07-06-16 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Minutes
Board Members Present: Janet Clark, Vanessa Nordahl, Dan Moderie, Dawn Hendrickson
Board Members Absent: Nautam Patel, Lisa Brown, Laurie Otto -Bradford
Staff Present: Joe Unterreiner, Diane Medler, Dawn Jackson, Vonnie Day
Visitors: Scott Rieke, Larry Lambert, Rob Eberhardy
Meeting was called to order by Vanessa Nordahl, Board Chair, at 3:04 PM.
1. Hear from the Public — none
2. Flathead Celtic Festival — Rob Eberhardy presented information about his application for an event grant.
Flathead Celtic Festival is held Sept 17t" at Herron Park. Out of market participation with visiting Clans,
vendors, performers. Also corresponds with Clan Donald conference held in Kalispell over that date.
3. TBID Safety Awareness Updates — none
4. Board Action
a. Approve minutes from the June 1, 2016 meeting:
Action: Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Dan
Moderie. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. TBID financial statements for May, 2016:
Action: Motion was made by Janet Clark to approve the financial statements. Motion seconded by
Dawn Hendrickson. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
c. Approval of Event Grant Applications
Action: Motion was made by Janet Clark to approve a $1,000 grant to Flathead Valley Celtic Festival.
Motion seconded by Dawn Hendrickson. Discussion: event is growing, was well -run last year, good
room night yield, potential to host supporting events such as regional Irish Dance contests. Board
approved unanimously.
Action: Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve a $500 grant to The Event at Rebecca
Farm. Motion seconded by Dan Moderie. Discussion: repeat of grant awarded last year. Board
approved unanimously.
Action: Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve a $250 cash plus in -kind grant to
Cowboy Mounted Shooter Association. Discussion: out of market attendance is small but
increasing, board felt event would not yield substantial room nights to justify $1,500 requested.
Board approved unanimously.
5. Board Discussion
a. Event updates - Spartan Race created $4,399,252 in economic impact. 37% of out of county visitors
reported it was their first trip to the Flathead Valley. 56% stayed in hotel/motel (2014 = 64%) and
15% stayed in rental cabin/home (2014 + 10%) reflecting increasing use of short term rentals. The
2017 race will be held May 6 -7.
b. Dragon Boat — 40 teams have registered. Nine of those teams are from Canada. The prolonged
weakness of the Canadian dollar and Alberta economy have caused a decrease in the number of
Canadian teams participating. Social media promotions continue including a two for one team
registration offer to members of Pacific Dragon Boat Association. Individual paddlers and BCS teams
are being recruited. Less expensive contract with Race Director Kevin Kwan has been negotiated.
There will be no road closure permit, conditional use permit or property owner agreements which
will reduce costs. Event merchandise will be handled in-house as an additional source of revenue.
An RFP for merchandise production has been distributed.
c. Group, M& C updates — 6 RFP's were distributed for leads sent in June. Dawn will send list to each
TBID member. POMA Conference had 200 registrants. Received great feedback on the event. More
than half attending were media people. CVB is holding several contests to encourage media
attendees to feature Kalispell and Northwest Montana. Videos of the POMA Conference were
created by CVB and will be added to photo library. POMA will make additional videos of the event
available. A representative of Tourco will offer a presentation on ways to work with his organization
on July 20. TBID members will be invited. Arrangements are underway for a Meeting Fam with
qualified meeting planners on September 20. Dawn is available to assist groups with meeting
planning.
d. Marketing updates —Trip Advisor featured Kalispell in a list of Father's Day vacation ideas. Budget
travel blogger Shereen Rayle (hosted by CVB in May) posted 3 articles about her trip to Kalispell.
CVB will have rights to 20 photos of outdoor spring activities provided by travel writer Matt Gibson
who visited in May. Numbers of social media followers continues to grow on Twitter, Instagram and
Facebook. The majority of signs in the Wayfinding project have been installed. Feedback has been
very positive. Correction to last month's 3rd quarter TBID collections report: total collections were
$100,756, a 9% increase year over year. There was 0% change when Greenwood and LaQuinta were
removed. STIR Report: occupancy was up .7% for May, ADR was down 6%. Some properties are
lowering rates due to new facilities entering the market. Larry Lambert suggested having Smith
Travel do a seminar in rate management for the TBID.
Northwest Magazine featured Farwest Boat Tours and Examiner.com mentioned a police blotter
report of canine crimes in the Flathead County. The Kalispell VIC is experiencing increased traffic
over 2015 with walk-ins up 10% in May and 7% in June.
e. Short term rentals were discussed at a City Council work session. Kalispell Chamber supported City
staff recommendation that short term rentals be allowed as a conditional use with restrictions in
residential areas. The minimum number of rooms required for inclusion in TBID is six. Short term
rentals are supposed to pay bed tax, but not all do. There is a national effort to address bed tax
collection by Airbnb and other short term rental organizations.
f. Glacier National Park updates — park management is anticipating a very busy summer. CVB met
with local tourism partners to develop a PR plan in case of fires or other crises. GNP is offering tips
for enjoying the park including using the free shuttle, carpooling, visiting less -traveled areas of the
park, etc. Updates on park conditions will be posted on Twitter.
Meeting adjourned at 4:32 pm.
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808