HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-08-16; City Council; 12832; CCVB 1993-94 3rd quarter reportAB # /g,, 83% TITLE: * MTG. 8-fe-LkL CARLSBAD CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU THIRD QUARTER REPORT FOR 1993-94 FIN DEPT.
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RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Accept and file report.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
The Carlsbad Convention and Visitor's Bureau (CCVS) has submitted their third quart
report for the period from April 1 through June 30, 1994.
Income during the third quarter totaled approximately $86,000, of which $78,000 or 91
represented payments from the City. The second largest source of income to the CC\
came from the hotel co-op program at $4,200 or 5% of total proceeds.
Third quarter expenses totaled $88,000, of which $40,000 or 45% were for administratic
The remaining $48,000 in expenses were for programs, of which advertising is the largc
single outlay in this category totaling $40,000 or 45%. The second largest expense VI
for travel shows and fam trips at $3,000 each.
Included in the attached exhibit is a Visitor Information Summary for the third quarter
1993-94, as well as one for the previous program year. A comparison of these t
summaries indicates that the number of visitors to Carlsbad's Visitor's Information Bur€
offices during the third quarter increased by 607 from the previous year.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City's agreement with the Chamber of Commerce established $205,000 as the tc
amount of funding for program year 1993-94, with $1 19,000 designated for administrat
costs, and $87,000 designated for programs. Of the program funding, $25,000 requii
matching contributions from other sources. These amounts were appropriated within '
1993-94 General Fund budget. To date, the CCVB is operating within the allowed budc
EXHIBITS:
Third quarter report from the Carlsbad Convention and Visitor's Bureau for fiscal y
1993-94, dated July 26, 1994.
0 0
July 26, 1994
Debbie Neville Senior Management Analyst
Finance Department
City of Carlsbad
1200 Carlsbad Village Dr.
Carlsbad, CA. 92008
Dear Debbie:
Attached is a synopsis of the major activities of the Carlsbad Convention q
Visitors Bureau from April 1 - June 30,
If you need additional information, please let me know.
Sincerely,
1994.
p-?
//STEVE LINK
Manage r
Encls.
A*---' r uc- "S3Z.2. csE=oec"fo2 B
?*IQ Bo:; :21,5 0 :E::&& Gh $!%Gi;&l2CE 0 (6'19) c,3&8093
Dl\ ision of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce
0 0
April 1 - June 30, 1994
INCOME
City of Carlsbad $78,465.68
4,198 -16 Co-op program with hotels 215.05 Sales of items in depot 97.56 Specia 1 promo t i ons Interest on bank account
County of San Diego 2,800 ,00
104.64
Total Income $85,881.09
EXPENSES
Administration $40,169.88
40,453.62 Advert is ing -0- Video 2,717.19 Travel Shows 1,897.87 Brochures Hosting Fam Trips 2,539.20
Promoting Special Events 382.82
Total Expenses $88,160.58
Programs
. ,*.,
,I
e 0
ACTIVITIES
March 29 (This was omitted from the previous quarterly report,) The Co
hosted a media breakfast at McClellan-Palomar Airport to cornme
the third anniversary of successful air service to Carlsbad b:
American Eagle Airlines. Speakers were Robert Olislagers, ail
manager; Michael Rader, American Eagle director of sales and !
Link, ConVis manager. The event generated press coverage loci
in San Diego and Los Angeles.
April 3 An article with a color photo of Carlsbad's flower fields was
published on Easter Sunday in the Los Angeles Times. The art
resulted in hundreds of phone calls from as far away as Penns:
and a steady stream of visitors from the Los Angeles area. T'
was taken by Steve Link.
April 4 _A f >2:,3 film crew from the series "California Gold" arrived for
of filming the Carlsbad flower fields. The program was aired
statewide in June. It resulted in hundreds of inquiries.
April 11-14 The ConVis hosted six travel writers for four nights, They 5 the Village, toured the Floral Trade Center, rode jet skis at
Harbor and more. While the ConVis hosts one or two travel wr
monthly throughout the year, we encourage them to visit when
flower fields are in bloom.
April 16 Six Carlsbad hotels sent representatives to man booths in the
section at the Los Angeles Travel Show. More than 19,000 pec
attended the show to view 244 exhibits of exotic destination:
worldwije. No other hotels in North County participated in 1
April 17-18 ConVis was the principal sponsor of the annual Volksmarch in
More than 200 people from several states came to Carlsbad to
participate in the 10-kilometer walk that started and ended
depot.
ConVis reprinted its popular brochure of things to see and d
Carlsbad. The 36,000 brochures will be mailed to people con
vacationing here, distributed at travel trade shows and made to tourists in local hotel lobbies. The supply will last le
year.
Articles about Carlsbad appeared in a wide variety of public
this quarter, thanks to the ConVis travel writer program. P
with color photos was published in the San Bernardino Sun or
Feature articles were published in the April issue of Westwa
May issue of Tucson Lifestyle magazine and the June issue of
Fun magazine. A small article and color photo was published
May issue of America West Airlines magazine as well as in tlr
issue of Excursions, the in-flight magazine for Reno Airline
Magazine recommended 52 vacation destinations to its reader:
May issue. La Costa Resort and the Village of Carlsbad was
recommendations. Articles also appeared in the June 19th i!
Desert SUR and the June 24th issue of the San Diego Daily T.
May
April-June
e
VISITOR IXFOWATION STfi2W,'i
APRIL 1, 1994 - June 3C, A>$4
CAS XSiCent Out of CA Forelqn Total fo
visimrs vrsltors v1SLc:ors month
April 1009 1028 17 2 2209
MAY 1109 1013 167 2289
JUNE 798 9 87 187 1972
3 month totals 2916 3028 526 6470
Xjove figures reprzsent one me.nber of family md/or qroup
APRIL MAY JUNE TOTALS
Phone ina_L-- 13 ries 2223 zoo2 23 32 6257
Mail outs 3982 2276 21~55 8313
Travel agent
mail outs 150 130 140 420
0 0
VISITOR INFOF3l.ATION SW?Y
April 1, 1993 - June 30, 1993
CA. resident Out of CA ForeicJn Total visitors visitors visitors month
APRIL 54 4 895 234 1673
/
993 814 290 2097
JUNE 641 1221 231 2093
3 month totals 2178 2930 755 5863
aove figures represent one member of family and/or group
/ MAY
-..
TOTAL, APRIL MAY JUNE
Phone inquiries 1643 1404 1958 5005
Mail outs 1722 1799 2008 5529
Travel .agent 134 138 150 4 22 mail outs
0 0
North County benefits
from ConVis programs 'i $
I Do hotels and restaurants in nearby This month's issue of Family Fun
popular magazine is published in
Northhampton, Mass. After the
magazine a few years ago its scope
and circulation greatly expanded. It
now has 700,000 subscribers nation-
wide.
Cochran of Paradise Communica-
tions, who administers the ConVis
travel writer program, contacted senior editor Lisa Stiepock and
encouraged her to feature Carlsbad.
Last September, Stiepock finally
agreed to check us out.
tarY airfare for her as Well as four
nights lodging and meals. During
her four-day stay McLhinney-
Cochran and ConVis staff took her
on tours of such places as Oceanside
pier and harbori San Luis ReY
Mission, Wild Animal Park and
Quai' Botanica1 Gardens* 'On-
vinced, Ms. Stiepock returned to Northhampton and assi@ed a
writer to the project.
'We went through the whole
routine a11 Over againJ" said
McLhinney Codran-
It was published this month and
no more than a fourth Of the six
page feature is about Carlsbad and
"We don't limit Our program to
Carlsbad because it is a matter of
responsible public reIations to
educate the press on all of the
elements that make this area a
wonderful destination," said
McLhinney-Cochran.
from nearby communities," said
Steve Link, ConVis manager.
'We all have the same goal; to
enhance the tourism industry in this
region."
5
from the activities of the Carlsbad i ConVis? They do and they recognize
the fact. Disney Corporation purchased the 1
;
packets in response to more than 1,000 ; inquiries each month and distributes '
literature at a dozen travel shows
annually. ConVis literature features
most major attractions in San Diego
County.
The benefits are most apparent when large events occur in Carlsbad
such as the Carlsbad Village Faire and
the San Diego Marathon, when hotels
and restaurants far beyond the
borders of Carlsbad experience a large
increase in business. The ConVis staff
devotes many hours of work to these
events, plus $9,000 of the ConVis
advertising budget is earmarked for
event promotion.
The region also benefits from the
Mercedes Championships and Carls-
bad 5000 are televised nationwide.
Nearby communities also benefit
from the ConVis travel writer pro-
gram. More than two dozen writers
visit Carlsbad each year. Each writer
is offered a tour of all of North County
and most accept. While Carlsbad is
responsible for providing transporta-
tion, meals and lodging for these
points of interest throughout North
County.
North County communities benefit magazine is an example. This p t
!
The ConVis mails information
In 1991, Annie McLhinney-
The ConVis arranged ComPlimen-
exposure given this area when the
writers the articles usually include Only One Of the eight co1or Photos.
: \
"We receive excelIent cooperation j i
f m CONVIS 0 0
ConVis hosts breakfast saluting American Eag
On March 29, the Carlsbad Convention and Visitors
third anniversary of successful air service to Carlsbad by
American Eagle Airlines. The breakfast was at
McCIelIan-Palomar Airport.
No other airlines has survived three years of service
since the airport opened in 1959. Passenger levels are
growing each year. In 1992 the number of passengers
departing the airport totalled more than 12,000. In 1993
more than 14,000 passengers boarded flights from
Carlsbad. It is significant because airports with l0,OOO or
more passenger boardings receive a $46o,OOO federal
grant each year to be applied to airport improvements.
Robert Olislagers, airport manager, described some of
the improvements underway at the airport. Michael
Rader, director of sales for American Eagle, taIked about
the aircraft flown by American Eagle and the advantages
of flying from Carlsbad to make connections with long
distance flights at Los Angeles. Steve Link, ConVis
manager, pointed out that 40 percent of the passengers
are tourists and described joint ConVis- American Eagle promotions to encourage tourists to fly to Carlsbad.
Bureau hosted a media breakfast to commemorate the
Mike Rad# of American Eagle addresses repor media breakfast. ____ - ._ -. _----- - -
Vo lksmarcfi
Walkers
explore
Carlsbad
More than 250 people pi
in the 10-kilometer Volks
April 17-18 in Carlsbad.
FamiIies from through0
Southwest travelled here
annual sanctioned walk tl
Village and along the bea
The event, sponsored b:
Diego County Rockhopp
and ended at the Visitor -
tion Center in the Depot.
leisurely pace, the walke
to browse in the shops ai
lunch.
Besides the annual wal
is also designated for a v
time during the year.
Volksmarchers can regis
Carlsbad by the Sea retii
home and get credit for
0 0 CONVIS
Carlsbad is well-represented at travel show
With 244 booths representing not waiting for the recessic
end,” said Wright. ‘We’re
going after business right
now.”
It was estimated that mc
than 19,OOO people attendc the show, including about
2,000 travel agents. Asked
the show generated any
business, Rick Smock, ma
of the Beach Terrace Inn
replied, “Absolutely. This
where most of our custon
come from. Time and agi people came to the booth
reminisced about their la
vacation in Carlsbad. We
helped them plan their next trip here.”
There was also a little LEGO toy on the table. “M
people approached us wanting to know the status
park,” said Carol DuDeck, Carlsbad Inn director o
”Thanks to LEGO, residents of Los Angeles are mc
aware of Carlsbad than in the past.”
such exotic places as the
Cayman Islands and Ireland
plus glitzy displays by Princess
Cruises and Royal Viking Line
one might think that Carlsbad
would be overlooked by the
thousands of people who
attend the Los Angeles Travel
Show each April.
‘With the size of our contin-
gent and our display that
included bouquets of ranuncu- Ius, Carlsbad certainly was
visib1e at the showi’ said seta
Wright, ConVis director of
public relations. Six CarIsbad
hotels were represented. In the double-wide ConVis
booth were representatives of Andersen‘s Inn, Carlsbad
Inn, Ramada Inn Suites and Tamarack Beach Resort. The
booth representing Beach Terrace Inn and Beach View
Lodge was adjacent to the ConVis booth. No other hotels
in North County participated in the show. ”Carlsbad is
Judy Wheatbread of Andersar’s Inn and clpta
Wright hand literature to a travel agent.
- - __ __-- --- . __--
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CONVIS I
I
Betsy Buckwald, owner of Pelican Cove Bed and Break-
fast, sentes breakfast to the travel writers.
Lizbeth Ecke explains to travel writers how the ranun
culus are grown.
'Travel writers discover Carlsbad's charms
A half dozen travel writers from as added Wright.
"This was a great community
effort," said Hope Wrisley, who
chairs the ConVis advisory Board.
"The transportation, lodging and
meals were all provided at no cost
to the ConVis or the travel writers.
It is a beau tifully designed progra
to introduce Carlsbad to world-
renowned journalists at little cost
Annie Cochran-McLhinney of
Paradise Communications selects
the travel writers, contacts them a
arranges for their visit to Carlsbac
far away as New Hampshire and
Vermont were brought to Carlsbad
by the ConVis for four days in mid-
April to gather material for articles
they plan to write.
'We scheduled this tour to coin-
cide with the flower fields in
bloom," said Cleta Wright, ConVis
director of public relations.
"Their days were packed with
activities. They rode wave runners
'Trade Center, took a nature walk at
Ratiquitos Lagoon and a historical
tour of Carlsbad and San Luis Rey
Illision. And of course, they were
given time to browse in the Village,"
at Snug Harbor, visited the Floral
'Thanks for local support
We are pleased to acknowledge
he following companies for their
support of this program:
American Eagle Airlines Avis Rental Car Agency
Beach Terrace Inn
California Dreamin' Balloon
California Surf Museum Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort Civic Helicopters Dini's By the Sea
Fidel's Norte Harbor Fish South Mission San Luis Rey Neimans Restaurant Pelican Cove Inn B & B
Tamarack Beach Resort
Tip Top Meats
Adventures
:
!
Snug Harbor -1
0 e
.
CONVIS
Flower fields to be featured on FBS television
TV viewers throughout the state
will be treated to a tour of
Carlsbad's flower fields next month.
Huell Howser, producer of the
popular PBS series California Gold,
and his cameraman visited Carlsbad
for two days in April to produce a
feature on the flower fields. The
program is tentatively scheduled to
be aired statewide July 3 on all PBS
stations.
True to the folksy format of his
monthly video travelogue, Howser
conducted a series of spontaneous
interviews with people strolling
through the flower fields. He
elicited their impressions of the vast
array of flowers. He also inter-
Mellario on the techniques of flower
While only a few of the two dozen
interviews will end up in the final
program, the viewer will notice that
virtually everyone he interviewed
was visiting here from out of San
Diego County and most were from
out of California. At one point
Howser asked rhetorically, "Doesn't
anyone from Carlsbad visit the
flower fields?"
In the final scene, surrounded by
flowers, Howser says that people
hear so much criticism of California
these clays. He asked his viewers to
tell anyone who criticizes California
to visit Carlsbad. ''Three years ago, Howser was a
viewed Paul Ecke Jr. and Mike
growing. ---
Hue11 Howser interviews tourists during taping of PBS tekvision show.
guest speaker at a statewide tourism
conference in Sacramento that I
attended," said Steve Link, ConVis
manager. "He showed excerpts of
his television programs and said he
was on the lookout for points of
interest to feature. I approached him
after his speech and suggested he
feature the flower fields. He asked
that I send him a letter. I sat right
there and wrote it in longhand."
According to Howser, he didn't
realize the flower fields were as
large and breathtaking as they are
and was skeptical about featuring
them. Then he began seeing pub-
lished articles about the flowers
written by travel writers brought to
Carlsbad by the ConVis. He in-
cluded the fields in this year's
schedule.
"Over the years, Howsefs
monthly visits to California's points
of interest have been enjoyed by a
large audience of PBS viewers," said
Link.
"The flower fields are an ideal
topic for his program. We welcome
the opportunity to show off our
flower industry statewide."
.-
ConVis reprints visitors guide
and this month printed 36,000 copies for distribution.
copy,” said Steve Link, ConVis manager. “It also enabled us to expand
the publication to include information about the history of Carlsbad. A
little legend and lore works well in attracting tourists.”
fields, major events and other points of interest. It describes major
attractions and lists golf courses, tennis courts and wineries within
commuting distance plus a calendar of events. “The guide is a useful tool
for visitors to make the most of their vacation time here,” said Link.
If past experience is repeated the supply of 36,OOO guides will be
exhausted in about a year. The ConVis responds to more than 1,000 inquiries a month from people wishing to vacation in Carlsbad plus
That accounts for about 18,000. HaIf of the guides are given to the local hotels that participate in the ConVis marketing program. They, in turn, provide them to their guests.
“Hopefully, their guests will discover so many things to do here, they
will extend their stay,” said Link.
The ConVis redesigned its popular visitors guide into a booklet format
“The booklet format gave us more flexibility for positioning photos and
The guide includes color photos of the Village, beaches, lagoons, flower
attends a dozen travel trade shows annually to distribute the guides.
dens.
Another article with a cc
of the flower fields appeai
May issue of America Wesi
zine read by the airline’s t
passengers during the mo
LA Magazine recommen’
temfic vacation destinatic
175,000 subscribers in the
issue. One of these was L
Resort and the Village of
The May issue of Tucsot
Magazine contains an artic
Carlsbad including coIor
Buena Vista Lagoon, the
walkway and the flower
magazine has 32,000 sub,
These articles were wri
visit Carlsbad by the Cor
than two dozen visit Car
year. “These very positii
keep Carlsbad in the pul
and complements our F
programs at very low ca
Link. ”If we had to purc
travel writers who were 1
I ~an 3iqa gaily ~rad’!ipt i _-
MONDAY, JULY 11, 1994 I
3T.i Diego fed5 off travelers cupany fell 1.1 percent i SanfDjpgo Room Lix Greater Los~%Fles area, Anaheim-Santa Ana and 3 percer
- lt 1s &omy there those in Riverside-San Bernardino.
mal visitors know it also Los Angeles-Long Beach, on th Occupancy Rate will be gloomy in Sari Diego, other hand, recorded a huge 9
m they SroP Plans for the quick
-bd those short trips, noted
Steve Gaspari, hotel manager of
Lhe Sari Diego Princess Resort, are
becoming the norm for the vaca-
tioningpublic.
percent gain. Of course, as histor
will show, the first half of 1993 wi
rather shaky and eventful for tF
greater L.A. area. On an area-by-area basis, tf
survey breaks San Diego into s
different segments. All were dow
in May. Here’s how each one pe
Downtown. Room occupanc
fell 5.2 percent to 62.6 percel
while rates rose 0.2 percent.
Mission Valley. Room occ
pancy fell 3.8 percent to 60.2 pe
cent while rates rose 0.9 percent.
* La Jolla-Point Loma. Rooin c
cupancy fell 2.6 percent to 63 PE
San Diego South. Room occ
pancy fell 9.9 percent while rat
declined 3.9 percent.
San Diego North. €toon occ
PancY fell 4.9 percent while rat i Despite the May gloom, for the first [:e;trarlsbad-Oceanside. Room f
cupancy rose 0.5 percent to 6:
percent w- rates rose 1.5 PC
Withers In May iv.eekend getaways.
By TIMOTHY McCWN SanDiegoDaily~script,~a~anagingEdifor
After posting gains in the first
four months of the year, the hotel
, occupancy rate that serves as a
in San Diego fell in May.
ern California Lodging Trends is
reporting this week that average
occupancy for May was 59 percent,
down a steep 5 percent from the
62.1 percent reported in May 1993.
And M~~ of 1993 was down sharply
hosted the America’s Cup.
In addition, the average hotel ,
rate increased a meager 1 percent !
to $69.96 in M~~ after recording 1
gains of more than twice that
amount in the preceding four
months.
ha1ysts say resu1ts from June
and Ju1y, due in four weeksl wi11
“People are taking multiple,
oaid “I think we saw that for the bellwether forthe tourism industry ahorkr-duration trips,’’ GasPari formed:
The industry newsletter South- , ‘ FourLh OfJuly weekend.” hd what a weekend it was.
Gaspari said many guests stayed
four days instead Of the norma1
three days associated with a long
weekend. The hote1 had to go back
to 1988 to find a similar four-day
Morrison said hotels around the
county overbooked and the re-
suiting Overflow caused se11-outs at
properties where such occurrences
arerare.
from May 1992 when San Diego period and even it did not compare. cent while rates rose 0.9 percent
Five-Month Figures rose 2.6 percent.
five months of 1994 the hotel occu-
pancy rate is up 2.2 percent while te11 whethe‘ May was an aberra-
‘ion Or portends an unexpected de- the year-to-date average Price paid
for a hotel rOOm has risen 2.6 per- cline in a staple of the region’s
economy. cent.
The key is whether those gains “I just think that this is really will hold, or whether they will be distressing t0 see this kind Of de- 4 eroded each month. For example,
_.__ ‘line in oCCUpan~? said industv 1 ’at the end ofApril the year-to-date
occupancy increase was 4 percent consultant Jerry Morrison.
cost of a hotel room, Morrison joked ,
it was lower than “even
As to the 1 percent rise in the * while room rate was up 3 percent. :
Another looming question is
whether the impact of an increase
to the Transient Occupancy Tax in
the city of San Diego wilI impact
bookings. The City Council last
month boosted the rate from 9 per-
is effective Aug. 1.
Consultant Bruce Goodwin The Lodging Outlook Survey contained in Southern California Lodgng Trends is compiled by
Gdm-~an & co.; Piercy, Bowler, ’ . Taylor & Kern; Morrison & Co.;
and Goodwin & Associates.
Mighty Convention
Activity at the San
pacted the May numbers.
noted that the demand for center-
generated room nights fell from
35,000 in May 1993 to 20,000 in
May 1994. That explanation is buttressed by a 9.2 percent drop in business by San Diego Not Alone -
hotels with 500 or more rooms. According to its contents, San
Typically, those are the properties Diego was not alone in Southern
that capture a disproportionate California in seeing hotel occupan-
share of the convention business. cy drop in May, although the region
did land with the biggest thud.
vention Center nigh cent to 10.5 percent. The higher fee
Another possibie culprit was the
Ll:12Ta]ly overcast vieather in May. The survey reports that room OC-