CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

Council Report
February 3, 2015
To:

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

Douglas J . Schmitz, City Administrator

From:

Lee Price, Interim City Clerk

Subject:

Presentation of Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau

City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Second Quarter Report

RECOMMENDATION(S):

Receive a presentation from Alliah Sheta, Director of Communications and Community

Relations, on the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau - City of Carmel-bythe-Sea Second Quarter Report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Alliah Sheta, Director of Communications and Community Relations with the Monterey
County Convention & Visitors Bureau , requested the opportunity to provide information
on the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Second Quarter Report. Ms. Sheta will be showing a
brief PowerPoint presentation (approximately 10 minutes) and wil l be available to answer
questions regarding the project.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
FISCAL IMPACT:

No impact.
Funding Source( general fund, grant,
state)

Budgeted (yes/no)

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION/DECISION HISTORY:

None
ATTACHMENTS:

1. City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Second Quarter Report

rator
City Council Meeting February 3, 2015
Page 159

Agenda Item: 8.B

Page 1

City of Carmel-by-the-Sea |Second Quarter Report

City Council Meeting February 3, 2015
Page 160

MCCVB Media Relations Highlights:

Year to Date Scorecard

July 1, 2014 December 31, 2014

-Investment-

City Investment

YTD

Annual

$63,390

$138,780

-Economic Benefit-

Incremental Overnight Stays:

Groups Booked:

Group Room Nights:

Monterey VIC Room Nights:
GLBTM Campaign Room Nights:
Booking.com Room Nights:
Total Incremental Room Nights:

348
6,264
20,731
57
27,400

Economic Impacts:
Group Bookings:
Monterey VIC Incremental Spending:
GLBTM Campaign
Incremental Spending:
Booking.com Room Bookings:
Total Economic Impact:

$8,710,793
$10,043
$10,204,304

Activity:
Earned Media Equivalency:

$11,879,726

$192,927
$1,290,541

SeeMonterey.com Unique Visitors:

Carmel-by-the-Sea web pages total views:
Carmel-by-the-Sea web pages total clicks:
Agenda Item: 8.B
Page 2

Return on Investment YTD: $146:1

45,523
20,188

Carmel-by-the-Sea was featured as a vacation

gem in the article Escape to Beautiful Carmel-bythe-Sea that ran the New York Amsterdam News in
October. This publication receives over 12,500
unique monthly visitors online and has an
advertising equivalency of $5,000.
Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine
highlighted where to stay, play and party in the
Monterey region.
The article mentions several
partners including Cypress Inn and highlights gallery
shopping in Carmel-by-the-Sea. This magazine has
a circulation of 40,000 and the article has an
advertising equivalency of $14,675.
Carmel-by-the-Sea was highlighted in a feature
story in The Toronto Star titled, Wonderful wineries,
beautiful beaches and sensational scenery in
Carmel, California. The article calls out the
wonders of Carmel including the hotels, wine, and
scenery of the area. The advertising equivalency for
this article is $245,030 and the publication has a
circulation of 361,323.
The MCCVB launched a holiday campaign and
sweepstakes to highlight local holiday events and
to continue to increase brand awareness during a
traditionally slower time of year for business. The
campaign featured a holiday recipe book titled the
12 Flavors of Monterey and highlighted chefs from
Aubergine, Andres Bouchee, Casanova, Anton &
Michel, Little Nappoli, Grasings Coastal Cuisine, and
Rio Grill among others.

2014-2015

Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau

City Council Meeting February 3, 2015
Page 161

MCCVBs VISION
Inspire the world to experience our extraordinary destination
MCCVBs MISSION
Drive business growth through compelling marketing and targeted sales initiatives that maximize the benefits of tourism to our guests, members, and
community
Explaining the Scorecard:
Groups Booked: Refers to the number of groups who booked a meeting.
Incremental Spending: Refers to the visitor spending caused by MCCVB programs.
Earned Media: Refers to the value of publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to
publicity gained through advertising.
Click-through: The process of a visitor clicking on a web page link or advertisement and going to another Web page. The click rate measures the
amount of times an ad is clicked versus the amount of times it's viewed.
MCCVB Board and Advisor representatives from Carmel-by-the-Sea:
Lisa Dias, Director
Chief Operating Officer
Mirabel Hotel & Restaurant Group
Phone: 831-622-5903
Email: ldias@laubergecarmel.com

2014-2015 Revenue

Monta Potter, Advisor

Chief Executive Officer
Carmel Chamber of Commerce
Phone: 831-624-2522 ext. 203
Email: monta@carmelcalifornia.org

Jurisdiction Investment
2014-2015

$329,423

Carmel-by-the-Sea
Agenda Item: 8.B
Page 3

$2,525,400
$3,843,020

Jurisdiction
Investment

City of Monterey

TID/HID

Del Rey Oaks

Private

County of Monterey
Marina
Pacific Grove

2014-2015 Expenditures

Marketing
Communications
Sales and Group
Services
Membership

Salinas

Total Revenue
$6,697,843

Sand City
Seaside

Visitor Services

Second Quarter Report

October December 2014

Sales & Group Services

Group Room Night Index

New Group Business Leads

100%
90%
80%

Oct

Nov

Dec

YTD
AVG

27.27%

25%

26%

26%

70%

Dec

41% of
Annual Goal

Conversion Rate

YTD: 94% of goal

110%

July
Aug
Sept
Total
Oct
Leads in
Q2 :219
YTD:411 Nov

60%

October

November

Goal: 35%
74% of goal

December Year-to-date

Marketing & Communications

Earned Media
(ad equivalency)
$24,951,145 in Q2
YTD: $37,468,57

July

64% of Annual Goal

366,368 visitors to
SeeMonterey.com
in Q2
YTD: 766,109

Aug

94% of
Annual
Goal

Dec

Sept

12,247 New
Facebook Fans
in Q2
YTD: 67,500

Oct
Nov

Visitor Services
21,983

19,828 Incremental room nights

influenced by the Visitor Center
in Q2
YTD: 53,246

Communication
Effectiveness
YTD: 4.1

2014-15
Q2

2014-15
YTD

% Inc
YOY

Total
Reservations

258

840

272%

Total Booked
Room Nights

465

1,376

273%

$64,400

$200,143

83%

Total
Revenue

Where Do Our Visitors Come From?

total visitor inquiries
in Q2
YTD: 62,759

Canada
13%

Germany
8%

United
Kingdom
5%

USA
39%

51% of Annual Goal

59% of Annual Goal

Booking.com

Australia
8%

All Other Countries 27%

Visit California
Marketing
Planning
Workshop & Fall
Meeting

Cannery Row
FAM

1-2

IMEX
Las Vegas, NV

4
City Council Meeting February 3, 2015
Page 162

14-16

10

178-9

Google
Trekker starts
on Trails

Harvest Media
FAM

15

15-17

Helloworld
Australia Tour &
Travel FAM

Q3
Member
Orientation

29

Coastal
Commission
Presentation

10

LA Asian

Tour
Agenda Item:
8.B
Page 4
Operator

Luncheon

City Council Meeting February 3, 2015

Page 163

Destination Promotion:
An Engine of Economic Development
How investments in the visitor economy drive broader economic growth
The importance of destination promotion to the visitor economy is wellrecognized, but destination promotion also acts as a catalyst of economic
development in a broader sense. Oxford Economics latest research takes
a closer look, yielding a more complete picture of this critical function.
Through a combination of case studies, interviews, literature review, and
statistical analysis, Oxford Economics finds that destination promotion
fuels development across the entire economic spectrum. In addition to
generating jobs and tax revenues by attracting visitors, the activities of
destination marketing organizations (DMOs) drive broader economic
growth by sustaining air service, creating familiarity, attracting decision
makers, and improving the quality of life for residents.
In fact, cities and states that prioritize destination promotion, and
coordinate these efforts with economic development initiatives, are better
positioned to compete for new investments, corporate relocations, and a
talented workforce.
THE STRENGTH OF VISITOR EXPORTS WARRANTS INVESTMENT

Agenda Item: 8.B

Page 5

The visitor economy generates exports, drawing dollars into local economies,
and has outperformed many of the sectors frequently targeted by economic
development agencies (EDAs). Since 1998, hospitality and tourism employment has expanded nearly 10%, while aggregate employment in all other
traded clusters shrank 1%. This disparity highlights the relatively strong
opportunity that economies can realize through destination promotion.

studies indicate: destinations with substantial and growing visitor

economies tend to outperform their peers. Specifically, Oxford Economics
finds through econometric analysis that a 10% increase in a destinations
visitor-related employment (relative to the US average) causes a 1.5% rise
in broader employment through catalytic channels.

Call to action
COORDINATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DESTINATION PROMOTION
Oxford Economics interviews with EDA and DMO executives identified key
categories of cooperation, revealing powerful synergies between economic
development and destination promotion activities. Executives cited air
service development, building and promoting a destination brand, and
jointly leveraging strategic conferences and trade shows as areas of EDADMO cooperation that generate tangible economic returns.
PRIORITIZE DESTINATION PROMOTION
Investments in destination marketing and promotion have been shown to
consistently generate dividends by attracting group and leisure visitors.
However, destination promotion also raises the quality of life, builds
transportation networks, raises a places profile, and draws economic
development decision makers through conventions and trade showsall
fundamentally benefiting economic development. Therefore, destination
promotion should be upheld as a vital component of a citys or states
economic development strategy.

Statistical analysis confirms broader impacts

GROWTH IN THE VISITOR ECONOMY DRIVES GROWTH IN OTHER AREAS
Oxford Economics statistical analysis conducted as part of this study
covers more than 200 US cities over 20 years and confirms what case

Download the full study at

www.oxfordeconomics.com/engine

City Council Meeting February 3, 2015

Page 164

How Destination Promotion

Drives Economic Development

ATTRACTING STRATEGIC EVENTS

By securing meetings and conventions, DMOs
attract the very prospects that economic
development agencies target. Not only do these
events create valuable exposure among business
decision makers, they create direct opportunities
for economic development agencies to deepen
connections with attendees.

Building
Transport
Networks

BUILDING TRANSPORT NETWORKS

By developing the visitor economy, destination
promotion supports transportation infrastructure, providing greater accessibility and supply
logistics that are important in attracting investment in other sectors.
Air service is profoundly important to corporate
investment and location decisions... This is one
of tourisms most significant contributions
since the levels of air service at New Orleans
far exceed what local demand could support.
Stephen Moret

Economic clusters and

conventions have
become synergistic

Secretary
Louisiana Economic Development

Tom Clark

Metro Denver Economic

Development Corporation

Raising
Quality of
Life
Attracting
Strategic
Events

RAISING THE
DESTINATION PROFILE
Destination promotion builds awareness,
familiarity, and relationships in commercial, institutional and individual networks
that are critical in attracting investment.
Agenda Item: 8.B
Page 6

We are learning a lot from Visit

California by how they brand California
and how to take their model and apply
it to economic development.
Brook Taylor

Deputy Director
Governors Office of Business and
Economic Development (GO-Biz)

RAISING THE QUALITY OF LIFE

Visitor spending helps support a broader and higher quality
set of local amenities than an area could otherwise sustain.
The cultural, entertainment, culinary, and retail attractions
that visitors support make a place more attractive to investors.
Traveler attractions are the same reason that CEOs choose
a place.
Jeff Malehorn

President & CEO, World Business Chicago