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TDC Minutes 05/20/2025May 20,2025 MINUTES OF THE COLLIER COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COLTNCIL MEETING BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSION CHAMBERS Naples, FL, May 20,2025 LET IT BE REMEMBERED the Collier County Tourist Development Council, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date 9:00 a.m. in REGULAR SESSION at33299 Tamiami Trail East,3'd floor, Naples, FL34112 with the following members present: Commissioner/Chair: Vice Chair: Chris Hall Clark Hill Darrin Palumbo (City Council) Susan Becker (excused) Laura Radler Nancy Kems Michael McComas (Excused) Bill Kramer (City Council) Edward "Ski" Olesky (via Zoom) ALSO PRESENT: Jay Tusa, CVB, Tourism Director Sandra Rios, CVB, PR and Communications Manager Jeff Klatzkow, Collier Counry Attomey Office, County Attorney Buzzy Ford, CVB, Digital and Social Media Coordinator Amanda Townsend, Museum Director Erin Murphy, Lou Hammond Group (via Zoom) Joseph St. Germain, Downs & St. Germain Kristen Murphy, Paradise Advertising, VP Acct Strategy & Partner Development Brandon Foust, Website (via Zoom) John Melleky, CVB Arts & Culture Manager Jennifer Reynolds, Asst. Dir. of Corp. Financial & Mgmt. Services Page I May 20,2025 Any person who decides lo appeal a decision of lhe Tourist Development Council will need a record of lhe proceedings pertaining thereto, and therefore may need to ensure that a verbolim record ofthe proceedings is made, which record includes the testimorr! and evidence upon which lhe appeul is to be bosed, Neilher Colliu County nor the Tourist Development Council shall be responsible for providing this record. I 2 3 CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Clark Hill: motioned to allow Ski Oleski's attendance via Zoom Nancy Kerns: seconded; Motion passed 5-0 Edward (Ski) Oleski (ioined the meeting via Zoom) 5 6 {AGENDA Clark Hill: motioned to approve today's Agenda Nancy Kerns: seconded; Motion passed 5-0 Bill Kramer aruived ul 9:01 a.m- 4a. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Feb. lE,2025, MEETING Darrin Palumbo: motioned to approve the Minutes Clark Hill: second,ed; Motion passed unanimousl] 6-0 PRESENTATIONS None TOURISM DIRECTOR REPORT 6a. Tourisnr Director Update and TDT Tax Report Page 2 Jay Tusa, CVB, Tourism Director o Last meeting. Council Member Hill brought up a point about the difference in numbers on the collection report. We did look into that with the Finance Department and the reason is there are two different numbers. One is based on the tax collector's report, which is cash. and then there is the County, which is based on accrual. o Provided a snapshot for a month of March . Occupancy increased 0.87o year over y ear to 74.2o/o o The average daily rate declined 13.57o year over year to $465.06, contributing to a 12.8 decrease in revenue per available room or revpar as we know it, which t'ell to $338.40 o Direct spending by visitors and total economic impact oftourism declined by 2.4%o and 2.702 respectively o International visitation declined by 370 year over year. . I thought t'd kind ofjust give you a little bit ofa snapshot kind of what's going on in the industry, in particular to the tourism industry, in particular to Cayo County. So arts and culture attractions have reported continued strength in ticket sales for special events, many of which reach capacity or near capacity levels. However. general admissions saw a slight dip, with attendance down approximately 57o in March and April compared to the same period last year. February also May 20,2025 presented unpredictability and guest behavior, with physical attendance not always aligning with the ticket purchases. So that's kind of arts and culture. The meetings and group market planner Settlement remains generally optimistic at most meeling professionals, as most meeting professionals are operating business as usual and planning future events. Some hesitancy persists among select clients who are holding off on commitments due to ongoing economic uncertainty. While we've not seen cancellations, there's a broader atmosphere of caution. Encouragingly, there's a noticeable uptick in short term group leads for late 2025, which suggests resilience in this segment. The team will continue monitoring these trends as we continue on in the year, and certainly we'll give you updates as we move tbrward. Destination Weddings and Meaning Markets Update Our partners report strong momentum in the destination wedding sector. Those surveyed indicate 2025 bookings are performing well and that 2026 is on track for similar success. Global wedding trends show continued growh with domestic destinations, particularly upscale beach and nature focused locations remaining in high demand. So that's great news for us. Florida's paradise coast is emerging as a sought after destination driven by shifting presence for luxury experiences within the US wedding market. Florida also remains a top choice for meeting planners across a range ol segments. Interest in small market meetings with niche travel groups continues to grow with an uptick in RFPs. especially from religious organizations, signaling an increased opponunity within this specialized market International Markets so Canadian sediment kind of remains consistent with what we've been hearing over the past couple ofmonths. I will say though that this is traditionally outside their peak travel season, so we'll kind ofsee where things go as the peak season comes back around with the Canadian market, the UK and lreland. New data from your Visit USA association indicates positive indicators. In the UK market, bookings inquiries are steadily up compared to 2024 with cancellations remaining low. Florida remains a top performing destination. Challenges include perceptions around higher cost and service-related fees, but increased air service and promotional support are helping maintain interest. Germany after some early year declines, April visitation rebounded with a l4.7yo increase in German arrivals year over year. The Easter holiday timing helped fuel this surge. While Germany still shows a year-to-date decline of 7.1%. Early bookings for the summer are described as stable and slightly positive. Industry sentiment remains cautiously optimistic with the real test expected in the fall travel period. Some stats from Southwest Florida International Airport the summer is looking good. Seat capacity is up I l% for June, lToZ for July and 13%o for August. Porter Airlines will operate weekly flights to Toronto this sumnrer. It was previously a seasonal service, so that's good news. So again, you we hear about Canada and I think luckily with our destination we're a little bit outside that norm. When you hear national trends related to Canada. And then also Breeze Airways recently started lveekly service to Greenville Spananburg, South Carolina for the summer. Southwest Airlines is starting double daily service to Orlando on August 5th and weekly service to Chicago O'Hare starting in November. Delta Airlines will be starting weekly service to Salt l-ake City starting December 20th. So those are all good trends that we're hearing from the airport. And then we should also be getting a report later today or tomorrow from RSW with their passenger stats fbr April. So we'll keep you updated on that as that unfolds at the next meeting. Page 3 7 May 20,2025 CONSENT AGENDA No items NEW BUSINESS 8a. Request the TDC review the Expenditures ofTourist Development Tax supported funds for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025. Jobn Melleky, Arts & Culture Manager for Collier County Tourism Department . The second quarter financial statements are in your packet for the various Tourist d Development funds. o The main funds that you want to look at are I l0l which is the tourism promotional fund for marketing and promotion expenditures and fund I 104 which is administration that includes personnel and operating budget for the tourism department. o The remaining funds and uses are listed in the executive summary provided to you. Pages 3l through 40 ofyour packet include a high level ofeach fund and the more detail then starts on page 4l for each individual fund overall.o In looking at the different fund and expenditures we are in line with the budget to date for the first and second quarter. And mainly I'm going to open this up for questions so you can ask questions about the funds and expenditures. And again fund I l0l detailed expense expenditures are found on page 42 and I 104 ls 46 and 47. John Melleky . There's a second reserve. Ifyou look in line marketing and promotional 648170 when we asked tbr the additional $5 million that came from that line, that's one reserve. That reserve still has about $l1.8 million which then we're using for next year's budget in the budget figures. In that 20 million there's I 1.8, that's a reserve.o The reserve, Mr. Hill is refeming to is actually a second reserve. We asked Finance about this. It's a second reserve that has the $8.8 million. Laura Radler o So what is that for? John Melleky o In order to spend that reserve, we must go to the Tourism Council and the Board ofCounty Commissioners for approval first. Nancy Kerns . Why are they set up separately? Jennifer Reynolds, Assistant Director ofCorporate Financial & Management Serviceso The second reserve, the one that says actually says reserves is funds that are left over for any Page 4 8. Clark Hill o If I may, John, I have a couple ofquestions. Just was hoping for some clarification on I l0l, the tourism promotional fund and I see that we have a reserve balance of8,807,000. I'm not sure what that is. May 20,2025 unfunded requests that might come up. And it is similar to the 648170 or we put the surplus in that. Those funds in the 648170 advertising and marketing, are available if you need them. Right now the funds in reserves have to go to at least two Board meetings before those can be transferred from the reserves to be utilized for spending. Clark Hill I have a question on the carry forward general 489200 for the S2l ,001 ,300 Jennifer Reynolds . There were additional funds we budgeted last year; this year a little bit less conservatively. So we budgeted for l07o over. o The fact is we actually received more than that l0o/o in budgeted plans. So that additional money was put into carry fbrward for next year, meaning this year. Laura Radler Referring to I 104. This is my first year doing this, so I apologize, maybe all ofyou already know, but there's some indirect cost reimbursement. inter-department pay for services, insurance, general. I just wondered what all that is. John Melleky Those figures come from the Finance Depaftment. We don't enter those figures but they are put into our budget and it's based on an allocation for every County Department. Jennifer Reynolds . They get charged to every division. . They can consist ofcharges for purchasing. the procurement department, HR.. There's a report that's done every year where they come up with what is allocated to each different inter-department and automatically charged to each division.o The charges for inter-department services are for salaries ofpeople. Like my staff, we have accountants in my area that perform all ofthe financial services for tourism.. So we are charging back some ofthose salaries to tourism to fund those salaries. Laura Radler lnsurance General? IT Capital fund? Jennifer Reynoldso Those come directly from risk. Every year, risk looks at what insurance requirements are and what needs to be done.o I think for tourism, they have a separate billing there somewhere. So that's going to be requirements for any insurance there.. The IT Capital fund is based on a number ofdifferent things, but usually for the services they provide. o Ifthere's work that needs to be done for computers, they charge for database services. So those are also determined at the main level ofthe IT department done every year based on, I believe this year. Page 5 May 20,2025 A lot of it is based on purchase orders and specific items that they then charge out to all the different divisions. 9 OLD BUSINESS 9a. Presentation of Picklcball Independent Professional Tourism Impact Study Jay Tusa, Tourism Director . This item presents the tindings ofan independent professional tourism impact study commissioned by the Collier County Parks and Recreation Division. o The study evaluates how proposed infrastructure improvements at East Naples Community Park, outlined in the amended sponsorship agreement with Spirit promotions for the 2026 through 2032 US Pickleball Championships, will impact tourism under Florida statute.. The study requires the planned investment ofup to $l million in tourist development, tax funds for enhancements, including a new championship court. waterproof canopy. sound system upgrades, and the establishment ofa training academy.o The analysis concludes that the improvements will have a positive and measurable impact on local tourism by supporting continued growth in event attendance, hotel revenue and destination visibility.o In 2024, the Open drew more than 50,000 attendees and generated an I 87o increase in hotel metrics. . !n2025, attendance increased to 55,000, marking a l07o increase year over year increase, further reinforcing Collier County's position as a global hub lor pickleball tourism.. I will make a comment on that pickleball tournament. I had a chance to go out there twice. Once in the beginning ofthe tournament and once on championship day. And it was impressive. The things that we have done for our partners, for Mike D. . They've really embraced it. They've really put their heart and soul into the deal. And I think we have set the bar nationally for pickleball. I mean, we are pickleball capital ofthe nation. Even people ['ve been in Texas twice in the last two weeks and they mention it when they find out that we're from Collier County. . They know exactly where Collier County is. So I think it's a very positive thing. And it really felt good to hear outside of Collier County, outside ofthe market, to hear what a good job we've been doing. IO. TENMINUTEBREAK None I l.AGENCY PARTNtrR RtrPORTS I I b. Joseph St. Germain, President, Downs & St. Germain Complete presentation is in handout When I looked at these numbers to do a deeper dive to your competitive set, one ofthe things that we noticed is on the [eisure sector, your market amongst the competitive set had the largest growth in demand and occupancy. So even though you only had a slight uptick in occupancy, most ofthe comp set had a decrease in occupancy. Page 6 Chairman Hall: moved to accept the repod Nancy Kerns: seconded; Molion passed unonimously 6-0 May 20,2025 . Overall, the percent change in occupancy year over year was behind the Keys in Palm beach, but ahead ofthe rest ofthe comp set. o You had the biggest growth in hotel demand. And I think that's an impoftant metric for you given all the number of new hotels.. You're still number one in the comp set in average daily rate, despite the fact that it dropped a decent amount year over year. . These are your top markets: Chicago, New York, Miami, Cleveland, Boston o Those who would definitely recommend the area went from 77o/o to 78%. They'll definitely return. The reason why that is important, those are the people more likely to go home, talk about the area and really amplifu your message that you're producing from marketing. . Things that we noticed in January through March was an increase ofpeople coming to fish. Fish ing went from 2o/o last year to 57o this year and golf, tennis, pickleball went from 5%o to 9%o. Marketing updates o The focus groups, six ofthem total in three different markets found the image ofthe woman alone on the beach and the couple near the tiki hut by themselves offthe charts appealing and all creative was immediately updatedo Expectations, exceptional, and any word starting with E tested well in these focus groupso Eco is another trend doing well. In total we spent about I.4 million across March and April. Miss Radler asked about this at the last meeting. We are holding strong March at an $18 return on ad spend and $12 fbr Aprilo We are doing a dark skies Big Cypress content series with a presentation next meeting Page 7 llc. Kristen Murphy, VP, Account Strategy & Partner Development o Chicago is a year round market for us, but we do an enhanced campaign during the winter, December through February with a lot of multimedia mix in there. It is one of your established markets . Paradise is going to do your broader campaign with additional money . We did focus groups in Dallas as an emerging market and Boston and Cleveland. The overall words we heard most otten: it's an elevated beach vacation or it's . It was also consistent with what they have experience in the nation. The one thing that we noticed was the cultural piece is that it's not top of mind for everybody. The tagline "only paradise will do" resonated very well . They Iike that extra sensory piece ofjust the phrase paradise in every senseo As we looked at the video, they saw it as a mature, peaceful and clean and uncrowded and upscale getaway . They thought the details of every image and video was done well done. They saw the space was clean which not only resonated with them, but with the destination as a whole o When they saw the name Naples, Marco lsland, Everglades, for some people, they love that ecological experience o For some people, it is an important piece for a significant percentage ofyour visitors. They saw in the advertisements that it is one ofthose places where they can drop their routines May 20.2025 Nancy Kerns commented that the moon rising is of interesto We are seeing overall alcohol sales are skeu,ing down across the board. . People on GLPI are not ordering as much food in restaurants . They are looking for more outdoor recreation while on tripso Grandparents taking their grandchildren on trips is popular but doing it their way o Destination dupes are also popular I ld. Brandon Foust (via Zoom) Website Performance Slide Presentation . 252,000 sessions, 79,000 ofthose were engaged with 212,000 users o The only numbers that were down were the engagement rate and the views per session . That is a good sign because it an indication ofhow we're operating in terms of the ad campaigns . We're sending users to the correct pages, so you're not seeing them skip as many pages o There were 80 new sign-ups in March last year, this year is over 450 . When people are searching for Paradise Coast, Naples, they're showing up organically . The paid activity from the advertising is really driving a majority of traffic to the site . Florida is continuing to drive the bulk ofthe traffic to this site . A goal in the marketing plan was E newsletters o Getting email addresses gives us that much more qualified information about the prospective consumers I le. Erin Murphy, Senior Account Executive, Lou Hammond Group. Some examples of free advertising as some call it in public relations o Southem Living and USA Today recommended everything from the beautiful beaches 3rd Street. For family vacationists, the Children's Museum, Shy Wolf Sanctuary, Naples Zoo, Big Cypress, Corkscrew Swamp were spotlighted . They encouraged visitors to stay at the Ritz Carlton or La Playa for a fun family getaway o Blueprint is a fast-growing digital media company that caters to women who are usually the family planners; recommended Big Cypress, Great Florida Birding Wildlife Trail and Everglades National Park o Media relations included introducing Jessica, who contributes to Sierra, to a swamp walk at Big Cypress in hopes olsome National Ceographic coverage. Adam Robb, who contributes to Forbes, Observer and Time and is known to get destinations and businesses listed on the Times World's Greatest Places, can't wait to come back here. Nattanat Naples is a newcomer to the destination It's a coffee shop during the day, and it transitions to a wine bar at night 1lf. Amanda Townsend, Division Director, Collier County Museumsr Our Cattle Drive attendance was a little down from last year. March visitation was over I 1,000 across this systemo Publications Communications Team was proud that social media outpaced web search in March as the way that people heard about uso Phil Fisher exhibit has been wildly popular . Folklore, Fish Tales and Family Stories at Museum of the Everglades this is the exhibit that we do every year with the school children K through l2 in Florida public schools. Photography of Mega Watkins is at the Ranch Page 8 May 20,2025 o Mango Fest at Immokalee Pioneer Museum o School's out, Museums are in is a summer theme . We are creating exhibit explorer backpacks that kid check out when visiting for a hands-on experience and they return them at the end oftheir visit . September lst, we will be hosting the Naples Military Museum in our lecture halland traveling gallery space I3. COUNCIL MEMBER DISCUSSION l3a. Discussion regarding date ofthe November 2025 TDC meeting Jay Tusa, Tourism Direct Asked if they would pref-er to reschedule the November meeting or cancel due to the BCC meeting being moved to Nov. I 8tl' Chairman Hall I'd be fine with canceling it - Canceled Via Consensus from the Council Clark Hill Naples Chamber, Florida Restaurant Lodging Association, Collier County Chapter, and the CBB had a nice reception at Paradise Park to celebrate National Tourism Week I thought it was well attended and there was a lot of energy Adrian Moses and his team, I felt. did just a great job Bill Kramer, City Council Member, Naples Five beach access points will be closed, 3'd. F, South, l4th. l5th and l6th, to replace seawalls and for the stormwater outfall project which will probably end up being 120 million Darrin Palumbo, City Council Member, Marco Island I was inspired by the pickleball conversation today and would desire a f'ew more courts in the Marco area. I don't know how Everglade City feels, but I thought, wow, wouldn't it be great? I think you guys have a head start on better quality. But we can come up with some quality courts, work with the YMCA local and do a regional type ofpickleball environment. 14, NEXTMEETING l4a. Next meeting date June 17,2025 15. H)JOURNED Page 9 There being no further husiness for lhe good of The County, the Tourist Development Council meeling was adjourned al l0:16 a.m- COI,LIER COIJNTY TOURIST PMENT Chuirman May 20,2025 bytheCouncilon b-lJ - &*5 or amended These Minutcs were approvedxas presented Page l0