Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting

TWENTYNINE PALMS TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT REGULAR MEETING AGENDA 6136 Adobe Road Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 www.29palms.org / www.Visit29.org Thursday, August 26, 2021 REGULAR SESSION AGENDA 3:30 P. M. CALL TO ORDER Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call. CHANGES TO AGENDA PRESENTATIONS - NONE BUSINESS 1. Approval of the Meeting Minutes for the July 29, 2021 Tourism Business Improvement District 3-7 meeting. Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting - 29 Jul 2021 - Minutes - Pdf 2. August Marketing Activity Updates 9 - 12 August Marketing Activity Updates PUBLIC COMMENTS DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS 3. Discussion and review of TBID's 2020-2021 annual report 13 - 21 Visit 29 Palms Year In Review FY 2020-2021 Draft BOARDMEMBER COMMENTS DIRECTOR OF MARKETING COMMENTS FUTURE BOARDMEMBER INITIATED ITEMS Page 1 of 21 ADJOURNMENT It is the intention of the City of Twentynine Palms to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act in all respects. If you are a person with a disability who requires a disability-related modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please request such modification or accommodation from the City Clerk at (760) 367-4890 (facsimile). Notification at least 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to assure accessibility to the meeting. Please advise us at the time whether you will require accommodations to participate in meetings on a regular basis. Any person affected by any application on this agenda may submit their concerns in writing prior to the meeting or appear in person and be heard in support or opposition to the proposal at the time the matter is considered on the agenda. The staff reports, applications and environmental documents may be viewed at either the office of Community Development or the office of the City Clerk, 6136 Adobe Road, from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, except legal holidays. The Invocation is given per Policy 10-01, and does not reflect the views of the City but rather is an expression of speech by a private citizen making the presentation. Telephone inquiries may be made at (760) 367-6799. If you challenge any agenda issue in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues that you or someone else raised at the public meeting described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Twentynine Palms at, or prior to, the public meeting. This notice of agenda is hereby certified to have been posted on or before 3:30 p.m., August 23, 2021. Cindy Villescas CMC, City Clerk Time/Date Page 2 of 21  TWENTYNINE PALMS TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT REGULAR MEETING MINUTES City Hall, 6136 Adobe Road, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 www.29palms.org / www.Visit29.org July 29, 2021 CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chair Maharaj called the meeting to order at 3:31 PM Pledge of Allegiance: Boardmember Quinteros lead the Pledge of Allegiance Roll Call: The following Boardmembers were present in-person: Knight, Quinteros, Maharaj. The following boardmembers had excused absences: Grunt, Mehta. CHANGES TO AGENDA - Vice Chair Maharaj requested the addition of the COVID-19 Update to the Agenda. TBID Advisory Board Unanimously agreed to the addition of the COVID-19 Update to the Agenda under Business. PRESENTATIONS - None BUSINESS 1. Approval of the Meeting Minutes for the May 13, 2021 Tourism Business Improvement District meeting. A motion was made by Boardmember Quinteros, seconded by Boardmember Knight to approve the TBID meeting minutes for the TBID's May 13, 2021 meeting. YES: Quinteros, Knight, Maharaj. NO: None 2. COVID-19 Update TBID Director Dusastre presented the TBID Advisory Board with an overview of the current travel recommendations from the CDC and State of California and shared the details of an upcoming vaccination event that San Bernardino County will be hosting in Twentynine Palms later this week. COVID Travel Related Updates 3. Visit 29 Palms Marketing Activity Update for Q3 (April-June) TBID Director of Marketing Dusastre presented the TBID Advisory Board with an overview of marketing activities for the TBID's Q3 April - June period, including updates on visitation and operations of the 29 Palms Visitor Center, video production, billboard campaigns and digital marketing programs. PUBLIC COMMENTS Veno Nathraj directed a series of questions to the City Manager, including questions about what is being done to promote tourism during the summer season, visitation numbers at the 29 Palms Visitor Center, changes to lodging inventory at the 29 Palms Marine Base, and VHR cleaning fees. Page 1 of 5 Page 3 of 21  Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting July 29, 2021 Aaron Kyle spoke about his concerns for the community and how a lack of infrastructure is preventing the city from seeing growth. Kyle also shared his views on transient occupancy tax (TOT) and his beliefs that the tax rate should increase in 29 Palms and that money be invested into infrastructure. DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS 4. Joshua Tree Music Festival Sponsorship Proposal - Fall 2021 & Spring 2022 A motion was made by Vice Chair Maharaj, seconded by Boardmember Quinteros to approve a $750 sponsorship agreement with Joshua Tree Music Festival. YES: Knight, Quinteros, Maharaj. NO: None 5. 2021-2022 TBID Tourism Marketing Plan and Budget A motion was made by Vice Chair Maharaj, seconded by Boardmember Knight to approve the Tourism Business Improvement District's tourism marketing plan and budget for fiscal year 2021-2022. YES: Quinteros, Knight, Maharaj. NO: None BOARDMEMBER COMMENTS Vice Chair Maharaj thanked TBID Director Dusastre for her efforts and encouraged her to continue the great work. Maharaj is very optimistic about what is happening in the city now and emphasized how important it is for the city to have a Tourism Business Improvement District. DIRECTOR OF MARKETING COMMENTS TBID Director of Marketing Dusastre thanked the TBID Advisory Board members for their time and participation in establishing the budget and marketing plan for next year and discussed the upcoming TBID reauthorization timeline and process. FUTURE BOARDMEMBER INITIATED ITEMS - None ADJOURNMENT: Vice Chair Maharaj adjourned the meeting at 4:55 PM Respectfully Submitted, Breanne Dusastre TBID Director of Marketing Page 2 of 5 Page 4 of 21  COVID-19 Updates Page 3 of 5 Page 5 of 21 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: July 29, 2021.  COVID-19 Update State of California current travel recommendations Source: https://covid19.ca.gov/travel/ Page 4 of 5 Page 6 of 21 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: July 29, 2021.  COVID-19 Update CDC Guidance for Domestic US Travel CDC Guidance for International Travel • Delay travel until you are fully vaccinated. If you are not • All air passengers coming to the United States, including fully vaccinated and must travel, follow CDC’s U.S. citizens and fully vaccinated people, are required to recommendations for unvaccinated people. have a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days • People who are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized before travel or documentation of recovery from COVID- vaccine or a vaccine authorized for emergency use by the 19 in the past 3 months before they board a flight to the World Health Organization can travel safely within the United States. United States. Page 5 of 5 Page 7 of 21 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: July 29, 2021. Page 8 of 21  Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 9 of 21 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: August 26, 2021.  Digital Marketing Program Results – August 2021 Visit29.org Digital Display Paid Search • Users: 5,829 • Impressions: 359,000 • Total Impressions: 10,100 • Sessions: 6,713 • Total Clicks: 3,330 • Total Clicks: 768 • Pageviews: 11,486 • Click Through Rate: .93% • Click Through Rate: 7.63% • Outbound Link Clicks: 1,374 • Average Cost Per Click: $0.11 • Average Cost Per Click: $0.87 Video E-Newsletter Paid & Organic Social Media “Summer Adventure Itinerary” “Summer Adventure in 29 Palms” • Paid Reach: 8,360 • Impressions: 111,000 • Recipients: 2,974 • Organic Impressions: 35,328 • Views: 2,140 • Open Rate: 38% • Clicks to Visit29.org: 531 • Watch Time: 17.5 hours • Click Rate: 19% • Total Combined Audience: 7,095 Billboards • Impressions: 543,000 Page 10 of 21 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: August 26, 2021.  Marketing Updates – Fall Event Sponsorship https://hwy62arttours.org/sponsors/ https://www.joshuatree.org/desert-institute/field-classes.html Page 11 of 21 https://joshuatreemusicfestival.com/event-info/ https://www.skysthelimit29.org/night-sky-festival.html https://vacationraces.com/half-marathons/joshua-tree/details/#tab-con-7 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: August 26, 2021.  Updated Year-To-Date TBID Revenue Results NEW – Q3 Results (April-June 2021) Hotels: $55,091 • 127% increase vs same period last year VHR’s: $26,227 • 204% increase vs same period last year Combined Q3 Total: $81,318 • 147% increase vs same period last year Page 12 of 21 Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting: August 26, 2021. Page 13 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG About Visit 29 Palms Established in October 2017 and branded as Visit 29 Palms, the Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) is a non-profit organization whose goal and objective is to promote Twentynine 02 Palms as a tourism destination and to drive overnight room demand through creative marketing activities and initiatives. Formed through a public-private partnership between the City of Twentynine Palms and lodging operators and owners, Visit 29 Palms is funded by the revenue generated by the self-assessed 1.5% tourism tax that is applied to all overnight room rates at the hotels, motels, RV resort, and vacation rentals within the TBID’s district. The Visit 29 Palms TBID’s district is defined by the 58 square-mile boundary of the incorporated City of Twentynine Palms and includes all of the lodging properties within it. The City of Twentynine Palms’ TBID is administered by a 5-member Advisory Board made up of lodging owners and operators whose members are appointed by City Council. The TBID Advisory board oversees the development and implementation of an annual tourism marketing plan and budget and provides strategic guidance and direction to the TBID staff. TBID staff also oversee and manage the daily operation of the 29 Palms Visitor Center. Visit 29 Palms TBID District Overview 600+ 150+ 150+ Hotel rooms RV spaces Vacation rentals Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 Tourism Business Improvement District Advisory Board Chair, Rakesh Mehta – SureStay by Best Western Vice Chair, Nalini “Ash” Maharaj – Harmony Motel Boardmember, Heidi Grunt – 29 Palms Inn/Campbell House Boardmember, Patricia Knight – Vacation Rental Management Boardmember, Maria Quinteros – Holiday Inn Express Tourism Business Improvement District Staff Breanne Dusastre, Director of Marketing 29 Palms Visitor Center Staff Scott Clinkscales, D’Anne Albers Page 14 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG Year in Review Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our world as we know it, including where, how, and why we travel. 03 Over the past year we saw travel restrictions, border closures, and regional stay-at-home orders in Cali- fornia continue, creating sharp declines in the travel and tourism industry. It has been a year unlike any other for our hospitality businesses in Twentynine Palms. We commend our local hospitality community for their ongoing efforts to support safe and responsible travel to our city, and the 60+ business owners who enrolled in the San Bernardino County COVID Com- pliant Business Partner Program. Our 2020-2021 fiscal year began on October 1, 2020, at which time we had a cautious but growing opti- mism for the year ahead but were again challenged by a nearly two-month long stay-at-home order in southern California. What has emerged from this ongoing pandemic are new trends in leisure travel, centered around road trips and trips to National Parks, interest in small, rural communities, and a large percentage of a work- force seeking new environments to work remotely from. Visitation to Joshua Tree National Park continued to surge, with Joshua Tree becoming the most visited National Park in California in 2020, and the tenth most visited National Park in the United States. Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 Offering the areas largest and most diverse collection of lodging, ranging from national brand hotels, in- dependent and historic inns and motels, an RV resort, and a growing number of vacation rentals, Twen- tynine Palms has been well positioned to meet the changing needs of todays travel consumers. We have and continue to see growing demand from the drive markets within California, and our bordering states of Arizona and Nevada. Despite the disruptions of state-wide and regional stay-at-home orders, border closures, travel bans, and cancellations of major events and the Visit 29 Palms TBID is on track to have a record-breaking year, with anticipated year-end tourism tax revenue to exceed $250,000. Through three quarters of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the 1.5% tourism tax has generated $205,855, which is a 34% increase above the previous year results. Throughout this past year, the Visit 29 Palms TBID has been hard at work resuming, relaunching, and introducing new marketing programs into the mix, supporting the safe reopening of the city’s tourism industry. Visit 29 Palms has also continued to manage and operate the 29 Palms Visitor Center which has welcomed more than 2,400 travelers this fiscal year. All digital marketing efforts are being done in-house by TBID staff, which include search engine market- ing, digital display campaigns, social media, and digital billboards. New initiatives for the 2020-2021 fiscal year include utilizing contract services for the development and execution of branded video production. Page 15 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG Quarterly/Year-To-Date Marketing Campaign Results 04 1 Build awareness and interest for 29 Palms as a travel Strategic Goals 2 Strengthen in-state drive markets (LA, SD, SF) 3 Grow out-of-state drive markets (Arizona & Nevada) Q1: October – December 2020 Q2: January – March 2021 Visit29.org Visit29.org 11,062 12,769 17,488 23,625 Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 users sessions users sessions 25,827 3,450 40,387 4,651 pageviews outbound link clicks pageviews outbound link clicks Top 10 user locations Top 10 user locations Los Angles, Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, San Los Angeles, Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, Diego, Ontario, Irvine, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego, Ontario, Irvine, Las Vegas, Rancho Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside Cucamonga, San Francisco Paid Search Paid Search 12,363 766 66,248 3,395 impressions clicks impressions clicks 5.89% $0.59 5.21% $0.24 click through rate average cost per click click through rate average cost per click Social Media Social Media 11,751 26,519 14,697 31,359 paid reach organic reach paid reach organic reach 294 897 clicks clicks Page 16 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG Q3: April – June 2021 Q4: July 1 – 31 Visit29.org Visit29.org 05 20,494 24,040 7,159 8,460 users sessions users sessions 46,201 4.503 15,222 1,355 pageviews outbound link clicks pageviews outbound link clicks Top 10 user locations Top 10 user locations Los Angeles, Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, Los Angeles, Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, San San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Rancho Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Phoenix, Irvine, Cucamonga, Phoenix, Irvine, Riverside Sacramento, Ontario Paid Search Paid Search 117,200 7,440 15,400 864 impressions clicks impressions clicks 6.35% $0.35 5.62% $1.05 click through rate average cost per click click through rate average cost per click Social Media Social Media Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 88,927 116,237 8,151 28,678 paid reach organic reach paid reach organic impressions 1,668 390 3,203 clicks clicks video views Digital Display Digital Display 23,200 917 115,000 1,710 impressions clicks impressions clicks 3.95% $0.48 1.49% $0.31 click through rate average cost per click click through rate average cost per click Digital Billboards Digital Billboards 1,817,290 726,926 impressions impressions Video 67,500 1,260 impressions views Page 17 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG Year-To-Date Results (October 1, 2020 – July 31, 2021) Visit29.org 06 55,500 68,894 users sessions 127,628 13,959 pageviews outbound link clicks Top 10 user locations Los Angeles, Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, San Diego, Ontario, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Irvine, Rancho Cucamonga, Phoenix Marketing Campaigns 211,211 138,000 paid search impressions digital display impressions 326,319 2,544,216 social media reach digital billboards impressions 67,500 3,287,446 video impressions total impressions Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 1.5% TBID Tax Revenue Results 2017/2018 Oct-Dec Jan-March April-June July-Sept Year End Hotels 43,254 63,021 53,802 41,005 201,082 VHRs 1,851 6,919 5,066 4,724 18,560 Total 45,105 69,940 58,868 45,729 219,642 2018/2019 Oct-Dec Jan-March April-June July-Sept Year End Hotels 44,683 54,772 52,457 41,290 193,202 VHRs 7,182 9,685 7,008 6,939 30,814 Total 51,865 64,457 59,465 48,229 224,016 YOY % Change 15% -8% 1% 5.47% 2% 2019-2020 Oct-Dec Jan-March April-June July-Sept Year End Hotels 47,918 37,197 24,281 37,732 147,128 VHRs 9,908 7,464 8,604 20,239 46,215 Total 57,826 44,661 32,885 57,971 193,343 YOY % Change 12% -31% -45% 20% -14% 2020-2021 Oct-Dec Jan-March April-June July-Sept Year End Hotels 41,474 40,482 44,657 35,000 161,613 VHRs 20,007 33,008 26,227 20,000 99,242 Total 61,481 73,490 70,884 55,000 260,855 YOY % Change 6% 64% 116% -5% 35% Forecasted results Page 18 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG FY 2020-2021 Budget: $252,971 Expenditures by category 07 Salaries and Benefits 105,641 Internet Marketing 31,130 Special Projects 30,000 Video Production 20,000 Sponsorship/Community Events 20,000 Broadcast Media 10,000 Contingency 10,000 Contract Services 10,000 Miscellaneous 4,000 COVID-19 Safety Measures 2,500 Office Supply 1,200 Visitor Center Maintenance 1,200 Looking ahead to FY 2021-2022 Visit 29 Palms will continue its work supporting a safe reopening of the city’s tourism industry and will continue to promote travel and tourism to the city through our destination’s 5 pillars that include outdoor adventure, Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 health and wellness, arts and culture, culinary, and astronomy and stargazing. While we will not yet see our international visitors return, we are confident that the domestic interest and demand will remain steady. Events Looking ahead to the fall season, Visit 29 Palms is pleased to be supporting and sponsoring many of the areas major events, including the Night Sky Festival, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours, Vacation Races Joshua Tree Half Marathon. In addition to supporting these upcoming events, Visit 29 Palms will also be looking to build relationships and partnerships with other event organizers with the goal of creating and establishing new events in the city to further increase tourism. Project Phoenix Set for completion in the early spring of 2022, the Project Phoenix downtown revitalization project will include a new multi-purpose community center and outdoor event stage which will create new opportunities to host events and draw visitors to the city. Another key element of Project Phoenix will be a new Visitor and Cultural Center for Joshua Tree National Park which will allow the National Park Service the opportunity to display its incredible collection of Native American artifacts. The exhibit hall element of this new NPS Visitor and Cultural Center is an extremely special part of this project and will play a powerful role in bringing Joshua Tree National Park visitors into our city. Page 19 of 21  WWW.VISIT29.ORG Visit 29 Palms Partner Program As the TBID organization continues to grow, so too will the newly developed Partner Program. This program offers hospitality focused businesses opportunities to gain increased and direct exposure through the Visit 08 29 Palms marketing programs. We invite you to learn more about this program by visiting our website: https://visit29.org/partner-program/ Visit 29 Palms is excited to have welcomed the following partners to its program this year: Harmony Motel, SureStay by Best Western, White Label Vinyl, Hi-Desert Daydream. FY 2021-2022 Budget & Expenses Budget: $269,900 Expenditures by category Salaries and Benefits 101,641 Internet Marketing 50,680 Special Projects 30,000 Video Production 24,000 Sponsorship/Community Events 20,000 Broadcast Media 13,000 Contingency 10,000 Contract Services 10,000 Annual Report / Year in Review FY 2020-2021 Miscellaneous 5,000 COVID-19 Safety Measures 2,500 Office Supply 1,200 Visitor Center Maintenance 600 Page 20 of 21 Page 21 of 21