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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTDC Jun 2023 MinutesST. LUCIE COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL MEETING Wednesday, June 14, 2023 ◊ 12:30 P.M. MINUTES Members present: Chair Chris Dzadovsky, St. Lucie County Lisa Cataline, Ocean Village Vacation Rentals Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson, City of Fort Pierce Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan, City of Port St. Lucie Ronnie Nichols, Residence Inn by Marriott Port St. Lucie Paul Taglieri, New York Mets Members Absent: Terissa Aronson, SLC Chamber of Commerce Cathy Matos, Homewood Suites Donna Qvarnstrom, Cobbs Landing Staff present: Katherine Barbieri, St. Lucie County Attorney Charlotte Bireley, St. Lucie County Tourism Katherine Cordero, St. Lucie County Tourism Tayler Hardison, St. Lucie County Tourism Kenan Wimbley, St. Lucie IT Also present: Jessica Kadie Barclay, Manatee Observation Center Brett Gordon, Madden Media Kevin Greene, Play Treasure Coast Sports Lauren Hartog, Madden Media Rick Hatcher, Play Treasure Coast Sports Danah Heye, Madden Media Ryan Strickland, Play Treasure Coast Sports Joe Sweat, Sunrise Theatre Larry Winter, Fort Pierce Vacation Rentals 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Chris Dzadovsky called the meeting to order at 12:38 PM. 2. ROLL CALL Katherine Cordero called roll. 3. SELF-INTRODUCTIONS 4. PUBLIC COMMENT Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 14, 2023 Page 2 of 4 No public comment. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson made a motion to approve the minutes from April. Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan seconded. 6. Reports from Municipalities a. Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan reported that she had a meeting with Port St. Lucie City staff regarding the City Center Master Plan. The city is looking to expand the event center and move the recreation area so it is strictly for conferences. They are also hoping to get a couple of hotels to build in the area. Councilwoman Morgan also reported the Jobs Corridor is almost complete, construction is slowing down a bit, and the city is working on the design for St. Lucie West Blvd. to go 6 lanes. b. Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson reported the City of Fort Pierce is looking to change the fee structure for vacation rental homes. Commissioner Johnson also reported the celebrations for the 100th year anniversary of the Fort Pierce Police Department as well as the 100th anniversary of the Sunrise Theatre are happening soon and invited everyone to attend the Sunrise Theatre’s Speakeasy celebration in late July. He also reported the City of Fort Pierce is continuing to work hard on different projects that will enhance tourism. He also reported there is no new news about Kings Landing. 7. Reports from Tourism Staff a. Financial Report: Charlotte Bireley announced the revenue for March 2023 was just over $996,000, the largest collection in the month of March, which is a 23.2% increase vs March 2022. April 2023 was just over $640,000, a 15% increase vs April 2022. Year-to-date the overall TDT is up 16%. Charlotte also reported St. Lucie County Tourism’s portion of the March revenue was $199,000 which is 50% higher than budgeted, and with expenses, the department’s net income was $179,584 for March 2023. The department’s portion of the April 2023 revenue was $124,931, 46% higher than budget, and the net income was $35,563. Charlotte highlighted that year-to-date, the department is 1% shy of meeting their budgeted revenue, collecting $941,690 of the $950,000 budgeted for the entire year, with 5 months of collections remaining in the fiscal year. b. Hotel Performance Report: Charlotte Bireley reported that although there has been an increase in revenue, occupancy and RevPAR are softening. The increase in hotels in the county and higher rates are credited to the increased revenue. Charlotte also informed the council this trend is occurring throughout the state of Florida. Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 14, 2023 Page 3 of 4 c. Tayler Hardison reported the overall Visit St. Lucie site performance is up significantly from last year, almost 100% increase from April and May of 2022 vs 2023. She also reported the average time someone visits the site is 1 minute 30 seconds. The webcams page remains in the top 6 pages visited on the website. Tayler announced the webcams will be live on the social media platforms on June 21st to celebrate the first day of summer. Year-over-year, the website’s organic traffic is up by 69%. Tayler reported the open rate for email marketing has increased to 30% and a 3% click-thru rate with 777 clicks. This also led to 115 requests for the inspiration guide. Facebook reach has gone up significantly. Tayler informed the council “average engagement” is a new stat that will be reported moving forward. Tayler also informed the council Instagram numbers fluctuate depending on if Reels are being posted or boosted. d. Earned Media: Katherine Cordero reported over 3 million dollars in earned media year-to-date, a 437% increase from the $575,307 last year, and over 57 million results/clicks, an 84% increase from last year’s 31 million. She highlighted 2 articles that were results from the Nature & Wildlife FAM that took place in late March, early April. The first article was published on NatureCoaster.com which has an average of 83,000 monthly views and approximately 30,000 of those are unique visitors. The second article is published in Florida Country Magazine which has over 250,000 subscribers of the physical magazine. One of the writers is a social media influencer and has made several posts and stories about St. Lucie, including one on Earth Day with over 917 likes and 160 comments and one geared towards foodies with over 863 likes and over 130 comments. 8. Regular Agenda a. Funding for TCIA Capital Improvements Charlotte presented a memo to the council regarding the airport improvement projects and airport marketing and informed the council this memo is the next step in the process of improving the airport for commercial flights. As capital projects at the airport are identified, the memo is asking the TDC to consider using 33% of the 5th cent, which is by county ordinance allocated for capital projects north of Midway Road that would promote tourism, as a match or resource for some of the projects to get the airport to the level of commercial service. She also noted back in the mid-2010’s the TDC used the same fund for the TCIA terminal design and build as well as the TCIA entranceway project in the amount of $284,375. The fund has approximately 2.1 million currently and is estimated to have about 2.5 million by the end of fiscal year 2024. Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky informed the council of some of the capital projects that have already been identified and the importance of them. Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan motioned to approve support using TDT funding of one-third of one percent for uses at the airport with the ability to bring back proposals to the TDC for any expenditures. Lisa Cataline seconded, and it was unanimously passed. Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 14, 2023 Page 4 of 4 b. Visitor Tracking & Economic Impact Study – 1st Qtr. Report President of Downs & St. Germain Research, Joseph St. Germain, presented the results of the first quarter of the visitor tracking and economic impact study. c. Market Perception Study President of Downs & St. Germain Research, Joseph St. Germain, presented the results of the market perception study. d. YTD Digital Marketing Performance Report Lauren Hartog from Madden Media provided a year-to-date report on the digital marketing performance of Visit St. Lucie. e. 2024 Budget Presentation Charlotte Bireley presented the proposed 2024 budget for St. Lucie County Tourism. Councilwoman Morgan made a motion to approve the proposed budget. Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson seconded. It was unanimously approved. 9. Other Business No other business. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 2:17 PM.