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Home My WebLink About2001-05-17 Regular Meeting t Y' CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, May 17, 2001 - 11:30 am mWALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS 111 AGENDA 1111I. CALL TO ORDER I II. INTRODUCTIONS p III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM APRIL 26, 2001 MEETING p IV. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT t V. OLD BUSINESS I A. MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. LOUIS SALES MISSIONS REPORT B. EXCURSION TRAIN UPDATE I VI. NEW BUSINESS 111 A. PRESENTATION BY STEVE TRENT - HYATT REGENCY EAST B. BUDGET STRATEGY UPDATE C. MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT D. MAIN STREET DAYS FAM 0111 VII. ADJOURNMENT I MI STATE OF TEXAS (iiry COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, May 17, 2001 at the Wallis, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Bill Brink Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member Paul Jennings Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Robert Thrailkill Board Member Steve Trent Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Aaron Compton Grapevine Chamber Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Director of Marketing Absent: Don Bigbie Chairman Phil Parker Board Member (11, Gary Blagg Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation CALL TO ORDER Kathee Livengood called the meeting to order. INTRODUCTION Mr. McCallum introduced Susan Burk as the new sales manager for the CVB. Susan has owned her own business and been very involved in direct sales. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the April 26, 2001 meeting was made by Bill Brink and seconded by Steve Trent. Motion carried. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported 19 leads representing over 5,000 room nights. CVB staff will work with the hotels to monitor the results of the leads produced. Three leads went definite this month representing 7,467 roomnights. Four groups with 2,500 attendees were assisted with convention services during the month. The Visitor Information Center counts are up assisting approximately 14,600 visitors for April. In April staff participated in the Texas Travel Counselors Conference. The bureau hosts a breakfast with an interactive skit and participates in the trade show. Attendees are the counselors who man the state visitor centers along the Texas borders. Mr. Kakos shared the Texas Vacations edition of Southern Living which contained an article, Super Shopping in Little Texas, in which Grapevine was featured. Board of Directors Meeting (iw May 17, 2001 Page 2 of 3 OLD BUSINESS Minneapolis and St. Louis Sales Missions Report Mr. Kakos reported that the sales team was represented in St. Louis by Toni Hopkins who made 9 sales calls and identified 14 potential pieces of business representing over 18,000 roomnights. We will return to St. Louis in the fall. Marcy Roitman represented the bureau in Minneapolis making 9 sales calls and returning with one lead for 1,800 roomnights and an additional 21 potential leads representing in excess of 9,000 roomnights. Excursion Train Update The locomotive pulled out on the turntable this morning. The mechanics have worked 61 days on the rebuild, which normally takes 5-6 months minimum. We have received FRA certification and are scheduled to run. We have located the sister engine 2252. We are in discussions with Roseville, California where negotiations with the city are going through the public process. Memorial Day weekend will start 7 day a week service, steam four days and diesel three. The train operations are self-funded and it will hopefully fund its capital improvements as well. We plan to increase revenues through additional food and souvenir concession sales. Will look for coop opportunities with radio stations etc. The budget for the train does not have added dollars from the CVB. Ridership is growing and we expect to see an increase with the start of steam operation. NEW BUSINESS Presentation—Hyatt Regency East Mr. Trent reported that as of May 1st they have handed over the keys to the west tower. The hotel's name is now Hyatt Regency DFW with no reference to "East Tower". The airport signage is changing. They are looking to move the front desk. Exhibit Hall A will reopen June 1St with 22,000 sq. ft which can be configured into 14 different breakout areas. The Hyatt Regency DFW can complement the new Grand Hyatt that is scheduled to open in 2005 with 300 rooms and 12-18,000 sq. ft. of public space. It will compete with properties such as the 4 Seasons. It will be a 4 1/2 star property and should take advantage of the international travel. The Bear Creek sale to Club Corp will close in September. They are redoing the greens and will work on the clubhouse. They are looking to do about 75% group and 25%transient business. Budget Strategy Update The budget process began in late April. The hotels are experiencing increased pressure from downtown Dallas coming after our properties' business. With approximately 600 rooms less we can expect up to $500,000 less in income. This year we eliminated all of our capital projects and have eliminated them again for next year with the exception of the Wallis improvements to accommodate 2 additional offices. We are looking at energy conservation measures, reevaluating memberships and subscriptions, considering ways to reduce postage costs, i.e. the web site to facilitate brochure distribution and e-mail to reduce direct mail costs. The board and council granted approval to sell advertising on brochures. On sales missions we are evaluating the appropriate number of sales managers to send, as well as, the number of days for each mission. We are evaluating the Board of Directors Meeting (6, May 17, 2001 Page 3 of 3 NEW BUSINESS cont. Budget Strategy Update cont. cooperative promotions we participate in. Some must stay for political reasons and in some we'll reduce or otherwise change our participation. We are confident we can accomplish our savings without impacting sales and marketing. The hotel Directors of Sales have given some great input at our meetings and have expressed the desire to co-op together. A discussion of multiple/duplicate mailings going to some folks followed with the suggestion of using e-mail to replace regular mail as a cost saving measure. Marketing Committee Report Mr. Kakos thanked Paul Jennings for chairing this year's marketing committee and Bill Brink for serving on the committee. The bureau will "stay the course"with the marketing plan and will continue to establish relationships with clients. We have reinforced the need for weekend and holiday business as a part of the sales manager's goals. This is the largest sales force we've had with 4 sales managers and 1 director of sales/manager and 2 in the tourism division. The bureau will leave the print advertising to our hotel's corporate offices. We will continue to attend the niche market shows we have attended and look for further specific opportunities. We have an Cor opportunity to piggyback with Opryland and do the PCMA show in January 2002. There were monies in this year's budget to create a housing bureau. There have been discussions between creating our own versus one operated by a third party provider. The latest time to have it in place is 2003; it will probably happen in late 2002. Main Street Days Fam There are 9 planners and 3 guests attending the Main Street Days Fam. The sales managers invited the attendees, who are known to have potential business for our area. Staff appreciated the hotel participation. ADJOURNMENT Before adjourning, Darlene Freed invited board members to participate in the 1S` legislative golf tournament at the Cowboys Golf Course. The plan is to have a Grapevine promoter with each group. Phil Cloud commended Javier Rodriguez for a great job on Hospitality Training. There being no further business to bring before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by consensus. ATTEST: DATE: