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CVB Quarterly Report 11 19 07 DusuQuE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CONVENTION i<3 VISITORS BUREAU Memo To: Roy Buol ~ Mayor City Council Members Mike Van Milligen ~ City Manager Wayne Demmer ~ Chair Dubuque County Supervisors Mary Ann Specht ~ Administrative Assistant Denise Dolan ~ Dubuque County Auditor Fr: Ken Haugen ~ Convention & Visitors Bureau Board Chairman Sue Czeshinski ~ Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Re: Convention and Visitors Bureau ~ Quarterly Report Dt: 14 November 2007 The Convention and Visitors Bureau had a very productive 3`d quarter of 2007. The CVB and our stakeholders rolled out the red carpet for a record number of conventions and groups, set record tourism numbers for travel into Dubuque County, received grants for new programming and awards for significant programming and economic impact numbers and began serving in leadership roles in a variety of regional associations. The Convention and Visitors Bureau Staff worked with over 69,000 incoming delegates to the Dubuque area for meetings, conventions and events over the course of this calendar year. These delegates created an estimated $52 million in economic impact to our community during their visits. The majority of the conventions that were hosted fell in the third quarter including the Iowa League of Cities, Iowa Tourism Conference and the Midwest Chapter of the American Planning Association. Delegates to Dubuque were serviced by the staff and were very impressed with the quality of the Grand River Center and its design. Several new bids have resulted from attendees that were impressed with what we have to offer. ' s group sales committee worked on several significant projects during the 3rd The Dubuque CVB quarter including: a sales blitz trip to Rockford generating 5 leads for meetings to Dubuque, a FAM tour for group tour operators creating interest and bookings from 13 clients, tradeshows in Des Moines and Chicago where staff and members met with over 100 customers about future meetings in Dubuque. During the 3~d quarter there were many groups that selected Dubuque for ' future meetings. These groups represent approximately 5,900 delegates. Conference bids in process through the CVB represent 3,095 delegates, Bids sent represent 900 delegates and lost groups represent 350 delegates. During the Iowa Tourism Conference in Dubuque this year the statistics were released for travel and tourism impact on all Iowa Counties. Dubuque was featured as one of several cities in the ' state that again took huge strides forward in dollars spent by out of town travelers. The most recent numbers available show Dubuque County with a 10.2 ~o increase in travel expenditures by out of town travelers. Spending increased from $214 million in 2005 to $236 million in 2006. ' This exceeds the Bureau's goal of $220 million in expenditures by FY2008! Dubuque County was also honored to receive the designation of Tourism County of the Year ' award for this dramatic increase in expenditures, excellence in marketing and overall quality of the attractions and amenities in the area. The Iowa Department of Economic Development also announced the awarding of 10 Regional Sports Authorities during the state tourism conference. The Dubuque CVB received this designation for its submission of a sports authority through the CVB and a grant of $50,000. The Bureau has organized the Regional Sports Authority and has developed a budget and plan to attract amateur athletics to the area. Mayor Roy Boul and ' Council Member Ric Jones serve on this newly formed commission. The Dubuque CVB staff have been representing the City of Dubuque in a number of leadership ' roles this year. Sue Czeshinski has taken over as the current president of the Eastern Iowa Tourism Association. She was also nominated at the October meeting of the Tri-State Tourism Council as its' incoming president. Sue will direct the efforts of this 90 member regional Council ' for the coming 2 years. Sue continues to serve as a board member for the Travel Federation of Iowa as well. Keith Rahe was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the Iowa Meetings Association. Keith is working to grow and develop this newly formed group of statewide meeting professionals and meeting planners to help market the state of Iowa as a great meeting location. The newest member of the CVB staff, Zoe Pole, is currently enrolled in Dale Carnegie Training and has received two awards for excellent presentation skills. The work that the Dubuque CVB staff is doing with the Tri-State Tourism Council is truly becoming significant. The organization has taken huge strides forward and has created some ' very impressive marketing initiatives. One in particular is the new international agri-educational tour which starts in the Quad Cities at the John Deere Pavilion and continues into Dyersville, Dubuque, Galena, Platteville and back to Dubuque. This tour has been marketed in Germany, Japan, China and Brazil through the US Department of Commerce. The Dubuque CVB also took the tour itinerary to the National Tour Association Convention in Kansas City last week and had tremendous interest in that as well as all the new attractions in Dubuque including Stone Cliff Winery and the Star Restaurant. Our staff generated 35 leads for our members - a record number from this tradeshow -more than the state of Iowa or the Eastern Region generated. ' `d quarter. The CVB created 4 The new package postcards began their distribution during the 3 new packages with our members this year and sold 30 members on participating in this very ' successful program. Wine tours, Art & Culture, Nature Tours and Skiing were added to the permanent list of packages that our members will honor over the course of the year this year. Over 80,000 postcards and 4,000 email blasts will be sent to customers promoting this great ' program and sending interested travelers to the corresponding websites. The Visitors Guide for 2008 has been in the works for the past several months. The guide will ' take on a new look both inside and out. Our advertising agency has graciously donated their creative talent to design not only this piece but all the Chamber publications and advertising for the 2008 season. The new look and feel of these promotional pieces will be striking and 1 impactful as a first impression of our community. Fall visitation has been strong for Dubuque. Many hotels ran 100% occupancy on all Saturdays in October this year and were requiring 2 night minimums due demand. This is the first time in many years we have seen this kind of advance demand for lodging. Overall the 3`d Quarter was strong and successful for the City of Dubuque.