MEMORANDUM TO: John Calvin DATE: September 8, 2003 FROM: Patricia Van Gerpen SUBJECT: Tourism’s August Monthly Status Report Regional Tourism Summits Coordinated Regional Summits with Lawrence and Schiller Advertising Agency. Summits were held in Sioux Falls, Watertown, Pierre, and Rapid City. Members of the visitor industry, as well as those involved with History, Arts, and Tribal Affairs, were encouraged to attend. Attendees were divided into small groups for suggestions on Promotions and Advertising, Media Purchases, Vacation Packaging, and Inquiry and Sales Tracking. Information gathered at each of the Summits will be placed on 2010iniative.com in mid-September, with a link on sdvisit.com. Information on the shoulder season campaign was presented at each of the four Summits, as developed with Lawrence and Schiller. The focus of the campaign is on vacation packages. Elements of the campaign include cable TV buys, display ads in travel sections of Sunday newspapers, direct mail, Internet tie-ins, e-mail blasts, “You’re always welcome” letters, South Dakota Road Trip TV show, Giant Step magazine insert, Great Getaways newspaper insert, and radio promotion. This year’s campaign will reach more geographic markets and more niche audiences, with double the investment of 2002’s campaign. All advertising tools tout vacation packages, and will direct consumers to travelsd.com and package partners’ web sites and phone numbers. Governor’s Conference on Tourism Held brainstorming session to discuss theme, session topics, timeline, and speakers. Drafted committee assignments. Contacted potential speakers and will review their materials. Updated nomination forms for the two annual Tourism awards: Ben Black Elk and A.H. Pankow. The nomination forms can be downloaded from sdvisit.com and returned to Tourism by October 16. Rural Tourism Development Presented information on fall travel to Christian Women’s Group in Selby. Distributed travel materials. Have been invited by the North Central and Dakota Central RC&D offices to present information about agri- tourism at upcoming council meetings in Onida in September and Miller in November. Notified by the South Dakota Value Added Conference committee that the presentation on Agri-Tourism will be saved as a topic for the 2005 conference. Public Relations Mailed Buffalo Roundup Press Hosting invitations to selected journalists. Drafted customized itineraries for Las Vegas Journal and freelance writers. Contacted Good Morning America regarding Roundup. Drafted schedule of satellite feed and researched list of media to inform – will send first e-mail in early September. Made updates to the corresponding pages on mediasd.com. Hosted a Washington Times journalist on a trip across South Dakota. Story was published in August. Interviewed and/or provided information to: Washington Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, American Cowboy, Meetings East, Meade County Times, Travel News Service, Mobil Motorist, KELO Television, KOTA Radio, WQQW in Wisconsin, Motorcoach magazine, Federal Reserve Bank, Redbook, South Dakota Public Radio, and freelance writers from Wyoming, California, Tennessee, Ohio, Florida, and South Dakota. Became a member of Writersmarketplace.com, a web site devoted to journalists looking for story information. Discussed promotional opportunities pertaining to the Lewis and Clark Trail with Trailside Adventures on The Learning Channel. Held brainstorming on ideas/theme for a new image video to be used with Tourism’s programs and special requests. Press hits with circulation and estimated ad equivalence: Capital Journal (4,636) for ad equivalence of $112; Rapid City Journal (35,465) for ad equivalence of $3,175; Aberdeen American News (18,000) for ad equivalence of $367; and KELO interview. Total ad equivalence of $3,654. Group Tour In fiscal year 2003, we hosted 50 international press, 67 international tour operators, and 43 domestic tour operators. Sent group tour information on niche market to attraction owner in-state, and touring information to another South Dakotan, per requests. Invited South Dakota’s American Bus Association (ABA) and National Tour Association (NTA) members to a Group Tour Pre-Caucus meeting in Pierre. Ordered video and pre-caucus materials, and NTA was contacted regarding caucus date so a call could be made during the meeting if there were questions regarding the new format at the annual convention. Provided information for Motorcoach Marketer (ABA) updates Designed a 4-color, multi-page group tour co-op ad/insert to run in the November/December issue of Packaged Travel Insider and December issue of Destinations magazine. Ordered an extra 4,000 inserts to mail to group tour operators on Tourism’s database. Mailed Travel Trade to 826 tour operators and journalists. Participated in conference call for 2Nations Tours program to discuss familiarization tour dates, press, and future promotion Contacted South Dakota suppliers regarding NEC, Japan, fam in September for three people, hosted by Osamu Hoshino. Completed follow-up to 26 Rocky Mountain International (RMI) Roundup tour operators who participated in the RMI Roundup and fam tours in South Dakota. Sent Buffalo Roundup invitations to international journalists. Researched and prepared five individual itinerary requests for journalists from Germany, France, and Italy. Contacted suppliers regarding these fams: general Black Hills/Badlands tour, an ATV/4WD fam, a Lakota fam tour, bison and Custer State Park fam, and a ranch fam tour. Contacted Northwest Airlines for partnerships. Completed follow up to 40 United Kingdom tour operators and journalists from See America Show and training seminars. Sent international tour operator and journalist leads from See America Week to 604 South Dakota suppliers. Sent information to 69 ITB participants in Germany, 53 BIT participants in Italy, 10 Paris reception participants, and 14 Irish seminar and training participants for planning for 2004. Fulfilled requests for information/itinerary helps to JTB USA Chicago Mitsuwa Office, Summit Events Management, and Lewis Tours, Illinois; Travel Consultants, Indiana; Travel Express and Cruises & Tours Worldwide, Missouri; Devon Tours, Wisconsin; America 4 You, California; Buckeye Beeline Tours and Bill Swinderman, Ohio; Baldwin Senior Travel, Alabama; Odyssey Tours, Wyoming; Border State Bank, Minnesota; Motorcoach West magazine; Phoenix Media; Group Travel Leader magazine; Wolfgang Heinemann, NDR, Germany, recording of the Governor’s thoughts on Lewis and Clark; Bo Wang, China; and Mike Vale and Jeremy Head, United Kingdom. Hosted following international media: Perottet, Australia; Jeremy Head, United Kingdom; and BBC Holiday Show. AAA/CAA Will host seven AAA travel counselors on the “Legendary South Dakota” tour in September: four from Missouri, two from Kentucky, and one from Ohio. Tour includes Pierre, Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Wall, Keystone, Hot Springs, Deadwood, and Rapid City. Fulfilled 26 requests from AAA/CAA offices and independent travel agencies from 14 states and Canada: Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Manitoba. Outdoors Worked on individual maps for the birding booklet. All photos and copy have been approved. Edited second mock-up of the Adventure Travel Guide. Hosted the camera crew and talent for a North American Outdoors/ESPN Outdoors show on an overnight kayaking, canoeing, and fishing trip near Pickstown. Contacted North American Media Group to promote the Lewis and Clark Trail and the Missouri River. Made arrangements for the North American Hunter/ESPN2 show to film in the Pierre area. Content included dog training and fishing. Finalized location and overall plan for Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Association/ZONK Productions television producers to film a pheasant and upland bird hunt near Pierre. Contacted Urban American Outdoors regarding the filming of several television shows in the state. The first one will be pheasant hunting in the northeast. Will also include fishing in central South Dakota, grouse hunting in western South Dakota, and big game hunting in the Black Hills. Interviewed and/or provided information to: Gun Dog, Ramp Magazine, Washington Times, Ducks Unlimited TV, Outdoorsman International, Peterson’s Hunting, Tony Dean Outdoors, Northland Adventures, Wildlife Art Magazine, and Omaha World Herald. Set up two fishing photo shoots, one on lower Lake Oahe and the other on the upper reaches. Set up ATV photo shoot in northern Black Hills. Was a guest on “The Outdoor Connection” on KODY, Nebraska. Covered general fishing, hunting, and camping in South Dakota. Show was live and re-aired twice. Press hits with circulation and estimated ad equivalence: Outdoorsmen (17,100) for ad equivalence of $725; Upland Almanac (7,500) for ad equivalence of $3,750; Pointing Dog (25,000) for ad equivalence of $7,600; and Retriever Journal (16,000) for ad equivalence of $7,600. Total ad equivalence of $19,675. Film Office Contacted by a location manager regarding more locations for a television series. Traveled to the Black Hills to shoot location pictures and e-mailed them to contact. Waiting on the show’s executives to decide whether or not they will film in South Dakota. Hosted the BBC television show Holiday on a shoot in the Black Hills. Contacted by a filmmaker from Minneapolis. They filmed a retreat in the Black Hills, and the footage will be used in many of their commercials. Contacted by a