial Starwood Hotels TBD Four Points by Sheraton David Memorial/ Shenandoah Park Dr. Starwood Hotels TBD STR (Smith Travel Research) reported 496,184 rooms Under Contract in the US during January There are 18,069 hotel rooms in the Houston market Under Contract for January The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. STR representatives report that almost half of all rooms Under Contract are in 26 markets with the highest number of existing rooms. In the top 26 markets, Houston, with 18,069 rooms Under Contract ranks second to New York (34,217). For rooms under construction, Houston, with 5,553, a decrease 0.9% from the 5,603 rooms from January 2015, ranks second to New York (14,544) and is. The existing supply of hotel rooms for the Houston market is 80,528. The table below shows a comparison among various markets of rooms existing and under construction during January of 2015 and Page 4

5 Hotel Brand Report Staff ordered the Hotel Brand Report for the 2015 year. This report provides hotel performance of each brand in the industry as well as product and price segments. Published four times a year, the Hotel Brand Report gives information based on data from a census of over 300,000 hotel rooms every three months. It is published electronically every quarter. The report presents the following: 1. Houston Metropolitan Volume of Room-Nights Sold eroded 2% in the third quarter affected by the 50% drop in oil prices since last year; Occupancy dropped 3.4 points to 65.3%; Houston s $569 million revenues lost some ground recently in closing in on the largest metro, Dallas-Ft Worth, at $673 million 2. Homewood Suites made the top 500 list for hotels ranked by REVPAR (Revenue per available room) 3. Hotel Brand Breakdowns for Shenandoah High-Priced Brands Homewood Suites Suites Segment Courtyard Marriot Mid/Upscale Mid/Low-Priced Brands Towneplace Suites Mini-Suites Hampton Inn L.S./Midscales Holiday Inn Express L.S./Midscales La Quinta Inn L.S./Midscales Days Inn Budget Segments Americas Best Value Budget Segment Clarion Suites Other Budgets/Budget Segment Page 5

6 INFORMATION, ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS Social Media The CVB created separate Twitter and Facebook accounts in October. In the month of January, the new Twitter gained over 100 followers and currently has over 600. The CVB s Instagram went from 80 followers to over 200 during this same month. Mobile App The existing app is no longer supported by icity. Staff has made many attempts to contact the company including a certified letter from the city attorney requesting termination of the contract and a refund of the prorated portion ($3,000) of the annual fee ($4,000). Staff is in the process of researching other companies to rebuild and host the app. This should be a discussion item on the March workshop. Digital Marketing Staff met with Signet Interactive, a digital marketing company based out of The Woodlands. Many topics were discussed including pay per click digital ads, google ad words and search engine optimization (SEO). Our current website is not utilizing SEO effectively (concluded from an Analysis provided by Signet), prompting us to contact Wrights Printing and Marketing to remedy the issue. After reviewing the website audits, staff found the site in need of cleanup and maintenance. By doing this, along with strong SEO work, the website could potentially bring more viewers, visitors and even potential residents. Staff is securing proposals for SEO price packages for review. Expedia Staff met with Expedia representatives to discuss advertising with Online Travel Agents (OTA s). A trial program is in place featuring Homewood Suites, TownePlace Suites and the Courtyard Marriott hotels. Each hotel has been given a $500 budget and the TravelAds will run for one month. Staff conducts weekly phone calls with Expedia to review the reports and results over the previous week. All results will be assessed after the trial period ends and staff will conduct a cost benefit analysis. Facility Staff met with DataVox to discuss security systems for the Visitors Center. The proposal includes an exterior camera, magnetic door locks and horn strobes to be implemented into the existing push button panic system. Installation of the equipment was completed and tested by staff. Renovations Full interior repaint was completed and all new furniture has been ordered, with expected delivery in 6-8 weeks. Interactive Map Hydramax (Siibion) shared with staff a walkthrough of the front end screens for the interactive map program and developers are in the coding process. A roadmap is attached to this document. Businesses visited in January: Babin s Seafood House BJ s Restaurant Brewhouse Bob s Steak & Chop House Chuy s Courtyard Marriott Day s Inn Guadalajara Hacienda Hampton Inn Hooters Outback Steakhouse Pappadeaux Pei Wei Staff visited Babin s, BJ s, Guadalajara Hacienda, Hooters, Outback, Pappadeaux and Pei Wei to discuss promotion of businesses through the Visitors Center and social media. It was determined the best way to receive deals to be posted is to sign up to the restaurant s mailing lists and checking their social media daily. Page 6

7 Staff also discussed the renovations to the Visitors Center and the ability to display the restaurant s menus and coupons here. These items can also be put into giveaway bags for groups at the hotels. Staff met with Bob s and discussed advertising their monthly wine features on the CVB s social media. Also discussed was their Valentine s Day offerings of extended hours through the weekend. Staff met with Chuy s and discussed upcoming events, such as Viva Elvis that was advertised on the CVB s social media. Staff visited Courtyard Marriott, Day s Inn and Hampton Inn to provide them with Shenandoah dining guides. Day s Inn and Hampton Inn give them out the quickest, as they are a great resource to all guests. Staff also met with the Regional Director of Sales for LBA Properties (Courtyard) and discussed marketing opportunities to showcase Shenandoah on their website. Staff met with the general manager of La Quinta to discuss previous hotel meetings, obtain updates regarding potential La Quinta tear down (not likely any time soon) and provide updates on developments in the City. Events that occurred in January: High Caliber Gun and Knife Show The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center TWST Swim Meet Shenandoah Natatorium The Ice Rink at Town Center Town Center Center Ring Circus The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center UIL District Meet Shenandoah Natatorium Houston Reptile & Pet Show The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center 2016 Arenacross Tour Championship The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center Elvis and The Legends Show The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center Mickey Gilley The Dosey Doe Big Barn Arbor Day Festival Rob Fleming Park Pub Crawl presented by St. Arnold s Stadia - Bar Louie Taste of the Town 2016 The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Farmer s Market at Grogan s Mill Grogan s Mill Chinese New Year Celebration The Woodlands Children s Museum Groundhog Beer Festival Hubbell & Hudson Kitchen Coming events in February: UIL Regional Meet Shenandoah Natatorium Montgomery County 4H Dog Show The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center Grogan s Mill Farmer s Market Grogan s Mill 2016 Waterway Arts Festival The Woodlands Waterway Friends of NRA Banquet & Auction The Lone Star Convention & Expo Center Cards for Kids The Lone State Convention & Expo Center Texas Lunar Festival 901 Bagby Lunar New Year Houston Beltway Plaza Hot Rods of Texas Swap Meet The Lone Star Convention Center Montgomery County Food Bank Food Fair Moorhead Stadium Adult Sports Leagues Begin Legends Sports Complex Deana Carter The Dosey Doe Big Barn Page 7

8 ADVERTISING The ad below will continue to run in the 2015 Fall/Winter issue of Map Houston. The ad below ran in the January issue of Texas Monthly Magazine and will continue to run in the Texas State Travel Guide. The City has advertised with TourTexas.com. The advertisement includes a 600 word snap shot of the city, to include lodging, dining, shopping, and attractions. Visitors have the opportunity to view the website, download a brochure, or request information be sent via mail. For January, there were 69 requests for information as outlined in the attached Content Engagement Report. GOOGLE ANALYTICS Attached are analytics of the CVB website for the month of January. Staff is receiving ongoing training on Google Analytics and has a better understanding of the program and how to use it to work for us. Because of this, the charts and graphs will begin to look different as more important and useful information becomes known. Internal Page 8

9 traffic is excluded on this report. Google Analytic points for January: Number of Hits to Website (excluding internal hits) New Users 783 Returning Users 13 Sessions by Device Desktop 568 Mobile 251 Tablet 51 Traffic Type Referral (User came from another site) 655 Organic (User accessed a search engine, such as google, and found our site) 171 Direct (User typed CVB s url into their browser) 44 SUBMITTED BY: Page 9