F. 2018 KBID Annual ReportDISCOVER
Kalispell
NTANA
2018 i-
INTERNATIONAL ROUNDUP (IRU)
Discover Kalispell hosted the 2018 Interna-
tional Roundup (IRU) tradeshow that brought
forty international travel buyers to Kalispell.
This was a major opportunity to showcase
our destination and provide a glimpse into
the cultural and outdoor activities that are
available year-round in NW Montana.
MONTANA INDOOR
SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS
(MARCH 2-4, 2018)
First annual event kicked off with 35 youth
teams participating from Alberta, B.C.,WA,
ID and MT. Games were played at the Fair-
grounds on turf fields using Futsal rules.
MONTANA STATE CUP SOCCER
Discover Kalispell assisted the Flathead Soc-
cer Association to guarantee hotel rooms as
required for the Association's bid to secure
the event in Kalispell. The event hosted 110
teams on June 8-10 and resulted in up to
1,800 room nights.
NEW AGENCY PARTNER
After seven years of working with Partners
Creative, Discover Kalispell issued an RFP for
agency services to include website redesign,
creative services and media buy. Flathead
Beacon Productions was awarded both con-
tracts through a competitive evaluation pro-
cess.
NEW AND EXPANDED AIR SERVICE
TO KALISPELL
Through the work of Glacier AERO, GPIA
was awarded the direct winter flight to Chi-
cago on United for the third year in a row.
GPIA was thrilled to announce direct service
on American Airlines beginning June 2019
to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, and Chica-
go. Increased flights, a new major airline, and
more seat capacity from destinations popular
to residents, business travelers and visitors
means economic growth and prosperity.
LAUNCHED THE NEW WEBSITE-
DISCOVERKALISPELL.COM
The redesigned website includes an online
booking engine, interactive maps, vibrant vid-
eos and photos, and improved lead conver-
sion points and tracking.
9,
DISCOVER KALISPELL
MARKETS KALISPELL AS:
• A travel destination
-The destination for meetings and
conventions
• A destination for international
travelers and group tours
• A destination for domestic group tours
DISCOVER KALISPELL DEVELOPS
AND SUPPORTS DESTINATION
ASSETS SUCH AS:
• Destination events
-Visitor amenities and services
ft"� odwim
TBID COLLECTIONS FY18:
PROJECTED = $560,000
ACTUAL = $613,881
July - September: +2%
October - December: +0%
January - March:+2
April -June: +7%
BED TAX COLLECTIONS
FOR CITY OF KALISPELL
2018 GROSS COLLECTIONS:
January - March: $144,501 (+3%)
April - June: $317,738 (+16%)
July - September: $624,613 (-5%)
2017 GROSS COLLECTIONS:
$1,225,545 (+6%)
2017
12.2 MILLION VISITORS
SPENT $3.3 BILLION
TOURISM SUPPORTS
53,240 JOBS STATEWIDE
AND OVER 17,000 JOBS IN
GLACIER COUNTRY REGION
TOURISM GENERATED $204M
IN STATE AND LOCAL TAXES
MONTANA RESIDENTS THAT
TRAVELED AND SPENT AT
LEAST ONE NIGHT IN FLATHEAD
COUNTY SPENT $70.4M
NON-RESIDENT VISITORS SPENT
$530M IN FLATHEAD COUNTY
(ITRR,Voices of Montana Tourism)
TroWet & Tw� tPo
STATISTICS
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL TO KALISPELL
110 tour operators offer product in Kalispell. Over 5,000 estimated room nights and
$1.4 million in spending generated from Intl Travelers in Kalispell.
(2017 RMI,T.R.I.P. report)
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
2.9M visitations through November 2018
Discover Kalispell promotes visitations to GNP outside of the busy summer season.
GNP saw increased visitations in shoulder season months:
May +9.7% October +8.9%
September +1 1.7% November +32.5%
GLACIER PARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
288,934 total enplanements through November 2018, 13% increase YTD
Discover Kalispell references various data to understand where our visitors are coming
from. Top airports of origin for passengers flying to GPIA as a visitor include: Seattle,
Los Angeles, Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Dallas/Ft Worth and
San Francisco.
20% all I st time; 70% all repeat; 20% flew on portion of trip
78% plan to return within 2 years
Top sites visited: GNP, YNP, Flathead Lake State Parks, other Montana State Parks
Favorite activities: scenic driving, wildlife watching, day hiking, photography, shopping,
visiting historical sites.
55% said vacation or recreation was primary reason for trip; 21 % were here to visit
friends/family or attend event.
Top residency of origin: Alberta,WA, OR, CA,TX, AZ, FL, MN, IL, B.C.
/, ■
�W LATEST scoolLATEST Scoot'
WINTER CAMPAIGN (NOV 27 - FEB 25):
Key Takeaways: 12M impressions, 0.58% CTR, 69K clicks
to website, 32K sessions on landing page
Market/Media Used:
San Francisco: Native ads, customized landing page on site,
Facebook display and canvas ads, wallscape billboard.
Eastern Washington: Facebook and Instagram display ads
promoting winter events
SPRING/SUMMER CAMPAIGN (MAY 21 - JULY 15):
Key Takeaways: 1.1 M impressions, 1.8% CTR, 21 K clicks to website,
1.9K sessions on landing page
Market: San Francisco
Media Used. Facebook display and canvas ads, Instagram display ads
CAMPAIGN TO BOOST FALL/WINTER VISITATIONS
To offset losses due to wildfire and wildfire smoke in the early fall with the assistance of
an emergency marketing grant from MT Dept. of Commerce.
Key Takeaways: 138,160 impressions, 5,940 clicks on ad, 2,044 quiz starts,
60% completion rate
Media Used. Facebook pixel campaign with custom landing page where participants
entered a contest to "Choose YOUR Montana Adventure" based on completing a quiz.
Winner received a weekend trip for two in Kalispell.
�� Discover ISaliapell J5 •••
Less silicon. More valley. That's Montana's
style.
True adventure awaits.
Plan your top ti Learn More
' Llkc m Comment .+ Share
■oiscouer Kalispell ii Lrke wa.
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Your ftyiog time to Big Sky beauty Is just 2 hours and 25 minutes. To
relax? Mere seconds.
DISCDVEa KALl ELL.COM
Can you hear the silence? Beak H..
kB a Kalispell aurn.w.
C)o W jai, Anne Layer and 39 others 13 Camrr — 35 Shares
Like Q Commerr[ A Sh.r.
Press trips — Hosting travel media professionals in Kalispell:
► JEFF BARTLETT — Social influencer from British Columbia/Alberta
► HEATHER LARSON — Seattle based travel writer
► MICHAEL LANZA —The Big Outside
► INTERNATIONAL MEDIA FAM — 4 travel writers from France, Germany,
and the Netherlands
FIRE CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
Worked cooperatively with MT Office of Tourism Business Dvlmt, Glacier Country and
Whitefish CVB to provide talking points as well as regular updates for local businesses to
reference when conversing with visitors. Created social media posts for communication
updates and redirecting visitors to activities outside of areas affected by wildfire.
KALISPELL IN THE NEWS
« G w4"-axp am
IN THIS UP-AND-COMING WILDERNESS GATEWAY i!
• Kalispell, The Old West Meets the New,
Sunset Magazine -August 2018
. ►
• An August Getaway to GNP is more Chill Than You
Think, 7x7.com (SF Bay Area TravellLeisure website)
-July 2018
i
• Two Days in Kalispell, Montana With Kids, Rave &
Review (Seattle area blog) -July, 2018
•
• Kalispell CVB Case Study, Meetings Today,
.
CVB/DMO Essential Planners Resource
• Outside Perspective, Meetings News Northwest -
THE ESSENTIAL PLANNERS RESOURCE
Oct -Nov 2018
j,.3,;�.
• Kalispell, NW Montana's Retail Gem,
Northwest Travel & Life Magazine -August, 2018
• Go East To Go West, S Western Adventures
For Families, Parentmap.com (Seattle area)
- June, 2018
• Kalispell, Montana,A Getaway for Everyone, The Ranger (Seattle area) -April 2018
4 DISCOVER KALISPELL ANNUAL REPORT 2018 40
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1 'y�
MONTANA POND HOCKEY CLASSIC
JANUARY 19-21, 2018
75 teams registered from Canada,WA, CA, ID,
MA, CT, OR, and UT. Event canceled due to warm
weather and insufficient ice.
MONTANA SPARTAN RACE
MAY 5-6, 2018
Over 7,946 registered racers, 2,150 spectators. 46 states
and 5 provinces represented. 3,882 racers traveled over
200 miles; 2,000+ traveled over 500 miles to attend the
event. $4,280,640 of economic impact created and spent
in the Flathead Valley from this event.
IjrI
M G i�lV A
INDOOR SOCCER
KALISPELL . MONTANA
MONTANA INDOOR SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
MARCH 2-4, 2018
Boys & Girls division tournament played with Futsal rules
on 4 indoor turf fields. 35 teams from Canada, Washington,
Idaho and Montana competed in the two-day event.
MMONTANA
FESTIVAL 1-pelI
MONTANA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 8-9, 2018
43 teams (1,075 paddlers) from MT, WA, NV,
Alberta, B.C., CA, OR, AZ, PA
$836,353 of economic impact created and spent
in the Flathead Valley from this event.
II Flathead Celtic Festival ► Skijoring at Rebecca Farm 0 Glacier Half Marathon
Elite Professional Bull Riders Finals ► AMA National Snow Bike Series Event at Rebecca Farm
4 DISCOVER KALISPELL ANNUAL REPORT 2018 5
r=
GROUP BUSINESS
► 19 RFP's sent to Kalispell hotels 40
► 5 resulted in group business
► 4 of those booked were Bring It Home leads
TOTAL OCCUPANCY
12%IS GROUP BUSINESS
(Based on reporting hotels)
LEAD SOURCE
► 35% Locals (those not eligible for
Bring It Home program)
► 23% Bring it Home Leads
► 23% CVENT
► I I % Call -in
HOTEL OCCUPANCY
■ ■■■ ■ 54.9 / OCC PAN YL
► $109.73 Avg. annual ADR
► +5% Rooms sold from 2017 to 2018
(STR-Smith Travel Report)
GROUP ASSISTANCE SERVICES
(Welcome bags, meeting, activities and area consultation)
► Provided 913 Welcome bags to conference attendees
► Assisted 29 groups with hotel, venue information or on -site
support
FUTURE ROOMS KCVB BOOKED
AND/OR ASSISTED
2019 CONFERENCES
► Northwest Regional App Challenge (May)
► Plein Air Paint Out (May)
► MTAreaYoung Professionals (June)
► Beer Now (June)
► HTEC Educators Conference (July)
► Purpose Driven Tours (August)
► 12th International Conference on Low Volume Roads (Sept)
► Board of Trustees Meeting for NW Public Power Association
(Sept)
2020 CONFERENCES
► USS St. Paul Association (Sept)
► International Bear Association (Sept)
6 DISCOVER KALISPELL ANNUAL REPORT 2018 —
BRING IT HOME
An incentive program to encourage our
local professionals to bring group events
to Kalispell. Meetings, conventions, sport-
ing events, tradeshows or reunions are all
considered group events and certainly an
opportunity to make a difference in Kalis-
pell's economy. Discover Kalispell offers in-
centives for referring a potential group. In
2018, the KCVB received 17 referrals with
4 of those resulting in booked business.
MEETING PLANNER
FAM TRIP
FAM is short for a familiarization trip to
travel professionals that book and plan
meetings or travel. The purpose is to
showcase our area and products first-
hand. We hosted 10 qualified meeting
planners who offer strong potential for
group business in Kalispell.
INTERNATIONAL
ROUNDUP (IRU)
Discover Kalispell successfully bid to host
the 2018 International Roundup that
brought 40 international buyers from 7
countries, and 100+ destination and at-
traction suppliers from near -by states. Our
goal was to show the international buyers
as much of this area as we could and cover
the variety of attractions and things to do
in 3 days. Our work was cut out for us.
Our limited time gave us the opportunity
to be creative. We partnered with Brash
Rodeo to give IRU attendees a custom ro-
deo with one or two riders in each classic
rodeo event.We added stick horse racing,
authentic barbeque and line dancing for
a fun evening. We brought venues and at-
tractions to them through "Activity Show-
cases." One showcase featured Glacier
National Park experiences and the other
featured a mini -trade show of unique local
vendors from flyboarding to our region's
cultural attractions such as the symphony
and museums.
We believe that IRU was a success on
all fronts. The international travel buyers
walked away with a full perspective of this
scenic and culturally rich region that is
welcoming to all travelers. Our local busi-
ness community had a rare opportunity to
network with the international tour and
travel market and learn more about the
significance of international travel.
DOMESTIC TOUR
GROUPS
We partnered with Spokane's KXLY Radio
in a media campaign that brought three
bus tours to Kalispell. Each trip had over
forty people that spent one night and they
shopped, ate and drank their way to and
through Kalispell on two Vintage Shopping
trips and one Drink Kalispell trip.
ADVERTISING
CAMPAIGN = FAM TRIP
Discover Kalispell did a co-op with Smart
Meetings Magazine that included a print
ad, banner ad and a survey. The campaign
provided us with 120 meeting planners
we added to our database. Those that re-
sponded were eligible for an all-inclusive
trip for two to Kalispell and Missoula in
the fall of 2018.
GROUP GRANTS
Discover Kalispell offers grants for meet-
ings, groups and conventions staying in
our Kalispell hotels. Completed applica-
tions and some critieria are required. We
received three applications in 2018 and
granted a total of $4,750 to be distributed
in 2019.
4 DISCOVER KALISPELL ANNUAL REPORT 2018 7
DISCOVER
Kalispell
N.TANA
KCVB
STAFF
Joe Unterreiner, Executive Director
Diane Medler, Director
Dawn Jackson, Group Sales Manager
Vonnie Day, Sales & Marketing Admin Assistant
Meche Ek, Visitor Center Coordinator
KCVB
2018 PARTNERS
Flathead Beacon Productions
Partners Creative
Snowghost Design
Daily Inter Lake
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Zac Ford, Chair, Hampton Inn
Dawn Hendrickson,Treasurer, Homewood Suites
Janet Clark, Kalispell Grand
Dan Moderie, Super 8
Emily Schroeder, Hilton Garden Inn
Sean Morris, Holiday Inn Express
►,= 4LW, -Rip
I Lucy Weeder, Marriott Springhill Suites
r _ TBID
MEMBERS
' •, ' �,,i Aero Inn
"' ; �•Y� .� America's Best Value Inn
Best Western Plus Flathead
r
Lake Inn & Suites
Blue & White Motel
Econo Lodge
_ r - Fairbridge Inn & Suites
Glacier Ridge Suites
� � • '� ',j� Greenwood Village Inn &Suites
t+ �, Hampton Inn
Hilton Garden Inn
db Holiday Inn Express
Homewood Suites by Hilton
Kalispell Grand Hotel
Kalispell Super 8
La Quinta Inn & Suites
Marriott Springhill Suites
�'i•1 r� r Motel
v Quality Inn
y r' *. Red Lion Hotel
Travelodge
+ < OPENING 2019: MY PLACE KALISPELL
oil -
KALISPELL CONVENTION & VISITOR BUREAU 15 DEPOT PARK KALISPELL, MT 59901 406-758-2811