1\Ekhlkan Fax (907) 225-5075

$1\Ekhlkan Fax (907) 225-5075$

City Manager 334 Front Street CitY ()f Ketchikan, AK 9990 I Phone (907) 228-5603 1\ekhlkan Fax (907) 225-5075

TRANSMITTAL MEMORANDUM

TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council

FROM: Karl R. Amylon, City Manager

DATE: January 11 , 2017

RE: Ketchikan Visitors Bureau's Quarterly Report of the President and Chief Executive Officer- July Through September 2016

Pursuant to paragraph (a) of Section 14 of the 2016 Community Agency Funding Agreement between the City of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, attached for City Council review is a copy of the President and Chief Executive Officer's quarterly report for the period of July through September 2016. Should Councilmembers have questions and/or concerns regarding the President and Chief Executive Officer's report, staff can attempt to respond accordingly.

AGENDA- 01/19/17- GGFYI1 t~am• KETCHIKAN

Our lifestyle, your reward KETCHIKAN VISITORS BUREAU Activity report to the City of Ketchikan 3rd Quarter 2016 activities

Marketing statistics are included in the dashboard report that is attached. This format has been created to provide an "at a glance" review. If you have any questions, or would like further information please don't hesitate to let me know.

Top paid lead generating* sources this quarter included: Year to date: Pay per click advertising- web display ads and keyword Pay per click advertising- web Freetravelguides.com1 Freetravelguides. com Sunset Magazine Sunset Magazine Alaska State Vacation planner guide Alas ka State Vacation Planner TraveiAiaska.com Journeys (AAA Club publication- WA state) Alaskasinsidepassage.com (SATC web site) Alaskasinsidepassage.com (SATC web site) Beyond Magazine (AK Air publication) TraveiAiaska.com

We also generated a significant number of leads from the Visit Anchorage web site, the AMHS website, prior year Ketchikan visitor guides, national guide books (i.e. AAA motorists) and friend and family referrals.

*Leads are defined as a visit to our web site prompted by an advertisement plus all requests for a copy of our visitor guide. 1 This is our first year paying for placement on this site

Events generating hotel occupancy/bed nights* in Ketchikan this quarter include: Softball/baseball tournaments, Pennock Island Swim Chal lenge, KIC/SE Tribal Environmental Conference, USCG operator instruction and the Waterfall Foundation These events combined with weddings and other private functions generated an estimated economic impact for meetings, conventions and events of: July: $ 162,378.00 August: $ 34,875.00 September: S 60,264.00 Total: $ 257,517.00 *Figures are for events held at Ted Ferry Civic Center and/or groups who utilized KVB services. Some hotels consider this information proprietary and so actual value is typically higher than reported.

Visits to www.visit-ketchikan.com during the 3rd quarter exceeded visits in both 2014 and 2015 for the same period 3rd quarter site visits increased by 17% over 2015, representing 62,600 visitors. Additional trends worth noting include our referrals from search engine sites like Google, as well as ad click throughs for the period were up over previous years.

KVB report to the City of Ketchikan 3rd Qtr activities 2016/Page 1 of 3

C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 3 of 12 July Attended a roundtable meeting with Congressman Don Young and other industry representatives in Ketchikan. The meetings are an informal opportunity to present updates on activities and federal issues which have an impact on the business community.

Met with Heather Haugland, McDowell Group during her visit to Ketchikan. Assisted with arrangements for her speaking engagement at the Chamber lunch and discussed both the AVSP (Alaska Visitor Statistic Program) and Borough studies that impact our organization.

2016 R2AK- The 3rd place, through 26th place teams completed the 750-mile Race to Alaska in July prior to the cut-off date of July 23 .

August Participated in an organizational meeting for industry representatives asked to serve on an interview committee as part of the hiring process for the new Ketchikan Gateway Borough manager.

Assisted with accommodations and arrangements for Lisa Mahoney, writing for Moon Travel Guides.

Reviewed draft versions of the meetings and conventions marketing plan research with McDowell Group. The final product will include plan recommendations, an implementation plan and recommended budget.

September Attended the R2AK awards ceremony in Port Townsend, WA where the organizers officially announced that R2AK 2017 would take place beginning June 8. The race is back to an earlier start due to the Americas Cup race beginning in mid-June.

Anchorage hosted the Adventure Travel and Tourism Association's annual World Tourism Summit in September. It was the first time the event has been held in the US. The audience included adventure travel product owners/managers, tour operators and travel media. While the event is not something the KVB would participate in annually, it was a great opportunity to meet tour operators interested in Ala ska product, as well as adventure travel writers from throughout the world.

Ketchikan has been selected to host the 2018 SE Conference annual meeting, following a vote during this year's conference in Petersburg. Ketchikan municipal leaders and other Ketchikan based members were in attendance and made the pitch to bring the conference back to Ketchikan.

Provided items for welcome baskets for each of the three borough manager candidate finalists.

State, Regional Tourism activities State Tourism Marketing Budget: as a result of the legislature's budget language and the governor's veto of state tourism marketing dollars for FY2017, the ATMB (Ala ska Tourism Marketing Board) and ATIA (Alaska Travel Industry Association) boards have met several times throughout this quarter. Both groups have approved funding to research and develop a plan for introduction of a Tourism Investment District statewide that could raise funds for marketing Alaska . The concept is similar to ASMI's (Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute) self assessment however it is much more complicated because unlike the seafood industry, where the assessment

KVB report to the City of Ketch ikan 3rd Qtr activities 2016/Page 2 of 3

C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 4 of 12 can be taken off the top of total fish sales to processors, there is no centralized point at which to capture the assessment dollars. Much of the work to date has been to determine which sectors of the industry to assess, how much the assessment would be (flat fee or % of income) and the logistics of reporting, collecting and distribution. The upcoming ATIA convention in October will focus on the TID and education of tourism businesses on the process, as well as to gauge industry support for the program prior to submitting the proposal to house and senate leadership by the November 1 deadline.

Admin/General Operations activities The KVB welcomed Brittney Shull to our staff in August. She is serving as our administrative and member relations assistant.

Ketchikan Story Project During trips to Anchorage and Juneau, I've taken the opportunity to promote the Ketchikan Story Project materials to facilities such as the Alaska Aviation Museum, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Alaska State Museum, Anchorage Museum and the Sealaska Heritage Institute. Additionally, I've met with gift shop personnel in those locations to advise them of our wholesale program.

The kiosk update project is in the works, but a few technical issues were discovered that needed to be addressed. One was the sheer size of the files to incorporate all videos and images into one app, which was rectified by reducing the resolution of the videos slightly. The other issue is ongoing and that is working through the red tape with Apple to set up a private distribution account since the kiosk version of the app will not be offered through the iTunes store.

Submitted by Patti Mackey, president & CEO

KVB report to the City of Ketchikan 3rd Qtr activities 2016/ Page 3 of 3

C of K 4th Qtr 201 6 pkt Page 5 of 12 KVB lst-3rd Qtr 2016 Dashboard

Web site stats- Searches Paid and Organic Meetings/Conventions Economic Impact in $ 300,000 30,000

250,000 25,000

200,000 20,000

150,000 15,000

10,000 100,000

5,000 50,000 I I I • I I -1 ijl 0 Iu . 1111. 11.1 ~I Jan Feb Mar April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

• 2016 Events 2015 Events • 2014 Events - 2016 2015 - 2014 ~ 20160rg ~ 20150rg ~ 20140rg

Hotel Occupancy by room nights Unique visitors to www.visit-ketchikan.com 14000 35000 12000 30000 10000 25000 8000 20000 6000 15000 4000 10000 1 2000 5000 0 1111JI I1l ll l1 0 n~1 11 1 1 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec - 2016 2015 - 2014 ~ #Avail Rooms • 2016 2015 • 2014 Note: Available room nights increased during 4th quarter of 2015 because of increased reporting by local hotels.

1 C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 6 of 12 KVB lst-3rd Qtr 2016 Dashboard

Annual Trip Planner Distribution Annual Arrival Guide Distribution

7000 20000 6000 18000 16000 sooo 14000 4000 12000 10000 3000 8000 2000 6000 4000 1000 2000 0 I I I I •• I• I. 11.1b . I .I 0 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec I May June July I Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

• 2016 TPL • 201S TPL • 2016 ARG 201S ARG

Ketchikanstories.com unique visitors

3,SOO

3,000

2,SOO

2,000

1,SOO

1,000 soo

0 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

- 2016 2015 - 2014 - 2013

Note: Relaunch of site occurred in November 2015

C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 7 of 12 2 2016 Summer Visitor Center Traffic

so,ooo 46,423 44,381 4S,096 4S,OOO 40,000

3S,OOO 30,872 32,061 30,000

2S,OOO 20,000 13,432 14,673 1S,OOO 11,054 10,000 7,379 7,697 S,OOO I I I May• June July August September• • Berth 2 • Berth 3

Month Berth 2 Berth 3 M ay 30,872 7,379 June 44,381 13,432 July 45,096 11,054 August 46,423 14,673 September 32,061 7,697 Totals 198,833 54,235

2015 to 2016 Visitor Center Traffic Comparison

70,000 61,096 57 813 60,000 5S,275 • 56,1SO

50,000 38,251 39,758 40,000 28,474 28,785 30,000

20,000 10,000 I May June July August I September

• 2015 Total • 2016 Total

C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 8 of 12 L-., \rno thwest(http://nwtravelmag.com)

Ketchikan: An Artist Enclave (http:// nwtravel mag. com/ketchikan-artist-enclave/)

Alaska (http://nwtravelmag.com/category/a Laska/)

Stories (http://nwtravelmag.com/category/stori es/)

Focus (http://nwtravelmag .com/category/stories/focus/)

Jan 2, 2016

(http://nwtravelmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Creek-Street-Ketchikan-PC-Brian-Adams.jpg)

C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 9 of 12 When travelers think of Ketchikan, what typically co mes to mind is fishing, strolling the historic town and hiking the nearby trails. But did you know Ketchikan is an art-lover's paradise? With more than 350 registered artists in town, you can easily spend a day just browsing the many galleries. If you are intent on buying a piece of art by an Alaska Native artist, you have come to the right place. Ketchikan's easily walkable downtown core is where you'll find the majority of galleries. Here are four you shouldn't miss.

Alaska Eagle Arts (5 Creek St., a/askaeag/earts.com (http.//aloskaeag/earts.coml)): This gallery features the works of artist Martin Oliver, whose career spans 40 years. Besides his prolific work as an artist and academic, he serves as Adjunct Curator of Contemporary Native American Art at Seattle's Burke Museum.

Ketc hi kan's Carver at the Creek (28 Creek St. , g.normanjackson.com (http://g.normanjackson.com/}): This gallery carries the work of owner and accomplished Tlingit artist Norman G. Jackson as well as other Southeast Alaska Native artists.

Crazy Wolf Studio (633 Mission St., crazywolfstudio.com (http://crazywolfstudio.com/}): Thi s studio/ gallery is owned by a local Tsimshian artist Ken Decker, a master drum maker who also creates silkscreens, carvings, boxes and other pieces.

To learn more about Ketchikan and other local galleries, go to visit-ketchikan.com (http ://vi sit-ketchikan.coml).

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Jun 28,2016

by Adam Sawyer

C of K 4th Qtr 2016 pkt Page 11 of 12 In a part of the country t hat could be described as the Northwest on steroids, Southeast Alaska's Misty Fjords National Monument somehow manages to be a standout attraction. It's tucked into the bottom portion of the Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest. Thanks in large part to the glacier-carved landscape, legendary naturalist John Muir compared the Misty Fjords to his favorite inspirational wilderness, Yosemite. An understandable comparison, if only Yosemite were surrounded by ocean and studded with lakes and canals spread out over two million acres.

Just over 20 miles east of Ketchikan, the Misty Fjords might as well be worlds away. The cloud-shrouded rainforest area earns its name most of the ye ar, but there are also periods during summer when the fjords are showcased by bluebird skies. There's no wrong way to explore the fjords, but perhaps the best way to really ta ke it in is via floatplane and catamaran with Misty Fjords Cruise & Fly.

The floatplane leaves from Ketchikan and immediately ascends to an elevation that provides an endless panorama of Alaskan wilderness. Entering the Fjords, the landsca pe becomes exponentially more dramatic- deep, u-shaped fjords, crystal blue lakes and 3,000-foot cliff faces that launch from the sea dominate the horizon. The plane skirts imposing walls of granite and buzzes over majestic alpine waterfalls before banking ove r a ridgeline and descending into a pristine canal guarded on all sides by untouched scenery.

The aircraft makes an easy water landing and steers over to a floating dock where the catamaran awaits. Now at sea level, the fjords take on a different tenor. The cliffs more immediate, the ancient trees more stalwart, and the remoteness more palpable. The guided boat tour visits coves that are home to hidden waterfalls and ancient native pictographs. The flora and fauna are detailed and displayed expertly as the boat navigates the waterways back toward Ketchika n.

As a last hurrah, the boat rounds New Eddystone Rock as it leaves the Fjords. The iconic basalt pillar stands guard like a scenic sentry at the entrance of the Misty Fjords National Monument. Th e fun isn't over, however, as t he landscape during the boat ride back into Ketchikan could hardly be described as uninteresting.

The Misty Fjords are home to an inspirational w ilderness that's about as good as it gets. It's remote yet accessible and pins the meter on the scenery scale. In other words, quintessential Northwest.

To plan a stay in Ketchikan, go to visit-ketchikan.com (http://visit-ketchikan.com/).

To book your Misty Fj ords tour, visit mistyfjordscruisefly.com (http://mistyfjordscruisefly.com/).

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