Transient Lodging Tax Committee Minutes
August 27, 2020
Baker County Commission Chambers
Meeting called to order @ 9:00 am by Tyler Brown
Tyler welcomed new member Toni Thompson.
Members Present: Tyler Brown. Loran Joseph, Kathy Reedy, Toni Thompson, Tori Thatcher, and Buell Gonzales. Present via teleconference: Chelsea Judy.
Guest Present: Fred Warner, Timothy Bishop, Shelly Christensen and Bill Harvey. Present via teleconference: Bryan Tweit.
Approve Minutes:
Meeting minutes from July 23, 2020 were reviewed. Loran moved that the minutes be approved and Kathy seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Approve Agenda:
Loran moved to approve the agenda with the redaction of the Visitors Services Update as Shelly Cutler was not available, Tori seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Marketing Update – Timothy Bishop
Timothy indicated that the Marketing Committee has been working on technical updates and the website. The Go West Conference has been changed to a Zoom platform this year and he will be participating in that next week. They are not expecting to book a lot of international business this year.
Results from the Travel Oregon/Expedia cooperative marketing campaign were shared. Although numbers were not stellar Timothy considers them solid. The report indicates 69 nights were booked resulting in $7,590 in lodging sales. Direct bookings are not reflected in those numbers. As of the date of the report only 7 local lodging establishments were registered with Expedia, they are working to encourage others to get registered. Tyler asked Timothy if he had received any feedback from local lodging partners regarding this campaign. Timothy has not but will be reaching out to them. There was discussion regarding using Expedia for research but actually booking directly through the lodging establishment.
The Eastern Oregon Media Digital campaign is a $20,000 campaign with $10,000 from the marketing budget and a matching $10,000 from Eastern Oregon Media. Results of this campaign will be received in early September.
Rick Danser will be returning over Labor Day weekend. His visit will focus on outdoor recreation and will provide a fair amount of evergreen content from his feeds that can be used in the future.
The Marketing Committee is seeking TLT approval to reallocate $10,000 of advertising money with Elkhorn Media Group. This change is not a budget change but would allow $5,000 to be expended now to create digital video content focusing on our heritage attractions and the other $5,000 will be used later for digital ad placement on Elkhorn Media’s online platform in May and June 2021. As this is not a budget change, only a consensus of the Committee is needed and was received.
The advertising focus for the Christmas season. due to event cancellations, will be; “Avoid the crowds, shop small town”. The Marketing Committee is also exploring ways to tie this marketing effort into a retail focused campaign with pre-packaged Baker County experiences as gift ideas,
Visitor Services Update: None
Financial Reports:
Second quarter numbers are complete. Shelly shared that House #36, which is located in Baker City, has not filed a lodging tax reports for two quarters and asked for direction from the Committee. Bill Harvey volunteered to contact the lodging partner.
Citizen’s Participation:
None
Strategic Planning Update: Timothy
None
EDC Update: Bryan
Bryan reported on the progress of several grant programs available. The CDBG grant which provides $200,000 for businesses has, so far, received 30 applicants. They have been working on entrepreneur spotlights with businesses which includes interviews with businesses and runs 3-4 days has resulted in 4,000-6,000 views. They have created “100 Unique Reasons to Live & Work in Baker County” video. This video has received over 10,000 views and has had lots of response. There is a large back log on building site inspections with the wait time being a year out. EDC has been working with local businesses to improve their social media presence by offering a webinar series on how to create and set up their social media page, online marketing and managing their social media page themselves. There are also resources to subsidize various platforms of social media advertising.
Bill complimented Bryan on the “100 Unique Reasons to Live & Work in Baker County” video and the entrepreneur spotlights.
By-Laws Update:
Tyler volunteered to follow up with Lea.
Staff Comments:
Bill Harvey indicated the parks are doing good and have large family groups coming in for the Labor Day holiday weekend. The County acquired six used docks that will be available next year.
Bill also encouraged the Committee to discuss winter hours for the Visitors Center and due to COVID-19 the Committee consider extending the current Visitors Services Agreement with BCU until 12/31/21. Loran recommended adding this to the agenda for the September meeting.
Committee Comments:
Buell updated the Committee on the status of the school. Online classes are set to begin September 8th and early October with hybrid classes for K – 6. Sports, tourism wise, start practice on September 7th and partnering with La Grande. Traditional sports calendar to start after the new year.
Kathy and Toni shared that Sumpter has seen strong numbers with ATV groups, a film crew for the Gold Rush series “Parker’s Trail”, chip sealing has brought highway workers along with visitors to the train and dredge. The Lodge in Granite has new owners and they are trying to open again. ATV sales and visitors have increased dramatically. Outdoor activities are very popular during the pandemic.
Tori indicated that vacation rentals are booking better than last year, especially in remote areas.
Chelsea shared that ski areas will be a safe outdoor recreation this winter. Mountain biking has been popular this summer at Anthony Lakes and campgrounds are full.
Bill pointed out we have a lot of out of state visitors in our area which will help lodging numbers. Real estate and construction is way up. Home sales were up 30% from last year and construction materials are hard to get.
Next Meeting:
September 24, 2020 @ 9:00 am
Meeting adjourned at 9:46
Respectfully Submitted:
Shelly Christensen