EXPLORE MINNESOTA TOURISM COUNCIL

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Mall of America
Bloomington, MN

Present: Maureen Bausch, Bonnie Carlson, Gabe Castenada, Fred Bobich, Butch Eggen, Randy Gutzman, Sandy Lexvold, Deb Lloyd, Julie Lunning, Senator Mary Olson, Deanna Pekaar, Dave Siegel, Kathy Silverthorn, Hank Todd, John Valliere

EMT Staff Present: John Edman, Peggy Lindquist, Michele Peters, Pat Simmons, Colleen Tollefson, Char Vaughan

Guests: Doug Killian (Mall of America), Rob Rankin (Clarity Coverdale Fury), Maureen Scallen (Meet Minneapolis), Kathy Schroeder (Brainerd  Lakes Chamber)

Introductions: Chair John Edman asked members and guests to introduce themselves.

Mall of America Update: Maureen Bausch introduced the Council to Phase II of the Mall expansion. Effective March 2008, Nickelodeon will become the partner of the park area. Phase II will include 1.1 million square feet of retail and 1,600 hotel rooms. It will be geared towards older families. For every $1 spent at the Mall of America, tourists are spending $2-$3 outside MOA when traveling throughout the state. This expansion creates jobs within the tourism industry. Council members were provided speaking points for the expansion.

Explore Minnesota Tourism will continue providing Minnesota brochure distribution, increasing from one to two locations at the Mall.

Council Appointments: Half of the Council members’ terms expire in January 2008. Those interested need to reapply through the Secretary of State’s website.

Advertising Update - Rob Rankin, Clarity Coverdale Fury: The newest webisodes include activities such as night life, sporting activities, Main Street, outdoor/indoor activities and Minnesota’s national treasures.

A story ran in The New York Times featuring the author from the mashed potato webisode. That webisode has received over 500,000 hits on YouTube.

Pre and post awareness was measured by the agency. Approximately 800 consumers were interviewed. Of those 800, half are Minnesota residents. The objective of the research was to better understand the effect the campaign has on consumer awareness, perceptions and behavior. The post awareness tracking was conducted between October 8-19, 2007. In order to establish a baseline, pre-wave interviews were conducted in March of 2007.

Key findings include:

• Unaided gains are particularly strong in non-Minnesota markets
• Unaided ad awareness is up from 18% to 29%
• Advertising recall is strong for ads that depict tips from Minnesotans
• Nearly all (93%) of those who recalled a website being advertised recalled the name exploreminnesota.com, half of them with no aid
• “Exploreminnesota.com” is a highly recognized site, with half recalling the name of the site unaided
• The videos and My Favorite Minnesota appear to be important to perceptions of inspiration
• Unaided gains are particularly strong in non-Minnesota markets

This information will help Explore Minnesota Tourism set goals for the future and determine where we are and where we need to be.

Michele Peters will be in Chicago December 6 and 7 to observe user groups who will be navigating through exploreminnesota.com and a few other select state tourism web sites.

Public Policy Committee - Butch Eggen: The Public Policy Committee met November 26. Eleven people participated in the meeting. There were three ongoing resolutions that were discussed. This included: School year calendar, lodging tax and tourism funding.

The school year calendar language that was approved by the Public Policy Committee reads:

WHEREAS, Minnesota claims one of the highest levels of K-12 learning in the country;

WHEREAS, increasing classroom time does not have to compete with Minnesota tourism industry;

WHEREAS, learning benefits and outcomes are important to the tourism industry;

WHEREAS, school calendars can have an impact on both family vacation options and seasonal employment;

Therefore, the Explore Minnesota Tourism Council supports:
Quality education as a high priority for the state;

A school calendar that addresses the best learning outcomes available while preserving Minnesota’s heritage of summer, including preserving a post Labor Day School start date; and

Investigating other tools to increase learning outcomes before changing the start date or increasing the number of educational days in the school year.

The Lodging Tax language that was approved by the Public Policy Committee reads:

WHEREAS, local economies around the state utilize the local option lodging tax to attract visitors from outside of their area;

WHEREAS, the Minnesota lodging tax in M.S. 469.190 is to be used exclusively to market and promote tourism and convention destinations through a variety of methods;

WHEREAS, the ability to fund these promotion efforts to a level that is competitive in the marketplace is critical to a destination’s success;

WHEREAS, the ability to impose a local option lodging tax to secure funding for these promotional efforts is critical to the promotion of many of Minnesota’s tourism destinations.

Therefore, the Explore Minnesota Tourism Council supports:
The existing statute, M.S. 469.190, providing a local option lodging tax of up to three percent on the gross receipts from lodging and dedicating ninety-five percent of the gross proceeds only to marketing and promotion of tourism.

The Tourism funding resolution that was approved by the Public Policy committee reads:

WHEREAS, tourism is a key sector of Minnesota’s economy, comparable to agriculture in its contribution to the gross state product;

WHEREAS, leisure and hospitality in Minnesota generates $10.2 billion in gross annual sales;

WHEREAS, more than $628 million is generated annually in state sales taxes;

WHEREAS, Minnesota’s leisure and hospitality industry employs more than 242,000 workers;

WHEREAS, every $1 invested in state tourism marketing returns an estimated $4.60 in state and local taxes; $20.40 in wages and $53 in gross sales;

WHEREAS, Minnesota tourism has slipped from 25th to 29th in overall U.S. state tourism budgets;

WHEREAS, Minnesota is being severely outspent by many of our competitors;

Therefore, the Explore Minnesota Tourism Council supports:
Funding to market Minnesota tourism with a goal of $20 million per year by 2010.

Bonnie Carlson motioned to pass the Resolutions as submitted. Seconded by Dave Siegel.

Discussion on the resolutions:

• Public/Policy Committee should also address federal issues.
• Public/Policy Committee should address Phase II of Mall of America. This is Minnesota’s #1 attraction. It creates jobs, taxes and tourism for the state.
• Is it prohibitive to call out the lodging tax of up to 3%? Individual communities could also approach legislature for more.
• There are a number of competing regional projects. It is difficult to single out support to one specific project.
• As a group, should endorse those projects that help the growth of tourism.
• Encourage the Public/Policy Committee to schedule a meeting to address tourism projects that encourage tourism and economic development
• Must remain mindful of law; integrity of intent of law
• Add a line to include “as well as being open to local initiatives”
• These resolutions are a statement of support, focusing on existing law.
• Tourism is marketing and promotion, not infrastructure
• Should “of up to three percent” be removed? It was a major point of discussion for the Task Force.

Butch Eggen called a question on the resolutions motioned to pass by Bonnie Carlson and seconded by Dave Siegel. Hank Todd and Maureen Bausch opposed the resolution. All other Council members in attendance voted in favor.

The Public Policy Committee will schedule a meeting in early January.

Travel Green - Colleen Tollefson: Two meetings have been held on the Travel Green initiative. Draft report to be sent for review prior to December 11th meeting. Explore Minnesota Tourism has put forward a legislative initiative for funding to build its’ database to include Travel Green information for accommodations to provide to consumers.  Explore Minnesota Tourism will work to incorporate Travel Green information in it’s’ database - both via extranet and enhancements. The role of the Office is to educate businesses.

Explore Minnesota Tourism Audit - John Edman: The state auditors were at Explore Minnesota Tourism office throughout the summer, conducting an audit of Explore Minnesota Tourism. Information from fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007 were reviewed. This is the first complete audit since EMT became a separate entity. Report suggested some minor procedural changes that have already been addressed. The full report can be found at http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/FAD/2007/fad07-28.htm

Innovative Partnership Grant Report - Colleen Tollefson: When analyzing the partnership program, the Council suggested that a grant should be available on a competitive basis, for innovative projects. Twenty-five preapplications were received; with 17 actual applications. The applications were evaluated by outside people and one Explore Minnesota Tourism staff person. Eight projects were funded, for a total of $170,000. Those projects are listed on the industry website. Some changes in the application process will be implemented next year.

Explore Minnesota Tourism 2008 Strategic Plan - John Edman: The Council met in September to provide input for the 2008 Strategic Plan. Several of the changes or additions to this plan are a direct result of the Council’s suggestions.

Fred Bobich motioned to approve the Explore Minnesota Tourism 2008 Strategic Plan as written. Kathy Silverthorn seconded the motion. All council members in attendance voted to approve the Strategic Plan.

Regional Positioning Study Report - Pat Simmons: A Request for Proposal was sent out for a regional positioning study. The study was awarded to Strategic Marketing & Research, Inc. (SMRI). Explore Minnesota currently markets the state as four geographic travel regions. These regions are a tool for marketing, but not always the best way for the consumer to find a location. Research also found that when planning travel, many plan based on an activity. Looking to the regions to help provide additional information for those who already know where the consumer wants to travel.  Many consumers are looking for a city and are unaware in which region it is located.

This information was presented at the November Quad Regional meeting

The next steps include how to market for the 2009 Minnesota Travel Guide. Will work with the Council member representing each region (Bonnie Carlson, Kathy Silverthorn, Butch Eggen and Lisa Paxton), as well as the four regional presidents.

The next Quad Regional meeting is scheduled in February and a plan will be presented at that time. The Council will review at the March meeting.

Revenue Department Results - John Edman: A cereal box will be produced again as a way to highlight tourism statistics. The theme of the 2008 box is Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial.

Website Developments -Michele Peters: Explore Minnesota Tourism is looking to form an IT advisory committee, consisting of three or four people to act as interactive support. The committee would be people who are experts in the field. The intent is to have this group named by early March. The committee would meet two or three time per year to review and guide in website development.

It was suggested that EMT discuss with Weber Shandwick, as they support this type of concept.
Other:
2008 Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference:
The 2008 Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference will be held January 22-24 at the Alltel Civic Center in Mankato. As in the past, Council members will be asked to moderate sessions and/or introduce speakers. The legislative hearing committee of the Senate Economic Development Budget Division & the House Heritage Finance Commitee will be held at the conference.

2008 Council Meeting Dates:
Proposed meeting dates for 2008 are: March 4, June 11, September 10 and December 2. These dates were previously e-mailed to Council members with no conflicts noted by members.