Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTDC Jun 2025 MinutesST. LUCIE COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL MEETING Monday, June 11, 2025 ◊ 10:00 A.M. Hutchinson Island Bar and Grill at Ocean Village MINUTES Members present: Terissa Aronson, SLC Chamber of Commerce Lisa Cataline, Ocean Village Vacation Rentals Ryan Collins, CasaGo/Oceanfront Inn Marika Sexton, Sandpiper Bay Resort Commissioner James Taylor, City of Fort Pierce Chair Cathy Townsend, St. Lucie County Members Absent: Gabriel Atkinson, Sailfish Brewing Company Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan, City of Port St. Lucie Donna Qvarnstrom, Cobbs Landing Staff present: Katherine Barbieri, St. Lucie County Assistant Attorney Charlotte Bireley, St. Lucie County Tourism Katherine Cordero, St. Lucie County Tourism Tayler Hardison, St. Lucie County Tourism Also present: Tom Bockenstette, Ocean Village Resident Josh Brown, Sinclair Travel, CBS12 News Craig Campbell, SLC Tax Collector Lara Currie, Ocean Village Gwynne Constantino, Residence Inn Marriott Lauren DeAcetis, St. Lucie Mets Al Gauthier, Sandpiper Bay Resort Derek Hankerson, Congressman Mast Susan Howells, MCI Michele Kuzare, Holiday Inn Port St. Lucie Robin Moran, La Quinta Ronnie Nichols, Residence Inn Marriott Agnes Ogletree, Reynolds Drive Hotel Complex Josh Revord, St. Lucie County Port, Inlet & Beaches Charlene Robles, Homewood Suites PSL Yvette Sicard, Royal Inn Beach Hotel Christa Stone, MCI Sheldon Stuchell, Ocean Village Carolyn Tortuna, Ocean Village Margaret Parrill, Hutchinson Island Hotel Larry Winter, Fort Pierce Vacation Rentals Sharon Wright, Ocean Village Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 11, 2025 Page 2 of 5 1. Call to Order Chair Cathy Townsend called the meeting to order at 10:12 AM. 2. Roll Call 3. Self-introductions 4. Welcome from Ocean Village Larry Winter, from Fort Pierce Vacation Rentals and Ocean Village gave a presentation about Ocean Village and their updated amenities. 5. Public Comment No public comment. 6. Approval of Minutes Commissioner James Taylor made a motion to approve the minutes from April 21, 2025. Lisa Cataline and Terissa Aronson seconded. Motion passed. 7. Report from the Chair Chair Cathy Townsend announced the Mobile Visitor Center was officially approved by the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners. She also reported there has been some departmental changes at the county and the St. Lucie County Fairgrounds is now under the Tourism Department. She also said the airport is 90% completed and the terminal should be completed by end of August. 9. Report from St. Lucie Tax Collector Craig Campbell reported there were 1,900 vacation rental properties in St. Lucie, however when he ran the numbers after the April meeting, it was slightly less. He credits this to how the numbers fluctuate month-to-month based especially on the season. 9. Reports from Municipalities Commissioner James Taylor reported that the City of Fort Pierce approved the inspection/assessment vendor for the Seven Gables House, also FPRA contracted with a company to develop an architectural plan for Festival Street on 2nd Street. The public wi-fi with the Smart City initiative was approved which includes all of downtown Fort Pierce to the bridge including the Manatee Center and Fort Pierce Yacht Club. Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 11, 2025 Page 3 of 5 7. Reports from Tourism Staff a. Financial Report: Charlotte Bireley reported February TDT collection was $875,175, an 4.8% increase compared to February 2024. March 2025 collections were $1,062,710, a 21.1% increase compared to March 2024. Year-to-date, the TDT collections are up compared to last fiscal year and at 7 months into the current fiscal year are currently 19% shy of the total forecasted budget. She also reported in February 69% of the TDT collected came from commercial properties and 31% from private vacation rentals, and the in March 74% of the TDT collected came from commercial properties and 26% from private vacation rentals. b. Hotel Performance Report: Charlotte Bireley reported that February occupancy was up 15.8%, ADR was down 3.2%, and RevPar was up 12.1%. March occupancy was up 15.8%, ADR was down 2.2 %, and RevPar was up 14.5%. Source: STR, LLC. c. Website, Social Media, and Email Marketing Report: Katherine Cordero reported because Visit St. Lucie is now working with a new digital media agency, evok advertising, this year’s digital ad spend was intentionally reduced to allow time for strategy evaluation and adjustment. With a clear creative direction now in place, reinvestment of budgeted contingency funds has begun. Although website traffic is currently down compared to last year, engagement is up—visitors are spending more time on the site and interacting more, indicating higher-quality users. April and May saw 59,000 users, 55,000 of whom were new. As the remaining funds are deployed, performance is expected to improve. She also reported the top 5 visited pages continue to be the beach webcams pages, the top states visiting the website are Florida, New York, Virginia, and Georgia, with Port St. Lucie, Miami, Orlando, and Fort Pierce being our top cities. She reported in April, Facebook reach increased by over 37% and content interactions increased by 71%, and Instagram link clicks increased by 93% compared to April 2024. In May, Facebook reach content interactions increased by 84%, Instagram reach increased by 190%, link clicks increased by 664%, and content interactions increased by 630% compared to May 2024. The top performing post in April was a reel about the Navy SEAL Museum leading up to Memorial Day, and the top performing post in May was a reel about the Treasure Coast Kids Quest where Visit St. Lucie partnered with the Treasure Coast Mom, a content creator who highlights family friendly things to do on the Treasure Coast. She also reported in April & May, Visit St. Lucie deployed 5 visitor emails and 6 industry related emails, which garnered a total of 1,195 clicks to the website and industry partners that were linked in the emails. The average open rate is at 26% and click rate is at 1%. The top performing email for April was highlighting events in St. Lucie and the top email in May was about hotel deals some accommodations were offering. There was also 431 digital and physical guide requests received. d. April and May 2025 Arrivalist Report: Charlotte reported that in April, 16% of visitors came from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, 14.8% of visitors came from New York, 9.2% came from the Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne area, and 6% came from Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne area. In May, 20.4% of visitors came from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, 9.7% came from the Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne area, 9.4% came Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 11, 2025 Page 4 of 5 from New York, and 8.8% of visitors came from West Palm Beach. She also reported in April, the number one point of interest that was visited was Downtown Fort Pierce with 8.9%, two was Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Pierce with 6.6%, and three was Springhill Suites Port St. Lucie with 6.4%. In May, the number one point of interest was Downtown Fort Pierce with 10.8%, two was Tradition Square with 6.9%, and three was TownePlace Suites Port St. Lucie with 6.2%. e. Earned Media: Katherine Cordero reported year to date, Visit St. Lucie’s earned media has increased by 2100% from at $5.3 million and impressions have increased by almost 1900% to 936 million. She credits these increases to the subscription to Muck Rack which accurately tracks and analyzes all digital earned media which Visit St. Lucie did not have last year. She also highlighted an article recently published by Southern Living entitled the ultimate guide to Florida’s 14 Gorgeous Coasts which highlighted the Treasure Coast including Walton Rocks beach, Blind Creek beach, the Navy SEAL Museum, as well as the Treasure Coast’s award-winning podcast, Don’t Come Here – Stories of the Treasure Coast. 8. Regular Agenda a. 2026 Proposed Budget Charlotte Bireley presented the proposed budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. Terissa Aronson made a motion to approve the proposed budget. Lisa Cataline seconded. Motion passed. b. Harbour Pointe & Museum Pointe Park Project Concepts Joshua Revord presented Harbour Pointe & Museum Pointe Park project concepts. c. Staff Updates – Active/Upcoming Projects & Initiatives i. Flavor South – Treasure Coast, Sept 1-30 Charlotte announced St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River Counties have partnered with Flavor South Florida to include Treasure Coast restaurants in the upcoming Flavor South Florida, a restaurant month offering prix fixe menus to patrons from Sept 1-30. Accommodations and attractions in proximity to the restaurants will also be advertised as potential packages. ii. Industry FAM Tour, September Katherine announced the Industry FAM Tour is back by popular demand and will be taking place in September with dates to be announced. She also encouraged any hoteliers interested to reach out to be added to the list. iii. Summer Kick-Off Satellite Media Tour Katherine announced VISIT FLORIDA publicized a list of satellite media tours that destinations could apply for including one about why Florida is the top summer vacation destination. Out of over a dozen applications, St. Lucie was chosen along with Greater Fort Lauderdale. A total of 26 interviews were done to an estimated audience of almost 16 million Tourist Development Council Meeting ◊ June 11, 2025 Page 5 of 5 people, with a media value of almost $500,000 and over 1400 placements, and she played a video of one of the interviews iv. VF Co-Op Families Video Campaign, May 15-Jun 11 Charlotte announced St. Lucie, Martin, and Indian River counties partnered as the Treasure Coast for a video campaign showcasing the Treasure Coast as the ultimate family destination. This aired May 15- June 11. v. Treasure Coast Expedia Campaign, May 12-Sep 30 Charlotte announced St. Lucie, Martin, and Indian River counties partnered as the Treasure Coast for an Expedia campaign promoting the area as a summer beach destination from May 12 – September 30. vi. Locals Only – Treasure Coast, June-Sept 30 Katherine announced the Locals Only campaign is back this year, with more accommodations and attractions participating than last year, and with Martin and Indian River County tourism offices participating to promote it as a Treasure Coast regional campaign. The promotion will be running from June thought September 30. 9. Other Business Chair Townsend thanked Ocean Village for hosting the TDC meeting. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 11:53 AM.