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Home My WebLink About2011-10-20 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, October 20, 2011 — 8:00 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. BOARD MEMBER INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS IV. OLD BUSINESS A. SUMMER BLAST WRAP-UP V. NEW BUSINESS A. CHRISTMAS CAPITAL OF TEXAS PROMOTION VI. SALES & MARKETING REPORT VII. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VIII. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT IX. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES X. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Paul Slechta Chairman Tom Cherry Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Gracie Vega for John Imaizumi, Board member Dennis Roberts Board member Peggy Weaver Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Balla Wright Heritage Foundation Liaison Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Absent: Angela Mitcham Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Slechta called the meeting to order. Paul McCallum introduced Eva Elkemann, an Intern from our Sister City, West Lothian, Scotland. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the September 22, 2011 meeting was made by LuAnn Chapman Gatts and seconded by Dan Weinberger. Motion carried. BOARD MEMBER INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS • There are four new anchor stores this year at Grapevine Mills and Santa will arrive on November 12th • The Joey Wilkins Foundation Golf Benefit will be held on November 21st at Bear Creek with an evening event at Delaney Vineyards. • The LegoLand Discovery Center expansion will cover 9,000 sq-ft. and include a ride for four to nine year olds. This driving course is scheduled to open in April. • Michael Miori has been promoted to assistant director of festival and events. • October 27th is the tasting day at Weinberger's Deli for the upcoming Classic Chili Cook-Off. • A meeting to finalize details for the Classic Chili Cook-Off was set for Monday, October 24th at 6 p.m. at the Wallis. Board of Directors Meeting October 20, 2011 Page 2 of 4 OLD BUSINESS Summer Blast Wrap-Up Mr. McCallum reported that this was the third year for the Friday night fireworks. With the addition of Great Wolf Lodge, Paradise Springs, LegoLand Discovery Center and Sealife Aquarium, we now have the critical mass to grow overnight stays. We marketed to a 300-mile radius with over 400 minutes of TV advertising, approximately 300 minutes of radio and over 400 column inches of newspaper promotion. There was also over 13 inches of magazine ads, 50,000 Star tab insertions, more than six million online impressions and approximately 100,000 collateral pieces. In July hotel occupancy was at 73.5% versus 72.2% in 2010 and the average rate was up $11 to $131.17. In August hotel occupancy was at 70% up from 64.5% in 2010 and the average rate was up $3.50 to $131.70. Nineteen of our hotels offered summer packages. The Hilton hosted the Texas Women's Tennis Association tournament. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had the best summer ever. Merchants and restaurants had a good summer and the Historic Downtown Grapevine Association (HDGA) Summer Nights Program continued on Friday nights in July. NEW BUSINESS Christmas Capital of Texas Promotion Paul McCallum reported on the top ten reasons to visit Grapevine this Christmas season. Activities include Ice! at the Gaylord Texan which will feature Shrek along with the Kung Fu Panda snow tubing. Events also include the 49 Nights of Twinkling Lights, the North Pole Express, musicals and movies at the Palace Arts Center, shopping in downtown Grapevine as well as Grapevine Towne Center, Grapevine Mills and Bass Pro Shops. Other activities include Christmas wine trains, Reindeer games with Santa, Happy Howl-idays at Great Wolf Lodge, the Carol of Lights and two Christmas parades. Marketing of the many Christmas activities will include 850 minutes of TV advertising, approximately 2,000 minutes of radio along with 200 column inches of print and two million impressions of digital advertising. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that during the month of September the convention sales team produced 33 leads representing 43,995 potential room nights; five of the leads were for 2011 and 19 for 2012. Staff assisted with 14 definite bookings representing 20,316 room nights; four for 2011 and six for 2012. Staff conducted six site inspections and hosted 12 clients over GrapeFest weekend. They participated with the Gaylord Texan in a Dallas Cowboy/ Redskins game fam with four clients. The direct mail campaign to 220 potential clients has been a big success with various electronic products and culminating with a site visit to Grapevine. Board of Directors Meeting October 20, 2011 Page 3 of 4 SALES & MARKETING REPORT cont. Tourism sales produced five leads representing 142 room nights and 211 attendees; four for 2011 and one for 2012. They assisted with two definite bookings with 102 room nights, both for 2011. Staff hosted the American Bus Association Marketplace committee in preparation for the January convention. The Visitor Information Center staff distributed 44,800 brochures and welcomed 3,680 guests to the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to eight groups. Grapevine Shuttles carried 4,750 passengers. The Convention Center booked 19 future groups representing 6,225 attendees and had $53,364 in total sales. The Palace Arts Center booked 18 future groups representing 2,360 attendees and had $23,628 in total sales. The Concourse booked five future groups representing 325 attendees and had $6,297 in total sales. The website had 248,114 unique visitors and 10,961,588 hits. The advertising investment included 17 convention group trade publication print insertions, two leisure group trade publications, 84 consumer publications and 91 online insertions. TV and radio had 2,088 runs. Print publicity was $145,547; electronic publicity was $1,152,675 for a total of$1,298,222. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Kakos reported: • The Grand Hyatt DFW recently finished their $13 million renovation of its 298 guest rooms, meeting space and dining outlets. • The Hilton DFW Lakes has replaced all conference tables and carpeting in the conference center and updated carpeting and wall coverings in the Windfall dining room. • Mi Dia is now open in the complex on South Main Street. • South Prairie Oyster Bar on Main Street is closed and is reopening as a small neighborhood grocery store. • In-N-Out Burger has begun construction on Wm. D. Tate near Highway 114. • The 1,000-room Omni Hotel Dallas Convention Center will open on 11/11/11. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Balla Wright reported that Fall Round-UP on October 8th was a great success with approximately 2,500 participants. Tuesday night a presentation was made to Council on the moving of the Estill Cottage and the Soil Conservation Office to Nash Farm to be working educational structures. Also, Tuesday night the Council approved the D.E. Box Addition Historic Overlay. This landmarking will preserve and protect this 1948 — 1962 housing addition. Directors Meeting October 20, 2011 Page 4 of 4 LIAISON UPDATES cont. Heritage Foundation Activities cont. Upcoming events include Field to Fabric on October 22nd at Nash Farm, a Township Porch Party on October 28th at the home of Adair Foust, the Heritage Foundation's Annual Meeting on November 2nd at Nash Farm, the Candlelight Tour of Homes on November 5th and the 10th Anniversary of the Restoration of the Palace Arts Center on November 18th at the Palace. Chamber of Commerce Activities The Chamber will host a joint mixer on Tuesday, October 25tH ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, Tom Cherry made a motion to adjourn, seconded by LuAnn Chapman Gatts. Motion carried. L ATTEST: DATE: