02-03-16 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
February 3, 2016
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Location: Kalispell Chamber
Minutes
Board Members Present: Janet Clark, Vanessa Nordahl, Dan Moderie, Dawn Hendrickson, Laurie Schultz
Board Members Absent: Nautam Patel, Lisa Brown
Staff Present: Diane Medler, Dawn Jackson, Joe Unterreiner, Vonnie Day
Visitor: Dax Schieffer with Voices of Montana Tourism, Kim Carson LaQuinta Inn
Meeting was called to order by Janet Clark, Board Chair, at 3:20 PM.
1. Hear from the Public — Dax Schieffer, new Executive Director for Voices of Montana Tourism, provided
an update on the organization's transition to a 501c3 that has the purpose of presenting a unified voice
for businesses and organizations involved in tourism. Voices of Montana Tourism will focus exclusively
on education and outreach. A separate group, Tourism Matters, will direct its efforts toward lobbying.
Dax noted that the amount Kalispell TBID's contributions to his organization had dropped and asked the
board to consider an increase for the current fiscal year.
2. Board Action
a. Approve minutes from the January 6, 2016 meeting:
Action: Motion was made by Laurie Schultz to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Vanessa
Nordahl. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. TBID financial statements for December, 2015:
Action: Motion was made by Laurie Schultz to approve the financial statements. Motion seconded
by Dawn Hendrickson. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
c. Approval of projected revenue for FY2017
Action: Motion was made by Vanessa Nordahl to set the projected revenue for FY2017 at
$525,000,. Motion seconded by Laurie Schultz.
Discussion: the board decided to leave the projected revenue at the same amount at FY16 due to
the projected downward pressure on revenues from drop in Canadian traffic and spending due to
the unfavorable exchange, poor Alberta economy, and increased room inventory in the valley.
National Park Centennial will boost visitation and the TBID will receive revenue from additional
member hotels. Board approved unanimously.
3. Board Discussion
a. Pond Hockey — 69 teams have registered; 15 are from Canada. City Council approved the
application to serve alcohol in Woodland Park. The event will almost certainly be held at Woodland
Park since the continuing warm weather is causing questionable ice conditions at Foys Lake. If the
ice at Woodland is soft, it might work to hold games in the morning and evening to avoid warmer
parts of the day. The ice rink could also be used. Moose's is sponsoring the player check -in which
will be held there on February 18. Montana Magazine and Mountain Outlaw Magazine both
published feature articles on the Pond Hockey Classic.
Spartan — 3,000 racers have registered. Registrations for The Beast are up 16% over last year and
Sprint numbers are up 5%. NBC will be filming the race again this year.
Western B Basketball Tournament — returning February 25 — 27. Bryce Wilson, Athletic Director at
FHS, will send the link to lodging directory to the families attending.
b. Press trip recap — CVB hosted Laura Rote with Time Out Chicago. Laura's article about Glacier
National Park and Kalispell was featured as the lead story on timeout.com/usa. The article included
all -season activities, food and drink. There will be a print version will be published in Chicago on
March 9 to promote the direct flight. CVB collaborated with Glacier Country to host 8 journalists
from the international Food and Travel Writers Association. The group went dogsledding, did a
brewery tour, rode the trolley, enjoyed cowboy music around a campfire, explored the Conrad
Mansion and visited several local restaurants.
c. Event Grant updates — Montana Elite Wrestling (April 7 — 9) organizers say their event is on track to
fill all 16 team slots. DK logo and a link to wrestling lodging packages will be posted on their website
and included in team eblasts.
d. Kalispell Hostel — Margaret Lekander, owner of Wheaton's Cyclery, has opened a hostel on the
second floor of her building. She's interested in joining the TBID. The hostel has fewer than 6 rooms
so TBID membership is not mandatory. Board concerns included setting precedence for other small
lodging facilities and the limited financial contribution the smaller operations would make to the
TBID. Bicycle tourism is currently a strong focus of the Montana Office of Tourism and a strong
emerging market for destinations. Staff will research what amenities TBID members are offering
cyclists and how many other small operations might want to join the TBID.
e. Workforce concerns in 2016 — conversation tabled
f. Group, M&C updates — IDSS CRM system will be in place in a couple weeks. The system will include
an extranet feature for hotel partners. The Governor's Conference on Tourism will be in Kalispell
April, 10 — 12. 500 are expected to attend. CVB is working on pre -tours, the welcome reception
and transportation sponsorships. Hilton Garden Inn will be the primary host hotel with Red Lion as
secondary. Overflow rooms will be posted on the event web page. Plans for POMA are under way.
10 of 19 hotels submitted information for the TBID Quarterly Report. The information is useful to
the CVB and board in determining marketing strategy. The hotels that provided information will
receive a summary report. There will be a group sales meeting in March.
g. Marketing updates — the home page of discoverkalispell.com has been revised to provide a more
prominent focus on Glacier Park, Flathead Lake and downtown Kalispell. A Packages and Special
Offers tab has been added to the home page and a new Sports Tournament lodging package
category has been created. Diane will go to the Outdoor Show in Calgary March 19. United's
summer direct flight to San Francisco will not be available this year due to a shortage of short -trip
pilots. The Wayfinding Project is moving forward. Daily Inter Lake is selling ads and getting printing
bids for the annual Visitor Guide which will come out the 2nd week of March. Gina at Snow Ghost is
doing the design. 30,000 will be printed.
h. Board discussed problems properties are having with increased drug trafficking. Problem guests
who've been asked to leave one property are moving on to other properties. CVB will reach out to
KPD and County Drug Task Force and invite to TBID meeting to discuss.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:30 PM
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808