Visit Boerne Advisory Board

MINUTES TO THE REGULAR QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU ADVISORY BOARD 2021 HOT FUND APPLICATION PRESENTATIONS AND REVIEW MUNICIPAL COURT 124 OLD SAN ANTONIO RD BOERNE, TX 78006 APRIL 22, 2021 3:00 – 5:00 PM Present: 8 - Chairman Joe Granados, Vice-Chair Michelle Ernst, Board Members: Cristal Bitar, Elizabeth Castle, Mary Kanafani, Guy Sanders, Bexar Schenk, Brad Wilson One Board Position Open 1. CALL TO ORDER – 3:00 PM Chairman Joe Granados called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. 2. CITIZENS COMMENTS: There were no public comments. 3. APPROVE MINUTES: 2021-371 Approve Minutes to Meeting of January 7, 2021 Chairman Granados asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting of January 7, 2021. Elizabeth Castle made the motion, Michelle Ernst seconded, and motion past unanimously. 4. HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX 2021 APPLICANT PRESENTATIONS Moving on, Joe asked Larry to present the HOT Fund Applications for 2021. 2021-373 Genealogical Society of Kendall County City of Boerne Page 1 Printed on 10/2/2021 Convention & Visitors Bureau Official Meeting Minutes April 22, 2021 Advisory Board Larry quickly reviewed the application for the Genealogical Society of Kendall County mentioning that they have been holding their annual Family History Seminar for 18 years and tend to pick up a few hotel rooms every year. They have asked for and received $1,000 since 2008 and are again asking for $1,000 to apply towards advertising and marketing for the Seminar. 2021-374 Pride of Texas Street Rods Larry went on to review the application for Key to the Hills Rod Run and pointed at that they are asking for $6,500.00 again this year. Larry reminded the board that the Key to the Hills Rod Run has been hosting their event in Boerne for the past 34 years, and this would be their 35th year. He also mentioned that the HOT Funds that had been approved for the Rod Run for 2020 and 2021, had subsequently been cancelled due to the economic impact of COVID. He also went on to inform the Board that Lanne and Patsy's son, Darren would be taking over the Rod Run in future years. 2021-375 Texas Corvette Association Moving on, Larry reviewed the application for the Texas Corvette Association and pointed out that the corvette show is one of the biggest festivals that Boerne hosts each year. Being a sanctioned Fiesta event, this application would be for their 22nd year in Boerne and they are asking for $7,000 HOT fund assistance for 2022, pointing out that this was $1,000 more than last year. Again, Larry mentioned that all HOT funds assistance had been canceled for both the 2019 and 2020 car shows. 5. REVIEW AND DISCUSS APPLICATIONS Larry concluded the application presentations and asked if anyone had any questions. Joe Granados asked what the Corvette Association would use the extra $1,000 for, to which Larry replied it would probably go towards paying for the registered attendees reception dinner on the Friday night prior to show. Guy Sanders asked when these funds would be distributed, to which Larry explained that all three of the applications were to fund programs in 2022, and only if funds were available at that time. At this time, Chairman Granados asked for a motion to recommend approval of all three applications: Elizabeth Castle made the motion, Guy Sanders, seconded -- all were in favor. The motion to recommend approval passed unanimously. City of Boerne Page 2 Printed on 10/2/2021 Convention & Visitors Bureau Official Meeting Minutes April 22, 2021 Advisory Board 6. UPDATE ON CURRENT HOTEL OCCUPANCIES AND REVENUE Joe moved on to item #6. Larry then directed the board to review the spreadsheet provided in their packets entitled "Annual Comparison by Month - 2019-2021" . He pointed out that hotel business is good and we are on track to beat our 2019 revenue numbers. Larry reminded the board that 2019 represented the best hotel revenues in Boerne's history and that we were exceeding every month so far, and every indication was that this trend should continue. 7. COMMENTS FROM BOARD & STAFF Chairman Granados moved on to item #7 and asked if anyone had any comments. Larry advised the board that he would be attending the Texas Travel Alliance Unity dinner next week where-in tourism and travel associations and organizations from across Texas come together to learn about and advocate for full funding of bills in support of travel and tourism to Texas. Larry went on to briefly touch on a couple of the 34 bills before legislation at this time that could affect HOT fund uses in particular. Moving on, Larry also mentioned the CVB's efforts to attend trade shows again in the near future, with the ending of COVID. He also briefly talked about the CVB's efforts to partner with travel writers and influencers to continue bringing the leisure traveler to Boerne. In addition he reiterated that, other than weddings, the meetings and groups business would not likely be returning to travel until late 2021 or early 2022. Larry then talked about the CVB's marketing efforts with TML and said it appeared to be working, but we would need to review how well the geo-fencing campaigns performed in the coming months. He also mentioned that he would be talking to AJR Media to find out more ways the CVB could be marketing and advertising. Joe Granados asked if Houston was still our primary visitor market, to which Larry confirmed that it was. Joe then asked to be included in the next TML meeting regarding their reports for March. City of Boerne Page 3 Printed on 10/2/2021 Convention & Visitors Bureau Official Meeting Minutes April 22, 2021 Advisory Board Brad Wilson asked to confirm that Boerne was featured in a Southern Living Magazine issue and Larry talked a little bit about the issue and the travel writer that came to Boerne to write it. Larry also pointed out the Waterworks Lifestyle magazine out of West Austin and explained that Boerne was featured for free in this magazine in an article entitled "Greetings from Boerne, Your Next Day-Trip Destination Awaits". Guy Sanders asked if there would be any additional HOT Fund Applications coming later in the year, to which Larry explained that the deadline had past, and no more applications would be accepted until the 1st quarter of 2022 for 2023 funding. Brad asked about the competitive data spreadsheets that were normally presented at the CVB meetings to which Larry replied they would be shared at the next meeting. Larry then mentioned that the Triumph car show would be coming to Boerne in 2022 and how hard Val Anderson, the CVB's group coordinator had worked to bring this group to Boerne and that hopefully, this would be the beginning of another annual car show in Boerne. Larry then mentioned the new visitor guide that was now out and that they would be working on new formatting for the next one -- with fewer adds and cleaner white space. Joe Granados asked when the CVB would be presenting to City Council next and to please let the board know when the next meeting would be so they could attend. 8. ADJOURNMENT There being no further comments or questions, Chairman Granados asked for a motion to adjourn: Michelle Ernst made the motion, Guy Sanders seconded, and the motion passed unanimously at 3:23 p.m. s/s Larry Woods_________________________ Boerne Convention and Visitors Bureau Director s/s Jeanette Teague______________________ Secretary City of Boerne Page 4 Printed on 10/2/2021