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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCH-OCVB minutes 111809Minutes Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board November 18, 2009 The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitor’s Bureau Board met at The North Carolina Botanical Garden Education Center 100 Old Mason Farm Rd. Chapel Hill Board Members Present: Jim Ward, Rick Strunk, Frances Dancy, Bob Ward, Linda Convissor, Dave Gephart, Dwight Bassett, Jim Norton, Anthony Carey, Greg Overbeck Members Absent: Creston Woods, Barry Jacobs, Jon Wilner, Lee Pavao, Jim Parker and James Harris Staff Present: Laurie Paolicelli, Brad Broadwell, Linda Ekeland, Patty Griffin and Tina Fuller Guests: Roger Stancil, Chapel Hill Town Manager, Michael Donaldson, the Franklin Hotel and Doug Stafford, Stafford Griffin Developers. CALL TO ORDER Bob Ward, Chairing for Creston Woods, called the meeting to order at 8:15 am. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Bob Ward requested a motion to approve the October 21, 2009 minutes. Dave Gephart so moved as submitted with Frances Dancy seconding. With all members in favor, the minutes were approved. WELCOME Bob Ward welcomed Chapel Hill Town Manager, Roger Stancil and new board member Anthony Carey whom is representing Orange County Lodging Association to the meeting. Ward gave the floor to Executive Director, Laurie Paolcielli for a special presentation. Paolicelli acknowledged Michael Donaldson with a proclamation. Donaldson recently resigned as General Manager from the Franklin Hotel to accept employment in his home state of Alabama. Next, Bob Ward thanked Jim Ward for hosting the board meeting and requested Jim to give an overview of the new Botanical Garden Education Center facility. Jim Ward stated that the new facility is 30,000 sq ft., 5000 more than the Totten Center and when completed will cost $12 - $14 million to build. He explained that all $12 million dollars raised so far came from private funding and that they are still accepting donations. Jim Ward informed that they are not completely moved in yet; the air still needs flushed out for air quality due to construction debris. He also noted that the center has rentable space, a kitchen and auditorium is available. He encouraged board members to take a thirty-minute tour with him, post meeting. GUEST SPEAKER Bob Ward welcomed guest speaker Doug Stafford of Stafford Griffin Developers out of Charlotte, NC. Ward gave a brief bio on Stafford then gave him the floor for an overview of the impact of the 08-09 Recession on the US lodging industry. Mr. Stafford reported that North Carolina faired average with regard to the impact that the 08-09 recession had on the lodging industry in the US overall. Stafford reported that Year-to-Date through September 2009, US lodging was up 3.2% in Supply, however Demand was down 7.4%, Occupancy down 10.3%, ADR (average daily rate) down by 9.0%, RevPar (revenue per available room) was down by 18.3% and overall Room Revenues down 15.7%. He reported that historically, this is the worst recession ever. Stafford reported that had the economy stayed as it was, average daily rate would be at $107.21 rather than the actual $93.16, which parallels to 2004. Stafford continued stating that room supply was in the negative in 2005 mainly due to the closing of hotels and/or conversions to condos. He reported that lower room rates are forecasted for 2010. Currently, DC is fairing best mainly due to stimulus dollar spending in that area and NY has the worst room rate percentage change at a negative 24.7%. In the active pipeline, construction is down by 37.8 % and final planning is down by 32.6% For lodging industry projections, Stafford reported occupancy to be at –8.4% by years end and reaching –0.6% in 2010; ADR at –9.7% years end reaching +3.4% in 2010. He also reported a projection of 55% stabilization in the market in 2010 with Supply at 1.8%, Demand at 1.3% and RevPar up to –4.0% with slow recovery beginning 2011. Following Stafford’s presentation, the board engaged in Q&A dialog: Conversation ensured about the feasibility of: Developing weekend packages Luxury hotels will recover first and economy hotels last Recommendation is to not slash prices and marketing but to be patient (if possible) Industry should be ‘business as usual’ in about 5 years Paolicelli added that with a 26% growth in supply (new hotels in Durham) and a new hotel coming at East 54 in Chapel Hill in 2010, the Chapel Hill/Orange County market is seeing erosion in tourism. Less demand due to economic factors or more supply coming on board. The board agreed that now is not the time to cut marketing. The economy will recover and studies show that those who maintain a presence in markets that show proven and potential sources of business, are quicker to recover. Paolicelli reviewed current marketing plans which include advertising through the state and in Virginia; a new Chapel Hill Food Lovers Guide that will serve as a platform on which to build food tours, and marketing to conference planners. REPORTS Budget & Finance Finance Chair Bob Ward reported that the occupancy report trends reflect what Doug Stafford just presented and hopefully October receipts will at least compare to last years. Ward also reported that YTD revenue overall is lagging and the postage account is nearly maxed. Paolicelli commented that she feels the Visitor Bureau is covering all bases; cultural, social, sales, rates, etc. and she would look more closely at the budget in February. She also explained that because of the increased advertising, inquiries for information were up substantially, and visitors wanted a printed piece rather than on-line information. Thus, the Bureau was sending out thousands of pieces of information to potential visitors. Marketing Report Marketing Chair, Rick Strunk, reported that we continue to maintain presence within the driving circumference (200 mile radius with emphasis on Charlotte); and the holiday ads are in full swing. Strunk also presented a coupon book designed for the upcoming NCHSAA playoffs. The coupon book was produced in cooperation with the Visitors Bureau and North Carolina High school Athletics and included discounts at traditional family restaurants. Football will begin the second week in December. He noted that UNC Basketball would also be playing that same Saturday. The printed holiday flyers will be displayed in the visitor center and is also linked on the web. Gephart suggested putting our collateral materials Durham hotels. Executive Directors Report Laurie Paolicelli stated she felt we are maintaining a strong tourism marketing presence, appealing to new audiences, publishing relevant materials, supporting or building events and servicing visitors to our county. Patty Griffin is doing substantial work with national publications, trying to use “free” story generation to tell our story. Linda Ekeland’s leads are up and thanks to Linda Convissor; a good relationship has been built with UNC Department Heads. She also reported that she is working with all of Hillsborough—and Frances Dancy—to add a new 3% occupancy tax during the next legislative session. If passed, the 3% could bring in approximately $60,000 for Hillsborough and possibly be used for event fees. Frances Dancy commented that she would like Laurie to speak on the guidelines and how the funds could be used. Laurie commented that she, and Chair Creston Woods, would like to be involved with those discussions. Paolicelli continued, reporting that $5000 was being used by the Visitors Bureau to conduct a research study to determine the efficacy of a genealogical repository and Heritage Center in Hillsborough. RFP’s were sent out and should be back in November. In conclusion, she informed board members of the upcoming Food Lover’s Guide unveiling at A Southern Season, which would be held on December 6th form 6-9 PM. She asked all board members to attend. She gave the floor to Greg Overbeck for an update on current restaurant trends. Overbeck reported that business is similar to the hotel industry, slight increase from 2008. Chapel Hill restaurants are fairing better than the one in Raleigh. Overbeck reported that there was an overall decrease in North Carolina and the Triangle area restaurant revenue with lunch down by 20-50% and dinner down by 8-12%. He also informed that fuel price affected food costs by that faded quickly. Overbeck stated football games and wins benefit local restaurants. Game start times are imperative to business with 2:30 pm being ideal. Thursday’s game was unexpectedly beneficial and upped weekend business. SALES REPORT Sales Director Linda Ekeland reported that she and Laurie met with the Hyland Group—the Bureau’s Washington DC sales arm—along with hotel general managers and sales directors. Several issues were addressed during this meeting. Ekeland reported that the Chicago representative for Hyland Group., Tracy Stine, was in attendance and wanted to update Orange County on the state of the industry and determine how she could better help. Hyland Group—Pete Hyland—explained that they have been the one sending most of the prospects, which were for meetings of 400-600 people. Ekeland stated she took her on a site tour and now has a better understanding that our venues in Chapel Hill can handle 200-300 people. As a result, we changed our criteria for leads. Ekeland reported that they plan to have the UNC Blitz again, around March Madness. Ekeland defined Blitz as a forum in which local hoteliers updated key UNC decision makers on changing hotel venues, food and beverage and the ease in which they can help keep meetings in Orange County. She also informed that she plans to have another familiarization tour (FAM) to Chapel Hill for decision makers with state corporations and associations in September 2010 and would include the new Aloft hotel and East 54. She is now at work on the Association Executives of North Carolina (AENC) trade show in December 2009 in Raleigh; and event where backyard industry representatives collectively (hotels and VB) would represent Chapel Hill. NEW BUSINESS No new business OLD BUSINESS Rick Strunk updated board members on the separation of NCHSAA and UNC. He informed that they would stay in Chapel Hill, be a private non-profit and fall under the Orange County Schools to keep state employee eligibility. Strunk, Marketing Director for the Bureau’s Board, asked that the minutes reflect what a stellar job the visitor’s bureau staff does. He commented that all staff “make the board look good” and take good care of the industry by marketing, selling, servicing and enhancing product development in Orange County. The full board echoed his sentiment. ADJOURNMENT With no other business to discuss, Bob Ward adjourned the meeting at 9:30 a.m. _______________________________ _____________________________ ____ Minutes Drafted by: Minutes Accepted by: Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director Creston Woods, Chair ________________________________ _________________________________ Date Date