09-05-18 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
September 5, 2018
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Minutes
Board Members Present: Dawn Hendrickson, Zac Ford, Emily Schroeder, Sean Morris, Janet Clark, Dan Moderie
Board Members Absent: Shawn Campbell
Staff Present: Joe Unterreiner, Diane Medler, Dawn Jackson, Meche Ek, Vonnie Day
Guests: None
Meeting was called to order by Chair Zac Ford at 3:05 PM.
1. Hear from the Public— none
2. Board Action Items
a. Approval of minutes from August 8, 2018:
Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve the minutes. Motion was seconded by Emily
Schroeder. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. Approval of TBID financial statements for July, 2018:
Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve the financial statements. Motion was seconded
by Emily Schroeder. Discussion: None. Board approved unanimously.
c. Approval of subscription to aRes, a booking platform to be incorporated into the redesigned
discoverkalispell.com. Motion was made by Emily Schroeder to approve the use of aRes using the
Revenue Share model. Motion was seconded by Janet Clark.
Discussion: the transition to a new website is a good opportunity to incorporate an online booking
widget which will help keep people from leaving the website as they research and book their lodging.
75% of Kalispell TBID members are using an online direct connect booking system. The aRes booking
system is used by numerous DMO's. Dawn spoke with the Boise and Portland CVB's who reported
they are having good results. The app will include only Kalispell hotels and properties will have full
control over their content on the website. The Portland and Boise CVB's are using aRes' Revenue
Share option for payment which means the booking commission is split approximately 50/50
between aRes and the CVB. Cost estimate is $5,000 - $6,500 per year. The board opted for the
Revenue Share model as opposed to the "no commission" model which costs approximately $7,500
per year. Board approved unanimously.
d. Approval to allocate funds for development of strategic marketing and organizational plan. Motion
was made by Janet Clark to budget up to $28K to secure a contract with a consultant to develop a
strategic marketing and organizational plan. Motion was seconded by Dan Moderie. Discussion: with
two major events in transition and the changing local market, it will be beneficial to get an outside
perspective in charting marketing and organizational strategy for the CVB. Updated strategy will also
be useful in the upcoming TBID renewal process. Diane is talking with two consultants who work
with DMO's about heading up the strategic planning process.
3. Board Discussion
a. Event updates:
i. Dragon Boat —43 teams will be participating, volunteers are still needed and can sign up on
montanadragonboat.com, and arrangements are set for paddle board boxing, human foosball,
African drumming and other entertainment. Representatives of the Bigfork Chamber will be
working the event with CVB staff and lead volunteers. Arrangements have been completed for the
Dragon Bus to provide transportation to and from the festival for teams staying at TBID properties.
Final schedules will be sent to the hotels.
ii. Event transition press release — a press release about the transition of the Dragon Boat Festival
to Bigfork and the cancellation of the Pond Hockey Tournament has been distributed to the
media. Diane fulfilled several media requests for interviews.
b. Marketing updates:
i. September 11, 2018 — Voices of Montana tourism Kalispell Business Roundtable, HGI.
Everyone is welcome to attend, RSVP is needed for lunch.
ii. Updates:
■ The west side of Going to the Sun Road is open to shuttle and Red Bus traffic. The Glacier
and Beyond page of the DK website is being used to communicate GNP updates and
alternative activities outside the park.
■ 4t" Quarter TBID collections were $166,606, up 7% over FY17.
• STIR occupancy for July was down 7.6%, although actual revenue numbers increased.
Occupancy was down for everyone in the region including a 11.5% decline for Whitefish.
iii. Nic with Flathead Beacon Productions gave an overview of two proposed creative campaigns for
Discovery in Every Direction, focused on ages 25 — 65 with emphasis on 45 — 55 and higher
income. One campaign is more traditional, the other is more creative and focused on the
individual traveler experiencing new things. Nic also showed design work being done on the new
website including a mockup of the new home page.
4. Group, M&C Updates:
i. Upcoming shows:
Small Market Meetings, September 23 — 25. Attendees are being emailed about
setting up appointments with Dawn.
IMEX meetings conference, October 16 — 18. Kalispell CVB will share a booth with Glacier
Country, Missoula, Whitefish, Great Falls and Big Sky. Appointments will be shared with
Glacier Country, Whitefish and Missoula.
IPW, international inbound travel show in Anaheim, CA, June 1— 5, 2019.
ii. Following the successful 2017 IRU conference in Kalispell, the CVB is ramping up promotions
to international tour operators.
iii. Other updates:
• A proposal was sent to POMA for a conference in June, 2020. Dawn is researching options for a
gun range and locations for the POMA camp.
• No response from PWNWAR on proposals for conferences in the fall and winter of 2020.
• Working with Doug Russell and Montana League of Cities on a proposal for an October
conference in 2020.
• The HAAS Conference has been confirmed at Hilton Garden Inn for July of 2019.
• Working on the USS St. Paul Reunion for 2020.
• Provided information to Lori Roberts for a presentation to organizers of The International Bear.
Meeting adjourned at 4:20pm
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, please contact:
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808