D.O.S MeetingNovember 30th, 2011

Welcome Intro:Jim McElhinnyMayor Doyle

Presenters:Birgitte SimmonsCorey Kearsley

Heather AndersonAllison George

The Life of a Lead

Helpful tips on responding to WCVA LeadsRead the entire lead “READ THE LEAD!”Respond to ALL requests/requirements listed in the lead.

-Even if you can’t accommodate the request please address it, the client may think you don’t have it at all-Missing information requested from the client could cost you the booking.

Address the proposal to the client, not to WCVA staff.-Always remember we are sending your proposals back to the client.

Send your information in a hotel-branded, one-page format. Be sure to include pictures, amenities and other important information relevant to the lead. - Make sure your proposals are representative of your hotel and service. - Check grammar and overall presentation, we often don’t have the chance to fix them.

Helpful tips on responding to WCVA Leads Ask questions, if you are not sure, please call us. - We are always available to answer any questions you might have

Respond by the deadline. - If we don’t get your proposal by the deadline listed on the lead, you may have missed the opportunity to be included in our response back to the client.

Respond even if you’re not interested with a reason why - Letting us know why you don’t want to participate with a certain piece of business allows us the opportunity to track this information. This information helps us better forecast trends, educate and fulfill expectations with our clients.

TrackingWhat information do we track?

Booking validations: Number of rooms blocked per the contract with the event planner and hotel. Requested after the contract has been finalized.

Pick-up reports: Actual number of rooms paid for during the event. Requested after the event is over.

TrackingWhy do we track this information?

To develop economic impact reports To learn…

…what events are popular …effective (or ineffective) marketing strategies …how various factors (weather/timing/pricing) affect the

success of an event To help justify new/upgraded facilities and resources

TrackingHow can hotels help us better track the numbers?

Through the room blocks Ask your guests, “What brings you to Washington County?”

At time of reservation At check in

Observe Educate the rest of your staff Timely responses

TrackingConfidentiality: The WCVA appreciates and respects hotels’ needs for privacy and will not share your numbers with other hotels. The numbers that we report are all of the hotel’s numbers combined. Individual hotels are not noted.

Meeting Sales

What I am doing Contacting planners; association, government, corporate, event

planners so far.

Meeting with stakeholders and becoming familiar with as many venues as I can in the county.

Market activity High interest: retreat type ideas, service requests

Meeting Sales

Memberships: Meeting Professionals International Oregon Society of Association Management Greater Oregon Society of Government Meeting Planners.

Attending conferences for above groups, and having a booth at each of them

Meeting Sales

Opportunities

12/7 Oregon Society of Association Management conference- Portland

2/5-7 Greater Oregon Society of Government Meeting Planners-Sunriver

3/4-6 MPI Cascadia Conference- Tacoma, WA

Request meeting space deals

Quarterly newsletter sent out to planners

Meeting Sales

• The Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy study reveals that the U.S. meetings industry directly supports:

• 1.7 million jobs• $263 billion in spending• $106 billion contribution to GDP• $60 billion in labor revenue• $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue • $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue

The meetings industry plays a critical role in supporting jobs in communities across America.

The Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy conducted by PwC

Sports Sales

•2011 Sports Market Trends & Economic ImpactAs reported by SportsEvents Magazine in March of 2011

• Sports event marketplace seems recession proof

Sports Sales

•70 percent of respondents planned to spend more on their events•Participation in 2010 was down•Number of events is up

• Tough Mudder• Warrior Dash• Hero Rush• Foam Fest• Spartan Race

Sports Sales

•Factors event planner consider when selecting hotels• Value and safety were top priorities• 60% of organizers say participants expect a rate

between $76-$100• 17% look for lower rates• Middle-age participants gravitate to higher-priced hotels• Youth events look for more affordable rates and free breakfasts• Fitness room, laundry facilities, and pools were rated average

by most organizers

Sports Sales

•Conferences attended• Travel, Events, and Management in Sports (TEAMS)• National Association of Sports Commissions• Olympic SportsLink

Tour & TravelMarkets

• International & Canada• Domestic

Who I work with:• Tour Operators• Receptive Operators• Wholesale Operators• Travel Agents

What type of visitor:• Groups Motorcoach, pre-formed, students)• FIT (Free Independent Traveler)

2010: The Year in Review• The United States welcomed a record-breaking 60 million international visitors in 2010.

• International visitors spent more than $134.4 billion experiencing the United States in 2010

In summary: - 4.8 million more international visitors - $14 billion rise in total travel and tourism-related exports

However, given the loss of 112,000 industry-related jobs last year, clearly much work remains.

International Visitation by Country

•Increases in emerging markets Korea, Brazil and Australia

•Decrease in travel from the UK for the 2nd year in a row. Down another 1% when compared to previous where it declined by15%.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Travel & Tourism Industries

Oregon’s Top Markets

•Canada•Japan•UK•Australia/NZ•Germany

Emerging Markets:China, India

Don’t forget: Domestic Travel is back on the rise!

Total Overnight Trips to Oregon = 27.5 Million

Time spent in Greater Portland 30% 8.3 million

Source: Travel Oregon, 2010, Longwoods International

Other Oregon Regions Visited on Greater Portland Trip

Base: Overnight Marketable Trips

Source: Travel Oregon, 2010, Longwoods International

Tour & Travel Conventions, Missions, Networking, and Education 2011-2012

NTA – National Tour Association – member based (December 2011)• Domestic Market – Tour Operators

Go West Summit – (February 2012)• International show focused on western states

Visit USA – Australia & New Zealand Visit USA shows (February 2012)

Powwow – U.S Travel Association (April 2012) • Premier international marketplace and the largest generator of U.S. travel• Delegation under Travel Portland and Travel Oregon.

OTTA Meetings – Oregon Tour & Travel Alliance • Quarterly meetings around the state

Canadian Sales Mission – (Spring & Fall)

Oregon Governor’s Conference (April) – This year in Portland!

StakeholderNetworking Events:

WCVA Holiday Party, Wednesday December 14 4-7 p.m.@Live Laugh Love Glass

Westside Spotlight, Tuesday January 26 4:30-6:30 p.m.@ Washington County Museum

Westside Spotlight, April- date TBD@ The Doll Gardner Gallery

Annual Stakeholder Luncheon May 17 11- 1:30 p.m.

Stakeholder

•Get your property listed in Travel Oregon's Official 2012-2013 printed Visitor Guide- deadline to submit your property information is Dec. 5th

•Be sure to send us any promotions and “hot deals” that we can upload to the WCVA website & Travel Oregon website

•Front desk staff Incentive Program!

Economic Impact

•Visitors spend more than $470 million in Washington County

•Hotel occupancy increased 13.1% to 64.3% in 2010

•Overnight visitors spent more than $77 million on accommodations

•5,780 jobs in Washington County are either directly related to tourism or were generated because of tourism

•Tourism to Washington County brings in $138 million in direct earnings, of that $87 million are in accommodations and food service sectors

Marketing Oregon’s Washington CountyVisitor Guide

•Hired SagaCity, which also publishes Travel Portland's guide

•New visitor guide will include more editorial content, provide compelling stories to excite travelers about the destination, and showcase the destination by using more engaging photography 

•Guide will be published and distributed in March 2012

•150,000 guides will be printed

Marketing Oregon’s Washington CountyWebsite: www.OregonsWashingtonCounty.com (new URL)

•Nearly 80,000 unique visits to the site during FY2010-2011

•Hired TIG Global, a web developer specializing in destination websites, to redesign the WCVA's website

•Redesign to be completed by end of 2012

•Better navigation to help visitors find information

•"Book Now" button will link to individual property's reservations page

•Improved calendar to showcase events

•Better integration with social media tools

Advertising

•text

Where Are Our Ads?VIA MagazineOprah MagazineSunset MagazineAlaska/Horizon Air In-flight Magazine1859 MagazinePortland MagazineSeattle MetSeattle MagazineImbibeNorthwest TravelBackpacker

Marketing: Public RelationsRecent articles in… •Smart Meetings Magazine•Canadian Traveller Magazine•Sports Travel Magazine•Horizon Air In-Flight Magazine

And on…•About.com•Frommers.com•Bikeportland.com•UrbanTimes.com

Marketing: Social Media

•WCVA reaches an audience of more than 12,000 with a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube

•Currently, the marketing team is creating new ways to increase engagement among followers, increasing awareness of the destination and its tourism assets and eventually increasing visitation

Questions?

Thank you for attending our meeting!

Resources for you!

Industry website: www.yourwaytoplay.com

WCVA Staff

Sports - Corey Kearsley corey@wcva.orgMeetings - Birgitte Christensen Birgitte@wcva.orgTour & Travel - Heather Anderson Heather@wcva.orgStakeholder - Allison George Allison@wcva.org