Tourism Commission

Tourism Commission Minutes City of Bellingham, Washington Tuesday 3:30 PM Mayor’s Boardroom, City Hall 210 Lottie St Bellingham, January 28, 2025 WA 98225 Audio Recorded https://meetings.cob.org Call to Order The Tourism Commission meeting (video) was called to order by the Chair, Peter Fraizer, at 3:33 PM. Members: Council Representative: ☒ Peter Frazier (Tourism Commission Chair) ☒ Hollie Huthman, LTAC Chair ☒ Christine Jenkins, LTAC ☒ Craig Jewell Ex-Officio: ☒ Kevin Coleman ☐ Dylan Deane-Boyle, BWCT ☒ Marc Blake, LTAC ☒ Patricia Leach, Whatcom Museum ☒ Matt Lesinski, LTAC ☒ John Purdie, Mt Baker Theater ☒ Nick Kelly, LTAC ☒ Sara Holliday, LTAC Staff/ Other Panelists: ☒ Stephanie Morrell, LTAC ☒ Tara Sundin, PCDD ☒ Todd Elsworth ☒ Taylor Webb, PCDD Approve Meeting Minutes Motion to approve the meeting minutes from the October meeting, October special meeting, and November meeting by Christine Jenkins, seconded by Craig Jewell. All in favor, motion passes. Minutes approved. Agenda Items Tourism Commission 1. 2025 Tourism Commission Elections An election to decide the Chair, Vice Chair, and new LTAC members must be held in January of each year. The subsequent election results will go into effect starting in February of that year. A motion was made by Marc Blake to re-elect Peter Frazier as Chair, seconded by Nick Kelly. All in favor, motion passed. Peter will be the Tourism Commission Chair for 2025. A motion was made by Matt Lesinski to re-elect Marc Blake as Vice Chair, seconded by Todd Elsworth. All in favor, motion passed. Marc will be the Tourism Commission Vice Chair for 2025. After discussion among the commissioners, new LTAC members were confirmed for 2025. A motion was made by Hollie Huthman to approve the following commissioners to be part of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee: Stephanie Morrell, Sara Holliday, Kevin Coleman, Nick Kelly, Marc Blake, and Christine Jenkins. The motion was seconded by Sara Holliday. All in favor, motion passed. Hollie will remain the City Council Liaison and LTAC Chair for 2025. 2. 2024 Signature Event Recaps Brandon Watts and Eric Brown, Northwest Tune Up, and Hunter Motto, Bellingham Exit, shared a recap of how their Signature Events did in 2024 including successes, challenges, and plans for improvements in 2025. LTAC Hollie Huthman, LTAC Chair, opened the LTAC meeting at 4:31pm. 1. New 2026 Signature Event Presentations The top two candidates for the 2026 Signature Event were invited to give a short presentation to LTAC about their event and answer any questions. Bellingham Bells shared about their proposed event, All Night Ball in Bellingham, which is an adult amateur softball tournament. Artist Home shared about their proposed arts, culture, and music festival. 2. Selection of 2026 Signature Event Awardee LTAC discussed both events after listening to their presentations. They were impressed by the quality of both applications and presentations, and they thought both events would have a great tourism draw including the ability to draw overnight tourist stays. A motion was made by Nick Kelly to approve Artist Home as the 2026 Signature Event and to fund the Bellingham Bells for one year at $50,000. The motion was seconded by Marc Blake. Both Stephanie Morrell and Hollie Huthman abstained from the vote, all other LTAC members voted in favor. Motion passed. Hollie Huthman, LTAC Chair, closed the LTAC meeting at 5:54pm. Other Business Public Comment No public comment was given. For the Good of the Order, Legislative Issues, and Announcements • Staff shared a brief update that the tourism applications 2026 will be moved to an online format and may include some other slight revisions. Another update will be shared with the commission at a later date. • Staff will convene the sub-committee to review the strategic plan in the coming months. Upcoming Meetings • February meeting 2/25 Meeting adjourned at 5:58pm. Minutes prepared by: Taylor Webb, Development Specialist II Minutes edited by both staff and Tourism Commission members.