2018-03-20 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee MinutesLodging Tax Advisory Committee
Approved Summary Notes from 03/20/18 Meeting
PLEASE NOTE DUE TO EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION THESE ARE SUMMARY NOTES
Committee members present: Mike Nelson, City Council
Joe Mclalwain, Edmonds Center for the Arts Executive Director
Frances Chapin, Edmonds Parks, Recreation, & Cultural Services, Mgr.
Pat Moriarty, The Studio
Committee members absent: Steve Lyon, Harbor Inn
Staff present: Patrick Doherty, Economic Development & Community Services Director
Cindi Cruz, Economic Development
Ellen Hiatt, Hiatt Consulting
Meeting began at 3:05 p.m.
Two amendments made to the agenda, one to move the Update to be item 3 and second to add an
item on general discussion of the role of the LTAC and the big picture of tourism promotion as item
5.
1. Approval of June 11, 2017 meeting minutes.
It was moved and seconded to approve the 06/11/17 meeting minutes. Motion passed
unanimously.
2. Public Comment - none
3. Update on City Tourism Promotion Activities — Ellen Hiatt, tourism promotion consultant for the
Economic Development Department, was present to provide a summary of the 2017 marketing
and promotion program, including marketing done during the holidays in collaboration with the
Edmonds Downtown Alliance (Ed!), followed by a summary of the 2018 marketing program. See
attached presentation. The draft travel guide had been provided to the LTAC prior to the
meeting for review and comments. There was discussion about the guide and who it would be
targeted to and how the guide would be used. The focus is on online users and it could be
printed out for anyone requesting. The information will be revised after the committee has
reviewed and sent comments to Patrick. Updating and finalizing information on the website is
the immediate priority. The website went live just prior to the holidays in 2017 but pictures and
information are still needed to complete it. An email will be sent to organizations listed on the
site with a request for them to review information and send new pictures if available. The
general look of the new website was complimented by the committee.
4. Report on Revenues and Expenditures 2017: Patrick and Cindi reviewed the expenditures from
2017 (see attached), and total revenues for 2017 were $89,166.63 which is very close to the
projection of $90,000 in 120 Fund revenues. For 2018 the revenues were projected to be
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$86,250 which resulted in lower expenditure line items for the Miscellaneous budget of $250
and Contingency budget ($0). These projections can be looked at mid -year to determine if the
revenues are coming in higher than anticipated.
The role of the LTAC was discussed in terms of stewardship of City funds and input into the
management of tourism promotion. A summary of the RCW parameters was shared with the
committee, noting that for communities like Edmonds where day trip tourism is the largest
segment, the goal is both to put heads in beds as well as maximize spending on the part of day
visitors. After a lengthy discussion it was decided that the City and the LTAC could host a
meeting to focus on how the community can align resources to best achieve a common goal of
promoting Edmonds as a destination. A variety of organizations and individuals are involved in
this effort, including the LTAC, the Port, Chamber, BID, ECA and others who attended the
tourism marketing workshops that met a few times in the spring of 2016. It would be an
opportunity to provide an update of what has been done and how ideas were implemented
coming out of those meetings, as well as explore where to move forward together. Other people
who are valuable resources in the community with respect to marketing, video, and social media
would also be invited to participate in a discussion of the bigger picture of promoting tourism.
LTAC members agreed that it is useful to schedule regular quarterly meetings.
6. Review of ECA request for funding: Mystical Arts of Tibet. This is a request for $2,500 to fund
marketing for the ECA Mystical Arts of Tibet event scheduled for the 2nd week in May. Joe
Mclalwain recused himself from the discussion as he is executive director of the ECA. It was
moved by Pat and seconded by Frances for discussion. After discussion of the event and
concerns that the application was submitted outside of the routine tourism grant award
application time frame, the proposal was not awarded the funding. Short discussion followed
about considering options for increased flexibility in the application process.
7. The committee and Patrick discussed concerns about the new Snohomish County Tourism
Bureau marketing tag -line. The new tag -line coming from the Snohomish County Tourism
Bureau marketing for 2018 has referred to Snohomish County as "Seattle's Backcountry".
Frances, Patrick and Joe all participated in the recent planning process for the Snohomish
County Tourism Plan and briefly described the directions it took and the geographic regions they
defined which will be discussed in upcoming focus groups. The committee feels that the
monicker does not fit in with the theme of marketing for the more urban areas of Snohomish
County, and it was decided a letter will be drafted for Mike's signature from the LTAC expressing
their concern.
8. Miscellaneous: The funding application requirements will be published approximately April 1
with a deadline for submittal by June 1. This will provide the LTAC the ability to approve funding
at the next meeting which will be Tuesday, June 12 and allow for the funding to be included in
the budget process for 2019.
Meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
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