DESTINATION MASTER PLAN PROPOSAL FOR SAN DIEGO TOURISM MARKETING DISTRICT CORPORATION Resonance Consultancy LLLP Chris Fair, President 112 West 34 Street, 18th Floor [email protected] New York, NY 10120 USA Tel: +1.646.413.8887 resonanceco.com resonanceco.com a TM Hotel, Tourism and Leisure Resonance Consultancy LLLP 112 West 34 Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10120 USA 646.233.1383 resonanceco.com October 16, 2014 Mr. Lorin Stewart Executive Director San Diego Tourism Marketing District Corporation 8880 Rio San Diego Drive, Suite 800 San Diego, CA 92108 (619) 209-6108 [email protected] Dear Mr. Stewart, Please find enclosed a digital copy (on CD) and three hard copies of the Resonance Consultancy LLLP proposal and supporting documentation for our bid to produce a Destination Master Plan for San Diego Tourism Marketing District. Resonance Consultancy is joined in this proposal by: • Horwath HTL – Global leader in hospitality consulting; and • TODERIAN UrbanWORKS – Award-winning Vancouver-based consultancy providing services in advanced urbanism, city planning and urban design. We have enjoyed considering the issues put forward in your RFP, and have prepared a proposal that we are confident will help the Tourism Marketing District organize its efforts to create and agree upon a Destination Master Plan; that will deliver recommendations, strategies and implementation plans that create positive long-term gains for Travel & Tourism; and that will help the tourism industry in San Diego to achieve its fullest economic potential. Please note that the “Bidders Response Information” is attached as Appendix A with some answers to specific questions referenced in the main document. Best regards, Chris Fair President CONTENTS 04 Our Understanding 06 Business Identification & Contact Information 10 Qualifications, Experience and Background SERVICES 11 Resonance Consultancy 12 Horwath HTL 14 TODERIAN urbanWORKS KEY PROJECT PERSONNEL 18 Resonance Consultancy 21 Horwath HTL 25 TODERIAN urbanWORKS EXPERIENCE 28 Resonance Consultancy 45 Horwath HTL 51 TODERIAN urbanWORKS 54 Technical Approach and Proposed Process 77 Deliverables 81 Sample of Work 97 Proposed Cost & Workplan 105 References 107 Appendix A – Bidder Response Information 113 Appendix B – Vancouver Tourism Master Plan – Executive Summary 152 Appendix C – Company Financial Statements 156 Appendix D – Copy of Sample Invoice resonanceco.com 3 OUR UNDERSTANDING resonanceco.com 4 OUR UNDERSTANDING According to “A White Paper Discussion – Tourism: San Diego’s 2nd Largest Traded Economy”, dated April 2, 2013: Tourism is San Diego’s second largest traded economy. In 2012, over 32 million visitors generated $8 billion in direct spending on goods and services, thus creating a total economic impact of $18.3 billion for the San Diego region. Visitor spending directly supported jobs for 160,000 San Diegans and produced over $406 million in local tax revenues. The travel industry plays a vital and critical role in maintaining San Diego’s economic health, both for generating revenue and creating jobs. Tourism is largely a service industry, which has employment at its base and provides jobs that can’t be outsourced. One in every eight jobs in the U.S. is affected either directly or indirectly by tourism, and 13 percent of all employment in San Diego is directly supported by traveler spending. In 2007, City leaders warned that due to the City’s dire financial crisis, there would be no future funding of tourism promotion unless the industry found a way to privately fund sales and marketing of San Diego. In response to the City’s financial situation, the lodging industry established the San Diego Tourism Marketing District (TMD), one of the first of its kind in the nation. The TMD united the lodging industry, which voted to self-assess in order to raise funds to support the SDTA and promote San Diego. A 2 percent assessment fee was levied on lodging establishments with 70 rooms or more. The TMD relieved the City of San Diego from funding tourism promotion and the SDTA, thus saving the City $10.4 million per year in obligations – $52 million total over the lifespan of the first district. The formation of the San Diego TMD created a new public-private partnership that relieved local government from funding tourism promotion while protecting the vitality of the tourism economy. Since 2008, the SDTA has received its funding from the TMD versus City TOT. The SDTA program does what individual businesses can’t do for themselves – provide an overarching platform to promote the San Diego Brand, nationally and internationally, to protect and grow destination demand to benefit the San Diego community. According to the RFP, “The purpose of the 20-year tourism master plan is to provide a roadmap to maintain and enhance San Diego’s lodging industry’s competitive positioning relative to other desirable tourism destinations and to anticipate the future state of tourists’ needs and tourist markets. The current and future needs of group meetings and conventions are also a priority, as well as growing future markets such as China.” Ultimately, the goal of the Destination Master Plan is the “development of long-term recommendations for San Diego as a tourism and meeting destination that will increase the transient occupancy tax (TOT) for the City of San Diego to $300 million by 2020, with subsequent continued growth.” Target completion date for the Destination Master Plan is June 30, 2015. resonanceco.com 5 BUSINESS IDENTIFICATION & CONTACT INFORMATION resonanceco.com 6 BUSINESS IDENTIFICATION & CONTACT INFORMATION Resonance Consultancy Shaping the Future of Destinations Around the World Resonance Consultancy creates marketing strategies, development plans, and tourism policies that shape the future of destinations and developments around the world. Our team has advised destinations, communities, cities and governments in more than 70 countries. We provide leading public and private sector organizations with visioning, trend forecasting, marketing strategy, stakeholder engagement, tourism development strategy, and tourism policy to help places realize their full potential. From Bucharest to Brasilia, Hawai‘i to Haiti, we have helped clients understand consumer trends, influence policy, engage their communities, plan for the future, and market their unique destinations. Our future-focused visions, reports and development strategies help our clients find their way forward, provide plans for action, and give officials, investors and the public ways to engage and reasons to believe. The principals of Resonance have more than a half-century of development and tourism experience, and have completed more than 100 visioning, strategy, planning, policy and branding projects for destinations and communities in 15 states and more than 70 countries around the world. Together, we’ve created an integrated process that helps both public and private sector clients look ahead – ahead of the curve, around the corner or a decade from now. Our work helps foster community, preserve cultural heritage, protect the environment and generate economic benefits for all those involved. Resonance Consultancy was incorporated in Vancouver in 2007 and maintains a branch office in New York. The company is owned and operated by Chris Fair, Richard Cutting-Miller and Dianna Carr with a total staff of seven full-time employees. Resonance Consultancy and its principals are members of the Destination Marketing Association International, the Urban Land Institute, the U.S. Travel Association and the Travel & Tourism Research Association. Approximately 50% of Resonance Consultancy business is represented by this type of project. Resonance Consultancy Ltd. Resonance Consultancy LLLP 33 Water Street, Suite 601 112 West 34th Street, 18th Floor Vancouver, BC V6B 1R4 Canada New York, NY 10120 USA Office: +1.604.681.0804 Office: +1.646.233.1383 For this Destination Master Plan project, Horwath HTL and TODERIAN UrbanWORKS will be subcontracting and reporting directly to Resonance Consultancy. resonanceco.com 7 BUSINESS IDENTIFICATION & CONTACT INFORMATION Horwarth HTL As a global leader in hotel advisory services, Horwath HTL is uniquely positioned to provide both the depth and breadth of advice required by leading hotel owners, investors, financiers, operators and destinations. The global team of Horwath HTL comprises 52 dedicated offices in 37 countries, with more than 200 professionals dedicated to hotel, tourism and leisure projects and is the world’s largest consulting organization specialized in the hospitality industry. Horwath HTL adds value for clients through in-depth market knowledge both in established and emerging markets, financial and hospitality technical expertise and unrivalled experience. Our services include market and feasibility studies, valuations and appraisals, asset management, strategic planning, operator assessment and selection, hotel consulting, industry research and project development services. Within the area of Market and Financial Feasibility studies we have a particular expertise in virgin and emerging markets. Horwath HTL adds value for clients by combining hospitality and financial technical expertise with in- depth market knowledge both in established and emerging markets and unrivalled industry experience. We specialize in researching and understanding markets with a view to preparing comprehensive project feasibility studies for a range of stakeholders including prospective owners, operators, developers and funders. All