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BCC Minutes 12/10/2002 W (w/TDC)December 10, 2002 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY COMMISSIONER/TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL JOINT WORKSHOP Naples, Florida, December 10, 2002 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Collier County Commissioner/ Tourist Development Council Joint Workshop in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 AM in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Commissioner Jim Coletta Commissioner Tom Henning Commissioner Donna Fiala Commissioner Frank Halas Commissioner Fred Coyle ALSO PRESENT: Gary Galleberg Rhona Saunders Susan Becker Kevin Durkin Jerry Thirion Joe Dinunzio Gene Vaccaro Elaine McLaughlin Dr. Walter Klagas Jim Mudd Bleu Wallace Jack Wert Heidi Ashton Page 1 NOTICE OF BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS/ TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL JOINT WORKSHOP Tuesday, December 10, 2002 9:00 A.M. Notice is hereby given that the Collier County Board of County Commissioners will hold a joint informational workshop with the Collier County Tourist Development Council on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002, at 9:00 A.M. in the Board Meeting Room, Third Floor, Harmon Turner Building (Administration) at the Collier County Govemmem Complex, 3301 East Tamiami Trail, Naples, Florida. The informational topic(s) will include, but may not be limited to, an overview of the following subjects: Opening and Welcome - Commissioner Coletta, Chairman Operating a County Tourism Office - Ms. Elaine McLaughlin, Facilitator Marketing a Destination Partnering with the Industry to Leverage our Resources Goals and Objectives - January - September 2003 Goals and Objectives - Fiscal Year 2004 The meeting will be open to the public. Any person who decides to appeal a decision of this Board will need a record of the proceedings pertaining thereto, and therefore may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record indicates the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA James N. Coletta, Chairman DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK By:/s/Maureen Kenyon Deputy Clerk December 10, 2002 Opening and Welcome - Commissioner Coletta opened the Workshop at 9:05 AM. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Joe Schmitt - Gave a Welcome to everyone. He recognized Mr. Bleu Wallace and Tom Noll for all their help in assuming the task of accepting the Tourism responsibilities. He introduced Mr. Jack Wert, the new Director of Tourism. Operating a County Tourism Office - Elaine MeLaughlin - She handed out a booklet of her presentation. She covered Overall Goals and will show trends along with some key indicators. She covered looking at the competitive positions and comparative investments. She will prioritize the goals for FY 2003/2004. She gave a history and background of what they want tourism to look like in the year 2011 in Collier County. She addressed: Where have we been - three visioning workshops were held. 6 goals and 8 Key Recommendations Tourist Development Council should meet on a monthly basis The new Tourism office should become Collier County CVB and a Director hired. (has been done) County Management needs to be open minded to the professional advice of the new staff and representatives. Industry and County leaders come together annually for workshops. Extension of Advertising, Research & Telemarketing Agreements Clearing Invoices - 2002 Emergency Campaign - Commission Approval for two additional staff (Sales Manager & Adm. Assistant). - Leasing space and setting up CVB offices. - Need to establish a panel to assist with marketing strategy and promote marketing initiatives. - Measure baseline research and measure for effectiveness - County needs to re-evaluate current investment to protect jobs & economy compared to the competition. - Identified goals need to be examined and prioritized (resources $1.2M budget and 3 Staff). She noted 10,000 rental units have to be sold in Collier County each night to maximize tax revenues and job stability. Need to increase occupancy. Page 2 December 10, 2002 She covered different percentage numbers of Tourist Tax dollars coming in every night in Collier County. Sales Tax is down because Tourism is down. Measures of Success - Average Daily Rate of Growth - with low rates in hotels, they are buying occupancies. Reduces ability to create economy. - Occupancy Growth - Visitor Spending Growth - overnight guest will stay longer and spend more. - Tax Revenue Growth - Jobs Growth Questions on the revenues based on 75% occupancy rate and additional revenues were discussed. Dr. Walter Klagas - President of Research Data -does baseline analysis - he stated the total economic impact, in terms of direct expenditures, equals $458,087,501. Adding multipliers to it equals - $683M. That's a very conservative multiplier. Commissioner Coyle asked about the Sales Tax generated- wondered if the $21.3M is total or additional. Elaine said - no it is a very conservative number. It is the total amount collected going to the State and flowing back to the cities and county governments. She said the occupancy rates are averaging year around about 67%. Commissioner Fiala feels they are going in the right direction. She asked about the name CVB (Convention & Visitors Bureau). Commissioner Halas asked about the Sales Tax whether based on 9% sales tax or on the 3% sales tax for the County. Elaine answered - 3% and the 6% sales tax is a separate figure. Based on 75% occupancy based on the 3% return- would generate $10.6M a year. Would like a better figure for occupancy, but need to start somewhere. There are 17,493 people employed in Tourism in Collier County. It is a major employer in the County. There is a lot of misinformation about Tourism. The average wage ora Tourism employee in the State of Florida is $9.50/hr. Average annual salary is $42,000. Industry makes a hugh investment in staff and training. Hugh business cost as well. Elaine covered the wage effects along with the direct and indirect economic measures. The different business involved in the every day to day operation for the employee dollars. The leisure visitors are: - Median age - 42 - Median Income - $55,019 year around - Party Size - 2.4 primary couple and families - They come for Beaches and Weather primarily Page 3 December 10, 2002 County is blessed with private investment in convention infrastructure Have great space for Conventions, meetings etc. Come for special interests - golf, tennis, nature & heritage, arts & culture Come mainly from United States - east of the Mississippi (Elaine covered the different areas and showed maps & graphs) 89% is Domestic Need to fill rooms before February/March Season Most visitors come by air in first, second and fourth quarters - car in the summer Dr. Walter Klagas stated the additional dollars would move from $21M to $31M. Just the additional resort taxes are almost $1M. That moves from the current average up to the 75% figure discussed earlier. Elaine covered the origins of the visitors - winter visitor versus the resident. Winter residents come because they own property and contribute to the economy from January to April - before tax day. They will typically not come in the summer. The summer and fall business need to be built up. The Exploratory market she refers to is west of the Mississippi. They don't see the German market coming back in the near future, but the British and Irish markets are up. Commissioner Fiala asked due to the economy and more people staying at home in the foreign markets, are they targeting more of the local markets. Elaine said that is why they need to give the Tourist Department lots of flexibility. Need to react to market changes immediately and may need special meetings from time to time with the TDC. Dr. Klagas addressed the European travelers - the long haul traveler is the upscale traveler, high level of income and seasonable. Cuba, Northern Brazil and Florida are benefiting them right now. Domestically they have held back for so long and now are traveling again. The season is booking relatively well - January they see an upward movement with a dip before Easter. The booking window is narrow - 7-10 days. The Internet plays a large role. Market competition makes a big difference. Elaine discussed all the bankruptcies seen in the past, most recently United Airlines. She talked abut the competition with the warm weather, good beaches, and wildlife. She talked about the other markets, Costa Rica, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the SW Gulf Coast. Commissioner Henning wanted to know where we average with other counties in the State of Florida. Elaine stated in the lower 10, but by population size, lower than that. He felt they should give direction to the CVB to bring up recommendations of reallocation of the money for full time employment. He noted the museums and cultural community will be asking for funds, but need to sustain income from the Tourist tax year around. Need to have funds for the most important activities for the residents and Page 4 December 10, 2002 visitors. His concern is year around employment; otherwise it is an attack on government services. Elaine said they are trying to capture their share of advertising. She showed several ads along with the competition. They need to know they are making the right level of investment. She displayed a flow chart showing how the 3% tourist tax is allocated. She discussed how the beach renourishment is very important and needs to be looked at also. Commissioner Fiala asked about the tax that was dedicated to the beaches and whether they could touch any of those funds. It was noted one penny which was the referendum cannot be touched. The reallocation of the first 2 cents is at the Commissioners discretion. Gary Galleberg stated when the voters voted for the tax, he felt it was voted in because of beach renourishment. The other categories, whatever the percentage is amounts to found money. Otherwise it would not have had public support. Commissioner Coyle asked to what extent renourishing the beaches contributes to attracting tourist to Collier County. Elaine stated it plays a role, but how they do beach renourishment in Collier County is that Tourist Tax is the amount of money used for local match. Any other stake holders in beach renourishment, the beachfront property owners, commercial residential, everybody else are not contributing to the local match of money. When figuring out amount for local match, they evaluate what is recreational use and create a formula and look at private property protection. What happens to protect the property when renourishing the beaches? They set up an MSTU or general fund or other source of funding for that particular piece of beach renourishment. Collier County doesn't do it that way and that's why the number is so big hitting the tourist tax. Commissioner Halas was asking how much the museum and cultural events in the County effect Tourism. Elaine said if needed, they would be funded. For Tourism it is packaging the event. Each tourist is interested in their own interests and it would need to be marketed. Mr. Vaccaro addressed the issue of phrasing everything in dollars. They assume if they spend the same dollars as someone else that is spending more, they will get effectiveness from those dollars. It is not always about dollars, and a smaller ad can also be just as much effective as a large one. He would like to see more data on how that dollar they are spending is "kicking butt". More money needs to be spent on research. Mr. Vaccaro stated the advertising he has seen isn't much different than anyone else's offering the same type of activities. Elaine feels the new director has a challenge to look at these issues. Page 5 December 10, 2002 Commissioner Fiala was concemed about renourishing the beaches in front of condominiums and in front of private homes and the tourist can not get to the beaches because of limited access. Commissioner Coletta expressed the same concern and stated an MSTU; to share costs may be something to think about. They need to free up more dollars. They have the one penny that can't be changed but are in excess of that, and wondered how much. Heidi Ashton - Assistant County Attorney - her recollection is the referendum is for the enactment of the ordinance and the BCC can amend the plan at any time by a super majority vote. The past Commission did not want to change the percentage allocated to the beach because of the referendums. They wanted to stay with the vote of the people. It is not required that a referendum be done to change the percentage. Commissioner Coletta would like to have this brought back to them at a future meeting. Commissioner Fiala would like to read the referendum to see what it actually says. Commissioner Halas asked where they fit in as far as the attraction rate with other counties. Elaine does not have that data and will get it. Her opinion is to look at the total economic impact. How much are visitors spending. A formula on how many visitors or dollars returned for every dollar spent would be helpful knowledge. Susan Becker asked if Golf is really that much of an attraction when so many of the Golf courses are private. The answer in the research finds Beach and Golf are the two leading activities. Jim Mudd - County Manager - the dollars that are brought in Collier County does a better percentage for advertising dollars -category B- brings in $4 for every $1 - Lee County puts in $2 and gets $4 back. From that aspect, they do well with the limited amount of money. There is more economic impact - there's a piece of the puzzle before they get that information. The biggest beach that takes the biggest amount of money in the County as far as category A is Hideaway Beach - a beach that cannot be gotten to. The mentality has to be --what is the contribution going to be between private and public and tourist development dollars. That's an uphill battle to tackle. The Board, the TDC and the CAC will have to tackle that because there will be a lot of opposition. Gary Galleberg added - this is a destination for beaches and golf and that's that. They do not come to go the Historical Museum; although they may go there, but that's not the main reason for their visit. He is going to defend the quality of their beaches. He was glad to hear they are getting more dollars back for dollars expended. He feels they are doing a great job and would like to see Collier County stay focused on a small government place as opposed to throwing money at every problem thinkable. Page 6 December 10, 2002 Elaine said they are doing well, but not sure as a cohesive destination... Not as well as they could be to the private dollar and need to do better in their marketing programs. Gene Vaccaro again stated they need to take what they "do" and what they "do have" and emphasize it for the draws they need in the particular demographic areas. He feels they need a committee to focus on getting the golf courses in Collier County to support tourism on their own. They can put summer packages together throughout the world for free golf. Those people would be supporting the rest of the community as well. Elaine agreed packaging golf and selling through a tour operator is definitely something they want to pursue. Commissioner Halas would like to see more public golf course in the area for the middle class family as well. 10:40 AM Break 10:55 AM Reconvened Role of the Tourist Development Council & how an Office operates: - 9 members appointed Have to appoint up to 4 Collectors of the Tourist Tax (involved in thc Tourism business) Understand the relationship between the TDC & County Commission Purpose of Tourist Tax can be amended at any time Destination Management Organization - at County level - sell Tourism for thc entire County ........ Immokalec to Everglade City to downtown Naples and to Marco Island Work with City and County staff Product development - Hospitality training and education · Operating a County Convention & Visitors Bureau - FS 125-0104 Florida Statutes - addresses operational issues - Trade Shows Important - FAM's allowed under the Law - Reimburse Staff Travel - Invite key players in the Tourism business - Paying for booths, meals, travel, incidentals, lodging, etc. Paid by either advancement or reimbursement Research protected as "Trade Secret" Major pieces of information Zip codes producing most visitors to the area Does not need to be made public Page 7 December 1 O, 2002 Elaine asked the Commissioners to give Jack some direction; what are most important and key priorities. Commissioner Coyle is concerned about the baseline and how they measure the effectiveness of the program. He feels they could get 50% occupancy with zero dollars spent. He would like to see the target level of achievement and the level of expenditures. Elaine did not think they had enough information in hand to establish a credible target at this point and they need more research. Discussion followed on the priorities and key issues from a handout to Commissioners. They covered Trade Shows, Marketing, Group Sales, and Gathering Data. Commissioner Henning felt trade shows etc. are for the staff to make recommendations to the TDC and BCC for approval. He thinks they need to set goals, how to allocate the 3cents and have staff make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. Thirion felt the same as Commissioner Henning. Being in trade shows and gathering data is important. He also feels strongly about establishing a marketing or advisory committee to help Mr. Wert. It was felt staff should do the prioritizing. Commissioner Coyle felt Item #4 was most important. He also agreed with Commissioner Henning on policy issues and the reasoning for his ideas on targets and expectations being very important. Commissioner Henning also stated year around employment is important for sustainable economy. The Commissioners are essentially accepting Elaine's report and asking the new director to implement it as he sees fit within the budget given. He doesn't feel they should micromanage. Mr. Wert will come back on what issues he feels he can accomplish. Mr. Jack Wert - Tourism Director - he is encouraged at what he has heard, along with all the support from the industry. He feels what Elaine has done is a great start and now set it into some priorities from a staffs perspective. Some things will need to be done right away, others in the future. He would like to see one message for the whole County. That will be one of his goals. Trade Shows are important, after attending one recently; he already has inquiries for information about Collier County. They need to make a personal contact and turn it into a sale. Mr. Vaccaro feels they need one message that sets them apart from any other destination and something that makes them different and memorable. One solid message - pursues uniqueness and sells it. They need to: Page 8 December 10, 2002 - Sell the sizzle - a total product. - Define what Collier County is. - A definite vision. - Need Baseline or targets. - Continued support for staff Elaine expressed her enjoyment working with everyone. Commissioner Henning thanked her for the Workshop - tourism is very important and thanked the Industry for being there. Mr. Thirion thanked Elaine for all her wonderful help. The Workshop was adjourned at 11:40 AM. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL JAi~'ES N. COLETTA~CHAIRMAN These minutes approved by the Board on As presented ~-~ or as corrected Page 9