Town of Provincetown

Visitor Services Board

 

Meeting Minutes of

Friday, March 10, 2006

Judge Welsh Meeting Room


Chairman Lynne Davies convened the meeting at 1:09 PM noting the following attendees:

 

VSB members: Lynne Davies, Chairman; Kathleen Fitzgerald; Laurel Guadazno; Mick Rudd; and Hersh Schwartz.

 

Absent VSB members (excused absence):  Peter Bez, Michael Peregon. 

           

Other attendees:  Bill Schneider, Administrative Director of Tourism; David Gardner, Administrative Assistant II.

 

WHALE TRAIL PROPOSAL:  Dan Karp, President, Whale Trail, made a presentation on The Whale Trail program for Cape and Islands Summer 2006.

 

MOTION:  To allocate $4,800 from the FY06 Marketing Budget to sponsor a whale and to direct the ADT to help market and promote sponsorship with other businesses and organizations in town. 

 

Motion by: Kathleen Fitzgerald; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea: 5; Nay: 0; Abstain:0

 

MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES:

 

MOTION:  To approve the meeting minutes of Friday, February 17, 2006 as submitted.

Motion by: Laurel Guadazno; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

MOTION:  To approve the meeting minutes of Monday, February 27, 2006 as submitted.

Motion by:  Laurel Guadazno; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

MOTION:  To approve the meeting minutes of Thursday, March 2, 2006 as submitted.

Motion by:  Laurel Guadazno; Seconded by:  Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain: 0

 

TOURISM DIRECTOR’S REPORT:

 

The Office of Tourism has received numerous emails from members of CITGA, the Chamber and the PBG, concerned about the Parking Department’s proposed parking fees for motor coaches and the potential adverse financial impact to the Town’s tourism efforts.   As a result of this concern, the ADT will draft a memo to the Board of Selectmen requesting this item not be approved as one of the proposed parking fee changes.

 

MOTION:   The VSB strongly opposes the proposed parking regulations charging for tour bus parking at the Jerome Smith parking lot.  The potential revenue that might be gained from this proposal will not compensate for the enormous potential lost revenue in tourism.

Motion by: Laurel Guadazno; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

MOTION:    Move to approve up to $1,000 from the FY06 Marketing Budget for the reprinting of 5,000 additional 2006 Calendar of Events.

Motion by: Mick Rudd; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

MOTION:   Move to approve the “Herring Cove” (page 12) version of the rack card for distribution throughout the Cape and greater Boston area by the Best Read Guide.

Motion by: Laurel Guadazno; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

The ADT laid out the recommended components of the advertising plan with the eCape.com (doing business as the Best Read Guide and CapeCodTravel.com, with a total price of $14,303, which could be funded in part with remaining funds from the FY06 media plan ($7,500) and not renewing the annual Guest Informant ad in May ($7,200), which is distributed to over 18,000 hotel rooms in the greater Boston area.   The components include:

 

·        Website advertising – a rotating skyscraper ad from the map page of CapeCodTravel.com (where most traffic is driven) at the annual cost of $3,000.  This site has been updated and features about the Provincetown Library and PAAM expansion will be added.

 

·        Advertisement in the Best Read Guide - This travel guide is published monthly from May until October and has an annual circulation of over one million.  Distributed to over 1,600 locations from Boston to Provincetown, Best Read Guide is considered Cape Cod’s number one visitor’s guide.  A one-quarter page four-color ad would cost $1,066 per issue ($6,396 per year).

 

·        Distribution in rack brochures throughout Cape Cod – This is an essential component to attracting people on the Cape to Provincetown this year.  Attached is a comp of the proposed rack card, which would be distributed at the cost of $37.50/1,000 brochures.  The ADT recommends distribution of 50,000 brochures for 2006 at the cost of $4,907 (including printing and shipping).

 

MOTION:    Move to approve up to $14, 303 for the Advertising Plan with The Best Read Guide as presented by the ADT.

Motion by: Mick Rudd; Seconded by: Laurel Guadazno; Yea:  5; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

MOTION:    Move to approve the $703 from the FY06 Marketing Budget for the printing of 50,000 Entry Form Cards.

Motion by:  Laurel Guadazno; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  4; Nay: 0; Abstain:  1 (MR)

 

Laurel Guadazno left the meeting.

 

MOTION:    Move to approve $4,370 plus travel expenses from the FY07 Marketing Budget for the PTO to attend two TIA Travel Expos in 2007: Long Beach February 10-11, and Washington DC (TBD).

Motion by:  Mick Rudd; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea:  4; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

MOTION:    Move to approve $1,665 from the FY06 marketing budget for a tourism booth at the 31st Annual Capital Pride Street Festival in Washington DC on Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Motion by: Mick Rudd; Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz; Yea: 4; Nay: 0; Abstain:  0

 

TOURISM OFFICE WEBSITE LINKS:  Continued to the April 7, 2006 VSB meeting.

 

PROPOSED USE OF TOURISM FUNDS:  The ADT will check with the Town Accountant and report back.

 

PROVINCETOWN CULTURAL PACKAGE:  The VSB requests a discussion with the Packaging subcommittee of the MCC Adams Grant Task Force at the Friday, March 31, 2006 VSB meeting.  In the spirit of developing a unified approach to marketing Provincetown, the VSB has invited the subcommittee to dialog about packaging and available knowledgeable resources. 

 

TOURISM OFFICE SUMMER VOLUNTEER INITIATIVE:  Volunteers will be sought from the Council on Aging during the months of July and August to assist visitors who come to Town Hall requesting tourism information.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 PM.