Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-10-16 Regular MeetingGRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, October 16, 2025 — 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters Boardroom 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Citizen Comments Any person who is not scheduled on the agenda may address the Convention & Visitors Bureau Board under Citizen Comments or on any other agenda item by completing a Citizen Appearance Request form with staff. A member of the public may address the CVBB regarding an item on the agenda either before or during the Board's consideration of the item, upon being recognized by the Board Chair or upon consent of the CVBB. In accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, the CVBB is restricted in discussing or taking action during Citizen Comments. 3. New Employee Introduction 4. Approval of Minutes 5. Sales & Marketing Report A. Fams and Site Visits B. Earned Media C. Advertising and Social 6. Ongoing Business A. Marketing Committee Report 7. New Business A. Christmas Capital of Texas Creative B. Sister Cities Report C. Approval of Grant for Restoration of 1912 Winfrey House 8. Liaison / Hotels / Attractions Updates A. Liaison Updates 9. Adjournment If you plan to attend this special public meeting and have a disability that requires special arrangements at the meeting, please contact the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau at (817) 410-3185 at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. Reasonable accommodations will be made to assist your needs. In accordance with Texas Government Code, Chapter 551.001 et seq, Acts of the 1993 Texas Legislature, the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board Meeting agenda was prepared and posted on this the 10th day of October, 2025 by 5:00 p.m. cky Roberson Executive Assistant County of Tarrant City of Grapevine State of Texas MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met in Regular Session on Thursday, October 16, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. at the Stephen W. Stinson Boardroom of the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau, 636 S. Main Street, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Joe Szymaszek Mark Terpening Cynthia Blankenship Jeff Babcock Fabien Goury Mike Oakley Kim Farbisz Chairman Vice Chairman Board Member Board Member Board Member Alternate Board Member Alternate Board Member Absent: Chuck Pacioni and lain Scouller Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Leon Leal Paul W. McCallum Leigh Lyons C.J. Gardner Becky Roberson Council Liaison Executive Director Assistant Executive Director Website Manager Executive Assistant CALL TO ORDER Board Chairman, Joe Szymaszek, called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. NEW EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTION Director McCallum introduced Gisele Garibay, Festival and Events Administrative Assistant and Kimberly Hale, Nash Farm Coordinator. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made to approve the minutes from the September 18, 2025 meeting. Motion: Cynthia Blankenship Second: Mark Terpening Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Blankenship, Babcock, Goury, Oakley, and Farbisz Nayes: None Approved: 7 - 0 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Executive Director McCallum reported on recent site visits and Familiarization tours. The Convention Sales Team hosted nine meeting planners for a Familiarization tour during the 39th Annual GrapeFest. The weekend showcased the host hotel, Hilton DFW Lakes as well as the other full -service Grapevine hotels, many off -site venues and attractions, and our Historic Main Street District. To date, the team has received four requests for proposals for Grapevine hotels and more are expected. The Convention Sales Team also hosted multiple site inspections throughout September. Together, these site visits represent more than 23,200 room nights for Grapevine hotels. Director of Leisure and International Sales, Heather Egan, hosted 20 tour operators over September 9-14. The tour operators are based in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and New Zealand and cover a variety of companies that currently have Grapevine in their itinerary offerings and some that are interested in adding Grapevine to their itineraries. Ms. Egan showcased group -friendly restaurants, shopping, hotels, and attractions throughout Grapevine. Mr. McCallum reported on recent activity on behalf of Grapevine from international partners. Faszination Fernweh, a German tour operator promoted Grapevine and the Texas Wine Trail itinerary at their wine festival. A tractor was adorned with banners reading "From Lutzelsachsen to Grapevine —where wine dreams come true." and "Enjoyment without limits. Welcome to Grapevine, Texas." Photographs of the tractor were shared with the group. Trudy van der Weide, a Travel Texas representative, attended the Visit USA Netherlands Road Shows and highlighted Grapevine in their booth. Assistant Director, Leigh Lyons, presented on earned media, which is media coverage that Grapevine receives via press releases or other forms of outreach to media. When a travel writer or broadcast journalist recommends your destination, the value of that recommendation carries great weight. Purchased advertising is valuable but earned media has proved to be an important avenue for growth. One example of earned media was a Christmas specific article in the New Zealand Herald Travel issue which showcased Grapevine. The travel writer attended a Christmas familiarization tour in 2024 and was able to experience everything that the Christmas Capital of Texas offers. The article referenced the Gaylord Texan Resort, Hilton DFW Lakes, Grapevine Mills, Meow Wolf, Bass Pro Shops, Grapevine Main Station, Grapevine Vintage Railroad, movies and live performances at the historic Palace Theatre, Chicken N Pickle, Grapevine Wine Tours, ornament making at Vetro Glassblowing and various winery tasting rooms and restaurants such as Esparza's Restaurante Mexicano, Tolbert's Restaurant & Chili Parlor and Winestein's Tasting Room. Tabs on Travel, a travel trade publication out of Australia also recognized Grapevine as the Christmas Capital of Texas and shared multiple activities and community businesses that embrace the Christmas season. The International Travel Writers Alliance, an international travel writer group, picked up one of our Christmas in Grapevine press releases and shared it with their readership. Assistant Director Lyons reported on and showed the television broadcast coverage from CBS 11 and Fox 4 promoting GrapeFest. There were multiple stories throughout the four - day festival across various television stations that showcased the 39' Annual GrapeFest. A press release about the winners of People's Choice Wine Competition prompted an article in the Dallas Morning News. The Association of Conventions & Facilities had a story on the new hotels and expansion projects in Grapevine. This particular publication is a key meetings trade publication and stories like these help keep Grapevine top of mind with qualified meeting planners. Ms. Lyons reported that each of the beforementioned articles or news stories is the result of press releases and follow up media outreach done by the Communications team. In addition, the team develops and shares multiple partner press releases each month resulting in further media coverage for Grapevine. Assistant Director Lyons presented on website traffic for the month of September. The pages receiving most views on the Visit Grapevine website were GrapeFest, Santa's North Pole Express, Buy Tickets and Events Calendar. The website welcomed more than 277 thousand users with more than one million page views. Viewers came to the website from multiple search engines including Google, Facebook, Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. The GrapeFest advertising campaign consisted of broadcast, print, radio, outdoor and digital social advertising. This was a multilayered approach using multiple platforms to create the most awareness and moving the consumer to a purchase decision. With the total GrapeFest impressions reported at more than 66 thousand, the largest contributor was outdoor billboards. Impressions covered a variety of sources including television, print, radio, digital/social and outdoor billboards. Social media platforms reported strong numbers for September, as well. The Visit Grapevine social accounts were reviewed. The monthly impression total for Facebook was 1.6 million, which was a 23% increase year over year. Instagram had a monthly impression total of more than 468 thousand which was a 62% increase year over year. YouTube had a monthly view total of 88 thousand. The view count was up considerably from previous months and that increase is attributed to the emphasis placed on the 39th Annual GrapeFest. There is a current live advertising campaign that highlights Texas Wine Month. The Texas Department of Agriculture emphasizes advertising programs like Texas Wine Month and purchases print ads in publications like Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, and in city magazines in Houston, Austin and D Magazine in Dallas Fort Worth. The CVB uses opportunities such as the Agriculture Department's campaign to leverage and deploy our own campaign with the goal to drive leisure and consumertourism into the wineries, attractions, hotels, restaurants and shopping venues. This campaign promotes the Grapevine Urban Wine Trail. Advertising via print, digital, marketing emails and organic boosting began during GrapeFest and will run through the end of October. ONGOING BUSINESS Jeff Babcock, Chairman of the Marketing Committee gave an update on the first two meetings of the committee. The second meeting was held yesterday and was a collaborative event with feedback being shared on behalf of partner hotels, wineries, restaurants and attractions. Convention Sales and trade shows as marketing opportunities were discussed. Marketing strategies were shared, with a focus on day trippers and overnight visitors. Multiple topics were reviewed including Grapevine's Visitor Shuttle program, the Urban Wine Trail, festivals, heritage, destination services, shopping, dining and other attractions. There will be a week for any participants to respond and offer feedback before a final draft is presented. Director McCallum gave a report on the Sister City program. With the assistance of numerous individuals, including Mayor Tate and the City Council, CVB Board members, City staff, and Sister City volunteers, the Sister City program successfully hosted eight high school students and forty-four delegates from our sister cities in the Barossa, Parras, and West Lothian. In addition to participating in GrapeFest activities and with the assistance of eight dedicated volunteers and six host families, the delegates toured Historic Main Street, Nash Farm, Kubota Corporation, area colleges, Grapevine Colleyville ISD campuses and other area attractions. The group met with representatives from Baylor Scott & White, attended the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony, participated in a Friday night high school football game, and experienced a ride on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad. Additionally, the delegates met with City staff for a brief overview of Grapevine's infrastructure. In support of our Sister City in Parras, Mexico, the City of Grapevine has generously donated a water pump truck to assist with transporting much -needed water to villages in the surrounding areas. Additionally, a meeting with Baylor Scott & White confirmed the donation of twelve pieces of hospital equipment to Parras, including ultrasound machines, an incubator, and x-ray equipment. Further support was offered by the Fire Chief of Wise County, shared that there is bunker gear and additional supplies available for donation to the volunteer fire department in Parras. All the supplies and equipment will be transported to the border in Del Rio in the very near future. The Mayor of Parras and the Rotary of Parras are coordinating pickup details. A delegate from our Sister City in West Lothian, Scotland -a retired tanker gunner, Peter Kerr, toured the artillery training facilities at Fort Hood. Upon his return to Scotland, he plans to share insights with the military museum of West Lothian, as well as some ideas gained from his experience. NEW BUSINESS Assistant Director Lyons reported that "Share the Joy" will continue to be the overarching theme for Christmas Capital of Texas creative as it creates a powerful and immediate positive feeling. Updates to the featured Santa were shared as well as an explanation of adding key elements such as the drone shows, recognizable photo ops and Main Street businesses. The display boards at Grapevine Mills that will be on display this month were shared. A variety of print ads, digital ads and a thirty second commercial were shared. Director McCallum reminded the group that earlier this year, the historic 1908 Winfrey House was moved from 750 Shady Brook in Grapevine to the rear of the property at 619 South Church Street, at the Ted R. Ware Plaza. It was reported that funds raised through annual festivals allowed for heritage projects to be fully funded and presented the board with a grant request in the amount of $55,000 to begin the restoration of the Winfrey House. The exterior of the house would be restored to its period of significance of 1908. It would be painted white on the exterior and the front porch columns restored. Upon completion of the renovation, the front porch of the house would serve as a stage for the plaza where musical and children's groups could perform and outdoor presentations could be given. The remainder of the house would be used for storage for the Grapevine Convention & Visitor's Bureau. Chairman Szymaszek called for a motion to use festival proceeds in the amount of $55,000 to restore the historic 1908 Winfrey House. Motion: Cynthia Blankenship Second: Mike Oakley Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Blankenship, Babcock, Goury, Oakley, and Farbisz Nayes: None Approved: 7 - 0 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS/ACTIVITIES Assistant Director Lyons, reported on recent openings in Grapevine. It was reported that Daytrip Diner opened on September 29 and offered a wide variety of elevated diner food for both breakfast and lunch. Settlers Park has acquired an additional 7.2 acres of land, and this additional acreage will be used for park expansion and parking, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026. Royal Jordanian Airlines announced it will launch service from Amman, Jordan to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport beginning in May 2026. Cowboys Golf Club plans to reopen in late October. Renovations began in June and include a new driving range with Toptracer technology and will include fiftyyards of game -used turf from AT&T Stadium. Other renovations include new greens, bunkers, tees, cart paths, Landscaping and an 18-hole putting course. Chairman Szymaszek shared that Bubble Planet at Grapevine Mills was set to open within days and Dig World would begin breaking ground the first week of December. ADJOURNMENT Board Chairman Szymaszek called for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 a.m. Motion: MarkTerpening Second: Jeff Babcock Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Blankenship, Babcock, Goury, Oakley, and Farbisz Nayes: None Approved: 7 - 0 ATTEST: /�11Ni • 1 Becky Roberson APPROVED: PIN" V, " I - �YM szek - Executive Assistant Chairman