08-05-15 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
August 5, 2015
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Location: Kalispell Chamber
Minutes
Board Members Present: Janet Clark, Vanessa Nordahl, Dawn Hendrickson, Lisa Brown, Karena Bemis
Board Members Absent: Gib Bissell, Dan Moderie
Staff Present: Diane Medler, Dawn Jackson, Vonnie Day, Joe Unterreiner
Visitor: Julia Garvey, Homewood Suites
Meeting was called to order by Janet Clark, Board Chair, at 3:06 PM.
1. Hear from the Public — no public comment
2. Board Action
a. Approve minutes from the July 1, 2015 meeting:
Action: Motion was made by Karena Bemis to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Dawn
Hendrickson. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. TBID financial statements for June, 2015:
Action: Motion was made by Karena Bemis to approve the financial statements. Motion seconded
by Vanessa Nordahl. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
3. Board Discussion
a. Glacier Jazz Stampede - event attracts 500 — 600 attendees. Continues with the same format at a
single venue, the Eagles Club. Board will not sponsor event because low attendance projection will
yield minimal hotel nights during October when properties are now seeing increased traffic and the
TBID event sponsorships are directed at new events that generated measurable out of market
attendance.
b. Dragon Boat Festival — 55 to 60 teams projected to compete this year. Race Director, Kevin Kwan,
visited the race site August 3-4 and is very positive about the venue in terms of the course, team
tent area and spectator viewing. Beer tent will be located in the parking lot. There will be kid's and
exhibition races again this year. Staff has visited many Lakeside businesses and the response from
the community has been very positive. The Dragon Boat Festival got national coverage as a featured
event in American Profile.
c. Other Events - Spartan Race brought $4.1 to the local economy, 86% of racers were from out of
market. NBC Sports feature was very positive. $500 in tips collected in the beer garden along with
500 pairs of running shoes went to School District 5's Heart Program benefitting local homeless
students.
d. Local Updates — in response to recent fires in and around Glacier National Park, the Board discussed
the important of communicating positive messages about alternative activities in the area to
encourage visitors to proceed with plans to visit. The Flathead Beacon has published a good article
in the current edition. Greenwood Village Inn and Suites has just opened. It is assisted living facility
that has transitioned to a 47 room hotel and would like to become a TBID member. Diane and Dawn
will attend an open house at the facility on August 8. Discussions about TBID membership are
continuing with LaQuinta. Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel will be built near Costco with a projected
opening in spring, 2016. Whitefish Hampton is scheduled to open in 2016. The Red Lion Hotel in
Polson opened July 20 and is busy. Voices of Montana Tourism is restructuring. Two separate
entities are being created: one will be a 5010 dedicated to promoting education and the other a
50106 to lobby for the tourism industry. There will be a board to oversee both. According to ITRR,
non-resident spending is up 26.8% and accounts for 1/3 of all spending in the state. With $668
million in annual non-resident spending in FY2014, Flathead County is the highest in the state.
Glacier Country is the top region in the state.
e. Group, M&C updates — assisted The Event at Rebecca Farm with setting up an event survey system
and recruited volunteers to help. 461 surveys were collected. CVB hosted a hospitality table. The
Montana Downtown Association is holding a conference at the Red Lion in September. Dawn is
helping line up the program, scavenger hunt, walking tour and Social Media. CVB will have a
hospitality table. CVB is partnering with Whitefish, Missoula, Billings and Glacier Country on a booth
at IMEX in October. The Haase Technical Program RFP is looking promising for 2016. Ten properties
provided a rate quote for the Flathead Celtic Festival. Montana State Parks is coming for a site visit
in August to consider Kalispell for its 2016 Conference. Dawn is working on expanding our listing of
activities available for groups.
f. Marketing updates — Fourth quarter digital report was distributed in board packet. Discover Kalispell
Facebook page has more than 30,000 likes. Some posts are getting reaches of 40,000+. Instagram
and Twitter are also being used and engagement and following is increasing. The CVB spring enews
letter had an open rate of 32%, click through rate of 14.5%. Diane is putting together the FY16
marketing budget with Partners Creative with plans for a fall/winter marketing campaign. Two
smaller winter FAM trips are in the planning stage. Diane will attend the Calgary Women's Show in
October. Properties have mixed experience with the change in the Canadian traffic. Some of the
TBID properties feel that Canadian travel is down, but occupancy rate and ADR is up. The early
opening of Glacier Park was beneficial. TBID sponsored an ad in the Conrad Mansion keepsake
book. CVB is applying for a tourism development grant from Montana Department of Tourism to
create a digital meeting planner guide in collaboration with Partners Creative.
Today was Gib Bissell's last meeting, although he wasn't able to attend. A replacement Board
member is needed from a small property. Diane will send an announcement.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:26 PM
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, Please Contact
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808