WISCONSIN DELLS VISITOR & CONVENTION BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2016

Transcription

1 WISCONSIN DELLS VISITOR & CONVENTION BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT

2 July 2017 HELLO BUREAU PARTNERS: Trendy. It s a word that is not often used to describe the Midwest. And yet we have proof that Wisconsin Dells is indeed trendy or, better said, on trend. The proof, you ask? It s the 2016 economic impact report. Direct visitor spending in the community was up 4.4% to $1.13 billion, with food tourism and active lifestyle tourism, two of the most important tourism trends in the country, contributing to that increase. Yet it s not solely about being on trend that gives us cause to celebrate. It s also sustained growth, with Wisconsin Dells posting gains every year for the last seven years. Now that is remarkable! With lots of new offerings for 2017, it s clear all of you intend to keep that growth line trending up. For now, however, take a moment to enjoy the good news. You ve earned it! Sincerely, MISSION STATEMENT The WDVCB is the official destination marketing organization for the Wisconsin Dells area whose mission is to grow the economic impact of tourism through marketing, public relations and development efforts that benefit our visitors and members. VISION STATEMENT Our vision is to secure the Wisconsin Dells area as a national year-round tourism destination by providing visitors with a unique and diverse recreational experience unsurpassed in quality, which offers the WDVCB membership and staff a framework for growth and economic opportunity. WDVCB members understand the commitment and dedication it takes to build a successful destination. In Wisconsin Dells, membership means more than signing a contract and paying membership dues. WDVCB members write bylaws, set policy and give direction to Bureau staff. More importantly, they volunteer their time, talent and resources to contribute to the success of Bureau events and programs. As leaders in the tourism industry, they are also active in statewide tourism issues and policies CONTENTS Letter from President & Executive Director Mission & Vision Statements Economic Impact Financials Performance Report Marketing Public Relations Meetings, Conventions, Sports & Groups Festivals Board of Directors Committees & Staff Jill C. Diehl President Romy A. Snyder Executive Director NUMBER OF WDVCB MEMBERS BY DIVISION Accommodation Attraction Business/Asso Campground Restaurant Shopping Visitor Services TOTAL

3 VISITOR SPENDING 2016 ECONOMIC IMPACT % Change Direct Impact* $1,087,204,035 $1,134,560, % Total Impact** $1,460,814,203 $1,521,698, % * Travelers create direct economic value within a discreet group of sectors (e.g. recreation, lodging details on page 5.) This supports a relative proportion of jobs, wages, taxes and GDP within each sector. ** Each directly affected sector also purchases goods and services as inputs (e.g. food wholesalers, utilities) into production. These impacts are called indirect impacts. Lastly, the induced impact is generated when employees whose incomes are generated either directly or indirectly by tourism, spend those incomes in the state economy. VISITOR EXPENDITURES BY CATEGORY VISITOR EXPENDIT Lodging $406,716,063 Transportation $79,846,950 Retail $212,888,468 Recreation $135,604,730 Food & Beverage $299,504,090 TOTAL GOVERNMENT REVENUES GENERATED ESTIMATED VISITOR EXPENDITURE COMPARISON BY SEASON % Change State $42.8 million $44.9 million 4.9% Local $53.3 million $54.2 million 1.8% 500,000, ,000, ,000, ,000, The data above is from The Economic Impact of Tourism in Wisconsin Dells 2016 and was prepared by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company located in Philadelphia, PA, dedicated to providing high value, robust and relevant analyses of the tourism sector that reflects the dynamics of local and global economics. The research model used for this year s data is an Input-Output (IO) IMPLAN model that profiles an economy by measuring the relationships among industries and consumers. The model calculates three levels of impact direct, indirect and induced. 100,000,000 Direct Impact: Visitor s expenditures on attractions/recreation, lodging, food & beverage, retail and transportation. 0 Winter Spring Summer Fall Indirect Impact*: The flow of visitor s expenditures as it is traced to food wholesalers and farmers, utilities, marketing, publishing and so on. TOTAL JOBS SUPPORTED (FULL-TIME JOB EQUIVALENTS) % Change Direct Impact* 12,289 12, % Total Impact** 15,683 15, % Induced Impact*: The benefits to the economy as tourism employees spend their wages in the local economy, generating additional output, jobs, taxes and wages. * The combination of Indirect and Induced Impact creates the Total Impact. 4 5

4 2016 BUREAU FINANCIALS TOTAL INCOME: $13,506,193 TOTAL INCOME Room Tax $11,374,861 Membership $1,382,117 Program Income $697,980 Other Income $51,234 ROOM TAX INCOME: $11,374,861 ROOM TAX INCOME MEMBERSHIP INCOME: $1,382,117 Nov/Dec - Prior Year $1,003,479 1st Quarter (Jan - Mar) $2,121,822 2nd Quarter (Apr - Jun) $2,441,965 3rd Quarter (Jul - Sep) $4,376,046 Oct - Current Year $428,236 Room Tax - Development Fund $1,003,313 Attraction Division $560,750 Accommodation Division $370,640 Restaurant Division $278,315 Associate Division $61,900 Campground Division $35,132 Shopping Division $62,530 Visitor Services Division $12,850 TOTAL EXPENSES: $11,712,744 *Annual meeting, seminars, member directory, etc. Marketing $9,573,094 Administration $1,979,841 Membership* $121,015 Development $38,794 MARKETING EXPENSES: $9,573,094 Summer Leisure $5,856,851 Convention Sales $437,122 Public Relations $416,165 Year-Round $1,698,710 Winter/Spring Leisure $672,432 Fall Leisure $141,735 Sports $144,276 Winter Holiday $205,

5 2016 PERFORMANCE REPORT 2016 MARKETING HIGHLIGHTS wisdells.com Total Site Visits 3,106,643 3,110,724 Unique Visits 2,311,375 2,328,311 Facebook Fans/Likes 319, ,642 Eguide E-Newsletter (Monthly) Subscribers 48,678 42,822 Deals E-Newsletter (Weekly) Subscribers 24,731 18,232 Visitor Inquiries/Contacts Calls 9,901 9,204 s 1,940 3,338 Chat Sessions Walk-ins Downtown 40,091 36,313 Walk-ins Lake Delton 11,119 7,498 Vacation Guide Distribution Single Literature 81, ,322 Bulk Literature 112,630 97,320 In-Area Literature 98,800 76,625 Total 292, ,267 Landing on a physical embodiment of The Waterpark Capital of the World! brand is huge. And we did just that with the introduction of our lovable spokestube, Tubie. In a series of new TV spots it was Tubie to the rescue, setting people free from the shackles of boredom and stress and delivering them to the universe of fun that is Wisconsin Dells. Tubie s presence was front-and-center in other ways, including new radio spots, our social media channels, and even as the guide for the new online Trip Builder tool on wisdells.com. We went all in with Tubie in 2016, because if any place is going to have a spokestube, it s going to be Wisconsin Dells! Here are just a few of the marketing highlights from 2016: Our target markets continue to grow and evolve. We added St. Louis, MO and Champaign, IL to our target markets. As a result of those efforts, website traffic from St. Louis increased over 40%. We conducted an Ad Awareness and Effectiveness research study in major markets such as Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, Minneapolis and Quad Cities. The research showed a $140 return on investment from our advertising dollars, which is up from $80 in Communication ratings for our new Tubie television campaign surpassed the Splashback campaign in just the first year. Our interactive media buy is larger and more segmented than ever. Knowing the importance of video content to our visitors, we have strategically placed our ads on streaming video sites such as HULU. We continue to find new ways to engage and interact with our consumers online. We took Tubie to the streets of Chicago to ensure Wisconsin Dells was top of mind at the kick off of the summer season. Some 50 Brand Ambassadors wearing Tubies walked the streets of Chicago in splashmob style, interacting with potential visitors and distributing a total of 10,000 Wisconsin Dells sunglasses. Our first Tubie statue was installed in the Wild WaterDome at Wilderness Resort and he has been a big hit, with guests sharing photos of him across social media. Last year we launched a new Winter Holiday campaign, reminding our friends in Chicago and Wisconsin to visit Wisconsin Dells all year and take advantage of great Holiday offers. This year we had fun with the 12 Days of Dells campaign with an outdoor board market block takeover in Milwaukee. This one day takeover totaled over 1,275,000 impressions. The entire campaign garnered 20,395,000 impressions. We launched two new tools on wisdells.com in First, Trip Builder provides a fun and engaging way for visitors to curate a trip itinerary they can save, share and print. The Book Direct feature launched mid-year which resulted in 20% of wisdells.com visitors using the Book Direct tool to search for lodging options. Of those, 67% of visitors clicked through directly to a property s online reservation system. Our outdoor campaign included a mix of digital boards and expandable boards in Chicago, and other mature markets. Gift card sales continue to grow with the number of gift cards issued up 22% this year and total dollars up almost 5%. There are now over 200 member businesses participating in the program. 8 9

6 2016 MARKETING CAMPAIGN COLLATERAL 2016 STANDOUT MOMENTS IN PR In 2016, it became apparent that our target audience and the media embraced the fact that Wisconsin Dells isn t only for summer time fun we re open all year-round! We continued to develop and refresh our media relationships with visits to journalists in St. Louis and Chicago, as well as providing media kits to journalists in Minneapolis, Madison, and Milwaukee. It was a successful year with stories in USA TODAY, Midwest Living, Chicago Tribune, Minneapolis Star and The TODAY Show. Additional stories appeared in MSN.com, Chicago Parent, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, TripAdvisor, blog sites and more. Here s a sampling of the top media mentions that came through in 2016: Vacation Guide Sports Planning Guide Tournaments Sporting Events Other Events playinthedells.com 10 Most Fun Indoor Waterparks in the U.S. (MSN.com) Indoor Water Parks: Keep Warm With These Thrilling Rides This Winter (USA TODAY) 6 Midwest Getaways for a New Year s Refresh (Midwest Living Magazine) Banish Winter Blahs: A Trip to Wisconsin Dells Should Make Your To-do List This Winter (Chicago Parent Magazine) How to Plan a Dream Fall Vacation in Wisconsin Dells (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Ice Castle Shaping up at Wisconsin Dells, Waterpark Capital of the World (Chicago Tribune) Top 25 Water Parks United States (TripAdvisor) The Best Weekend Getaways for Valentine s Day Romance, or Family Time (The TODAY Show) A First-Timer From Chicago Dives Into The Wisconsin Dells (Chicago Tribune) Massive New Swimming Pool in Wisconsin Dells to Fit 2,000 (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The tally for earned media in 2016 came in at $14 million. Planning Guide Sports Planning Guide Direct Mail Season Opener 10 11

7 2016 MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS, SPORTS AND GROUPS 2016 WISCONSIN DELLS FESTIVALS, INC. The WDVCB Sales Department promotes the destination to event professionals in the meetings & conventions, sports and leisure group segments to generate overnight group stays and have a positive impact on the economic growth of the community. Across all three segments, the WDVCB was represented at 14 tradeshows/conferences and 17 state-wide/regional industry meetings or events. The sales team logged more than 7,000 miles by car and 8 air trips that included 30 flights in The sales efforts include attending events, soliciting prospective clients and providing services to existing clients. MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS In 2016, the WDVCB attended eight conferences for meeting planners. Two of the events, IMEX- America and Connect Marketplace, included sponsorships from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. During the MEET National conference in Washington, DC, the WDVCB held a client event at Escape Room Live. Based on the positive feedback from this event, the sales team is looking for additional opportunities for client outings in There were 74 meeting & convention leads issued in Coffee shop meetups were held in Minneapolis and Chicago. Meeting planners in these markets were invited for coffee to learn more about Wisconsin Dells as a meeting destination. These meetups were paired with pre-planned sales calls in each destination. The 3rd Annual Sales Skills Symposium was held in May. Training topics included Hot Technologies, The Suppliers Tech Toolbox, and Personal Branding for Professional Success. SPORTS In 2016, the WDVCB attended the National Association of Sports Commissions Symposium and S.P.O.R.T.S. The Relationship Conference. For over 30 years, we ve been bringing travelers here to play in a different way at festivals. Research showed these special events are the primary motivation for attendees to visit which, in many cases, translates to another overnight stay in Wisconsin Dells that might not otherwise have happened. AUTOMOTION: MAY 21-22, 2016 FALL FESTIVAL WEEKEND: OCTOBER 14-15, FESTIVALS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jill C. Diehl, President Tommy Bartlett Exploratory Interactive Science Center Jesse DeFosse, Vice President Showboat Saloon Tommy Bartlett Show INCOME: $388,585 Dan Gavinski, Secretary/ Treasurer Original Wisconsin Ducks Mark Whitfield Noah s Ark Waterpark Romy Snyder Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau EXPENSES: $377,802 LEISURE GROUP SALES There were 10 leads issued in the preformed group segment in Additionally, the WDVCB handled 654 requests for more information in this segment. In June 2016, the WDVCB hosted a familiarization trip in conjunction with AAA East Central. There were 44 tour planners and guests in attendance. In 2016, the WDVCB attended American Bus Association Marketplace, Circle Wisconsin Marketplace, Fire Starter Brands Chicago Sales Mission, and Travel Alliance Partners TAP Dance. General $250,346 Automotion $17,960 Taste of the Dells $0 Fall Festival Weekend $101,454 Kilbourn City Live $18,825 General $31,603 Automotion $132,336 Taste of the Dells $15,787 Fall Festival Weekend $162,391 Kilbourn City Live $25,609 Dells Rare Barrel Affair $10,

8 2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2016 COMMITTEES & STAFF 2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS* 2016 COMMITTEES* Accommodation: John Chastan Kalahari Resorts & Conventions 300+ units Joe Eck Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort 300+ units Patti Fichter Chula Vista Resort units Glenn Gajda (Nov-Jul) Gables Motel units Scott Kalcik (Aug-Oct) Meadowbrook Resort units Dana Krueger Sand County Service Company 70 units or less Brad Preissel Black Hawk Motel units Bernadette Starzyk Shamrock Motel 70 units or less Associate/Visitor Services: Jon Bernander, Secretary/Treasurer Bank of Wisconsin Dells ALTERNATE DIRECTORS* Accommodation: Scott Kalcik (Nov-Jul) Meadowbrook Resort Associate/Visitor Services: Dave Schultz First Weber Group Attraction: Beth Anacker Ho-Chunk Gaming Jill C. Diehl, President Tommy Bartlett Exploratory Interactive Science Center Director-at-Large Tommy Bartlett Show Director-at-Large Dan Gavinski, Vice President Dells Boat Tours JJ Gissal Original Wisconsin Ducks Kevin Gruber (Oct) Knuckleheads Trampoline Park Marcus Kemblowski (Nov-Sep) Knuckleheads Trampoline Park Adam Makowski Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park Travis Nelson Kalahari Indoor Theme Park Attraction: Amanda McGowan Dells Boat Tours Campground: Brent Gasser Yogi Bear Camp-Resort & Water Playground Kevin Ricks Ripley s Believe It or Not! Museum Director-at-Large Pete Tollaksen Wisconsin Deer Park Director-at-Large Mark Whitfield Noah s Ark Waterpark Campground: Becky Gussel Sherwood Forest Camping & RV Park Dells River District: Brian Landers Restaurant: Dan Collar Monk s Bar & Grill Mark Schmitz Moosejaw Pizza & Dells Brewing Co. Shopping: Ben Borcher Winnebago Fine Goods & Gift Shop Immediate Past President: Mike Kaminski Chula Vista Resort Restaurant: Patrick Steffes Trappers Turn Golf Club Shopping: Chris Fearing St. Vincent de Paul Society Thrift Store Michelle Zuelke Outlets at The Dells SM Board Nominating: Dan Gavinski, Chair Jon Bernander Jill C. Diehl Executive Committee: Jill C. Diehl, Chair Jon Bernander Dan Gavinski Mike Kaminski Group Committee: Stephanie Gunderson, Chair Don Douglas Kate Hackbarth Jamie Hristov * Term Served - November 2015 to October 2016 CURRENT STAFF Executive Office: Romy Snyder Executive Director Wendy Fischer Executive Assistant Administration: Nichole Kocovsky Director of Administration Dan Bratkowski Facilities Coordinator Tim Gilles Network Systems Manager Amanda Rinaldi Mailroom Manager Nicki Robinson Accounting Manager Burnis Turner Technology & Operations Manager Marketing Committee:, Chair Ben Borcher Dan Collar Wally Czuprynko Jill C. Diehl Joe Eck Patti Fichter Adam Fisk Brent Gasser Dan Gavinski Dana Krueger Nick Laskaris Amy Muller (Nov-Aug) Mark Whitfield Meeting & Convention: Kevin Shanley, Chair Brian Decorah Ann Kerian Shirley Lewandowski Renata Prellwitz Shannon Timmerman Trent Uselmann Accounting Assistant Beverly Wolter Administration Services Coordinator Marketing & Communications: Sarah Hudzinski Director of Marketing & Communications Dominique Madland Communications Coordinator Katelyn Czuprynko Marketing Coordinator Bianca Johnson Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications Sales & Services: Tifani Jones Director of Sales & Services Cindie Baken Visitor Services Representative Sports Committee: Dan Gavinski, Chair Dan Collar Jill C. Diehl Jeff Kaminski Chris Lechnir Kyler Royston Kevin Shanley Tourism Economic Development: Jill C. Diehl, Chair John Chastan Joe Eck Dan Gavinski Brian Landers Adam Makowski Romy Snyder John Webb (The Bureau s Executive Director is a non-voting member on all committees.) Natalja Deduna Sales Manager Rick Erickson Sales & Services Coordinator Felipe Garcia, Jr. Visitor Services Representative Alexandra Harjung Member & Community Relations Manager Phil Hibbard Visitor Services Manager Kyra Popp Sales Manager Bonnie Stratton Visitor Services Representative Wisconsin Dells Festivals, Inc.: Jenifer Dobbs Festivals & Events Manager * Term Served - November 2015 to October

9 16 WISCONSIN DELLS VISITOR & CONVENTION BUREAU 701 Superior Street P.O. Box 390 Wisconsin Dells, WI (608) wisdells.com