Newsletter - Great Falls Tourism Business Improvement District

Your TBID Board at a Glance
Your TBID Board at a glance;
Fiscal year 2013 brings about changes to the TBID Board. The City of
Great Falls City Commissioners appointed Robert Dompier and Becky
Amaral-Miller to fill two four-year terms. They bring a wealth of expertise
of the Hospitality and Tourism industries to the organization. The diverse
set of ideas and knowledge our Board members bring to the TBID are
essential to the continued success of the organization, said Scott Shull,Vicechair.
Your new and former Board members are:
Becky Amaral- Miller, General Manager of the Staybridge Suites – a 14
year veteran of the Hospitality industry, Becky has a solid track record
of developing and operating successful properties. She oversees the
company’s business development and operations efforts. Becky is active in
civic and industry affairs. She serves as part of Leadership Great Falls and
serves as a Board member for the Great Falls Area Lodging Association
and Central Montana Tourism Region. Becky is proud to be a part of the
community she grew up in.
Robert Dompier, General Manager of the Great Falls Holiday Inn - has
been a General Manager for 36 years and has served as a TBID Board
member since December 2008. He was most recently appointed to
serve a second four-year term and was elected the 2012-2013 TBID Chair.
Mr. Dompier has held many tourism related Board positions during his
career; including past President of Russell Country Tourism Region, Great
Falls Hotel/Motel Association, Montana Inn Keepers Association, Great
Falls Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Cascade County Tavern Association,
and the Livingston Chamber of Commerce. Robert was appointed by the
Governor to serve on the Tourism Advisory Council and his Agriculture
Heritage Commission.
Scott Shull, General Manager/Owner Days Inn of Great Falls – Scott
has been Owner/General Manager of the Days in for the past 20 years.
Scott was appointed to the Board in 2011. With Tourism being the state’s
second largest industry, Scott enjoys serving on a board that is generating
excitement and building partnerships to elevate the importance of the
industry. Mr. Shull serves as Vice-chair.
Malissa Hollan, General Manager Comfort Inn and Suites Marketplace The property is owned by the Phoenix Ventures Inn, she has been with the
company for seven years and has managed the property for four years.The
hotel recently completed an entire renovation and brand change. Malissa
grew up in Napa, CA and enjoys spending time with her daughter, playing
soccer and most recently made the Electric City Roller GrrrlZ Derby Team.
Malissa serves as Secretary/Treasurer.
The Board said good-bye to Pam Volk. Pam worked tirelessly with the
original Board of Directors to form the TBID and served on the Board
for four years. She is an excellent example of true community leadership,
always thoroughly exploring all avenues, before making her decision. The
Board wishes Pam well in her future endeavors.
Keep Current On:
TBID Action Items:
TBID Agendas and Minutes are posted on the city of Great Falls website.
Visit www.greatfallsmt.net. Click the Resource Center tab and go to
Agendas and Minutes.
Legislative action and tourism resources:
Voices of Montana Tourism; www.voicesofmontanatourism.com
Voices of Montana Tourism is a collaboration of 19 statewide
organizations that formed in 2011 to raise awareness about tourism’s value
to Montana. Through education and communication, the group works to
foster supportive policies affecting tourism and tourism promotion —
which is funded with lodging tax revenues paid by overnight guests of
Montana accommodations.
Voices of Montana Tourism was founded in 2011 by the Montana
Lodging and Hospitality Association (MLHA). The GF TBID is one of the
19 partnering organizations
As election season unfolds, and as legislation is introduced for the
2013 session, Voices of Montana Tourism will keep industry members and
supporters informed about what can be done to help sustain the health of
Montana tourism. Visit the www.voicesofmontanatourism.com to sign up
for newsletter, Facebook and Twitter updates.
Montana Lodging and Hospitality Association; www.mtlha.com
Montana Office of Tourism; www.visitmt.com
Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research; www.itrr.umt.edu
TBID Board of Directors
Board Member
Title
Property
Robert Dompier
Chair - FY 13
Holiday Inn of Great Falls
Contact Information
[email protected] 406-727-7200
Term Expires
6/30/2016
Scott Shull
Vice-Chair
Days Inn of Great Falls
[email protected] 406-727-6565
6/30/2014
Malissa Hollan
Secretary/Treasurer
[email protected] 406-455-1000
6/30/2013
Becky Amaral-Miller
Director
Staybridge Suites
[email protected] 406-761-4903
6/30/2016
David Buckingham
Director
Crystal Inn & Suites
[email protected] 406-727-7788
6/30/2015
Ryan Carroll
Director
La Quinta Inn & Suites
[email protected] 406-761-2600
6/30/2015
Sandra Johnson-Thares
Director
O’Haire Motor Inn
[email protected]
406-454-2141
6/30/2013
Karen Schermele Venetz
[email protected]
[email protected]
406-868-5610 or 406-868-5989
Administrative & Marketing
Director
Comfort Inn & Suites Marketplace
TBID Address:
PO Box 648
Great Falls, MT 59403
P.O. Box 648, Great Falls, MT 59403 • 406.868.5989 • www.gftourismbid.com
The mission of the TBID is to generate room nights for lodging facilities in the City of Great Falls
by effectively marketing and funding grants to promote our region as a preferred travel destination.
Note from the Chairman
TBID Update - low cost air carrier
The GF TBID is committed to tourism development to ensure the
Great Falls tourism industry stays at the fore front as a leading industry.
The continued strong and consistent growth of the Great Falls
Tourism Business Improvement District’s assessment collection,
illustrates that the tourism industry remains increasingly important to
economic health in our community – bringing visitors, business and
money to Great Falls.
Great Falls is ripe with opportunities and through partnerships will
continue to see growth. The cohesive relationship between all tourism
partners is the foundation of our progress and success. The GF TBID
holds our responsibility to our stakeholders and the City of Great
Falls in the highest regards and strives to maintain the GF TBID as an
organization that has significant and positive impacts on residents and
visitors alike.
The GF TBID is facilitated by a competent and dedicated
Administrative and Marketing Director and a strong cohesive Board
of Directors. The GF TBID is operating on a dutiful level and believes
tourism is sustainable and tourism is a gateway industry that brings
visitors, businesses and money to our community.
It is important that the GF TBID achieve our mission and we look
forward to continued partnership with our stakeholders and tourism
partners.
Robert Dompier, Chair
Great Falls Tourism Business Improvement District
Frontier impressed with performance
Frontier flights began on May 14, 2012 with solid results.They served
1650 passengers the last two weeks of May. Average inbound/outbound
load was 83%. A solid goal for the remainder of the summer would be
85% to 87% inbound/outbound. Historically, May is considered an off
season month and Frontier faired extremely well, so the goal is certainly
obtainable.
The new Frontier flight is popular with families and groups, with many
passengers here for the first time. Several passenger itineraries have
combined stays in Great Falls with excursions to Glacier National Park.
The Great Falls International Airport launched a $60,000 print,
billboard and online campaign to support the new flights. The online
ad campaign ran on travel websites, Facebook pages and online
newspapers. The online ads were viewed by 8.5 million people with
over 6,000 people opening the ads. Denver, Chicago, Medicine Hat and
Dallas had the highest percentage of viewers opening the ads. Overall,
the “click-through” rates were very high and point to a compelling ad
campaign.
Great Falls Tribune, August 19, 2012. The Great Falls International
Airport reported July 2012 was the busiest month ever for airport
travelers with 38,668 passengers using the airport. That was 500 more
passengers than the previous busiest month of July 2005.
Contributing to the growth was the introduction of Frontier Airlines
this summer and competitive airfares from all of the airlines.
Great Falls;
your preferred travel destination
The TBID and the
Convention and Visitor’s
Bureau teamed up
with
area
tourism
partners to produce a
comprehensive Visitor’s
Guide and website
promoting Great Falls as “Genuine
Montana”. No big city traffic, no big city prices, just more time
to relax, see the sites, more time for what really matters to our visitor’s.
Visitor’s for travel, recreation, leisure or business
purposes now have up to date resources that
allow them to connect with the individuals and
organizations to make Great Falls their preferred
travel and meeting destination.
Visit www.genuinemontana.com to view the
new site and to order your Visitor’s Guide.
P.O. Box 648, Great Falls, MT 59403 • 406.868.5989 • www.gftourismbid.com
Accomplished July 2011-June 2012
Sports Sales and
Tournament
Retention
Accomplished
Continue to work with sports
related partners to develop and
retain sporting events.
Meeting, Convention
and Event Sales
Continue to expand tourism
partnerships to solicit and
promote meeting, convention
and event sales.
TBID Administration
and Support
Continue to contract with an
Independent Contractor.
Funded:1) GF Public Schools Sporting Events; (Wrestling, Tennis, Basketball, and Softball
tournaments.) 2) Senior Olympics. 3) GF Ice Plex locker rooms, the addition of locker rooms enabled
the American’s to host games, thus bringing in over-night guests. 4) Electric City Soccer tournaments,
added new tournaments to their roster. 5) City Park & Rec; Winter Classic Basketball tournament,
new tournament to Great Falls. 6) Special Olympics. 7) UGF wrestling, enabling increased invitation
to participate in the Battle of the Rockies. 8) Hockey in the Rockies. 8) Harvest Thunder Triathlon.
9) Get Fit Great Falls; Come Out and Play Children’s Wellness event, featuring Olympic Soccer Star,
Abby Wambach, 10) Quarter Horse and Paint Horse show
Accomplished
1) Attended consumer sports and travel shows with Russell Country in Puyallup, WA and Salt Lake
City, UT. 2) Attended consumer sports and travel show with the GF CVB in Calgary, AB. Funded: 3)
Made in MT Marketplace. 4) MT Fire Fighters Testing Consortium, event was moved from Bozeman
for the first time in 12 years. 5) Rural Dynamics; Mobilizing Rural Communities. 6) MT Coaches
Association Clinic
Accomplished
IC continues to facilitate the marketing and administrative components for the TBID. IC continues
to maintain visibility in Great Falls and develops tourism partnerships.
Other Marketing
Promotion
Contingency
funds
unforeseen
expenses
opportunities.
Accomplished
Absorbed expenses for TBID Board of Director meeting room rental.
for
and
Miscellaneous
Accomplished
Continue
to
provide
consistency and participation
with all tourism associates.
Through the development of tourism partnerships a tourism retreat was held. The retreat provided
information for all parties to work cohesively towards the common goal of attracting visitors to the
Great Falls community. Two goals were completed from this retreat; comprehensive Visitor’s Guide
and website.
Electronic
Marketing
Accomplished
Continue to enhance Internet
capabilities to achieve a greater
awareness of Great Falls.
Leisure Marketing
Accomplished
Opportunity
Marketing and
Community
Enhancement
Continue to work
tourism partners.
1) Worked with the CVB to develop the first comprehensive visitor’s guide for Great Falls and
website. 2) Partnered with the GF CVB purchasing radio schedules in Alberta, Canada highlighting
our area as a preferred travel destination..
Work with and support
community
partners
in
advancement of Great Falls.
with
Assisted with funding and content gathering and copy points for the GF CVB comprehensive website
driving traffic to all lodging properties. Updated the TBID website.
Accomplished
Granted significant funding to support the GF Chamber and Airport in development of the additional
air service to Great Falls.
Fiscal Year 2012-2013
Electronic Marketing
Meeting, Convention and Event Sales
e-Marketing may include enhancements to the TBID website and
the new CVB website. Marketing possibilities include; 1) a Mobile
application of the new CVB website and the new 2012 Visitor’s
Guide, 2) Display advertising: the use of web banners or banner
ads placed on third-party website, 3) Search engine marketing
(SEM); a form of marketing that seeks to promote websites by
increasing their visibility in search engine result pages through the
use of paid placement or through the use of free search engine
optimization techniques, 4) Search Engine Optimization (SEO); the
process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in
search engines via the “natural” or un-paid search results, 5) Social
media marketing; the process of gaining traffic or attention through
social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Consideration of contracting with a part-time independent
contractor to produce and secure credible leads. The TBID will 1)
continue to partner with the GF CVB, the Mansfield Convention
Center and the MT Expo Park to increase awareness of convention
and event space in Great Falls, inclusive of all hotels as they contain
meeting and convention space. The partnerships will 2) continue to
develop marketing efforts that engages consistency and repetition
to generate credible leads that will fill convention/event space and
Great Falls lodging rooms. The TBID will 3) continue to partner
with Central Montana and the GF CVB regarding attendance at
consumer shows that create leads for over-night guests for Great
Falls lodging properties. The TBID will 4) research possibilities of
attending conventions to promote Great Falls as a convention/event
destination. The TBID will 5) research ad placement in convention/
event publications.
Leisure Marketing
With the increase of in-state competition and the success of the MTOT out of state ad campaigns and the “Get Lost” campaign, it is
imperative that the TBID continues to cultivate the achievements of its tourism partnerships. Those partnerships include but are not limited
to; the GF CVB, Central Montana (Russell Country), GF International Airport Authority, GF Area Chamber of Commerce, GF Downtown
Association, Business Improvement District, and City of Great Falls.The results of sharing insights with our tourism partnerships will continue
to provide a fulfilling consumer experience for our Great Falls visitors.
Opportunity Marketing and Community
Enhancement
The TBID will 1) continue to work on development and seek
partnerships for a city wide calendar of events. 2) Continue to
provide the TBID stakeholders with a newsletter/report. 3)
Improve on accountability measurements of TBID funded events.
5) Continue to host an annual “Tourism Partnership” retreat. 6)
Maintain active participation with the GF CVB, Confero Sports
Foundation, Mt. Expo Park, Mansfield Convention Center, Central
Montana, Montana Office of Tourism, Tourism Advisory Council,
GF Area Lodging Association, Downtown Action Alliance, GF
Development Authority, GF International Airport Authority, and
the City of Great Falls. The TBID will 6) maintain support of the
GF Development Authority’s Branding initiative, phases II & III. 7)
Continue to support additional low-cost air carrier service to Great
Falls in partnership with the GF Area Chamber of Commerce and
the GF International Airport Authority. 8) Continue support of the
City of Great Falls “Way-finding” enhancements and the Downtown
Great Falls Association. 9) Continue promoting Great Falls as a
preferred destination in a cohesive voice.
P.O. Box 648, Great Falls, MT 59403 • 406.868.5989 • www.gftourismbid.com
Sports Sales and Tournament Retention
The TBID will 1) continue to support the efforts of the Confero
Sports Foundation, MT Expo Park, GF Public Schools and local
community sporting groups to develop and retain sporting events.
The TBID will 2) work to build on the foundation of the Confero
Sports foundation Impact of Sports Guide. (calendar of events)3)
Research promotion of sporting event venue’s in Great Falls. 4)
Expand on research of sporting events in other areas that could be
held in Great Falls.
TBID Administration and Support
The TBID will 1) continue to contract with an Independent
Contractor, serving as the Administrative and Marketing Director
of the TBID. 2) The TBID Administrative and Marketing Director
shall be charged with the general supervision and management of
the business affairs of the TBID. 3)The TBID Administrative and
Marketing Director shall so manage the affairs of the TBID as to
promote the objectives for which the TBID is organized. 4) This
person must maintain sound financial practices. 5) The Executive
Director must be the Executive Director of a non-profit Convention
& Visitor’s Bureau. The Executive Director and the Administrative
and Marketing Director are both non-voting positions. The
Executive Director is a non-compensated position.