Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau - 2014 Annual Report

2014

ANNUAL REPORT Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau 104 11th Avenue NW, Suite D Austin, Minnesota 55912 507-437-4563

The Austin and Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes tourism for the Austin area to enhance the economy of the community.

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Notes from the Executive Director: 2014 was extremely busy welcoming visitors to the Austin community for sports tournaments, Paint the Town Pink festivities, various food competitions, FreedomFest, Clean Water Festival ArtWorks Festival, Fall Harvest Festival, various conventions and meetings, addition to group tours coming for the SPAM® Museum and other attractions .

Austin received positive recognition numerous times throughout the year. For instance, Austin was ranked the 7th more exciting place in Minnesota in 2014 by MOVOTO Real Estate Blog in California and many of our delightful dining facilities were featured in the Food Traveler, a national magazine.

Also this year, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau subscribed to a program called SalesPro which will allow the CVB to proactively grow and maintain a database which will allow our staff to reach out to a wide variety of groups, conventions, and clubs to express interest and potentially host a future event in Austin. This has proven to be very helpful as we currently have more meetings planned for the future than we did the same time last year.

With great success, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau celebrated its 30th Anniversary in May 2014. We hosted an Open House welcoming community members and representatives from the city, attractions, and area lodging and business organizations, and participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce.

In the anticipation of tour and travel slowing down in Austin for 2015 as a result of the SPAM® Museum temporary closing, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau in partnership with the Holiday Inn Austin Conference Center reached out to meeting planners at the Midwest Society of Association Executives annual meeting and expo in June to promote Austin as the ideal place to host their gatherings for 2015 and future years. The response was extremely positive and we look forward to welcoming many meetings to our community.

Our “Be a Tourist in your Own Hometown Dining Challenge” was a huge success. In July 2014 the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau rolled out a challenge for people to experience at least 30 dif-

ferent dining options within the Austin city limits before the end of 2014. The dining challenge gave residents a reason to try new places and visit some of the more than 60 dining options that Austin has to offer. Once all the submissions were added up, there was over $6,000 spent by participants in the challenge.

For two days in August, Bicycling Around Minnesota (BAM) brought in over 300 pedal bikers from all across the nation, and even a couple international pedal bikers, to Austin. This had a positive economic impact for the over 13 local vendors directly involved. Also in August, the Convention and Visitors Bureau highlighted the Austin area to the agriculture industry by participating in a three day tradeshow called FarmFest. After serving more than 600 samples of scalloped potatoes and SPAM™, we can call it an effective promotional event!

The National Barrow Show returned to Austin and the Mower County Fairgrounds for the 68th time in September. This 5 day event brings in hundreds of people and has a positive effect on our hotels, restaurants, retailers, gas stations. The CVB also attended a Water and Tourism Summit in September to network with other outfitters and promote the Cedar River Watershed, along with the annual Clean Water Festival in Austin.

In December, the Convention and Visitors Bureau helped promote the Merry TubaChristmas as it celebrated its 5th anniversary in Austin. Nearly 50 tuba players from 4 different states gathered at the Oak Park Mall to put on an incredible free performance for over 350 Austin community members.

A special thank you goes to all the groups, organizations and individuals who support the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau and our mission.

We look forward to another successful year in 2015.

Sincerely, Nancy Schnable Executive Director

The Austin and Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes tourism for the Austin area to enhance the economy of the community.

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2014 Board of Directors:

Mr. John Wright

Chair, AM1480 KAUS Radio

Mr. Tracy Benesh

Vice Chair, Holiday Inn/Days Inn/ Torge’s/ Austin Conference Center

Ms. Holly Johnson Secretary, Hormel Historic Home

Mr. Jeff Baldus

Treasurer, Austin Area Foundation

Mr. John Haymond Member at Large, Mower County Historical Society

Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau Mission Statement: Ms. Kim Underwood Austin Park and Rec Representative

The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes tourism for the Austin Area to enhance the economy of the community.

Mr. Stephen King

City Council Representative

Photo not available Mr. Sandy Forstner

Austin Area Chamber of Commerce Representative

Ms. Hetal Patel

Lodging Representative

Mr. Neal Anderson

Attraction Representative, Mower County Fair board

Ms. Melisa Weiss Trihus Attractions Representative, Austin Area Commissions for the Arts

Ms. Sarah Douty

(resigned) Attraction Representative, Austin Main Street Project

The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors are comprised of appointed and elected members

2014 Office Staff:

Ms. Nancy Schnable (Full Time) Executive Director

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Ms. Eileen Chao (Part Time) Support Staff

Ms. Samantha Serratore (Summer Intern)

2014 Visitor Guide Distribution:

The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau 2014 Visitors Guide was 44 page publication that welcomed visitors to experience our incredible city. It supplies information on things to do, events, dining, camping, hotels, meeting space, attractions, where to shop, services available, local clubs and organizations, and places of worship as well as an area map.

Emailed ................ 1,638 (39% increase YOY) Mailed ................... 1,734 (32% increase YOY) Welcome Bags ..... 3,517 (51% increase YOY) Displayed ............. 14,197 (these are displayed at 11 MN State Travel Information

Centers, locally, and through various other regional partnerships) * The 2014 Austin Convention and Visitors Guide was also available to view on our website www.AustinCVB.com * Request for Visitor Guides came from 48 states. Top states: MN, IL, WI, IA, TX * Request for Visitor Guides came from 38 countries. Top countries: Algeria, Morocco, India

Weekly Newsletter Distribution:

699 Weekly subscribers (36% increase YOY) (NOTE: open rate is 22.3%, industry average is 18.4%)

Social Media Outreach: 633 Likes on Facebook (16% increase YOY)

Tour and Travel:

• 127 tour and travel groups were welcomed by the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau to the Austin Community in 2014 for a total of 3715 travelers. (increase of 6 total groups welcomed YOY) • 5 of the 127 tour and travel groups were able to relax, rest and rejuvenate in Austin and visit the surrounding communities for multiday trip to the Austin area. (increase of 5 overnight groups YOY) These groups were: Extra Touch Tours, Gardena Baptist, First Lutheran, Burke Christian Tours and Groups Exclusively.

Overnight Travelers: $145,442.97 = 3% lodging tax City Lodging Tax Revenue YOY increase of 8.22% This includes all lodging: leisure, business, groups.

Some of the overnight groups were are follows: Petals and Wings Porcelain China North Central Convention, Gifted and Talent Symposium, LaSalle Club, Hollinglog Convention , Unity Chapter of Eastern Star Convention, North Central Regional Highland Cattle Show, Faith Evangelical Free Church Retreat, • Each successful year at the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau means money is gained by our hotels, restaurants, attraction merchants and entertainers.

The Austin and Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes tourism for the Austin area to enhance the economy of the community.

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The Austin and Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes tourism for the Austin area to enhance the economy of the community.

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Calendar of events for 2015: JANUARY

JULY

16 ............ 18th AYH PeeWee Tournament 24 ............ 25th Northwesteran Singers present Motown 30–Feb. 1 . AYH Bantam Tournament 30–Feb. 7 . Paint the Town Pink

FEBRUARY

3-5............Freedom Fest, City Wide 8-10..........Clean Water Festival, Jay C. Hormel Nature Center 16.............Hormel Institute Public Open House 18-19........3D Archery Shoots, Cedar River Archery Club 25.............Mower County Relay for Life,

Mower County Fairgrounds

6–8 ........... Calico Hutch Retreat 25–Mar. 1 . The Crucible, FWB Theatre

AUGUST

MARCH 14 ............ Johnny Holm Band, Holiday Inn 20–22 ....... Austin Home and Vacation Show, Packer Arena 21 ............ Foodie Throwdown, Hormel Historic Home

APRIL 9–10 .........

10–12 .......

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19 ............

19 ............

21–23 .......

23 ............

24 ............

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Calico Quilting Retreat, Holiday Inn AAUW State Conference Beethoven Bash II, Paramount Theatre Taste of Mower County, Holiday Inn Fort Milers Barber Shop, Paramount Theatre Habitat for Humanity State Conference Legally Blonde, Frank W. Bridges Theatre Whalen and the Willows, ArtWorks Center Taste of Nations, El Parral

Mower County FREE Fair, Mower County Fairgrounds 3D Archery Shoots, Cedar River Archery Club Austin ArtWorks Festival, Austin Utilities Plant

SEPTEMBER 5-6 ........... 3D Archery Shoots, Cedar River Archery Club 10-13 ....... Airstream Convention, Mower County Fairgrounds 13-16 ....... National Barrow Show, Mower County Fairgrounds 19 ............ MMA Cage Fights, Holiday Inn 19-20 ....... MN State High School Mountain Bike Race 25-27 ....... Beta Sigma Phi, Austin Conference Center 26 ............ Fall Harvest Festival, Mower County Historical Society

OCTOBER 9-10 ......... Halloween Warm-Up, Jay C. Hormel Nature Center 5-11 ......... Calico Quilting Retreat, Holiday Inn

MAY 1-3............MN Junior Spring Classic Beef Show,

Mower County Fairgrounds 2-3............3D Archery Shoots, Cedar River Archery Club 2...............Austin City-Wide Rummage Sale 8-9............Bach to Rock, Paramount Theatre 14.............Southern Minnesota Tourism Association,

Hormel Nature Center 27-29........Phi Theta Kappa, Riverland Community College

JUNE 13-14........3D Archery Shoots, Cedar River Archery Club 16-20........North Central Regional Simmental Classic,

Mower County Fairgrounds 14-15........Tour of Minnesota Bike Ride, Todd Park 25-28........SPAM®Town Baseball Tourney, Marcusen Park 27.............Shooting Star Trail Bike Ride

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11-16........

15-16........

22-23........

NOVEMBER 20-21 ....... Hormel Historic Home Holiday Tea 27 ............ The “HUNKS Revue”, Holiday Inn 27-Dec 3 ... Christmas in the City

DECEMBER 5 ..............

11-12 .......

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Merry Tuba Christmas, Knowlton Auditorium Christmas in the County, Mower County Historical Society MMA Cage Fights, Holiday Inn

Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau 104 11th Avenue NW, Suite D Austin, Minnesota 55912 507-437-4563

The Austin and Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes tourism for the Austin area to enhance the economy of the community.