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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTDC Sept 2022 MinutesST. LUCIE COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL MEETING Wednesday September 14, 2022 ◊ 12:30 P.M. MINUTES Members present: Chair Chris Dzadovsky, St. Lucie County Terissa Aronson, SLC Chamber of Commerce Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson, City of Fort Pierce Cathy Matos, Homewood Suites Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan, City of Port St. Lucie Paul Taglieri, New York Mets Members Absent: Lisa Cataline, Ocean Village Vacation Rentals Francesca Michael, Hilton Garden Inn Donna Qvarnstrom, Cobbs Landing Staff present: Katherine Barbieri, St. Lucie County Attorney Charlotte Bireley, St. Lucie County Tourism Katherine Cordero, St. Lucie County Tourism Also present: Craig Campbell, St. Lucie County Tax Collector Jennifer Cutter, FAU Harbor Branch Emily Curtis, Residence inn by Marriott Robert Delgadillo, St. Lucie County Dan Fullman, Sunnier Palms Rick Hatcher, Play Treasure Coast Jill Hanson, Play Treasure Coast Julanne Martin, Sunnier Palms Karen Marrone, Hutchinson Island Plaza Hotel & Suites Kelsie Stickles, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Pierce West T.A. Wyner, Sunnier Palms 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Chris Dzadovsky called the meeting to order at 12:34 PM. 2. ROLL CALL Katherine Cordero called roll. Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ September 14, 2022 Page 2 of 4 3. SELF- INTRODUCTIONS & WELCOME 4. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Terissa Aronson made a motion to approve the minutes from June. Councilwoman Morgan seconded. 6. Welcome from Holiday Inn Express & Suites Kelsie Stickles, Director of Sales of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, welcomed everyone, spoke briefly about the renovations that have recently been completed, and provided lunch for the council. 7. Reports from Municipalities Councilwoman Morgan requested that hoteliers get involved with the City Center Master Plan as meetings for public input are starting now. She also mentioned Charlotte would be giving an update on Altitude Holdings, the possible new owner of Club Med. Commissioner Johnson had several updates on the ongoing and upcoming projects for Fort Pierce: - The city is moving the old power plant and doing exploration under the area for Kings Landing. - Governor DeSantis came to the City of Fort Pierce to present them with a check for $2.7 million to improve areas from Seaway Drive through Indian River Drive into Downtown Fort Pierce. - The city extended their agreement with the fisherman’s wharf to sell the property to develop it as part of the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency. There are plans for an automated boat storage and restaurants. - The city is renewing their registration process for vacation rentals. 8. Reports from Tourism Staff Financial Report: Charlotte Bireley announced the April 2022 TDT collections were 20% higher than 2021 and 51% over those in 2019; May’s were 19% over 2021, but 84% over 2019; June’s had a slight dip of 6.5% compared to 2021 but 77% higher than 2019. Charlotte also announced July’s revenues were 1.4% higher than 2021, and 64% higher than 2019. Year-to-date the overall TDT is 37.5% higher than 2021, and 50.5% higher Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ September 14, 2022 Page 3 of 4 than 2019. Charlotte also noted that as of June 2022, Visit St. Lucie’s portion of the bed tax is just over a million dollars versus the budgeted $770,00. Hotel performance report: Charlotte reported occupancy for April, May, and June and are all down about 5% from 2021, but ADR is very high which is contributing to the higher collections. For example, April 2022 occupancy was up 12% compared to April 2019 but ADR was up 35% compared to April 2019. She also noted the vacation rental accounts are adding to this collection. Charlotte summarized the digital & social reports. She informed the overall Visit St. Lucie site performance is up 58% year over year. The “Places to Stay” page is up 19% month over month and 39% year over year with a significant increase toward the camping/RV section since the pandemic. New markets such as North Carolina and Illinois have been visiting the site. Social media is up in July and August and is crediting more content, specifically Instagram Reels for this increase. Charlotte briefly spoke on the annual Citi Field table activation and the successful geofencing campaign which delivered over 2 million impressions to visitors of Citi Field. Earned Media: Katherine Cordero reported multiple articles were results of the recent VISIT FLORIDA FAM tour that was conducted in early June. She also reported one specific article from the tour was published in a Brazilian online magazine and reached over 50,000 people and had an earned value of over $1800. She also mentioned the press release announcing the casting call for season 2 of the Treasure Coast’s podcast was picked up locally and encouraged the council to spread the word about the search. 9. Regular Agenda a. Summer Expedia Campaign Summary Charlotte Bireley explained the goals identified for this campaign were to drive up hotel demand during the low season and increase awareness of St. Lucie as a South Florida beach destination. Budget-conscious travelers searching for hotels in the beach destination of the South Florida market were targeted through aligning the campaign with the low season time period and conversion-driven to generate hotel bookings through Expedia. The campaign was successful, running July-August 2022 with over 761.3K impressions, with a click-through rate of .11 compared to the target of .08, generated 466 room nights equating to over $76K in gross bookings and a 3.9 return on ad spend. b. 2023 Economic Impact and Visitor Tracking Study Charlotte Bireley announced the next study will be launching in January and encouraged hoteliers and attractions to participate. c. Nature & Wildlife Pass Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ September 14, 2022 Page 4 of 4 Katherine Cordero announced the Nature & Wildlife Pass, and all it encompasses. She also detailed the objective, target audience, marketing campaign and PR/media timeline for the project. Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson suggested reaching out to campgrounds, preserves, Mainstreet Fort Pierce, as well as Lincoln Park community. d. General Updates Charlotte Bireley presented a clip from a morning news broadcast in Tampa where a travel journalist spoke about places to visit in the fall in Florida and featured the Treasure Coast. She also presented some photos from the Citi Field activation including Commissioner Sean Mitchell throwing out the first pitch at one of the games. In order to draw people to the table, Visit St. Lucie had a Plinko game for passerby’s to play which drew over 350 people to the table on the August 14th game. Paul Taglieri announced the Mets have a new Chief Marketing Officer and is working with him to market Spring Training through the rest of the season and through the off- season. Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky noted the airport is ready for charters and suggested working with Delta. Charlotte presented photos from a preview event thrown by Derektor, where Visit St. Lucie worked with local restaurants, breweries, and other small business to donate raffle prizes all highlighting St. Lucie County. 10. Other Business Charlotte Bireley announced Club Med is now Sandpiper Bay Resort, a part of the Trademark Collection by Wyndham and there will be a fairly major renovation taking place at the property. Paul Taglieri reported the St. Lucie Mets are in the playoffs. T.A. Wyner announced Sunnier Palms is reopening to the public on October 1st and their 30th Anniversary party will be November 12th. Rick Hatcher announced the Firefighter’s Challenge is returning to Fort Pierce on Thursday, September 22nd and encouraged everyone to attend. Commissioner Dzadovsky announced IRSC will likely be the Firefighter Challenge training center for the state of Florida. Jennifer Cutter announced FAU Harbor Branch is celebrating their 50th anniversary, is offering campus tours every morning as well as Science Saturday events, and launched a citizen science program, called dolphin spotter to help track dolphins behavior and activity. 11. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 1:31 PM.