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Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau 2014 Progress Report
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Partnering for SUCCESS
2014 PROGRESS REPORTRoanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau
Partnering for SUCCESS
www.VisitVaBlueRidge.com
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
www.VisitVaBlueRidge.com
Partnering for SUCCESS
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%
2014 PROGRESS REPORT
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
www.VisitVaBlueRidge.com
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
2014 PROGRESS REPORT
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
www.VisitVaBlueRidge.com
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
2014 PROGRESS REPORT
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
www.VisitVaBlueRidge.com
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
2014 PROGRESS REPORT
Partnering for SUCCESS
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.
Partnering for SUCCESS
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
460
VIRGINIA’S BLUE RIDGE
ROANOKE VALLEy CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU101 Shenandoah Ave. NE – Roanoke, VA 24016-2044 – 540.342.6025
Partnering for SUCCESS
www.ViSiTVaBLUERidGE.COM
Annual Meeting Photo Booth