virginia's blue ridge - 2014 progress report

Partnering for SUCCESS

2014 PROGRESS REPORTRoanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau


www.VisitVaBlueRidge.com


LEadERShiP ViEwPOinTDear Tourism Stakeholders,

“Partnering for Success” was our theme in 2014!

With the combined investment from our five local

governments (Cities of Roanoke and Salem and Counties of Roanoke, Botetourt and Franklin) and support from over 850 private businesses,

Virginia’s Blue Ridge (VBR) region got noticed.

The investment generated RECORD rooms sold

and lodging tax revenue. According to Smith Travel Research, VBR sold 1,110,834 hotel rooms in

2014 increasing Room Demand by 2.3% or 25,104

more rooms over 2013. Comparing calendar year

lodging tax collections, VBR governments collected

$6,631,831 during 2014, or an increase of 8% over

2013. Tourism is BIG business and an economic

driver for the region.

Another great example of “Partnering for Success”

was the launch of a major advertising campaign.

Unlike any other previous year, the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau brought together well-known partner brands

like Kroger, Virginia Tech, Texas Tavern and Black Dog Salvage to extend our

advertising dollars from $400,000 to an advertising value over $20 million.

As VBR’s official destination marketing organization, we are committed to

growing our tourism economy, delivering more visitors, more economic

impact, more jobs and more recognition of the great benefits our industry

contributes. We look forward to working with you, our investors and

partners, in ensuring the success of Virginia’s Blue Ridge.

Warm Regards,

W. Lee Wilhelm, III Landon C. Howard Chair President

Contents

1Board of Directors, Staff

2Visitor Impacts, Lodging Tax Revenue,

Hotel Room Demand

3Public Relations

4 Destination Marketing,

Blue Ridge Standard Time

5Destination Marketing,

eNewsletter & Social Media

6Partnership Services

7Visitor Services & Hospitality Training

8Convention & Sports Sales

9Looking Toward a Bright Future

Landon C. Howard President

W. Lee Wilhelm, III Chair

MiSSiOn The mission of the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau (RVCVB) is to promote

Virginia’s Blue Ridge as a unique destination, with an outstanding quality of life, for

leisure tourism, meetings, sporting events, recreation and business, and to facilitate the

financial and cultural growth of the community as an exceptional place to live, work,

and recreate.

2014 PROGRESS REPORT


1

Board of directorsW. Lee Wilhelm, III McNeil Roofing, Inc. Chair

Jeffrey A. Marks WDBJ Television, Inc. Vice Chair

Shirley B. Holland Carilion Clinic Secretary

R. Carey Harveycutter, Jr. City of Salem Treasurer

Barton J. Wilner Entre Computer Center Past Chair

Dave Andersen Dominion Lodging

Doug Blount Roanoke County Parks, Recreation & Tourism

Jeremy Carroll Glenn, Feldmann, Darby & Goodlatte

Richard L. Caywood County of Roanoke

Renee “Butch” Craft The Roanoker Restaurant

B. Clayton Goodman, III County of Roanoke (1/2014 -7/2014)

Tarah Holland County of Franklin

Kenneth Lanford Lanford Brothers Company, Inc.

Pete Larkin Office of Congressman Robert W. Goodlatte (VA-6)

Mary Beth Layman Vinton War Memorial (1/2014 - 6/2014)

Christopher P. Morrill City of Roanoke

Dan O’Donnell County of Roanoke (7/2014 -2/2015)

Bhanu Patel La Quinta Inn – Roanoke Salem

Dharmendra Patel Samip Management (1/2014 - 6/2014)

Richard “Pete” Peters Botetourt County Parks, Recreation & Tourism

Charles A. Price, Jr. Harrison Museum of African American Culture

Charles L. Robbins, III BB&T (Retired)

Douglas B. Robison Wildflour Market & Bakery

Ssunny Shah Baymont Inn & Suites Salem

Susan E. Short, Ph.D. Virginia Tech

James E. Taliaferro, II City of Salem

Gary D. Walton The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center

Joyce Waugh Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce

StaffADMINISTRATIONLandon C. Howard President

Heidi R. Mowry Director of Administration

SALESMichael R. Unanue Vice President of Sales

Kelly D. Burd-Adams Director of Accounts

Erica Musyt National Sales Manager

Vickie Meeks Miller Sales & Services Coordinator

Melissa Davick Sales Administrative Specialist

MARKETINGDebora Wright Director of Marketing

Catherine Herlocker Partnership / Marketing Sales Coordinator

David Aldridge e-Marketing Coordinator

Christopher Nicholas CRM / Marketing Coordinator

Shannon Keener Marketing Specialist (Part-Time)

PUBLIC RELATIONS & VISITOR SERVICESCatherine Fox Director of Public Relations & Tourism

Part-Time Staff: Visitor Services Leads Holly Marden Jane Smith Weekend Part-Time Ahondryea Brooks Amelia Glaser Antoinette Hatten Seth Marlow Heidi Miller Velma Thomas

Volunteers: Ann Andrews Hugh Brown Elizabeth Callahan Joe Cummings Terry Eastman Marlene Efkeman



hOTEL ROOM dEMand

ROOM REVEnUE

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

$75,023,204 $78,391,404 $83,148,287 $85,724,882 $88,155,946

Source: Smith Travel Research

LOdGinG Tax REVEnUE

2

Locality 2014 Revenue

City of Roanoke (8% tax rate) ...................... $4,062,035

City of Salem (8% tax rate) ........................ $1,078,371

County of Roanoke (7% tax rate) ................. $1,070,738

County of Botetourt (5% tax rate) ...................$335,043

County of Franklin (5% tax rate) ......................$85,644

Source: Local governments $6,631,831

61.25%

1.29%5.05%

16.15%

16.26%

ROOMS SOLd

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

975,622 997,490 1,056,484 1,085,730 1,110,834

1,150,000

1,100,000

1,050,000

1,000,000

950,000

900,000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Rooms Sold

5TH ConSeCuTive YeaR of RECORD Room Tax Collections Growth!

5TH ConSeCuTive YeaR of Room Demand (Rooms Sold) Growth!

The RVCVB’s primary objectives are to expand market-size as monitored by two key measures:

– Hotel Room Demand, which is the measure of the number of rooms sold in the VBR region.

– Lodging Tax Revenue, which are Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) paid by visitors while staying in lodging properties in funding jurisdictions or as described

in the RVCVB’s Bylaws as “Participating Localities.”

2.8%

2.3%

8%

Visitor impacts

*Source: Virginia Tourism Corporation – 2013 Economic Impact Numbers

$754.7 MILLION spending

7,450 jobs

$150.0 MILLION

payroll

$54.4 MILLION state & local

tax collections

visitor spending in Virginia’s Blue Ridge grew by 3.4%, while spending in Virginia grew 1.2%



3

The world is hearing all about ViRGinia’S BLUE RidGE.

media/pr results:

54number of journalists hosted

$2,594,440 earned media coverage

media coverage circulation407,575,748

The Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau

was selected as one of the

in the ConventionSouth Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards / 2014

Best Meeting Sites in the South

Governor Terry McAuliffe and State Senator John Edwards (seated) announcing future Amtrak service to encourage more visitation.

Congressional Forum: Congressmen Morgan Griffith and Bob Goodlatte

Top 10 valentine’s Getaways – World Property Channel / 2014

ThE ROANOKE VALLEy was ranked as one of the

10 Best Bike-Friendly Cities in the United States

– uSa Today Travel / July 2014

named one of America’s Best Small Cities on the Rise – Smarter Travel / July 2014

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAy named one of the best SCENIC DRIVES in the South – uSa Today Travel / August 2014

ViRGinia’S BLUE RidGE engaged national and state leaders

working with VBR PARTNERS generated a 25 to 1 return on investment that was heard WORLDWIDE!

Public Relations



The RVCVB implemented new comprehensive

Blue Ridge Standard Time campaigns,

Spring/Summer and Fall, to build the

brand and increase the awareness of

Virginia’s Blue Ridge. This program built on

recent brand research that identified a specific

demographic in Virginia and North Carolina, specifically

Raleigh-Durham, Richmond and Hampton Roads areas.

It was accomplished through increased governmental funding as well as

corporate sponsorships with Kroger, Virginia Tech and industry partners. The

campaign focused on the first ever Cable TV, online marketing initiatives and

electronic kiosks in 55 Kroger stores. The RVCVB was able to strategically position

Virginia’s Blue Ridge in our key markets that produce record numbers of visitors.

Online Advertising

Kroger Bag Stuffer

Contest Prize: 611 Custom Texas Tavern Bikes

4

destination Marketing

advertising with VT & KROGER:

Digital Kiosk in Kroger Stores

2014 marketing campaign (May - OCTOBER)

63,000,000

13,108

332,157

impressions

contest entries

unique website & mobile visitors

Advertising added value (kROGER & Va TECh)

$20,820,411

53:1 match on our $

partnering pays off:

The 2014 ad campaign received numerous awards, including six Summit Awards from the Public Relations Society of

America shown here with Tony Pearman, Access Advertising, Lee Wilhelm, RVCVB Chair; Debora Wright, Director of Marketing; David Mikula, Mikula-Harris Advertising and

Landon Howard, RVCVB President.

From 2,801 to 34,776 facebook



5

2014 website & mobile site unique visitors

website & mobile site unique visitors

TOTAL

inquiries

522,562

568,335

45,773+

estimated impact in direct spending

% of inquirers who visited (source: Texas A&M Conversion Study)

2.2 party size X 2.4 days X $131.43 spending (source: Texas A&M Conversion Study)

568,335

267,117

$185,379,198

.47

$694

x

x

facebook: 40,403 likesconsumer database: 71,008

enewsletter & Social Media

daily engagement with visitors through social media.

visit virginia’s Blue Ridge | facebook.com/Roanokevalley

@visitvbr | twitter.com/visitvbr Hashtag: #BlueRidgeDay

@visitvbr | instagram.com/visitvbr

virginia’s Blue Ridge | pinterest.com/vablueridge

virginia’s Blue Ridge | plus.google.com/+visitvablueridge/posts

Roanoke valley Convention & visitors Bureau | linkedin.com/company/roanoke-valley-convention-and-visitors-bureau

virginia’s Blue Ridge | youtube.com/channel/uCfu_Du1m5pDhasu65PoaKbw



6

Potential Customers

INFORMATION BROKERMACRO-ECONOMY

Consumers

RoanokeValley

Convention& Visitors

Bureau

Travel Agents

Tour Operators

Meeting Planners

Attractions

Restaurants

Hotels

Rental Cars

Retail

Virginia’s Blue RidgeTourism Industry

The Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau (RVCVB) serves as an information broker for Virginia’s Blue Ridge (VBR) macro tourism economy

representing and working with over 850 partners including the Cities of Roanoke and Salem and Counties of Botetourt, Franklin, and Roanoke.

Partnership ServicesPARTNERShIP GROWTh ALLOWS FOR ENhANCED OPPORTUNITIES

- Since implementation of the free partnership program in 2013, partnership has grown by over 71% and includes 868 partners. With a continuously growing partnership, the RVCVB continues to conduct monthly Partner Extranet training

sessions to enable our partners to enhance their presence on our web and mobile sites. Since implementation of the program

we have trained over 325 partners which is over 37% of our total partnership.

- In 2014, the RVCVB began promotion of a new “Weddings” section on our website. The new pages highlight over 200

partners in categories including spas and salons, music, catering companies, photographers, florists and other event

related services.

The RVCVB launched a new booking engine on the website utilizing aRes Travel Inc. The advanced

online purchasing system now allows our consumer to purchase an entire business trip or vacation,

including attraction tickets, hotel rooms, transportation, and destination packages, all without leaving

the VisitVaBlueRidge.com website. This enhancement to our website contributed to $47,776 in

attraction ticket and hotel room sales.

In addition, the RVCVB’s website launched online advertising through the Destination Travel Network providing enhanced

opportunities to our partners through banner ads, priority listings, and page sponsorships.

Many ThankS TO OUR PaRTnERS FOR PROVidinG $86,758.04 OF in-kind GOOdS and SERViCES dURinG 2014. ThiS aMOUnT LEVERaGES OUR CaPaBiLiTiES TO MakE a GREaTER iMPaCT FOR OUR kEy PROGRaMS.

SinCE 2010

increaseFO

UR FOLd



Our purpose is to encourage overnight visitation, extend the average stay, and increase visitor spending by providing relevant visitor information about Virginia’s Blue Ridge.

hOW DO WE DO IT?

- Distribute Visitor Guides, The Menu, maps and local brochures to visitors and groups visiting the area.

- Strive to provide the most relevant regional events calendar for visitors

- Partner with Community Events – St. Patrick’s Day Parade participant, Star City Half Marathon water station, open Visitor Center to welcome Dashers during the Drumstick Dash. Provide a mobile visitor center at off-site

events: Blue Ridge Marathon, Go Outside Festival, Roanoke Wing Fest, Virginia Science Festival

- Provide visitor information via Segway Ambassador at key events

- Conduct Customer Service Excellence Hospitality Training Workshops

- Host a AAA Travel Counselor FAM tour

- Staff the Roanoke Valley Visitor Information Center – Open daily 9am-5pm (Sundays 12pm-5pm in Jan/Feb). Conveniently located at the corner of Shenandoah Ave. and Williamson Rd.

FiVE CUSTOMER SERViCE ExCELLEnCE hOSPiTaLiTy TRaininG wORkShOPS were held for 127 aTTEndEES,

including a special training session provided for Center in the Square volunteers.

7

Visitor Services & hospitality Training

excellent Customer Service Leads to

SinCE 2010



8

Convention & Sports SalesSALES PRODUCTIVITy

· Leads: 83

CONVENTIONS & SPORTS hOSTED

· 31 groups representing 35,000+ participants and provided a direct spending of $11+ million

LOCAL CONVENTIONS & SPORTS SERVICED By RVCVB

· 75 groups representing 20,000+ participants

SPORTS

· 80+ sporting events were held in Virginia’s Blue Ridge

MOTORCOACh TOUR SALES

· 165 overnight tours were reported equivalent

to 3,550 room nights

· 42 tours were serviced with a tour guide

American Softball Association 16U Girls National Tournament - Largest event of this kind hosted in Virginia’s Blue Ridge.

VIRGINIA SOCIETy OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES SELECTS ROANOKE VALLEy IN VirginiA’S Blue

ridge FOR ThEIR 2017 VSAe AnnuAl ConferenCe:

“This is an incredible opportunity

for Virginia’s Blue Ridge to

showcase itself as a meetings destination. During this event,

we will be entertaining the VSAE membership and provide

them with options to experience many of our local activities

and venues. We want them to gain first-hand knowledge of

why they should be considering Virginia’s Blue Ridge for their

future meetings” said Michael Unanue, Vice President of

Sales at the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau.

2017 VSAE ANNUAL CONFERENCE WILL BE hELD APRIL 29 – MAy 2, 2017

IN VirginiA’S Blue ridge WITh APPROXIMATELy 250 ATTENDEES.

LEadS diSTRiBUTEd

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 2012 2013 2014

43 45

83

BOOkEd ROOM niGhTS

2012 2013 2014

50,000

45,000

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

28,197

9,956

45,669

BOOkEd GROUPS

2012 2013 2014

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

1715

36

84% increase

from 2013

to 2014

140% increase

from 2013

to 2014

358% increase

from 2013

to 2014



9

Looking Toward a Bright Future2030 VIRGINIA’S BLUE RIDGE DESTINATION VISION PLAN

A great place to live typically is a great place to visit! As one of the agencies that

participated in the Partnership for a Livable Roanoke Valley, the Roanoke Valley

Convention & Visitors Bureau (RVCVB) seeks to work with our Participating Localities

(Cities of Roanoke and Salem and Counties of Botetourt, Franklin, and Roanoke)

to plan for quality of life services and facilities that will be attractive, not only to

residents, but to visitors alike. The plan identifies several focus areas that the RVCVB

will provide leadership:

· Cultivate and market outdoor and cultural amenities

· Enhance sports tournaments

· Package and sell current outdoor amenities

· Provide more unique accommodations

· Advance arts and culture

The RVCVB contracted with Zeitgeist Consulting, a nationally-known destination planning firm, to complete a 2030 Virginia’s Blue Ridge Destination

Vision Plan. The purpose of the Vision Plan is to accelerate the growth of tourism in the region and elevate the region’s tourism industry to unprecedented

levels of success. A three-step process began during 2014 and will be completed during 2015:

· Destination Assessment – A team of outside experts experienced Virginia’s Blue Ridge (VBR) as first-time visitors to more fully understand strengths,

challenges, synergistic connectivity, and opportunities. The report was completed during June 2014.

· Destination Visioning – During Fall 2014, the Zeitgeist team reviewed existing plans, interviewed stakeholders, and conducted group meetings in

order to identify and prioritize a list of visionary action steps. During April and June 2015, a Regional Tourism Master Plan will be completed.

· Organizational Strategic Plan – During Fall 2015, the RVCVB will develop a strategic plan to assign responsibilities for carrying out the Vision Plan.

“The RVCVB’s goal is to look forward beyond the next quarter to encourage economic development projects and enhance of services that will elevate

VBR’s travel industry offerings,” stated Lee Wilhelm, RVCVB Board Chair. “The visioning process should bring our local governments and private industry

together for a bright future.”

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Lisa Garst, Salem City Council and Livability Roanoke Valley Chair, meets with W. Lee Wilhelm, RVCVB Board Chair,

to discuss the future.


The Roanoke Valley in Virginia’s Blue Ridge boasts the largest metropolitan center in the Blue Ridge Mountain chain.

ROANOKEROANOKE

VTVT

6464

6681

95

40

77220

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VIRGINIA’S BLUE RIDGE

ROANOKE VALLEy CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU101 Shenandoah Ave. NE – Roanoke, VA 24016-2044 – 540.342.6025


www.ViSiTVaBLUERidGE.COM

Annual Meeting Photo Booth

virginia's blue ridge - 2014 progress report

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