HomeMy WebLinkAboutVisitor Services and Information Advisory Committee Minutes November 13, 2008_201402041408023790
Minutes of Visitor Services Advisory Committee
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Land Bank Conference Room
In attendance: Kate Hamilton, Director, David Sharpe, Office Administrator,
Kevin Dugan, Assistant Administrator, Charles Balas, James Blunt, Diane Reis Flaherty,
Gene Mahon and Louise Swift.
Gene called the meeting to order at 3:05pm and made a motion to waive the
reading of the minutes of the previous meeting and the motion was carried.
Kate began the meeting by calling on Kevin to give the lodging update. Kevin
reported that Thanksgiving inquiries and availability are on par with previous years. He
stated that Christmas Stroll inquiries were very high and that the availability was starting
to get tight. Several inns and B & B’s are either sold out or have just a few rooms left.
The interest in Stroll this year seems to be a little bit higher than last year. David then
reported on Thanksgiving restaurant availability and also the fact that he has the list
available for dissemination to the lodging community as needed. David also stated that as
of now we have no restaurants that will be open on Christmas day. Kate has asked Mitch
Carl from the Hawthorn House to write a letter to the restaurants asking if some of them
would consider opening on Christmas Day.
David then reported on the statistics and noted that through October our total
visitor count was down by only 3% from a year ago. Placements were almost exactly the
same as a year ago and telephone calls were down only slightly. Mailings of the T & L
are down slightly and that is due largely to the downloading of them from the website.
Kate then gave an update on the budget and stated that in the worst case scenario
we may have to consider closing on Sunday and Monday during January and February.
She did state however that with the plan that we currently have to do the distribution of
the T & L’s ourselves that we will realize considerable cost savings.
Kate then showed the committee the cover of the new 2009 T & L which
everyone was very pleased with. She also mentioned that with the realtors now paying
$500.00 towards the T & L we will distribute them to their offices. We will also
distribute the insert cards to the taxi cabs.
Kate then mentioned that she has spoken to Jim Lentowski regarding the
Cranberry festival for next year. She would like to explore the possibility of having
busses available to take people out to the bogs. Diane suggested that perhaps something
in the order of trips per day so as not to seriously impact the cab business.
James brought up a discussion on the fireworks with a suggestion that perhaps
there should be an admission charge for “premium” seats in order to offset the $35,000 -
$40,000 charge for the display. He also suggested that perhaps we could get a large
corporate sponsor who would like to see their “name in lights.” Kate stated that she
would prefer to keep them available on a free basis to everyone. She also stated that she
would be happy to work together with the Chamber of Commerce or any town
department who would like to take them over as she has been responsible for putting
them on for the last 16 years.
Charles then asked what was going on with Greenhound. Kate stated that they
would like us to be open 7 days a week and that she has asked them to pay David’s salary
as well as the other staff members who would be working there. At this time nothing has
been firmed up.
A discussion then ensued regarding Restaurant Week and the fact that it should be
marketed better than it has been on the Cape. Charles then suggested that perhaps Kate
could come up with some form of marketing proposal that could be done in conjunction
with the Steamship Authority on their vessels. Charles said he would be willing to
present the proposal to Flint Ranney. Kate then suggested that we do a survey of visitors
over Christmas Stroll to determine where they are coming from. By filling out a card they
would be eligible for a drawing to win a free night at the Anchor Inn, dinner at a yet to be
determined restaurant and a free cab ride from the boat. A decision was made to go
forward with that idea and James suggested it to be called “Stroll In & Win.”
Just prior to adjourning Kate stated that we will be sponsoring the light contest
again this year. She also mentioned that Laura Byrne will be directing “It’s A Wonderful
Life” during Stroll weekend and there will be a matinee on Saturday and Sunday so that
people can go to the show and still go out to dinner.
The meeting was then adjourned by Gene at 4:10pm.