MINUTES

MARYLAND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT BOARD

BUSINESS MEETING

February 7, 2007

 

 

AGENDA ITEM I – Call to Order – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Michael James at the Holiday Inn BWI Airport Conference Center in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. Mr. James welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the newest Board member, Delegate James N. Mathias, Jr. Delegate Mathias gave background on his extensive experience with the tourism industry.

 

AGENDA ITEM II – Roll Call – Board members present: Steve Adler, Ruth Beitzel, Charlie Birney, Michael James, David Meloy, Bill Ripken, Sergio Vitale, Delegate James Mathias. Board members absent: Gerald Donovan, Dorothy Hamill, Alice Torriente, Senator John Astle, Senator Nancy Jacobs, Delegate Ann Marie Doory.

 

Also in attendance: representatives from DBED: David Bahlman, Pete Chambliss, Liz Fitzsimmons, Denise Konopacki, David Rawle, Marci Ross, Toni Talbott; representatives from the Executive Director’s Council: Al Copp, Marcia Harris, Amy Winston, Susan Zellers; representatives from MADMO: Margot Amelia, Connie DelSignore, Kelly Groff, Tom Riford, Charlie Ross; representatives from gkv: Kevin Best, Nick Tate.

 

AGENDA ITEM III – Approval of Minutes – The minutes from the November 15, 2006 meeting were approved unanimously as submitted.

 

AGENDA ITEM IV – MTDB Updates –

**Bill Ripken – They are just clearing up bringing a lot of people into the State. They have had a lot of support from the Harford County people with the Aberdeen Ironbirds with five strong sell-out years.

**Sergio Vitale – Currently they are in the middle of restaurant week in Baltimore. Last year Aldo’s had its best year ever and December was their best month ever. They are looking forward to continuing on the same course.

**David Meloy – Mr. Meloy commented on the recent Governor’s Workforce Investment Board (GWIB) Hospitality Tourism Summit held January 23rd. There were 400+ attendees with Bill Marriott as keynote speaker. They did a terrific job in identifying problems and coming up with solutions on the workforce issues.

**Charlie Birney – The River Course in Queenstown is coming along well and scheduled to open May 1st. Mr. Birney also attended the Hospitality Tourism Summit and the Travel Industry Association’s State of the Industry Luncheon in Washington DC.

**Ruth Beitzel – December was good for the hotel industry in Western Maryland. They have approval for a $70 million indoor water-park scheduled to be open in 2008.

**Steve Adler – They had an excellent November and December due to the mild weather which encouraged more shoppers. The hotel is moving forward but now under Hyatt instead of Marriott.

**Delegate Mathias – Mentioned that he is on the Economic Matters Committee and part of what they do is economic development and looks forward to working with everyone. Delegate Mathias also spoke about the carbon monoxide issue in Ocean City. The City passed a carbon monoxide detector bill. He also encouraged all the industry folks to call on him for his assistance with industry issues.

**Michael James – Ocean City had a good year last year. Advanced bookings are a little up from last year at this time for next season.

Mr. James spoke about the current tourism funding and the need to lobby local government entities as well as the State. He continued in thanking everyone for their efforts in the FY07 funding. He also encouraged everyone to attend the upcoming budget hearings if possible.

 

AGENDA ITEM V – Executive Director’s Report – David Bahlman, Acting Director for the Maryland Office of Tourism Development

Mr. Bahlman mentioned that Acting Secretary Clarence Bishop stopped by but could not stay due to testimony on BRAC in Annapolis. He wanted to convey to the group that it is his intention to keep tourism moving forward in future years especially under the O’Malley Administration. Announced today by Governor O’Malley was the appointment of David Edgerley as the new Secretary of DBED coming from Montgomery County.

The numbers suggest that the tourism count is very healthy in 2006. From comptroller stats for the calendar year - gross receipts are up 5.5%; amusement tax is up 5.4%; hotel revenue is up 6.7% statewide. However, the Smith Travel Research report showed that occupancy was down 1.1% in the State. The ADR was up over 7%. Rev Par was up 4.4%. There are 13 objectives that OTD is looking at currently. One is a spring advertising campaign that will get started and rolling. Web site – currently there is an RFP out to bid on the contract to manage. VisiStat – looking at metric numbers on performance on quarterly and monthly basis. Welcome Centers – looking to overhaul labor hours and still working on updating technology. Procurement issues – The new Destination Maryland is expected to be our around February 26, however it would have been out in April if OTD didn’t do some things to have it moved forward. Harriet Tubman Discovery Center – In the final stages of the land acquisition. There is a second archeological study that has been done. They hope by the spring to have a public announcement. Travelocity – Working with repositioning the widget on the Web site. Finally have a multi-widget product. Widget is the mechanism where rooms can be booked. There are now hotel, air and car rental bookings possible through the Web site. John Smith Trail – Will be launched in May right after Tourism Week. Scenic Byway launch is also upcoming. CRUSA – Things are moving forward with CRUSA. Heritage Areas – Right now there is an issue of whether or not to use product development funds or marketing funds or a combination of the two. County Cooperative Grants – Working with the DMOs in a strategy to get more funds. And they are working on a plan on how to move tourism funding forward in the future. They need to have a sustained marketing campaign with something in the winter and summer. Marketing Plan – Will be working with the MTDB Executive Committee. They would like to put some metrics in that plan to measure their goals. Legislative – The hearing in the House and Senate are upcoming. The theme will be thanking them for the 7 in 07 and letting them know that the tourism industry is helping toward the need for continued investment. There has been a recommendation from the Legislative Analyst to cut $600,000 in the current budget in the special funds area. GWIB Summit – They are now regrouping. They are done with what is wrong with the workforce issues and are now dealing with an action plan.

Advertising & Communications – Liz Fitzsimmons mentioned that Pathfinders Magazine rated Maryland on their ‘Black List,’ which is a great honor from Pathfinders. The rating included our tourism product, to our tourism organizations, and tours that we have…i.e. the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. Advertising for OTD will begin in the spring and will start gearing up in March. They will be running the same creative that was run in the fall and working on new creative for this upcoming fall. Solicitations for cooperative advertising are going out. They are working on a Scenic Byways book which is a total redesign of the former product. The release date is scheduled for May 21st. Also, they are reprinting all of their publications with name changes of the new Administration. Web Site – Bids have been received to rework the web to be more customer-focused and more intuitive.

Sales & Marketing – Pete Chambliss reported that the passenger volume at BWI is up 4.6% from 2005 to 2006. They just finished the American Bus Association (ABA) event and brought back four contracts. ABA announced that they will be coming to Prince George’s County, Gaylord property, in 2010. As mentioned previously, United Airlines put in a bid for service from Washington Dulles to Beijing. United was awarded that service. The Capital Region has already done two trade shows in China and looking to do a third trade show in Beijing and also contracting with a group which is a subset of DBED, called Maryland Center China. The Center is responsible for developing partnerships between China and Maryland. POW WOW will be held in Anaheim, CA in April with a Maryland presence. There is a possibility of Washington D.C. hosting this conference in 2012.

Product Development – Marci Ross reported that OTD has received another Federal grant through the recreational trails programs for the second of five family friendly trails of the Destination Maryland guide. They are also in the process of seeking $100,000 from the National Scenic Byways Program to market the new byways book and map. The John Smith initiative is really colonial focused on the Chesapeake Bay w/new collateral items coming out through the National Park Service. A product training session is scheduled for April 24at the Comfort Inn at BWI on this initiative. There is a Scenic Byways Conference to be held at the new Sheraton in Baltimore. Also an event is going to be planned at the Mason Dixon Line in Allegany County which is a cross-road bike path, non-motorized vehicle path, from Pittsburgh to Mt. Vernon. There will be Welcome Center seminar scheduled at the end of April, location to be determined. There will be a presentation on customer service training and a focus on security at the Welcome Centers. The County Cooperative Grants are moving along thanks to the DMOs who have submitted their funding packets.

 

AGENDA ITEM VI – Executive Director’s Council & MADMO Reports –

**Al Copp, Maryland Wineries Association – Mr. Copp reported that there are currently 26 wineries in the State and four more should be added by the end of the year. The Association placed an ad in the Calendar of Events and in Destination Maryland. They feel that the signage program on the State highways is working for them.

**Marcia Harris , Restaurant Association of Maryland – Ms. Harris reported that on January 15th, in cooperation with MADMO, MTC, MH&LA, and Marine Trades Assn., they hosted the Taste of Maryland legislative reception which was well attended especially by new legislators. The trans fat ban will be bringing an interesting issue for the industry. The industry supports as a health measure, however, the problem is that currently there is not a supply of suitable replacement. The Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation is hosting the 3rd Annual Maryland Pro-Start Invitation. This is a culinary and restaurant management competition. The winning team will have access to over $590,000 in scholarship funds.

**Deborah Carter (reported by Denise Konopacki), MD Association of Campgrounds – They have just completed printing their 2007 directory with a swap ad for OTD on the back cover. These will be given out at the Timonium RV show for two weekends in February. They are pleased that Cherry Hill Park in College Park won the national large campground of the year award in Orlando in December.

**Amy Winston , Maryland Tourism Council/Maryland Hotel & Lodging Association – Ms. Winston reported that MTC was very involved in the GWIB Summit. Marketing Day is planned for March 14 with the theme of packaging for group tour operators. Governor’s Tourism Industry Conference will be held the third week – RFPs are currently being submitted. The next MTC Board Retreat is scheduled for February 22 at which time the Maryland Tourism Week Breakfast date and location will be decided.

The Maryland Hotel & Lodging Association just had its Annual Awards Luncheon and Robert Steel, now Chairman of Board of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, was the guest speaker. Their next event will be their golf tournament which will be held on April 30 in Easton. There are several bills before the legislature concerning lodging taxes – Senate Bill 407 and Senate Bill 402. These bills were discussed.

**Margot Amelia , MADMO, - Ms. Amelia reported that there was a meeting with the DMOs regarding the OTD budget. They would welcome a representative from the MTDB at their MADMO meetings. They want to continue with the education of the new Administration and getting the budget up to $10 million in the next several years.

**Susan Zellers , Marine Trades Association of Maryland – Ms. Zellers mentioned that Senate Bill 165 proposes to set up a task force for boating – how to extend the stay of the visitor boater. This Bill, if passed, calls for a seat from the MTC and the local CVB.

 

AGENDA ITEM VII – Next Meeting(s) –

** Friday, May 18 – 10 a.m. – Greenbelt Marriott - in conjunction

w/Tourism Week Breakfast

** Tues. August 14 – 12 noon – Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen

** Wed., November 14 – Holiday Inn Select Solomons, Calvert County

-in conjunction w/the GTIC

 

AGENDA ITEM VIII – Adjournment – Chairman James adjourned the meeting at approximately 2 p.m.