TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING/ ZOOM OPTION WEDNESDAY June 16, 2021 PRESCOTT, ARIZONA MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE HELD ON JUNE, 16TH 2021, 201 S. CORTEZ STREET, PRESCOTT, ARIZONA. Via Zoom Meeting and in person option in the City Council Chambers. A. Call to Order: Chair Margo Christensen called the meeting to order at 11: 02 a.m. B. Roll.Call and Introductions: Margo Christensen took Roll Call TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS Present: Absent/ Excused: Margo Christensen, Chair Peter Gebauer Matt Brassard, Vice Chair Steve Bracety Cindy Gresser Linda Nichols- Secretary Debra Rocha Councilman Tenney Jim Dawson Charlie Mormino Robert Coombs STAFF PRESENT: John Heiney, Community Outreach Manager Ann Steward, Tourism and Economic Initiatives Manager Cristina Binkley, Tourism and Economic Initiatives Coordinator Heather Herman, Front Burner Media Absent/ Excused: Joe Baynes, Recreations Services Kristi Miller, Airport Management Analyst C. MOTION TO APPROVE May 12th, 2021 MINUTES BY Matt Brassard SECOND BY Charlie Mormino. MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY. D. Committee Member Announcements: Debra Rocha— Citizen— June 27th 2pm GMIHC Fundraiser At Matts Saloon—The Keen Brothers Will Be Playing For 19 Fallen Firefighters, June 29th Is The 3rd Anniversary Celebration At 12pm— CAFMA Pipes And Drums & Larry Keen Will Be Playing. The City Of Prescott Mayor And Fire Chief Light Will Be Speaking, GMIHC Will Be Participating In The 4th July Parade. Jim Dawson— Bed Tax Numbers Make Sense, Lots Of People Are Out And About. Received Feedback That Guest Loved Everyone' s Hometown Slogan Robert Coombs— Prescott Chamber- Walking Tours Have Resumed Friday & Saturday. Need Tour Guides. Intern from NAU through August. Bluegrass Festival Coming Up June 26th 2&7th. CINDY GRESSER ARRIVED 11: 08AM Cindy Gresser— Museum of Indigenous People— Announced Her Retirement, Will Be Moving To Tucson. Going Away Party Will Be This Saturday At 5pm At MOIP. She Said Thank You To Everyone Who Attended The Guest Artist Series At The Museum This Year. They Have Seen A 60% Increase In Traffic From 2019 Numbers. Artists Are Happy. Guest Artist Series Will Continue Through November. She Ended Saying ` It' s Be an Honor to serve this Community for 10 Years.' ( Group Applause) Manuel Lucero Has Been Assigned The New Director Position. E. SPORTS BETTING. Charlie Mormino will present this topic at the August meeting. He is hoping to bring in Yavapai Gaming for his presentation. Bars & Restaurants will be able to get a license. This new bill also includes Fantasy Teams, which could be huge for our community. It' s estimated Tax Wagering 154.4 Million Dollars in the First Fiscal Year F. CHRISTMAS CITY PRESENTATION AND FUNDING REQUEST. PRESENTORS: 1. Sheri Heiney— CEO Prescott Chamber 2. MJ Smith— Prescott Downtown Partnership Together PDP & the Chamber will share history with how it' s funded, how they plan to grow, and their collaboration efforts. Grant money from state will used to promote the whole season. Current Expenses for Signature Events: COURTHOUSE LIGHTING 100K BOOT DROP 25K HOLIDAY LIGHT PARADE 15K PARADE 12K ACKER NIGHT 7. 5K The Arizona Christmas City Committee want to approach sponsorships as a collective group. Money is currently raised in the same quarter as the event. Both PDP and The Chamber rely on volunteers and are non-profit groups. The economic impact for the whole season is estimated to be 20 million. However, 80% of the Christmas City budget is raised by volunteers, 20% is city support. COVID made the groups understand how fragile their funding is for city signature events. The numbers shown in the presentation is hard logistical expense numbers only. Having the umbrella of` Arizona' s Christmas City' allows money to be used more efficiently. The goal is to bring people during the week and give them something to look forward to all season. The wish is— for TAC to support ` Arizona' s Christmas City' this Christmas season and going forward. The committee is asking for 160K. See presentation turned in to Clerk' s Office. The zoom video is also available. John Heiney commented that per the City Manager Michael Lamar, council is reviewing proposed 95k currently budgeted. As an advisory committee, TAC should approve the 95k that is already in the works or suggest more funding. Additional funding could be maneuvered but would have to be approved by council. Charlie Mormino asked the presenters if 160k is the minimum what would be the dream number. Sheri Heiney said ' our goal is fund the minimum every year and fundraise going beyond that'. John Heiney proposed that additional money could come from a contingency fund. Margo Christensen said bed tax numbers are up and wondered if that was a possibility. Cindy Gresser asked about 119k that has been fundraised previously from volunteers, and was wondering if that is still a possibility. MJ Smith confirmed that the volunteer fundraising is still possible and will allow for growth and expanded events. Supplemental funding from the City will also secure key events if businesses are not able to contribute as they have in the past. Sheri Heiney explained that the wish is for security and to remove the burden from small business owners. Jim Dawson supports this presentation 100% and considers it a smart idea for event maximization. Charlie Mormino suggested a long term strategy and coming up with a higher number to get above ' bare bones funding'. Jim Dawson— made a MOTION to support `Arizona' s Christmas City' efforts with a total funding of 160k on a 1 time basis for this year and revisit on a longer term basis, in terms of profit/ loss and revenue, pending council approval. SECOND by Cindy Gresser. Robert Coombs, Margo Christensen, Matt Brassard recused themselves. John Heiney— It' s rare that three members recuse themselves but per Council as long as a majority exists a motion could still be passed. MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY 4/ 4. John Heiney— ` Arizona' s Christmas City' presentation will go before council in July. Jim Dawson— had questions about the light font in the Arizona Christmas City Logo, Sheri Heiney said it has been considered and other options will be available for embroidery etc. Margo Christensen- asked if Council approves this additional funding will it would go into effect this Christmas season? Sheri Heiney & MJ Smith said yes. G. TAC Committee Representation At Events— a. John Heiney: This came up during a meeting with the Corvette Club who proposed having TAC members attended their reception. TAC approved 29 event grants this year between TAC/PAAHC. It would essentially be a sign-up sheet. Margo Christensen thinks it good idea, but we would need TAC name tags. Robert Coombs thinks it' s a super idea. Jim Dawson agrees, additionally says this helps the grant subcommittee to understand if the grant application fits with the event perception. Ann Steward mentioned that sometimes applications are written by volunteers and the applications are not up to par with the true quality of the event. H. Staff Reports 1. STR REPORTS ( Smith Travel Research)— Ann Steward - April is up approximately 40k from 2019. Reports are emailed to staff weekly& monthly, they include average daily rate, occupancy and REV par. STR operates in almost every city across the world. However, twice last year they paused data collection twice due to COVID. Occupancy— how many rooms are filled out of rooms available ADR- average daily rate Rev par 2. April & 2021 is a record year, daily rate is up and rooms are full. 15 Million (Half way through) compared to 9 Million Total Last Year. Heather Herman— These numbers are amazing and make my day. Ann—Steward - We practiced responsible marketing during COVID which help sustain us. We also benefitted when our neighbors closed their doors. 3. Community Outreach Report. Airport Terminal Grand Opening this weekend. 4. Sales& Marketing Report. Heather Herman mentioned getting lots of media inquiries, AZ Republic will be 4th of July piece. They also wrote another piece on downtown whiskey row/ best things to do in Prescott this summer. AZ Central. The Arizona Office of Tourism partnered with Charitable Travel— a company that book tours in UK( when allowed) we will have a Prescott presence on their website, a portion of proceeds from bookings will go to Arizona' s leave no trace campaign. We have a one year commitment with them. Predicts it will be very successful. 5. Tourism& Economic Development. Ann Steward said we have lots of training going on, updates to the website, assessed inventory, been a great time for Cristina. We found a way to understand how many Airbnb' s are in the area— AIRDNA. We purchased Placer. Ai and is a geo- fencing data collection company. We have completed an Inventory collection of hotel rooms— currently sitting at 1482. A couple of rooms are missing from the report: Apple Creek Cottages & Hampton Inn who is remodeling. 6. Recreation Services. Ann Steward read notes from Parks& Rec on behalf of Joe Baynes: Splash park opened with a great turnout( Thank you Chamber for your assistance!) we have not installed counters yet but are seeing hundreds per day. We have started trail construction at Goldwater lake ahead of lower lake improvements anticipated to be started in September. The trail construction will allow for a loop trail that will circle both lakes as well as a fishing trail around the lower lake. We are putting the finishing touches on the 4th of July fireworks event at Watson Lake. Ticket sales are very strong. We are working with the Tourism Department on setting up Geo- fencing areas. 7. Airport Update. Ann Steward read notes from the Airport on behalf of Kristi Miller.