MARYLAND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT BOARD
BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES
Monday, March 1, 2010
MD DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CROWNSVILLE, MD
Call to Order/Roll Call
MTDB: Connie DelSignore, John Fieseler, Senator Jennie Forehand, Mike Haynie, Peggy Maher, Delegate James Mathias, David Meloy, Linda Westgate, Sam Parker, Khaled Said, Chris Schardt, Kathy Sher, Greg Shockley, Victor Sulin. EDC: Regina Reilly, Maryland Wineries Association; Paul Hartgen, Restaurant Association of Maryland; Mary Jo McCulloch, MTC and Maryland Hotel & Lodging Association; Roslyn Racanello, Maryland Coalition of Heritage Areas. MDMO: Barbara Buehl, Kelly Groff, Matthew Neitzey, Deborah Travers. DBED: Margot Amelia, Hannah Byron, Liz Fitzsimmons, Rich Gilbert, Bill Pencek, Denise Reed, Marci Ross. Elizabeth Hughes, MD Department of Planning; Krista Capurso, TBC.
Board Chairman Greg Shockley welcomed everyone and requested that board members introduce themselves and do any “report outs”.
Board Member Comments/Highlights (not all inclusive)
Peggy Maher – Veolia launched the Baltimore Circulator, which is a free commuter bus service in Baltimore – more routes to be added. Kathy Sher – National Aquarium in Baltimore is about to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Sam Parker – launched aggressive campaign entitled “envision Prince Georges County” – large town meeting scheduled for March 20th. John Fieseler – Frederick County is kicking off their first restaurant week on March 8, 2010. Connie Del Signore – Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Convention and Visitors Bureau is celebrating their 20th anniversary. Annapolis has a new Mayor, Josh Cohen who is also serving on their executive committee. Chris Schardt – HarborPlace celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. Greg Shockley - looking forward to another big season in Ocean City. Linda Westgate – attendance at conventions and overall business at Hilton in Baltimore is up over last year which is encouraging. Senator Forehand - has been following the progress of the American Discovery trail and the Lewis & Clark Heritage trail. Hannah Byron – expressed appreciation to everyone for their support through budget process and tourism day. Stressed importance of contacting your legislators during the year and throughout the budget process.
Greg then invited Bill Pencek to introduce the guest speaker, Elizabeth Hughes.
Guest Speaker – Elizabeth Hughes, Deputy Director, Maryland Historical Trust
Recognized with a Preserve America Presidential Award in 2007, the Maryland Heritage Program is a national model for heritage tourism development. Since its inception in 1996, appropriations have increased from $1 to $3 million, based upon the success of the program. The program awarded over $18 million in financial assistance during that time, leveraging $70 million in non-state funds for heritage tourism programs throughout the state. In 2006, ten years after program began, the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority started the process of re-evaluating the program and began working on a new strategic plan in 2008. Elizabeth passed out the final version of the 2010-2020 Strategic Plan and gave an overview explaining how the recommendations and the plan impact how they do business. They are hoping to unveil the Plan to the public by the end of March.
Approval of Minutes
Minutes from the November 4, 2009 meeting were approved unanimously.
Chairman’s Report
Greg thanked everyone for their support advocating to the Governor on behalf of the MTDB budget. He stressed importance of working together in our efforts to fight to maintain tourism funding in the budget. Greg Shockley, Mike Haynie and Paul Bales took our message to Annapolis and testified at the House Appropriations Subcommittee. Peggy Maher, Greg Shockley and Mike Haynie are scheduled to testify at the Senate Budget and Taxation Subcommittee later that week.
Greg expressed appreciation to Mary Jo McCullogh for all of her work on Tourism Day and asked her for a brief synopsis of the event. Mary Jo thanked the DMOs for all of their efforts. There were approximately 125 attendees, in spite of the snow storm, which resulted in the cancellation of the Eastern Shore delegation lunch. She was very pleased with the turnout.
Throughout the meeting Margot, Hannah and Greg reminded everyone that now is the time to reach out to your delegates to get the message to them that tourism is an investment employing thousands of people, and a major revenue source for local businesses, restaurants and hotels.
Greg invited Margot to the podium for her Executive Director’s Report.
Executive Director’s Report
Margot expressed appreciation to the MTDB for their time and advocacy. She also expressed appreciation to everyone who wrote letters to the Governor voicing their support for tourism funding. The Governor’s office received over 125 letters in support of tourism funding.
Margot referred to the TFA Action Plan included in the Board folders. Several deliverables have been completed and OTD is on target for the rest with the exception of the Welcome Center effectiveness and efficiency study, which has been deferred. Margot underscored the fact that the Action Plan contains many new initiatives in a time of dwindling fiscal and human resources. OTD continues to focus its energies on programs that deliver the greatest return.
Margot went on to stress that it is critical that we promote our most compelling and persuasive messages. Two years ago, at the Board strategic planning session, the Board recommended that we create a destination marketing program that includes a brand identity positioning platform capturing the MD destination experience. Last June our ad agency, TBC, presented findings on Maryland’s “image” taken from the Longwoods International consumer research study. Margot then invited Krista Capurso from TBC to give a brief recap of those findings and share the new campaign that has been developed based on the findings. Krista focused on two key findings: (1) vacation travelers who have never been to MD came here expecting very little but once they visit Maryland, they give the State high marks; and (2) the waterways and coastline are very motivating to the leisure traveler. Krista then presented the new campaign creative material. The presentation was followed by a brief question/answer session.
Margot indicated that she will start to incorporate the new marketing campaign message during her “Maryland Minute” recording sessions.
Margot passed out a draft budget recap and gave an overview of the budget information in the document. She indicated that it is critical to have funds in the area of product development as OTD has to match 20% in order to receive the $5.6 million Byways Federal funding. Margot proceeded to review the one page sheet in packets detailing changes to the County Cooperative Grant guidelines that had been approved by the MDMO as well as a draft example of the funding formula by county.
At this time, there was a lengthy discussion among members of the board voicing their concerns over the budget and what more could they do in order to get the message to Annapolis that tourism funding is an important investment that should not be cut.
Margot went on to give an update on a few key initiatives: Web Marketing update –monthly ticket contests have been added to OTD’s social media outreach. New web content – OTD just added a new tour operator section on the VisitMaryland website. ABA update – ABA just released the 2009 economic impact of the motorcoach tourism industry in MD, detailing how it provides more than 10,000 jobs and $177 million in state taxes.
Rich Gilbert then shared some highlights from ABA Marketplace held @ Gaylord National in January. The conference had an estimated economic impact of $3.5 million to the area. In attendance were approximately 3200 attendees including 700 tour operators representing 300 companies. Together with DMOs and many private sector partners, OTD hosted the MD showcase evening event highlighting Maryland’s different regions.
Marci Ross reported that OTD is now running the call center in-house. Two staff members are answering calls Monday through Friday. OTD expects to see a cost savings as well as enhanced customer service.
Margot referred to the Maryland Green Travel card in folders. Hotel application is now online and OTD is working on restaurant application and adding marinas to our database.
Liz Fitzsimmons – Public Relations outreach efforts and promotion of branding campaign is continuing. Starting work on African American Heritage guide. Destination MD will be out by month’s end. Margot mentioned that the Monthly Spotlight initiative has been very successful, garnering significant TV and radio coverage in DC and Baltimore.
Margot - Research – OTD is working with State Parks on an economic impact study. Rebecca has been working closely with DMOs and State Parks on a customer survey. Goldprint - Margot gave a brief overview of the Goldprint Tourism Interactive Map which will be demonstrated at the next board meeting.
Greg Shockley invited representatives of the Executive Directors Council to report out.
Executive Directors Council
Reports were given by the following: Paul Hartgen, Restaurant Association of Maryland; Mary Jo McCulloch, MTC & MHLA; Barbara Buehl, MDMO; Regina Reilly, MD Association of Wineries
Future 2010 MTDB Meetings
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
|
Department of Housing and Community Development in Crownsville, MD |
| Wednesday, September 15, 2010 |
Strategic Planning Session (location TBD) |
2010 MD Tourism and Travel Summit
Wednesday, November 3 through Friday, November 5, 2010
Loews Annapolis Hotel, Annapolis, MD
Adjournment
