Visit Jacksonville Contract Extension
Visit Jacksonville's Contract ordinance was approved at the Finance Committee meeting last week.

The ordinance will be back before the Rules and Recreation/Community Development Committees August 2.  Please take a moment to ensure your City Council representative hears your voice regarding this important issue.

The extension is for two years and would give Visit Jacksonville the opportunity to prove the return on investment for the $875,000 grant over a three-year period.  Visit Jacksonville received the grant funding in August 2009 meaning the terms of the investment run through August 2012. 

Visit Jacksonville and the tourism industry needs your support!  Please take a moment to reach out to your representative, speak at the committee and council meetings and show your support.  Council members have said they want to hear from industry representatives on this issue to ensure they are voting for an ordinance that is supported by the community.

For background information, talking points, committee and council meeting dates and a plan of action, visit http://www.jaxtourismmatters.org/. 

Sales Update
Karen Townsend attended the Florida Society of Association Executives Convention in Naples last week. This annual conference was educational and also a great opportunity to build continued relationships with Executive Directors, meeting planners and third parties in the Florida Association Market.

Marcia Noon along with two accommodation partners hosted a medical site inspection representing 350 room nights for May 2011 and 2000 room nights for January 2012.

Partner Update
2010 Visit Jacksonville Trade show
Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010
Hosted By: Prime F. Osborn III Covention Center
1000 Water Street

Attend Visit Jacksonville's first trade show with a sneak peek at the proposed FY2010-11 Marketing Plan.  A brief presentation on the marketing plan and the new Partner Scorecard will begin the event, followed by a trade show format to inform Partners of planned sales and marketing co-ops, targeted media markets and opportunities to become more active with Visit Jacksonville.

Each department at Visit Jacksonville will be represented during this "can't miss" event and will discuss what benefits your business receives as a part of your Partnership that you may not have been utilizing.

Schedule:
Session 1             8:30- 9:15am - registration and networking
9:15- 9:45 am - Presentation
9:45-11:00am - trade show with departments

Session 24:00- 4:45pm - registration and networking
4:45- 5:15 pm - Presentation
5:15-7:00 pm - trade show with departments

 Click here to Register

Special Events This Week

7/29 - 8/1 - First Coast Beach Series Volleyball Tournament - http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/index.aspx?nid=209

7/30 - Jaguars Training Camp Begins - http://www.jaguars.com/

7/30 - Jacksonville Sharks vs. Spokane Shock - http://www.jaxsharks.com/

7/30 - Around the World Party - The Core - http://www.downtownjacksonville.org/calendar/detail/5667/

8/1 - Summer Movies Classics Airplane! - The Florida Theatre - http://www.floridatheatre.com/  

This does not include symphony concerts, Suns games, smaller events, etc - there are several of these going on this week!

 

 

Visit Jacksonville Contract Extension
Visit Jacksonville's Contract ordinance was deferred at the Rules Committee and at the Community and Recreation Development today.  We still go before Finance Committee tomorrow at 10am. 

The ordinance will be back before the Rules and Recreation/Community Development Committees August 2.  Please take a moment to ensure your City Council representative hears your voice regarding this important issue.

The extension is for two years and would give Visit Jacksonville the opportunity to prove the return on investment for the $875,000 grant over a three-year period.  Visit Jacksonville received the grant funding in August 2009 meaning the terms of the investment run through August 2012. 

Visit Jacksonville and the tourism industry needs your support!  Please take a moment to reach out to your representative, speak at the committee and council meetings and show your support.  Council members have said they want to hear from industry representatives on this issue to ensure they are voting for an ordinance that is supported by the community.

For background information, talking points, committee and council meeting dates and a plan of action, visit http://www.jaxtourismmatters.org/.  On the site, you will also find the contact information for all city council representatives and committee members.

Lodging Snapshot"
The June Smith Travel Data just came in and Duval County was up 10.4% in occupancy to 61% for the month, the largest gain of our competitive set.  Average Daily Rate continues to decline and was down 5.6% in June.  Jacksonville average daily rate is still significantly lower than our competitors. Ours was $69 in June versus our competitors' average of $84 for the same month.

Sales Update
Marcia Noon and a Visit Jacksonville accommodation partner hosted a site for a corporate client last week.  The client was very pleased with all he experienced during his short time in the destination and confirmed his event prior to departing.   The group is a total of 180 room nights for October 2010.

Karen Townsend received the confirmation a client who attended THE PLAYERS Buyers Education Trip this past May confirmed his meeting representing a total of 720 room nights for January 2011.

Glenda Washing had a site with the National Council for History Education (K-12 history educators) who represent 759 Room nights and will be making a decision the end of this month.  The client experienced a detailed history tour of downtown and St. Augustine.

Statewide representatives and Senator Tony Hill met to discuss creating a pilot "Connecting the Dots Cultural Tour" sharing our rich African American, Hispanic and Black Seminole Heritage, blended cultural experience and its connections to the Bahamas and other Caribbean islands.   The Tour area will consist of parts of West, North and Central Florida.  Counties covered will consist of Duval, Leon, Nassau, St. Johns and Putnam counties.  Group members will develop the history, proposed routes and sites. The tour will be one of the most organized heritage tours covering Tallahassee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Amelia Island, Jacksonville Beach and potentially into the Bahamas.  The goal is to expand the tour throughout the state of Florida.

Marketing Update
The summer landing pages are generating a huge amount of traffic.  We had 73,417 unique visitors last month with 40% of them going into the booking engine.  Our top hotels for ARES production in June are Quality Suites Oceanfront, Wingate by Wyndham Southpoint, St. Johns Suites, Comfort Inn Oceanfront and Best Western Jacksonville Airport.  The top attractions in ARES production are Adventure Landing,

Partner Update
2010 Visit jacksonville Trade show
Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010
Hosted By: Prime F. Osborn III Covention Center
1000 Water Street

Attend Visit Jacksonville's first trade show with a sneak peek at the proposed FY2010-11 Marketing Plan.  A brief presentation on the marketing plan and the new Partner Scorecard will begin the event, followed by a trade show format to inform Partners of planned sales and marketing co-ops, targeted media markets and opportunities to become more active with Visit Jacksonville.

Each department at Visit Jacksonville will be represented during this "can't miss" event and will discuss what benefits your business receives as a part of your Partnership that you may not have been utilizing.

Schedule:
Session 1
8:30- 9:15am - registration and networking
9:15- 9:45 am - Presentation
9:45-11:00am - trade show with departments

Session 2
4:00- 4:45pm - registration and networking
4:45- 5:15 pm - Presentation
5:15-7:00 pm - trade show with departments
 Click here to Register

Special Events This Week

7/23 - Friday Night Live - Atlanta Rhythm Section - The Jacksonville Landing - http://www.jacksonvillelanding.com/events/friday-night-live-at-the-landing--1/  

7/25 - Summer Movie Classics - The Godfather II - Florida Theatre - http://www.floridatheatre.com/DesktopModules/EventsCalendar/Popup.aspx?ItemID=253&Mid=512&PortalID=0&TabID=62&selecteddate=20100718&culture=en-US

This does not include symphony concerts, Suns games, smaller events, etc - there are several of these going on this week!

Visit Jacksonville Contract Extension
Visit Jacksonville's Contract Extension Ordinance will be going through three city committees, beginning July 19, and then to a full City Council vote for final approval in early August.  This ordinance was brought forward by the Tourist Development Council's (TDC) former Chair, Richard Clark, and the TDC voted unanimously to approve the contract extension. 

The extension is for two years and would give Visit Jacksonville the opportunity to prove the return on investment for the $875,000 grant over a three-year period.  Visit Jacksonville received the grant funding in August 2009 meaning the terms of the investment run through August 2012. 

Visit Jacksonville and the tourism industry needs your support!  Please take a moment to reach out to your representative, speak at the committee and council meetings and show your support.  Council members have said they want to hear from industry representatives on this issue to ensure they are voting for an ordinance that is supported by the community.

For background information, talking points, committee and council meeting dates and a plan of action, visit http://www.jaxtourismmatters.org/.  On the site, you will also find the contact information for all city council representatives and committee members.

Second City-Wide Booking

Congratulations to all the effort that was put forth to win our second citywide group!

Visit Jacksonville and the Convention Center Alliance booked its second city-wide group that is an international conference scheduled for November of 2014.  The group will have a total of 4,445 room nights with peak of 1,100 room nights.  More than 2,500 attendees will be visiting Jacksonville and this booking is a result of the third part planner attending Visit Jacksonville's October Buyer's Education Trip.  Our competition for this was Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Covington KY, Kansas City and Atlanta.  We would like to give a special thank you to Mayor John Peyton who spent more than an hour with the planner during the site inspection to discuss the benefits of booking the group in Jacksonville. The hospitality and business community worked hard to win the business.

Visit Jacksonville Won North Florida MPI Company of the Year

This award was voted on by the members of the chapter and we received special congratulations from planners including Gayle Jackson-Menk of HelmsBriscoe, Inc.

Sales Update
Robin Wright hosted Alpha Rho Chi for a site inspection for their 65^th Annual Convention.  The group is looking at Downtown and will generate 175 room nights. Our competition is Salt Lake City. 

Marcia Noon hosted a site over the dates of July 8 & 9^th on Glenda Washington's behalf for an association piece of business. This group is considering downtown properties only and represents approximately 128 room nights for March 2011. A decision will be made on the host hotel this week.

Glenda Washington attended the Meet USA in Leesburg, VA. There were over 200 planners in attendance and she expects to see two RFPs from the show.  During the show Glenda was also a guest panelist discussing the benefits of using Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

Alex Michaels attended the 2010 Fraternity Executive Association Annual Meeting in Belleuvue, WA. The show had over 75 planners in attendance.  We anticipate receiving five RFPs as a result. 

Partner Update

Upcoming Events

To RSVP to these events, please respond to rsvp@visitjacksonville.com. 

7/15 - What is the Partner Scorecard? Schedule: 8:30-9 a.m. -Networking & Breakfast, 9 - 10 a.m. Program; Hosted by: Hampton Inn 9A & Baymeadows, 8127 Point Meadows Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Have you ever asked yourself the following questions?
What has Visit Jacksonville done for me lately?
What have I done to maximize my Visit Jacksonville Partnership?
Am I really taking advantage of all the things Visit Jacksonville is offering?
Come learn about Visit Jacksonville's newest tool for Partners - The Partner Scorecard.  It will give you a value snapshot of your Visit Jacksonville Partnership.

Visit Jacksonville's Tradeshow                  Thursday, August 5, 2010

Session 1 - 8:30- 9:00am - registration and networking
9:00- 9:45 am - Marketing Plan Presentation
9:45-11:00am - Trade show with Visit Jacksonville departments

Session 2 - 4:00- 4:30pm - registration and networking
4:30- 5:15 pm - Marketing Plan Presentation
5:15-7:00 pm - Trade show with Visit Jacksonville departments

Hosted by:
Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center

Special Events This Week

7/16 - Carnival of Madness - Veterans Memorial Arena - http://www.jaxevents.com/calendar.php or http://carnivalofmadness.com/  

7/17 - Jacksonville Axemen vs. Philadelphia Fight - http://www.jaxaxe.com/

7/17 - Jacksonville Sharks vs. Tampa Bay Storm - http://www.jaxsharks.com/

7/18 - Summer Movie Classics - The Godfather - Florida Theatre - http://www.floridatheatre.com/DesktopModules/EventsCalendar/Popup.aspx?ItemID=253&Mid=512&PortalID=0&TabID=62&selecteddate=20100718&culture=en-US

This does not include symphony concerts, Suns games, smaller events, etc - there are several of these going on this week!

 

Marketing Update
The Visit Jacksonville one week sale doubled the bookings on ARES and had a 200% increase over the same time frame last year.  There was a 43% increase in traffic into the booking engine on the site and Georgia, Florida and Tennessee were the largest feeder markets for bookings.  The promotion was marketed through social media channels and an email to more than 15,000 opt-in consumers went out last week. 

Fourth of July Travel
AAA projected the number of Americans traveling this Fourth of July holiday weekend will increase 17.1 percent from 2009, with approximately 34.9 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home. Last year, 29.8 million Americans traveled during the same period. The 2010 Fourth of July holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, July 1 to Monday, July 5.

Sales Update
Alex Michaels went to bid on the American Baptist National Convention in Charleston West Virginia. Unfortunately we didn't get the majority vote and lost to Grand Rapids, which was on their third attempt and finally got awarded the conference.  We will be re-submitting a bid for next year and will continue to pursue this business for Jacksonville.

Karen Townsend traveled to Chicago last week with One Ocean and exhibited at Destination Showcase. We also attended the hosted buyer events during the week and did sales calls wiht several meeting planners in various markets that do meetings in the Southeast and will continue to pursue business potential for Northeast Florida.

Communications Update
The Communications team hosted four travel writers in the last week covering pre- and post-cruise excursions in Jacksonville, German guidebooks and overall destination features for daily and weekly publications in the Southeast.

We developed destination interviews with four Jacksonville Jaguars players - Gerald Alexander, Atiyyah Ellison, Brad Meester and Ernest Wilford - to draw more attention to football games as a part of the tourism draw to Jacksonville.  The interviews focused on what the players love about Jacksonville, including many Visit Jacksonville Partners that were mentioned during the discussions.  Working with the Marketing team, we are developing packages around the interviews with Jaguars tickets to boost visitation to the city for football games.  The interviews, packages and 2010 Jaguars schedule will be posted on VisitJacksonville.com and promoted through PR, marketing and social media efforts.

Partner Update
As a service to you, Visit Jacksonville will supply your emergency contact information to the City of Jacksonville's Corporate Recovery Branch Code Red program.

Weather Warning and Code Red Emergency Notification
The Duval County Emergency Operations Center has implemented a telephone warning system to provide notification in the event of emergencies or severe weather.  Learn more about Code Red and Weather Warning.  If you'd like to sign up individually, please go to http://www.coj.net/ and scroll all the way down to sign up as an individual and get more information. 

Upcoming Events
To RSVP to these events, please respond to rsvp@visitjacksonville.com. 

7/15 - What is the Partner Scorecard? Schedule: 8:30
Hosted by Hampton Inn 9A & Baymeadows

Have you ever asked yourself the following questions?

• What has Visit Jacksonville done for me lately?
• What have I done to maximize my Visit Jacksonville Partnership?
• Am I really taking advantage of all the things Visit Jacksonville is offering?

Come learn about Visit Jacksonville's newest tool for Partners - The Partner Scorecard.  It will give you a value snapshot of your Visit Jacksonville Partnership.

National Travel Act Support
Please contact your legislators to support and co-sponsor the Travel Regional Investment Partnership (TRIP) Act. This legislation will provide matching grants for destination marketing organizations to promote domestic tourism. The bills provide $10 million annually for five years or $50 million in matching grants.

Your help is dramatically needed. The legislation will not move until there is a broad base of co-sponsors.  Please be sure to describe why your area could use additional marketing resources in the paragraph left open to tell your story. Sample letters are available for use.

For complete information on the bills, go to http://www.thomas.gov/ and fill in the search by Bill Number, then enter H R 4676 or S 3225. You will then find the actual legislative language and current co-sponsors.

Letters from your organization, individual board members, and your constituents will all be helpful. It would be great if you could copy us at NTAwashington@gmail.com on your correspondence.

Special Events This Week
In an effort to keep you all better informed of events taking place over the next week I have listed the events below with their websites.  I hope you will find this beneficial.

July 2 - Friday Night Live at The Jacksonville Landing - http://www.jacksonvillelanding.com/events/friday-night-live-at-the-landing-3/  

July 2 - World Golf Village Community Fireworks - http://www.worldgolfhalloffame.org/todo/calendar.php?month=July

July 3 - Jacksonville Sharks vs. Alabama Vipers - http://www.jaxsharks.com/

July 3-4 - Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens 4^th of July Jamboree - http://www.jacksonvillezoo.org/index.php/events/event_details/4th_of_july_jamboree1

July 4 - Downtown Fireworks Spectacular! - http://www.makeascenedowntown.com/  

July 4 - Liberty Celebration and Fireworks Jacksonville Beach - http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/index.aspx?nid=209

Marketing Update

The Visit Jacksonville one week sale is going strong.  The email to more than 15,000 opt-in consumers went out last week.  The email and the sale features several great offers that are only available to book for one week. 

The summer landing page, http://www.jaxsummer.com/, is up and is getting great traffic. It features the special events taking place this summer, special offers and more.  The landing page features a family theme, couples theme and relaxation/spa theme.

Sales Update

Marcia Noon conducted sales calls last week in Orlando and Tampa. The group had the opportunity to call on several corporate clients and host a client luncheon focusing on third party planners.  The trip will result in multiple business opportunities.

Visit Jacksonville is the recipient of the 2011 Minority Grant from Visit Florida.  The purpose of the grant is to support the multicultural marketing and sales initiatives.

We co-hosted the quarterly mixer with the First Coast African American Chamber.  This event was a part of the continued marketing outreach efforts to inform the multicultural community of our role in helping create a successful meetings/convention initiative, to inform them of our partnership opportunities and attract more multicultural meetings and conventions to the destination.  We had more than 75 attendees from across the community attend the event.

Kim Ritten along with representatives from SMG and the JEDC Sports & Entertainment office, conducted a site visit from United States Tennis Association.  Jacksonville made the cut along with San Diego, St. Louis and Cleveland to host the November 2010 competition that would take place in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.  Final city selection will be made by June 29^th.

Visit Jacksonville hosted a Local Planner Expo at Whisky River on Thursday June 17^th where 40 partners hosted booths showcasing their services to more than 55 local meeting planners.  This first time event was very successful.

Partner Update

Visitor Magazine Update - Your Visit Jacksonville team is already preparing for the November 2010 issue of the Visitors Magazine.  Please review your listing in the current guide at http://www.visitjacksonville.com/meeting-planners/publications/.  Send your updates or approval to Sarah Gibson, Partner Development Services Manager, at sgibson@visitjacksonville.com.  Deadline for updates is Monday, July 12, 2010.

Upcoming Partner Events

6/22 - Visit Jacksonville for Breakfast - Disaster Preparedness - 8:30am Registration; 9:00 - 10:00am Program - Disaster Preparedness - Hear from a corporate contingency planner and a representative from the city's emergency preparedness department.  You'll also hear what Visit Jacksonville is doing for you in the area of disaster preparedness, even when our area is not affected directly.

6/23 - Meet the Services Team Open House (for non-accommodation Partners), 8:30am - 10:30am, Visit Jacksonville Greenleaf Visitor Center, 208 N. Laura Street.

To RSVP to these events, please respond to rsvp@visitjacksonville.com.