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ANNUAL BUSINESS uffalo is in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime spread the word about the city’s rebirth in nearly transformation. Signs of the city’s rebirth 100 different publications, including Conde Nast Band revitalization are everywhere, from Traveler, CNN.com, the Chicago Tribune and the new investment on our waterfront to our restored New York Daily News. collection of world-renowned architecture, thriving VBN also focused on building stronger relationships arts scene and boom in new hotels. Entrepreneurs with its industry partners to accommodate this are taking Buffalo’s older, industrial buildings and renewed interest in Buffalo as a visitor destination. transforming them into some of the city’s hottest Nearly 100 frontline staff and volunteersat local restaurants, breweries, distilleries and event spaces. attractions, hotels and restaurants eagerly attended The energy and enthusiasm created from Buffalo VBN’s new Arrival to Departure Destination training summoning its collective will is palpable, and visitors program, equipping them with an arsenal of Buffalo are taking notice. information to wow our influx of visitors. And arecord This resurgence is setting 300 partners attended VBN’s new records for Buffalo’s Buffalo is in the midst quarterly industry meetings to hotel industry, which stay apprised of new tourism garnered $239 million in of a once-in-a-lifetime trends and developments. revenues and an average transformation. Buffalo and Erie County’s daily rate of $103. And it tourism industry is united in a propelled VBN’s sales team to its best year ever of shared strategy to welcome more visitors here. securing future meetings, conventions and sporting Add to that continued progress in working with events, worth more than $164 million in economic group tour operators to drive more international impact and generating more than 161,000 future visitors here, and last year was one of the best and hotel room nights. A record number of unique most productive for VBN in its 30-year history. website visitors – over 1 million – tuned into more And with a series of additional hotel and attraction than 200 blogs published on visitbuffaloniagara. openings, expansions and other new developments com. And the exuberance of Visit Buffalo Niagara’s in the pipeline, Buffalo’s renaissance – and VBN’s 118,000 social media followers helped Buffalo efforts to promote it – will only pick up more become “America’s Favorite City” as voted on by the momentum in the year to come. readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. Very truly yours, A near-record number of visiting travel writers also helped build the buzz about Buffalo by experiencing our resurgence first-hand through kayaking through Elevator Alley, riding the Queen City Bike Ferry, PATRICK J. KALER feasting at our food trucks and enjoying other President and CEO activities that visitors would have only dreamed Visit Buffalo Niagara of just a few short years ago. These writers helped JUST THE FACTS: 2016 AT A GLANCE As Buffalo’s once-in-a-lifetime transformation continued to pick up steam in 2016, Visit Buffalo Niagara made great strides in promoting our resurgent destination to out-of-town visitors. Record breaking The number of unique visitors to visitbuffaloniagara.com hit an all-time high, while our figures are in social media pages collectively added thousands of followers. VBN’s media relations team had red one of its strongest years ever of pitching and facilitating stories about Buffalo in out-of-town newspapers and blogs. And VBN’s sales team and the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission continued to play an integral role in Buffalo’s renaissance by booking and servicing a record number of meetings, 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW conventions and athletic events.

VBN CONVENTION, SPORTS & GROUP TOUR SALES $164 million 538 871 161,680 Future economic Conventions, meetings, sales leads Hotel room impact amateur athletic events or nights booked group tours booked

BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER 284,293 People attended 144 265 30,500 events at the Events Days the Center Hotel room nights utilized due 3 Convention Center hosted was occupied to events at the Center

BUFFALO NIAGARA SPORTS COMMISSION VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

114,939 104,602 Amateur194 sporting Attendance Hotel room nights events serviced in 2016

VBN MARKETING 96 1,028,666 1,413,752 $ Out-of-town Unique visits to YouTube views 3.2 media the website million placements Media value of out-of-town media coverage 76,544 21,654 20,235 Facebook followers Twitter followers Instagram followers CHEERS Oh, Canada! TO BEER! Visit Buffalo Niagara, working in collaboration Thanks to a New York State with the Niagara Tourism & Convention grant, we launched a campaign Corporation and with support from Brand to market Buffalo as a craft USA and a grant from New York State, beer destination. We developed has continued the implementation of an a Buffalo Beer Passportin integrated marketing campaign in southern collaboration with the Buffalo Ontario. The campaign features e-newsletter Niagara Brewers Association and distribution to 30,000 subscribers, the secured the participation production of our annual Buffalo Niagara of twenty WNY breweries. Shopping Guide, digital banner advertising, A total of 5,000 passports were paid search and advertising in newspapers, distributed to visitors through billboards, TV and out of home. As of our website, in our visitor December 31st, the digital portion of the center and at participating 2016-17 campaign has yielded 66,000 website breweries. Remaining marketing visitors and 16 million impressions. The campaign concluded in February dollars were spent on print and and a conversion study will be digital advertising in regional available by April 2017. markets such as Erie, Pittsburgh, Visit Buffalo Niagara began a Rochester, and new relationship with Field Day, Hamilton, Ontario. a company that specializes in 4 reaching the cultural market in southern Ontario. We produced a multi-panel direct mail piece sent to 50,000 households that educated the cultural consumer in southern Ontario about the value of our cultural attractions compared to their counterparts in Ontario. We also collected more than 1,200 entries to our “Win A Trip to Buffalo” contest.

BUFFALO Hot Off The Press RUNNER’S MAP Two new pieces of collateral have been added to our supply of visitor information tools. VBN created a Runner’s Map for Buffalo’s most active visitors that offers four different routes throughout downtown. We also developed a Winter Guide to celebrate our off season and give visitors ways to embrace the cold and snow like a true Buffalonian.

DREW BROWN A Digitally Savvy Destination Visit Buffalo Niagara continued its digital marketing efforts with guidance and execution from our digital agency, eBrains. Our 2016 tactics included e-newsletter distribution to 95,000 domestic subscribers, display advertising, lead generation and Facebook advertising. 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW This campaign has yielded 18,000 website visitors, 5,000,000 impressions and 12,000 new email leads to our ever-growing database.

A conversion study will be available in mid-April.

CHOOSING TO #TRAVELBUF New Markets User-generated photos played a larger role than ever in Visit Buffalo Niagara’s marketing strategy in 2016. Take Flight VBN launched the hashtag #travelBUF (named after JetBlue opened the Buffalo Niagara region to the the city’s airport code) in the spring, encouraging its West Coast in June when it launched a direct flight followers and fans to share beautiful photos of Buffalo from Los Angeles to the Buffalo Niagara International and Erie County. Those fans then shared more than Airport. VBN partnered with the Niagara Tourism and 15,000 #travelBUF photos on their channels by the Convention Corporation to make the inaugural flight end of the year, the most user-generated submissions 5 to Buffalo extra special, complete with complimentary a VBN campaign has ever received. VBN then Buffalo wings, Maid of the Mist ponchos and more. re-purposed some of those photos on its own social VBN and the NTCC also jointly hosted several West media channels, in its touring guide and in the Greetings Coast travel writers who took the inaugural flight here From Buffalo: The Best of #TravelBUF 2016 video. Our fans VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM and wrote about their weekend in Buffalo for LA Travel and followers enhance and amplify the story of Buffalo’s Magazine and other outlets. rebirth through the #travelBUF hashtag.

VISITORS FROM ACROSS THE POND VBN continued to reap benefits region in the summer and fall from the meetings it held in of 2016 on press trips hosted in London, England in October of partnership with the Niagara 2015 with 50 group sales agents Tourism and Convention and a dozen media in conjunction Corporation. In addition, with the game there. the trip resulted in five UK Two travel writers, Laura Millar tour operators representing (with assignments in The Sun hundreds of travel agencies and The Daily Express) and Mary deciding to sell ten different Moore Mason (editor of Essentially itineraries that included Buffalo. America Magazine) explored the Writer Laura Millar with Director of Marketing Karen Fashana and CEO Patrick Kaler READ ALL ABOUT IT Stories about Buffalo’s architectural restorations, waterfront redevelopment, craft beer boom and culinary renaissance spread across the country in 2016 thanks to an aggressive media relations strategy organized by Visit Buffalo Niagara. VBN helped facilitate 96 stories about Buffalo in out-of-town publications, television shows and websites like the New York Daily News, Conde Nast Traveler, USA Today, Globe Trekker, Travel + Leisure, the Chicago Tribune, Monocle, the Toronto Star and Frommers.com. Many of the stories sprang from leads generated by VBN’s media relations team through desk side visits in New York City and media marketplaces in Toronto, Sydney (Nova Scotia) and Raleigh as well as a road trip to meet with editors in Erie, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. These stories were collectively worth $3.2 million in ad equivalency value, the amount of money it would have cost to secure equivalant advertising space in those publications.

6 On The Cutting Edge Visit Buffalo Niagara Telling Buffalo’s Story branched into some of the Visit Buffalo Niagara continued to excel at latest social media tools telling the rebirth of Buffalo on its blog in 2016, available in 2016, including producing over 200 stories (nearly double the Facebook Live and Snapchat. total in 2015) about the city’s architecture, VBN communications waterfront redevelopment, events, food and manager Brian Hayden (with overall renaissance. These stories, produced by marketing manager Drew Brown as cameraman) hosted staff and a team of contributing writers, are then a series of Facebook videos called “Buffalo Live” that shared on Visit Buffalo Niagara’s social media highlighted quirky and unusual attractions around town, channels and drive a significant percentage of including sponge candy making, last-minute Christmas traffic to our website. finds at Vidler’s 5 & 10 and water biking on the Buffalo River. The series of nine videos received over 150,000 views on Facebook.

VBN also added Snapchat to its social media arsenal churning out Buffalo content on a daily basis, using the channel to appeal to a younger demographic. In total, VBN’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat) had an audience of over 118,000 followers tuned in to Buffalo visitor content in 2016,an increase of 20,000 followers from the year before. SHOWING OFF BUFFALO Visit Buffalo Niagarahosted 23 out-of-town meeting planners and group tour operators in July who had the potential to bring future conventions, meetings

and group tours to Buffalo. 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW The group participated in a multi- day familiarization tour that included stops at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Complex, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Niagara Falls. VIP access to a Canalside concert and a Buffalo Pedal Tours ride to showcase Buffalo’s burgeoning brewery scene rounded out the itinerary. The attendees also participated in an “Amazing Race” style competition around Buffalo where they found clues to get to each next stop – either a meeting facility, attraction or local restaurant – acquainting themselves with the city in the process. Opportunities such as these help make the right impression and are critical for ensuring future success in generating sales activity.

Gaining Global Visitors A SNOWY The Buffalo Niagara region’s appeal to international group tour MILESTONE 7 operators and receptive operators continues to grow. Last year, Visit The American Association of Airport Executives’ Buffalo Niagara attracted tours from as far away as Australia, China, Annual Snow Symposium celebrated its 30th the United Kingdom, South America and Germany. VBN continued to anniversary of coming to Buffalo in 2016.

develop relationships with some of the largest global travel brokers The exhibition hall at the Buffalo Niagara VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM and enhanced the product available by attending a U.K./ Ireland Convention Center was filled in April with sales blitz and other trade shows in New York City and Canada that gigantic, state-of-the-art snow removal were internationally focused. These relationships will help VBN machines, as well as a variety of other snow achieve its goal of gaining more of the market share in Europe and removal equipment, services and vendors. Asia. The Buffalo Niagara region is ranked one of the top 25 inbound Focused exclusively on airfield snow removal destinations for international travelers in the United States. and winter operations, the symposium provides new educational programs and a variety of ideas about winter operations to airport executives from around the world. VBN staff has been thrilled to assist with this event over the years to ensure its continued future success in Buffalo. A Record Setting Year Buffalo’s hotel industry had one its strongest years ever, according to key indicators compiled by Smith Travel MONTHLY OCCUPANCY PERCENTAGE, 2016 Research. The average daily rate of $102.74 and the total 90% revenue at hotels countywide ($239,710,239) both set 84.2 79.2 all-time records. 80% 74.4 73.9 71.7 SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH 70% 68.5 73.1 66.4 70.2 68.6 ERIE COUNTY HOTEL REPORT 61.7 68.8 68.1 67.0 68.2 60.7 OCCUPANCY AVERAGE HOTEL 60% 51.3 57.2 52.9 RATE REVENUES 54.0 52.2 2016 61.7% $102.74 $239,710,239 50% 45.6 46.9 2015 62.2% $101.23 $235,913,402 41.0 40% 2014 64.1% $99.56 $228,301,134 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2013 65.4% $101.23 $235,913,402 ERIE COUNTY NATIONAL AVERAGE Raising Awareness Visit Buffalo Niagara was a leading participant in The Erie County the inaugural Global Meetings Industry Day in April, Legislature a worldwide effort to raise awareness of the importance also recognized of meetings and conventions to the economy. Patrick Kaler VBN partnered with Erie County Executive Mark and Michael Poloncarz and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to sign GMID Even for CEO Patrick Kaler, County Executive 8 proclamations, coordinated with local tourism partners VBN’s efforts Mark Poloncarz and VP of Sales Mike Even on a social media campaign and worked to have in bringing meetings and conventions to town that Niagara Falls and several buildings in downtown generate significant revenue for the local economy. Buffalo illuminated blue in recognition of the day.

TOP MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS IN BUFFALO Below are major conventions and events that came to Buffalo in 2016, in order of the most significant economic impact. ESTIMATED ROOM NAME ECONOMIC IMPACT DATE NIGHTS ATTENDEES

New York State Board of Law Examiners $3.9 million July 24 6,200 3,000 NYS School Boards Association $2.8 million October 25 3,300 3,000 The Wesleyan Church $2.3 million June 4 3,306 1,525 Empire Baptist Missionary Convention of NYS $2.1 million August 6 1,384 1,500 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority $2.2 million April 6 1,952 1,300 American Association of Airport Executives $1.8 million April 22 2,821 600 Church of God and Saints of Christ $1.5 million April 9 1,435 900 National Association of State Alcohol $1.1 million September 11 1,900 6500 and Drug Abuse Directors Multiple District 20 Lions Club of NYS and Bermuda $900,000 May 11 1,000 800 Knights of St. John International $800,000 July 17 1,035 350 International Association of Workforce Professionals $800,000 June 24 915 350 Delaware North $700,000 November 5 810 500 Western New York Cloggers Association $600,000 April 14 834 520 A Home Run for Buffalo Buffalo welcomed more than 130 softball teams to the region for the 2016 NSA Girls Fast Pitch World Series. Teams traveled from all over the country including as far as Indiana, Florida, 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW Pennsylvania and Ohio, generating an estimated $3 million in economic impact. The event (held for the first time in the Northeast) was a huge success for the towns of Amherst and West Director of Sports Sales Chuck Giglia (far left) and Sport Services & Seneca, with nearby hotels, restaurants and Sales Manager Ally Pawarski (far right) look on at the start of the 2016 NSA Girls Fast Pitch World Series in Amherst. retailers feeling the impact of these visiting teams and fans. Hosting the NSA World Series was a big win for the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission after five years of bidding on the event with the host organizations (the towns of Amherst and West Seneca, and the Amherst Girls Softball League and West Seneca Girls Softball Association).

BUFFALO BECOMES HOCKEY HEAVEN 9 The Combine and NHL Draft were two of the most

anticipated VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM Buffalo sporting events of 2016. The construction GIVING BACK of the state-of- Visit Buffalo Niagara staff made sure to go above the-art HarborCenter and beyond in 2016 by giving back to the community complex in 2014 created an opportunity for the NHL they work to promote every day. Staff assembled to move the Combine and Draft to Buffalo. Working in a bowling team for a Danceability fundraiser that collaboration with the and the NHL, the benefits children with special needs, participated Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission provided visitor in the United Way Day of Caring by completing information to teams, media and prospects, partnered yardwork at the Boys & Girls Club on the city’s West with the Buffalo News to create a visitor’s guide specific Side, and sold newspapers on The Buffalo News Kids to the NHL Draft and developed a map of downtown Day to benefit Women’s and Children’s Hospital and restaurants and hotels. The NHL Combine brought Cradle Beach Camp. Staff also raised hundreds of in an estimated 2,000 room nights and $1.9 million dollars through jeans day collections for the Buffalo in economic impact and the NHL Draft brought in Christmas Wishes program that provides gifts to approximately 11,000 room nights and over $9 million needy children and families. in economic impact. INFORMING OUR Training Our Partners COMMUNITY Visit Buffalo Niagara launched the Ambassador Academy in 2016, Visit Buffalo Niagara continued providing experiential educational opportunities to frontline staff at to ramp up communications to its Buffalo hotels, attractions and restaurants. More than 300 tourism industry partners and other community partners attended VBN’s quarterly industry meetings at spots around stakeholders in 2016, providing them Erie County in 2016 to learn more about our efforts and the industry. with information on trends in the tourism VBN also started the Buffalo Niagara Arrival to Departure Destination industry and goings-on in Buffalo. Training, a combination online/in person certificate program for WEEKLY: BUFFALO NIAGARA THIS WEEK frontline staff to discover more about Erie County, the history of 500 subscribers. Snapshot of the top Buffalo, and tips and techniques for providing exemplary customer events in Buffalo each week. service. To date, 100 volunteers and front line staff have completed the course with many more in varying stages at the start of 2017. And MONTHLY: TRAVEL PULSE VBN organized two familiarization tours in the spring and fall for our 1,564 subscribers. Summary of tourism partners to become better acquainted with all Buffalo has to offer. trends affecting the Buffalo area including airport and cross-border traffic, VBN also forged and strengthened currency exchange and hotel data. relationships with groups that share our vision for building a QUARTERLY: TOURISM INSIDER better destination. We continued 3,233 subscribers. Reports on the added to administer the Beacon Award value Visit Buffalo Niagara has provided Scholarship program. We also the community, including media hits the started a partnership with the team helped Western New York chapter of facilitate, 10 the New York State Restaurant recent conventions CEO Patrick Kaler presenting Association. This led to a Micaela Inglese with her Beacon co-sponsored Destination or sporting Award scholarship Marketing Summit/Food for events Thought gathering in October that included presentations on best announced practices for training employees, dealing with changes to minimum and other wage and marketing modules. news.

Serving Our Visitors Visit Buffalo Niagara’s information specialistsassisted 82,867 visitors at our two locations in 2016. This represents an increase of over 12 percent from 2015. Last year, visitor center staff madeover 41,000 referrals to local attractions, hotels, bars and restaurants based on guest inquiries – providing tremendous benefit to our tourism partners. A series of downtown visitor center open houses and events – including a free cereal giveaway to commemorate 75 years of General Mills producing Cheerios here, free hot dogs on National Hot Dog Day and wings prior to the National Buffalo Wing Festival – drew more awareness to the visitor center’s offerings. Total Visitor Center Referrals Buffalo Volunteer Ambassadors were also busy assisting visitors OVER through their donation of time at welcome tables stationed at conventions and amateur athletic events. In 2016, they donated 41,000 1,022 hours of their time, translating to a savings of over $27,000 for VBN.

A BEACON OF EXCELLENCE & TO L U In May, we celebrated National Travel and Tourism Week, bringing E R I V S attention to the economic impact of tourism in Erie County. Activities A M R included our 6th annual Beacon Awards luncheon, attended by a record T 600+ industry partners, elected officials, volunteers and local vendors. Anthony Conte was inducted into the Ambassador Hall of Fame for his outstanding work at Shea’s, and we awarded our second $1000 scholarship to a local Depew High School graduate who is attending 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW PRESENTED BY Niagara University. The 2016 Beacon Award recipients were:

OUTSTANDING LODGING OUTSTANDING TOURISM EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR The Butlers of the Mansion on Ann Palmer BRING IT HOME AWARD – SPORTS Delaware Avenue Explore Buffalo Tours Kathleen Heyworth Buffalo Speed Skating OUTSTANDING LODGING OUTSTANDING TOURISM MANAGER OF THE YEAR EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR BRING IT HOME AWARD – CONVENTIONS Jen Duarte Don Vidler Richard Suchan Holiday Inn Express Vidler’s 5 & 10 Catholic Media Conference & National Conference for OUTSTANDING LODGING OUTSTANDING TOURISM Catechetical Leadership G.M. OF THE YEAR INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR Ken Burke Ice Bikes of Buffalo RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Airport Dennis DiPaolo BUFFALO AMBASSADOR Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant & Banquet OUTSTANDING TOURISM OF THE YEAR Facility 11 EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR Buffalo Olmsted Parks Jackie Jonmaire Conservancy Get it Done Team TIM RUSSERT AWARD Buffalo Museum of Science Anthony C. Conte Shea’s Performing Arts Center VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM Top of the Class Business First named Visit Buffalo Niagara one of the top places to work in Buffalo in 2016, capping off a year of awards and recognitions for VBN staff. Vice President of Sales Michael Even earned the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) credential from the Destination Marketing Association International, the DMO industry’s highest educational achievement. Vice President of Marketing Ed Healy received the David I. Levy Communicator of the Year Award from the Buffalo chapter of the American Advertising Federation. And Sales Director Linda D’Agostino was named Associate Member of TOURISM MATTERS the Year by the Empire State Society of Association Executives. At the 2016 Beacon Awards, Visit Buffalo Niagara Sports Services and Sales Manager Allison Pawarski was debuted the “Why Tourism Matters” video, a compilation named one of 12 nationwide to the Connect Women in Sport of facts and figures that demonstrate the value of Tourism forum, while Communications Manager Brian Hayden tourism to the Buffalo Niagara economy. completed Leadership Buffalo’s Rising Leaders program. Community Outreach Visit Buffalo Niagara partnered with community stakeholders on two downtown Buffalo projects that improved the visitor experience and, in one case, came to the aid of a valued partner in a time of need. VBN worked with local artist Casey Milbrand on his “Greetings from Buffalo” mural project, coordinating with developer Rocco Termini to identify a space for it on Ellicott Street and promoting Casey’s IndieGoGo campaign on social media. VBN also launched a successful GoFundMe campaign in early 2016 to replace a historical marker at the Michigan Street Mayor Byron Brown, CEO Patrick Kaler, developer Rocco Termini and artist Casey Milbrand Baptist Church that had been unveil the “Greetings from Buffalo” mural on Washington Street. vandalized. 12

THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

The Buffalo Niagara Convention Center (BNCC) had another successful year as Buffalo’s most expansive conference and event space. More than 284,000 people attended 144 different events and occupied the center on 265 days in 2016. These events contributed more than $35 million to the local economy, based on the Association of Venue Managers calculator. Among the notable events hosted at the Center were the New York State School Boards Association conference, the National Prevention Network Annual Conference and the Wesleyan Church General Conference. Collectively, these events led to 30,500 room night bookings at surrounding hotels. The BNCC had another stellar year of service, too, earning an impressive average score of

4.70/5 on their Guest Satisfaction Surveys. 284people,000 attended different 144 events WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2017 } National Homeland Security Conference / June 6-8, 2017 } The Garden Writers Association / August 4-7, 2017 The annual meeting focusing on emergency response disciplines Buffalo has developed a reputation in recent years as one of at all levels of government will draw more than 1,000 homeland America’s great gardening cities; word will really spread once security and emergency management professionals from the the Garden Writers Association conference comes to town in nation’s largest metropolitan areas. It will be held at the Buffalo August. Between 300 and 400 garden writers and influencers Niagara Convention Center and is expected to generate 3,600 are expected in Buffalo this summer to see how hundreds of

total hotel room nights in downtown Buffalo and over $2 million homeowners have transformed the city, garden by garden, as 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW in economic impact. well as the Olmsted Parks, the Botanical Gardens and other points of interest. The GWA is expected to generate nearly } Gaufest / June 29-July 2, 2017 » Crack out the lederhosen $1.4 million for the local economy. and strike up the band; Gaufest is coming back to Buffalo. The biennial gathering of Schuhplattler groups, also known } World Junior Hockey Championships / December 26- as traditional German folk dance troupes, will converge on January 5, 2018 » The World Junior Hockey Championships the Queen City again in the summer of 2017. Nearly 2,000 will once again return to Buffalo in December. Under-20 visitors are expected for the event, which previously came hockey teams from around the world will converge on to Buffalo in 1993 and 2005 and will take place at the Buffalo downtown Buffalo at KeyBank Center and the adjacent Niagara Convention Center. HarborCenter. And the U.S. and Canada will make World Juniors history by playing outdoors in a preliminary game at } 2017 Gaelic Games Association Continental Youth New Era Field on Dec. 28. The World Juniors are expected Championships / July 26-31, 2017 » A weekend tournament of to yield 6,000 hotel room nights and generate an estimated Gaelic football and hurling competitions involving 3,000 youth $6 million in economic impact, capping off a banner year for athletes and up to 250 teams will take place at the West Seneca amateur athletics in the Buffalo Niagara region. Soccer Complex at the end of July.

2016 VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Cindy Abbott-Letro Law Offices of Francis A. Letro Bridget Niland Daemen College 13 Donald K. Boswell WNY Public Broadcasting Association Minesh Patel Adam’s Mark Hotel & Event Center Steve Boyd, Esq. Steve Boyd, P.C. Edward A. Rath, III Erie County Legislature Jonathan A. Dandes Rich Baseball Operations Mary F. Roberts Martin House Restoration Corporation Dottie Gallagher-Cohen Buffalo Niagara Partnership VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM Brent Rossi Pegula Sports & Entertainment C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA James T. Sandoro The Buffalo Transportation Erie County Legislature Appointment Lesley Haynes Pierce Arrow Museum Erie County Commissioner of Thomas R. Hersey, Jr Paul Snyder, III Snyder Corporation Environment & Planning Huseyin Taran Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER Patrick J. Kaler Visit Buffalo Niagara Toni L. Vazquez Urban Family Practice Randall Kramer MusicalFare Theatre Leslie H. Zemsky Larkin Square Dennis P. Murphy InnVest Lodging Services, Inc.

2016 COMMITTEES Executive Committee CHAIR: SECRETARY: Jonathan A. Dandes Rich Baseball Operations Toni L. Vazquez Urban Family Practice TREASURER : COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cindy Abbott-Letro Law Offices of Francis A. Letro CHAIR-ELECT: IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR: Mary F. Roberts Martin House Restoration Corp. Dennis P. Murphy InnVest Lodging Services, Inc. PRESIDENT & CEO: Patrick Kaler Visit Buffalo Niagara Budget/Finance/Audit Committee CHAIR: COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cindy Abbott-Letro Law Offices of Francis A. Letro Steve Boyd, Esq. Steve Boyd, P.C. STAFF: David Marzo Chief Financial Officer Toni L. Vazquez Urban Family Practice

Sales Committee CHAIR: Huseyin Taran Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER Debbie Heller Millenium Hotel Buffalo STAFF: Mike Even VP of Sales David Lacki Ellicott Development COMMITTEE MEMBERS Russ Papia The Westin Buffalo Clorissa Bapst Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER Alisha Perrault Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport Kim Bauer Residence Inn Buffalo Amherst Megan Porter Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport Melissa Burke Buffalo Niagara Convention Center Monica Rapini Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Matt Chiazza Embassy Suites Buffalo Edwin Shelp Adam’s Mark Hotel & Events Center Wendy Clubine Buffalo Lodging Renee Stupski-Pundt Doubletree Club by Hilton Michael Dobell Hyatt Regency Buffalo Heather Turkay Buffalo Niagara Marriott Ann Dugan Buffalo Lodging Daryl Whitcomb Holiday Inn Buffalo Airport Kelly Fox Aloft Buffalo Airport Jennifer Whittington Staybridge Suites Airport Olivia Galante Hart Hotels Desirae Zontek Buffalo Lodging Colleen George Buffalo Lodging

Marketing Committee CHAIR: Leslie Zemsky Larkin Square Mary Roberts Martin House Restoration 14 Corporation STAFF: Ed Healy VP of Marketing COMMITTEE MEMBERS Kathleen Rooney Kathleen Rooney Communications E. Frits Abell Impact Industries James T. Sandoro Buffalo Transportation/ Jim Charlier JCharlier Communication Design Pierce-Arrow Museum Caitlin Deibel Martin House Restoration Corp. Maria Scully-Morreale Albright-Knox Art Gallery C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA Sara Serafin Canalside Buffalo Dora Kukuliatas- Tom’s Restaurant Zach Specht Pegula Sports & Entertainment Wisniewski Sandy White Freelance Writer Katie McKenna University at Buffalo Diana Principe The Mansion on Delaware Avenue

Destination Development Committee CHAIR: Randall Kramer MusicalFare Theatre Brad Hahn Explore Buffalo STAFF: Cindy Kincaide Director, Industry Relations & Leslie Haynes County of Erie Appointment Destination Development Lynn Marinelli Empire State Development Corp. COMMITTEE MEMBERS Megan Porter Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport Constance Caldwell Buffalo History Museum Gary Praetzel Rob Free Pettibones/NYS Restaurant Assn. Jen Swan Arts Services Initiative Dan Garvey Roycroft Inn/NYS Restaurant Assn. Todd Geise Buffalo Zoo 2016 BUFFALO NIAGARA SPORTS COMMISSION ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIR: C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA Peter Jerebko Erie Community College COMMITTEE MEMBERS Leo Kaminsky NYSPHSAA Jonathan A. Dandes Rich Baseball Operations Tom Koller Buffalo State College Rick Aronberg STAR Swimming John Lambert University at Buffalo Russ Brandon Buffalo Bills & Buffalo Sabres Joe Lojacono Valmark Associates Mike Buczkowski Buffalo Bisons John Maddock Canisius College Stephen Butler Niagara University Bill Maher Canisius College Chris Catanzaro Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. Lynn Marinelli Empire State Development Corp. 2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW Brian Cavanaugh D’Youville College Bridget Niland Daemen College Drew Cerza Just Wing It Productions Ron Raccuia AdPro Team Sports Christopher Ciamaga HARBORCENTER Edward Rath, Jr. Erie County Legislature Ryan Coate Spectra Nicholas Salvatore Salvatore’s Italian Gardens Therese Forton-Barnes Events to a Tee Bob Schell Amherst Youth Hockey Sean Green Riverworks Lisa Scherer Scherer Event Management Allen Greene University at Buffalo Timm Slade Section VI Kathleen Gregoire Skating Club of WNY Charles C. Swanekamp Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel Eric Guzdek Northtown Center at Amherst Kathleen Twist University at Buffalo Perry Jenkins University at Buffalo Jennifer Van Rysdam First Niagara Center

2016 VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA STAFF Kathy Benzel Information Technology Manager Patrick Kaler President & CEO Drew Brown Marketing Manager Cindy Kincaide Director, Industry Relations and Michele Butlak Accounting and Benefits Manager Destination Development JoAnn Blatner Information Specialist Tracy Martell Convention Services Manager 15 Karen Cox Convention Services Manager David Marzo Chief Financial Officer Linda D’Agostino Regional Sales Director Leah Mueller Tourism Sales Director Denise Drews Visitor Center Manager Danielle Pastor Administrative Assistant

Michael Even Vice President of Sales & Services Allison Pawarski Sports Sales and Services Manager VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM Karen Fashana Director of Marketing Mary Jane Poleto Information Specialist Charles Giglia Director of Sports Sales Judy Smith Director of Administration Pete Harvey Director of Sports Development Matt Steinberg Director of Creative Services Brian Hayden Communications Manager Lauren Vargo Administrative Assistant Ed Healy Vice President of Marketing Lori White National Sales Director Dionne Williamson Sales Director; Specialty Market

2016 BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER STAFF Richard Arnold Sous Chef Terry O’Brien Director of Operations Melissa Bean Convention & Event Service Manager Heather Petrino Sales & Service Coordinator Tom Beiter Controller Keith Pitman Electrician Melissa Burke Senior Director of Kenneth Sandford Chief Engineer Sales and Marketing Paul Scime Food & Beverage Manager Lorna Cullen Executive Assistant Raymond Thom Executive Chef Susan Kimmins Sales & Catering Manager Amy Trautman Convention Sales Manager MaryAnn Martin Accounting & Benefits Manager Brooke Williams Banquet Manager Samuel Mendez Assistant Operations Manager Raymond Williams Timekeeper/Security Paul Murphy Facility Director Danielle Winiarski Convention & Event Service Manager WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT BUFFALO

A new Buffalo is on the move, rising upward with great dynamism, #Buffalo’s not Austin realizing the future is now. In the yet (thank goodness), second largest city in the state with a but it finally distinct personality of tree-lined streets, knows how great diverse neighborhoods, and wonderfully maintained turn-of-the-century homes, it could be. JASON COCHRANE, the passion of Buffalonians is reflected EDITOR, FROMMERS.COM in the innovative fabric of the city. VIA TWITTER

LA TRAVEL

Buffalo, without a doubt, I think, is one of the great eating cities,” said Michael Stern, a founder of roadfood.com. “When you think of gastronomic meccas in the country, you don’t think of upstate New York. But, in fact, it has so much to offer. THE NEW YORK TIMES

NOW NEARLY COMPLETE, THE (DARWIN MARTIN) HOUSE IS THE LYNCHPIN OF A FIVE-SITE ‘ALL WRIGHT, ALL DAY’ TOUR THAT AIMS TO BRING HIS FANS TO UPSTATE NEW YORK AND BACK ON THE MAP AS A MAJOR DESIGN DESTINATION. CONDE NAST TRAVELER

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