THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF VERNON

Transcription

1 THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF VERNON MINUTES OF TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015 OKANAGAN LAKE ROOM PRESENT: VOTING: Ed Buie, Journey Inn, Chair Claus Larsen, RPB Hotels & Resorts (Best Western), Vice Chair Jay Bolbrugge, Tiki Village Jacqueline Birk, Silver Star Resort Kevin O Brien, Kalavida Surf Shop Lara Konkin, Downtown Vernon Association Ingrid Baron, Vernon Farmers Market Aaron Deans, Allan Brooks Nature Centre NON VOTING: Councillor Lord ABSENT: STAFF: Roseanne Van Ee, Member at Large Dan Rogers, Chamber of Commerce Terry Yacyshen, The Rise Kevin Poole, Manager, Economic Development & Tourism Angeline Chew, Manager, Tourism Sherri Biluk, A/Committee Clerk ORDER ADOPTION OF AGENDA The Chair called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. Moved by Claus Larsen, seconded by Jay Bolbrugge: THAT the agenda for Wednesday, March 18, 2015 Tourism Advisory Committee meeting be adopted. CARRIED. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Moved by Jacqueline Birk, seconded by Claus Larsen: THAT the minutes of the Tourism Advisory Committee meeting held Wednesday, February 18, 2015 be adopted. CARRIED. 1

2 KALAMALK CLASSIC PRESENTATION - Kevin O Brien of the Kalavida Surf Shop presented details of the upcoming Kalamalka Classic Stand Up Paddleboard event on September 5 and 6, The following points were noted: The event continues to grow each year and is growing across Canada and becoming more competitive. It is expected that up to 60% of the total out of town participants will stay overnight. The Kalamalka Classic has become the largest Standup Paddleboard event in Canada. Kalavida Surf Shop has been asked to host the first official Canadian Championships by the Canadian Surfing Association with athletes having the ability to qualify for the World Championships. The reigning World Champion (Lina Augaitis) and her husband have decided to relocate to Vernon. Lina will be working with Kalavida to assist with the development of their programs for both youth and adults. A Sanction Fee is required in order to obtain the rights to hosting the event and the prize money, for the top male and top female paddlers, is intended to be an incentive to attract athletes from outside the province. There will be a registration fee of $95.00 for the entire weekend and will include dinner with the focus of youth this year. There will be a Tourism Vernon booth at the event. COOPERATIVE MARKETING FUNDS APPLICATION The application from Kevin O Brien, Kalavida Surf Shop has requested $6, from the Cooperative Marketing Funds Matching Dollars Grant fund to assist with promotional materials, a sanction fee and prize money. Kevin left the meeting due to his conflict of interest in approving the grant. It was agreed that the event will be a valuable opportunity for Vernon and is hoped that it will continue to grow in size in the future and bring visitors to Vernon. Unfortunately, the grant money cannot be provided for the sanctioning fee or the prize money, therefore the amount requested was reduced by $3,500.00, from the requested $6,550 to $4, As per the current Cooperative Marketing Policy and Guidelines funding requests of $5, or less can be approved by the Manager, Tourism Services. 2

3 Moved by Ingrid Baron, seconded by Claus Larsen; THAT the Tourism Advisory Committee approve a Cooperative Marketing Funds Matching Dollars Grant to Kalavida Surf Shop in the amount of $4, for promotion of the Kalamalka Classic Standup Paddleboard Festival to be held on September 4, 5, and 6, 2015, contingent upon the use of the Vernon Visitor s Guide, as well as other Vernon Tourism promotional material, and that a link to Vernon Tourism s accommodation page be added to Kalavida Surf Shops internet site landing page. CARRIED, by weighted vote. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: TASTE OF VERNON EVENT WITH DOWNTOWN VERNON ASSOCIATION Originally, the Taste of Vernon event was going to pair with Lake Country in their Scenic Sip event, which is usually held at the six wineries partnering with restaurants to provide wine and food tasting pairings. Tourism Vernon approached the Downtown Vernon Association (DVA) about creating a similar event, pairing Vernon spirit producers with downtown restaurants on the next day to leverage the Taste of Lake Country with the hopes of creating an overnight stay between events. The DVA decided, based on the effort to create an event in short time window would not be best, and would work towards creating a larger event later in the year. Action Item: Table until later in the year. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE VISITOR INFO CENTRE UPDATE The Tourism Manager provided the following information on the Expression of Interest for available rental space at the Visitors Information Centre (VIC): One Expression of Interest was received from the Food Action Group. Unfortunately the Group has no funding in place at this time to move forward. There were some concerns around the improvements that would need to be undertaken for the vacant space at the VIC. There has been some interest in the space for supply storage, but this has not been ruled out at this time. Staff will come back to the next meeting with the next step, whether it be to advertise or not. 3

4 2015 TOTA SUMMIT HOST HOTEL Action Item: Bring back to next meeting (April 15, 2015). A decision on who will host the TOTA Summit for 2015 has not been announced yet. It is expected that there will be a decision made by TOTA this week. Action Item: Bring back to next meeting (April 15, 2015). 2 ND OKANAGAN MILITARY TATTOO FUNDING SMALL ACCOMMODATORS & TRACKING PILOT UPDATE WORKSHOP SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATES The Tourism Manager provided a follow-up on the Cooperative Marketing Funds Matching Dollars grant to the 2 nd Okanagan Military Tattoo. The Tourism Manager will be creating an industry newsletter expected to be ready by June NEW BUINESS: Events Sub-committee Ingrid and Aaron Q: What is happening with the temporary event signage bylaw? Events are starting to happen and there is no legal way to put up temporary signage. A: Event signage is on the list for planning to review the sign bylaw. There has been a request for a bylaw for a number of years and needs to be addressed. Marketing Action Team Terry The Marketing Action Team met to discuss proposals for the spring campaign where there was more information and adjustments required. Visitor Centre Upgrading Kevin, Claus, and Ingrid The group met with the VIC contractor to discuss recommendations and costings for the upgrades. A report will be brought to the committee. CTV SUMMER HEALTHY LIVING PROMOTION WITH SPARKLING HILL RESORT, PREDATOR RIDGE, AIR CANADA, Vernon Tourism has been offered the opportunity to participate in a CTV Summer Healthy Living promotion on June 25 th and 26 th, 2015, with partners Sparkling Hill Resort, Predator Ridge Golf Course, Air Canada and 50 th Parallel Estates Winery. 4

5 AND 50 TH PARALLEL ESTATES The promotion is an opportunity for Vernon to get television exposure in Vancouver. The cost for Vernon to participate in the promotion was $10, with the total in gift, in-kind and dollars coming to $85, CTV will be bringing their morning show to Vernon for the promotion. ACCOMMODATION TRACKING Vernon Accommodation Tracking still needs participation from accommodators. The Tourism Manager will be reaching out to the small accommodators. The data collection form is being worked on as some of the data entry fields are not working as they should. The Tourism Manager will confirm a date for June and put information out for SAVE THE DATE in the next industry newsletter for the end of March. INFORMATION ITEMS: CTV WINTER WELLNESS GETAWAY WITH SPARKLING HILL RESORT This promotion was on air with CTV Vancouver for six weeks with an interview on CTV Live with Marke Driesschen, a 15 second commercial, editorial support on news broadcasts, contest landing page on CTV and social media support generated 2,400 entrants. Tourism Vernon contesting programs in 2014 generated 300 entrants. The entrants will be added to Tourism Vernon visitor database. JANUARY ACCOMMODATION TRACKING VISITOR INFO CENTRE STATISTICS MUNICIPAL & REGIONIONAL DISTRICT TAX UPDATE MEDIA UPDATES: ALEXANDRA GILL FIRST WEEK OF MAY Statistics provided for the Committee s Information. The VIC statistics were reviewed by the committee. The spreadsheet provided in the agenda package details how many visitors attended the Visitor s Centre, per month. There was a strong showing of growth and an overall increase of 22% in 2014 bringing the amount of hotel tax collected to $535, which equates to $26 million dollars in advertising opportunities and does not include visitors spending for food, beverage and shopping. The Tourism Manager has been tracking media who come to Vernon with twenty-three coming to Vernon this year in order to get the full impact of media relationships. 5

6 STEPHANIE FLORIAN APRIL - FAMILY TRAVEL MARCH 27 TOUR OPERATOR FAM MEMBERSHIP EXPIRING TERMS On March 27 th, Vernon Tourism has been invited to lunch at Silver Star Resort to meet and greet tour operators from China, Japan and Korea in an effort to get them to spend some time in Vernon. Also invited to the luncheon are Davison Orchards, Planet Bee, Predator Ridge and the Downtown Vernon Association. The deadline to re-apply for a volunteer position on the committee is March 20, 2015 by 4:30 pm. Most current members have submitted renewal applications. A report will go to Council on April 13 th, 2015 for their direction. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING ADJOURNMENT The next meeting of the Tourism Advisory Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15 at 8:00 a.m. in the Okanagan Lake Room. The Tourism Advisory Committee meeting adjourned at 9:02 a.m. CERTIFIED CORRECT: Chair 6