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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-19 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, February 19, 2009— 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OATH OF OFFICE IV. OLD BUSINESS A. SHUTTLE UPDATE V. NEW BUSINESS A. METROPLEX MEETING PLANNERS SALES PROMOTION B. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUESTS C. MSD PROCEEDS VI. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. PCMA TRADE SHOW B. RCMA TRADE SHOW LP, C. SOUTHWEST SHOWCASE D. AMERICAN BUS ASSOCIATION E. GO WEST SUMMIT F. FORT WORTH HOME & GARDEN SHOW G. AAA TRAVEL SHOWS—SAN ANTONIO, AUSTIN, HOUSTON H. OKLAHOMA CITY HOME & GARDEN SHOW VII. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES A. HOTEL UPDATES B. ATTRACTION UPDATES VIII. FESTIVAL & EVENTS REPORT ACITIVITES A. SWEETHEART EXPRESS IX. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT X. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES A. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION— DESIGN GUIDELINES XI. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES 1. JUBILEE REPORT 2. UPCOMING CONCERTS & MOVIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES XII. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Ev Barnes Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Terri Shimmel Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Bill Streidl Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Tom Kormondy Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT: Andrew Davidson Board Member Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order and welcomed new board member Bill Streidl. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the January 15, 2009 meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. OATH OF OFFICE Laura Simmons administered the oath of office to new board member Bill Streidl. OLD BUSINESS Shuttle Update Mr. McCallum reported that trial routes were conducted with council members on January 30th. It will be brought back before Council in March. Mr. McCallum shared the proposed routes with the board with two routes starting at the Grand Hyatt and two routes starting at the Gaylord. The 25-passenger perimeter seating coaches will be wrapped to promote Grapevine. Board of Directors Meeting February 19, 2009 Page 2 of 5 NEW BUSINESS Metroplex Meeting Planners Sales Promotion Mr. Kakos reported that 125 meeting planners and guests are expected at tonight's pre- Oscar Meeting Planner event at the Palace Arts Center. Invites were issued through e- mail and phone calls to local meeting planners. The event from 4:30 — 7:30 p.m. is to identify local meetings for the current year. Grants-In-Aid Requests Mr. McCallum presented the request from Level Ground Arts who put on Julius and Monty Python. A motion to approve the grant in the amount of$2,600 was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. Mr. McCallum presented the request from Traveler's Aid for the 5th Annual Chocolate Festival. A motion to approve the grant in the amount of$2,500 was made by LuAnn Chapman Gatts and seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. MSD Proceeds Mr. McCallum presented a proposal to donate a portion of the proceeds, $2,500 to (lw $7,500 depending on the success of Main Street Days to an organization that is supporting those who now find themselves out of work due to the economy. He suggested North Texas Food Bank, Texas Workforce Commission, and United Way. John Imaizumi and LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a joint motion that we do a 50/50 split between the North Texas Food Bank and the Texas Workforce Commission, seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the convention sales team produced 18 leads representing 26,507 potential room nights, twelve of the leads for 2009, and assisted with ten definite bookings with 5,031 room nights, nine for 2009. They conducted three national and four local site inspections and co-sponsored a luncheon for the Dallas Fort Worth Association Executives at the Hilton with 55 planners in attendance. Staff attended Southwest Showcase in Austin where they met with 30 meeting planners and returned with four RFPs. The participated in the Religious Conference Managers Association in Grand Rapids meeting with fifteen planners and returning with two leads and five potential leads. Staff also participated in Professional Conference Management Association in New Orleans. Dallas will host this meeting in 2010 and it should present some exposure opportunities for our hotels. Tourism sales produced 13 leads representing 475 potential room nights. They assisted with eight definite bookings representing 395 room nights and conducted one site inspection. Staff participated in the American Bus Association in Charlotte, completing 32 appointments and co-hosting a breakfast. Staff attended the Go West Summit, completing 22 appointments. Staff also participated in AAA Travel Shows in San Antonio, Austin and, Houston, as well as, Board of Directors Meeting February 19, 2009 Page 3 of 5 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. the Oklahoma City Home & Garden Show. This was the first time to participate in the Oklahoma City show which was well attended. Destination services provided assistance to three groups representing 2,800 attendees and distributed 81,160 brochures. They welcomed 4,158 guests to the Visitor Information Center. The Grapevine Convention Center booked 35 future groups with 7,295 attendees and had total revenue for the month of$41,935. The Palace Arts Center booked 34 future groups with 3,450 attendees and had total revenue of$21,065. The web site traffic for January was 74,338 unique visitors. This was a decrease from 2008's 79,599. Media relations generated $205,212 in print publicity and $12,541 in electronic publicity for a total media impact of$217,753. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • This year, four of six Grapevine's full service/uxury hotels were awarded the AAA Four Diamond Award! • Embassy Suites Outdoor World (iw • Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center on Lake Grapevine • Grand Hyatt DFW • Hilton DFW Lakes AAA Four Diamond Awards are based on delivering a luxury experience with excellent service. For 2009, a total of 1,992 establishments received the Four Diamond Rating (1,224 hotels and 768 restaurants). AAA Four Diamond hotels and restaurants represent just 3.4 percent of the 58,000 AAA Approved and Diamond Rated properties. • Hyatt Place Grapevine was awarded for being # 2 in Group Sales for the Nation within Hyatt Place. • Hilton Garden Inn has moved their opening date to March 26, 2009 and they will keep a 30-day cushion so they will not sell space before April 26, 2009. • The Hilton DFW Lakes and Embassy Suites Outdoor World have both completed renovations. The Holiday Inn Express started their renovation on January 11TH and will be through in May, 2009. The Hyatt Regency DFW has completed renovations to the ballroom and is still working on the 11th floor conference center. • The Super 8 Hotel has a new updated hotel logo. • Springhill Suites — new DOS is Kelly Brewer; Homewood Suites - Melissa Marioni came on board in December as the new DOS; Fairfield Inn & Suites — Shannon Lodes is the DOS. • Dallas City Council voted yesterday and approved a Hotel Developer Agreement with Matthews Holdings Southwest, Inc. as the firm to build the hotel complex. Board of Directors Meeting February 19, 2009 Page 4 of 5 HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • At this year's Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida — room demand was down by 25,520 room nights; the average room rate paid was $240.99 while the year before in Phoenix it was $310.90. The revenue of$25.8 million came in well behind the $41.2 million and $42.9 million for the previous two years. • Airline Reduction in Flights: at DFW dropping 8% of flights while Las Vegas - down 15%; Chicago -down 8.4%; Los Angeles- down 10.5%; Salt Lake City - down 14.6%; Cincinnati- down 50%; and Milwaukee -down 23.4% • Peggy Weaver is the new general manager at Grapevine Mills. She was formerly with the Dallas Galleria mall. • New restaurant in town is Pauly's New York Pizza and Pasta. It is located next to Bartley BBQ. • Patty Cakes Bakery and Catering has moved into the house previously used by Super Suppers on East College Street. • Reflections has moved from its Jenkins location and is sharing space with Anderson's Trading Company. Let's Pretend Tea Parties is moving into the old Reflections location. Cir • Chillgrapevine opened this week in the old Tin Spirits location at Dallas Road and Main Street. Food is upscale American fare. • Note received after a recent site visit reflecting business in the year for the year— A Sept. 27 - Oct. 3, 2009 meeting with attendance of 2,000... Thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality you showed us during our visit to the Gaylord Texan and your wonderful city. We appreciate all you did for us, and we look forward to hosting our meeting in Grapevine in September. Please pass along our appreciation to Mayor Tate and Fabian and Yasmine as well. The luncheon was such an honor and a "treat"for us. Best Wishes, Jim, Nicole, Rachel, and Vincent Professional and Scientific Associate FESTIVALS AND EVENTS REPORT Sweetheart Express Mr. McCallum reported that this year we did two runs for the Sweetheart Express on Friday and Saturday the 13th and 14th and had a combined ridership of 540 passengers. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that the coaches have been cleaned and renovated during the month of January. We have received two good bids for repairs to 2248 and staff is evaluating which is the best way to proceed. } Board of Directors Meeting February 19, 2009 Page 5 of 5 HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES Historic Preservation Commission - Design Guidelines Mr. McCallum reported that Grapevine established its Preservation Ordinance in 1991 and the last update was in 2003. New materials with a longer life expectancy are now in the marketplace. The Heritage Programs and Preservation staff are working on proposed changes and additions to the guidelines which they expect to be adopted at the preservation level in the next 60 days and then they will go up to Council. The proposals include additions to the current list of landmarked buildings, a section on new products, requirements regarding windows, and a section on the Conservation District Ordinance. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Pat Stinson reported that Jubilee was new with a Hollywood theme this year. It was a fun evening and had over 250 participants. It was a hard sell this year, perhaps because the date was moved up. Staff created a six-minute video on the Foundation which was shared at the event. Chamber of Commerce Activities Tom Kormondy reported that the Chamber has 848 members and is number nine in the top 25 Chambers based on membership according to Fort Worth Business Press. They have changed the format of the Grapevine newsletter and it looks very good. The Business Solutions meeting was held this morning and was well attended. The Senior Services Alliance, a new program this year, has had great participation and had to move locations to have enough space. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by John lmaizumi. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L