THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF VERNON

Transcription

1 THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF VERNON MINUTES OF TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2014 OKANAGAN LAKE ROOM PRESENT: VOTING: Ed Buie, Journey Inn, Chair Ingrid Baron, Vernon Farmers Market Joan Spencer, Village Green Hotel Claus Larsen, RPB Hotels & Resorts (Best Western) Dan Rogers, Chamber of Commerce Kevin O Brien, Kalavida Surf Shop Lara Konkin, Downtown Vernon Association Terry Yacyshen, The Rise, Vice Chair NON-VOTING: Councillor Lord ABSENT: STAFF: Roseanne Van Ee, Member at Large Aaron Deans, Allan Brooks Nature Centre Jay Bolbrugge, Tiki Village Kim Flick, Director, Community Development Sherri Biluk, Committee Clerk ORDER ADOPTION OF AGENDA The Chair called the meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Moved by Joan Spencer, seconded by Claus Larsen: THAT the agenda for Wednesday, Tourism Advisory Committee meeting be amended to: ADD: - NEW BUSINESS 4.d) Branding ADD: - NEW BUSINESS 4.e) Contact Silver Star AND FURTHER, that the agenda be adopted as amended. CARRIED. 1

2 ADOPTION OF MINUTES Moved by Kevin O Brien, seconded by Ingrid Baron: THAT the minutes of the meeting held Wednesday, September 17, 2014 be adopted as circulated. CARRIED. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: TOURISM MANAGER RECRUITMENT A Press Release included in the agenda package announced that a new Tourism Manager will be starting work at the City of Vernon on November 3, Again, the committee members that assisted in the recruitment of the new Tourism Manager were thanked for their efforts. Ms. Ange Chew has accepted the position and will be working out of the Community Services Building until she gets to know everyone. Ms. Chew comes to Vernon with strong tourism experience and a diverse set of skills and staff are very excited to have her on board. Both the Chair and Vice Chair offered to spend time with the new tourism manager in a resource capacity. 400m SIGNAGE ON HIGHWAY 97 Staff are monitoring the issues that some visitors are having with the 400m signage directing tourists to the new Visitor Information Centre. If a trend is noticed, staff will bring this item back in the new year as at this point in time there are not a great deal of problems reported. DIRT PILE IN VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE PARKING LOT This item was discussed briefly at the last committee meeting with staff advising that they would contact the maintenance foreman to see why the dirt was deposited at this site? The pile of dirt has been removed from the Visitors Information Centre parking lot. The challenge is changing operational protocols as ice from the arena has historically been deposited on the property. Staff are working together to determine alternate locations. VISITORS CENTRE CALL TO ACTION AND TOURISM ENGAGEMENT REPORT The Chair reviewed the Calls to Action and the Tourism Engagement Report. 2

3 RIGHT MIND MEDIA GO MEDIA EVENT AND MEDIA UPDATE Go Media is an event that provides an opportunity for Canada s tourism industry to sit down with journalists from other countries and share information that will inspire future travelers. The Chair summarized the 26 appointments with journalists that were attended by tourism contractor Ms. Holly Wood, from Right Mind Media at the August st Go Media Canada event held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Journalists who are travel writers for various magazines attended the event from across Canada, USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Japan, China and India With reference to the proposed Celebrity Sports Event, the event is currently set for May 27 to June 1, 2015, as outlined in the update. The proposed date of the event was discussed briefly and does not fall within the accommodator s peak season, which was an original concern for committee members. The weather could go either way at that time of year. Ideally it would be good to promote the fall but it is difficult to be everything to everyone and these are the dates that work for both Sparkling Hill and Predator Ridge. The committee members were in support of the proposed dates. It was noted that the sub-committee for the Celebrity Sports event, that was struck back in February 2014, was a condition of funding and was set up to maximize Vernon s Exposure. The sub-committee involvement would ensure that the City is kept informed of the event as it unfolds. NEW BUSINESS: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST The new Visitor Information Centre has a vacant, very large room at the back of the building. Different options for the space have been discussed by staff and the tourism provider that would augment the Centre s roll in attracting visitors and residents to the facility to showcase our community, our products, services and amenities. If the committee is supportive of this direction, and if Council approves, a call of Expressions of Interest could be made inviting ideas as to what interested parties may propose for the space. 3

4 EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Moved by Joan Spencer, seconded by Claus Larsen: THAT the recommends that Council authorize staff to create a call for Expressions of Interest to fill the vacant space at the new Visitors Information Centre and bring those results back to the committee for consideration. CARRIED. SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATES Events Sub-Committee (Ingrid B & Aaron) Nothing to report at this time. Marketing Action Team (Joan & alternate Terry) Nothing to report at this time. MRD Tax Renewal Sub-Committee (Claus, Jay, Ed & Joan) A report and recommendation was provided to Council yesterday, requesting support to submit a renewal application for the Municipal Regional District Hotel Tax. A Draft Hotel Room Tax Bylaw #5524 has also been submitted to Council to support a hotel tax for a further five year term in the City of Vernon. It was stated that there is enough backing by Vernon accommodators to support the renewal application with 60% of the properties signing their support. Councillor Lord left the meeting at 8:40 a.m. INFORMATION ITEMS: AHRT SMALL ACCOMMODATORS MARKETING INCENTIVE POLICY AND GUIDELINES Currently, under the Corporate Policy for AHRT Small Accommodators, there is a marketing incentive where small accommodators can leverage their marketing dollars, for eligible costs, for matching funds up to $ per year. Since the Policy was adopted by Council in January 2013, only two small accommodators have utilized the marketing assistance. It was decided that two things are required to get the small accommodators engaged and take advantage of the funding: 4

5 Provide education educating the small accommodators so they know how to access the resources that are available to them. It was suggested that this would be a perfect opportunity for the new Tourism Manager to take on. Increase the monetary amount by a percentage or raise the cap to $1,000 annually in matching funding were suggested. It was agreed that the criteria for the two items be reviewed in order to encourage the smaller accommodators to take advantage of the funding. ACTION ITEM: Send out a word copy of the Policy in order for the committee members to review the criteria in the AHRT Small Accommodators Marketing Incentive Policy. BRANDING - UPDATE The Economic Development Branding Action Team met last week to brainstorm a rebrand for Vernon. The team is moving forward on an action plan to set the stage for rebranding and looked at concepts around what people think of Vernon, what is Vernon known for and how does Vernon differ from other communities. The meeting was a creative process of discovery to come up with ideas for a tag line that suits Vernon and defines what Vernon is all about. The Action Team will meet again on November 18 th where they will hold a workshop. It was pointed out that the use of the City of Vernon crest on the top of the agenda, rather than the Make it Yours logo confuses the message of the City by using two different logos. SILVER STAR COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE A discussion ensued around the representative from Silver Star Mountain, as it was felt that their representation contributed to the committee and was a definite asset Silver Star has not provided an alternate to their representation since the spring. ACTION ITEM: Staff to investigate further and advise the committee members by . 5

6 OKANAGAN PRINT TRIENNIAL A release from the Vernon Public Art Gallery Executive Director, was summarized for the committee by the Chair. The release advises that the Vernon Art Gallery has outgrown its facility and wishes to host a printmaker s exhibition which requires temporary spaces around downtown to accommodate the exhibition. It was pointed out that the Cultural plan is currently under development at the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee with 41 stakeholders on the steering committee. There was a desire to have the plan wrapped up before the election which would provide a location for both the Greater Vernon Museum and the Vernon Public Art Gallery. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING ADJOURNMENT The next meeting of the is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. in the Okanagan Lake Room. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 a.m. CERTIFIED CORRECT: Chair 6