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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVisitor Services and Information Advisory Committee Minutes September 24, 2009_201402041408042540Minutes of Visitor Services Advisory Committee Thursday, September 24, 2009 Land Bank Conference Room The meeting was called to order at 3:00pm by Gene Mahon. In attendance: Kate Hamilton, Director, David Sharpe, Office Administrator, Kevin Dugan, Assistant Administrator, Charles Balas, Gene Mahon, Kristin Chambers-O’Reilly, Louise Swift and Linda Williams. Kate started the meeting by having Kevin review the lodging business. Kevin reported that August had continued to be a strong month but noted that since Labor Day it has obviously slowed down. He also reported that there has been a steady flow of inquiries regarding Christmas Stroll. David then reported on the restaurants and noted that as of now there are 4 or 5 that should be open for Thanksgiving dinner. David also gave the statistics and brought everyone up to date on them. He also stated that the total visitor count as compared to last year is down approximately 28%. Kate then discussed the budget and mentioned that she has not received a definite answer from the Town regarding the annual fireworks display but hopes to hear something soon as we will need to go out for bid again as the contract is over. Kate also said that she and Kristin Chambers-O’Reilly will have to re-schedule their fireworks meeting as they both had a scheduling conflict. Kate then discussed the fact that she had a budget meeting today with Town Administration and the other department heads and was informed that the Town will be looking to cut expenses once again as revenues are down. She also stated that an Ad Hoc Finance Committee had been formed to look at Town expenses and to see where possible cuts could be made. A meeting will be held next week to discuss, amongst other things, the outsourcing of some Town services and a possible “merger” of NVS and the Chamber of Commerce. Kate will report back to the Committee. Discussion then ensued regarding the rooms tax. Many innkeepers are upset with the passage of the increase which will be effective as of January 1st. Most are also very concerned that the room occupancy tax still does not expand to the private home rentals. Linda Williams stated that she will start attempting to drum up support for a major effort to include the addition of private home rentals in the collection of the room occupancy tax. Kate then discussed the 2010 Travel & Lodging brochure and reported that the production run will be 40,000 copies. She further stated that we have approximately 20 cases remaining of the 2009 brochure and we will monitor the distribution to insure that we will have enough left to meet demand. Kate brought up the NVS operation at the airport this summer and the fact that everything seemed to go well. She also stated that she had a conversation with Al Peterson regarding NVS using the space during major weekend events during the winter and he was in agreement. Kate also mentioned that our partnership with Greenhound has now ended and everyone who has been involved seems to be pleased with the way things went. It was also noted that funds have been approved for the rehab of the Sconset restrooms and that the bid should be awarded in March. Kate then stated that the Straight Wharf kiosk will be closing this Sunday, September 27th, for the season. Kate also mentioned that David is on the Taxi Commission. David stated that the Commission will be doing something similar to Team Nantucket to create some training programs for the taxi drivers. It was suggested that perhaps a DVD could be used in this regard. Kevin then mentioned that 47 Nantucket Restaurant Week press releases have been submitted to various newspapers, 4 to various food editors, 3 to Cape Cod based radio stations and 1 TV ad that was produced with Geno TV Channel 17. Kate also re- iterated that the NVS marketing for this event was for the purpose of promoting lodging and not to interfere with the Chamber of Commerce efforts at promoting Restaurant Week. The meeting was adjourned at 4:05pm.