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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCH-OCVB minutes 041603Minutes Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board April 16, 2003 The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board met at the Horace Williams House, Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill on April 16, 2003. Board Members Present: Creston Woods Nancy Davis Frances Dancy Bill Crowther Lawrence Walters Kevin Callaghan Sam Hobgood Pat Evans Board Members Absent: Anne Loeb Moses Carey Staff Present: Joe Blake Betty Davis Guests: Dianne Reid Lee Pavao Sandy Roberts CALL TO ORDER Chair Creston Woods called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Mr. Woods opened the board meeting by welcoming Board Members and guests. Ms. Catherine Frank, Director of the Horace Williams House, gave a brief overview and history of the attraction. Ms. Frank announced that immediately following the meeting Board Members and guests could tour the site and she would be available to answer questions. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Woods asked for approval of the minutes of the February 19, 2003, meeting as presented. Mr. Sam Hobgood made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Mr. Kevin Callaghan seconded the motion. With all Board Members in agreement, the motion was carried unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS Budget and Finance In the absence of Mr. Moses Carey, Jr., Mr. Blake reported on the finances of the Visitors Bureau. He reminded the board that occupancy tax receipts reflected on financial report were not the best indicator of occupancy tax performance due to the fact that postings were two months behind due to the collections process. The best indicator was the amount posted on the Gross Receipts form that showed $270,000 had been collected in occupancy taxes through February. It was noted the amount reflected a 2% decrease over prior F-Y-T-D. Mr. Blake gave a brief overview and with no questions from the board the report was accepted by acclimation. Marketing Mr. Lawrence Walters, Marketing Chair, reported that the “Great Summer Getaway” special promotional section was launched recently on the Bureau’s website and the brochures would be delivered to the Bureau on April 21st. Advertisements for the summer promotion were placed in the AAA World magazine, AAA GO magazine and Our State magazine. The Visitors Bureau had partnered for the second year with the Chapel Hill News to produce a newspaper insert during National Tourism Week, May 10-18, to recognize the importance of travel and tourism for Orange County. A trivia contest would be part of the promotion to bring addition exposure prior to the publication release. Mr. Walters announced that the Visitors Bureau monthly electronic newsletter would be released on April 17th. Mr. Walters reported that the 400 copies of the 10th Anniversary Chapel Hill/Orange County 2001 – 2002 Annual Report had been distributed to town and county officials, industry partners, local Chambers of Commerce and other businesses in Orange County. DIRECTOR’S REPORT Mr. Blake reported that he had attended the Governor’s Conference on Tourism earlier in April. Announced at the conference were preliminary statewide outcomes for travel during calendar year 2002. During Governor Easley’s address he said that North Carolina was the sixth most visited state in the country behind California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York. The total domestic expenditures showed an increase of almost 1 percent while the nationwide average showed a decrease of 2 percent. The state’s tourism industry generated a total of more than $2.2 billion in tax revenues with $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenues. Mr. Blake also reported that business travel was down about 6% for 2002. It was estimated that 189,000 jobs were lost due to the decline in travel. Overall, Orange County had fared better than other destinations. When the final numbers become available additional information will be provided to Board Members. Mr. Blake reported that to date this month the Visitors Center has attracted and served 174 visitors to Chapel Hill/Orange County. Mr. Blake reported the North Carolina Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus had entered a partnership with Time Warner Cable to promote travel within the state of North Carolina. Focused around the theme, “Everything is closer in North Carolina” the campaign would include initially a launch of public service announcements and later individual destination spots. A report regarding the chocvb.org online hotel reservations revealed that in the first three months a total of 130 reservations were made generating 217 room nights booked with estimated revenue of $22,000. Mr. Blake reported the “Triangle, A Family of Communities” regional pride campaign organizers recently conducted flag raising events in Orange, Durham and Wake Counties. The Orange County event took place in Chapel Hill at the Top of the Hill Restaurant on March 12th with approximately 20 people in attendance. At noon on the same day, the flag representing the whole Triangle region was raised at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. An additional regional effort the Visitors Bureau had been participating was the Hospitality Work Group for Research Triangle Regional Partnership’s Future Cluster Competitiveness Initiative. The purpose of the project is to bring together representatives from various segments of the Triangle with the objective to make the region more competitive in its efforts to retain and recruit business. Mr. Blake reported that he continued to represent the Visitors Bureau Board as its representative on the Chapel Hill Street Fair Review Committee. To date, there had been one public forum and the next was scheduled for May 13th in the Chapel Hill Council Chamber at 7:00 PM. The group would complete its recommendations prior to the end of May in order to present to the Council prior to the end of the current fiscal year. Mr. Blake noted that the Hospitality Training Bus Tour would be June 4th. OLD BUSINESS Mr. Woods reported that he and Mr. Blake conducted a presentation to the Chapel Hill Town Council Members and the Mayor during a budget work session on March 5th. An overview of the Visitors Bureau’s plan of work and a status report of the area’s tourism industry were included. In addition to the verbal request Mr. Woods made to the Council during the presentation, Town staff requested that the Visitors Bureau submit in writing to the Mayor a request for 15% of the total occupancy tax collected by the Town of Chapel Hill. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Woods led a discussion on the OWASA Water Conversation Ordinance. After discussion by Board Members it was determined that the Lodging Association was not opposed to the program but was opposed to the regulation. A deadline on the adoption of the OWASA ordinance is not known at this time. Mr. Woods appointed a nominations committee for seats on the Board for the upcoming year. The nominations committee would include Chair Moses Carey, Nancy Davis and Kevin Callaghan. National Tourism Week was to be celebrated the week of May 10th thru 18th. Mr. Woods presented to the Chapel Hill/Orange County Board Members a Proclamation recognizing May 10th thru 18th National Tourism Week. Ms. Pat Evans made a motion to adopt the proclamation. Mr. Bill Crowther seconded the motion. With all Board Members in agreement the proclamation was adopted. Mr. Woods asked the Board Members if they would make a formal show of support for the funding of the Visitors Bureau at the requested level. Mr. Crowther made a motion that the Board support the funding levels requested from the occupancy tax proceeds. Mr. Sam Hobgood seconded the motion. With all Board Members in agreement the motion was passed. Other Matters of the Board and Announcements Mr. Blake expressed his personal appreciation to all Board Members for serving on the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board. Mr. Blake then extended to the Board Members appreciation for their volunteer service to this advisory board on behalf of the Orange County Board of Commissioners. The proclamation celebrating volunteers’ contributions was read and a tote bag with the Orange County logo was presented to all Board Members present. No other matters or announcements were presented to the Board for consideration. ADJOURNMENT With all business of the Board completed, Mr. Bill Crowther made the motion to adjourn the meeting with a second to the motion by Ms. Frances Dancy. With all Board Members in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 9:12 a.m. ________________________________ _________________________________ Minutes Drafted by: Minutes Accepted by: Joseph Blake, Executive Director Creston Woods, Chairman _______________________ _________ _________________________________ Date Date