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