Bloomington Convention & Visitor Bureau 2021 Annual Report

Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

ANNUAL REPORT

2021

Welcome to our

2021 ANNUAL REPORT

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Table of

CONTENTS

Welcome

Leisure

Message from the President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Message from the Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Strategic Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Online Digital Reach and Engagement. . . . . . . . 22 Social Media Engagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Professional Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 User-Generated Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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Campaign Creative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Brand Sentiment Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Play, Stay and Save Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Group Meeting and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Group Marketing by the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Partnerships Mall of America Partnership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Partner Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Threshold 360 Virtual Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Website Enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Sports Events and Conferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Diamond Service Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Campaign Creative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Group International Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 MSP Airport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Administration Minnesota and Lodging Tax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Meet the Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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Message from the

PRESIDENT Dear Industry Leaders, As we began 2021, we were cautiously optimistic that our industry would continue to see signs of recovery and that travel would once again return to our destination.

Due to the social unrest that occurred in Minneapolis in 2020, it was important to us to understand visitors’ feelings about traveling to our destination, especially regarding safety. This led us to embark on a brand sentiment study with our marketing agency, MMGY Global, the results of which produced positive feedback that we could incorporate into marketing messages. With the help of a grant that we received from the City of Bloomington‘s federal aid, we had additional resources to expand our marketing efforts to key markets. You will find an executive summary of this research later in this report.

As we continued to monitor our hotel occupancy weekly with Smith Travel Research, and as travel continued to show more stability, it was important that we look to the future.

With the support of our board of directors, we created a new strategic plan that we believe clarifies our mission and vision as a destination marketing organization and will capitalize on changes and opportunities that are the new reality in the travel industry. This will serve as a foundation for our marketing activities in 2022. We have included a summary of the plan in this annual report.

I want to thank our board of directors for their amazing support, my entire team for their dedication and good work, and most of all, you: our industry partners who make Bloomington the great destination it is.

Bonnie L. Carlson, CDME President & CEO, Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Message from the

CHAIR

After the devastation the pandemic caused the travel industry in 2020, it was encouraging to see positive signs of recovery as we began 2021.

The recovery was very evident at MSP International Airport, where 2021 passenger activity began 60% below pre-pandemic levels and ended the year 30% below. Leisure travel led the rebound in 2021; MSP gained 27 new domestic seasonal or year-round routes from six airlines. There is certainly momentum and passenger confidence carrying over into 2022, with strong indicators that international and business travel sectors will gain strength to push the recovery in air travel even further.

Throughout the year, the board of directors supported the Bloomington CVB as they continued to persevere through these unprecedented times. We also provided guidance as they stabilized the organization’s financial position and returned to their mission of marketing the destination.

Prior to the pandemic, we had planned to dive into a new strategic plan in 2020. After the upheaval caused by COVID-19, we felt it was even more important for the staff to engage in this project in 2021. They developed the key framework and engaged the board of directors for their input, and I am happy to report that we approved it unanimously in November 2021.

We believe that this strategic plan is a strong foundation for the Bloomington CVB moving forward.

I want to thank my fellow board of directors for their dedication and support and our amazing staff for continuing to do the great work of promoting Bloomington to the world.

Mitch Killian Chair, Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors Vice President of Governmental Affairs, Metropolitan Airports Commission

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

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STRATEGIC PLAN As we continue to adjust to the new normal, we recognize that there are new opportunities for our organization to reset and rebuild as we look to the future. In the fall of 2021, our staff and board of directors embarked on completing a new strategic plan, which we believe clearly defines our mission and purpose as an organization, streamlines our program of work, and focuses on the future.

The plan is built with five strategic priorities and key initiatives that ladder up to those priorities. As you will see in the following plan, there is a greater focus on our digital platforms, creating new partnerships, and new investments in data and travel insights.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

PURPOSE PURPOSE GOAL GOAL

STRATEGY STRATEGY PRIORITIES PRIORITIES

KEYKEY INITIATIVES INITIATIVES

Inspire travelers to visit Bloomington, MN. Maximize economic impact to Bloomington by driving hotel stays.

We put the traveler first by deeply understanding their motivations and showcasing the convenience and fun of a Bloomington visit.

Market The Destination

Target Travel Decision Makers

Invest in Traveler Insights

Champion Service Excellence

Strengthen Our Organization

Execute high-impact annual marketing plan

Invest in partners’ platforms for group marketing & sales (all segments)

Leverage data/analytics for deeper market understanding and data-driven decision-making

Relaunch Diamond Service Awards

Focus on employee retention & hiring

Identify hospitality partnership & curriculum through key vocational programs

Serve as the voice of the industry in Bloomington

Invest in digital platforms & capabilities (e.g., marketing and website redesign)

Secure more sports – youth, national & amateur events

Enhance MOA partnership opportunity

Reengage international travelers

Grow first-party data strategy

Support World Expo 2027 initiative

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Assess business transient market segment for future growth opportunity

Build internal capacity for new development (e.g., water park, event center, hotels) Host industry relations and events

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Bloomington, MN is seen as a family-oriented, welcoming, affordable and safe destination.

BRAND SENTIMENT STUDY In June of 2021, the Bloomington CVB partnered with MMGY Travel Intelligence to conduct a Brand Sentiment survey. We felt the timing was right to gauge sentiment for our area as it related to visitor perception, travel sentiment, COVID safety and civil unrest, competitive set and attraction desirability. Here is a snapshot of key findings. A complete copy of the study is available on request.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

Top

FINDINGS

*

• Bloomington is seen as a family-oriented, welcoming, affordable and safe destination.

•H alf of Bloomington’s visitors go to Mall of America. Shopping is a top activity, followed by visiting the Minnesota Zoo, SEA LIFE at Mall of America and Nickelodeon Universe.

• Compared to its competitors, Bloomington is considered to be a clean and safe city, easy to get to/around and a great family destination, and to have friendly residents.

• T he top three reasons visitors came to Bloomington were to see Mall of America, for a leisure getaway of 1-3 days and to visit friends/family.

•P ast visitors recognize the quality of Bloomington’s attractions, more so than prospective visitors.

•C ompared to other cities in the survey (Chicago, Minneapolis and Saint Paul), Bloomington rates as a much safer destination.

• T he potential of having the largest indoor water park in the country is highly influential in increasing interest in visiting.

•O ver half (53%) of past visitors to Bloomington gave it a “9” or a “10” in their likelihood to recommend to friends and family as a place to visit. *MMGY Travel Intelligence 2021

Health-conscious

Adventurous

Popular

Comfortable

Affordable Artistic

Memorable

Affordable

Welcoming

Safe Accepting

Unsafe

Playful

Family-oriented Exciting Resilient

Unpretentious

Fun Entertaining

Diverse

Health-conscious Historic

Artistic

Comfortable

Popular

Adventurous Authentic

Welcoming Authentic Safe Memorable Historic Independent

Progressive

Sports-minded

Exciting Fun Resilient

Playful

Family-oriented

Dangerous

Entertaining Progressive Accepting Diverse

Unpretentious

Prospective Visitors

Independent Sports-minded

Past Visitors 2021 Annual Report

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GROUP

MEETINGS AND EVENTS BUSINESS MEETINGS 2021 was a year of recovery and working together with hotels and attractions. Our meeting website and new Threshold 360 digital platform provided customers with digital tours on specific hotel detail pages. Our collaboration with Minnesota Sports and Events produced 35 city-wide bids for events through 2031. We invested in research related to our meetings and groups website section to better focus on the planners’ needs and the vertical markets they serve.

We modified our website to maximize all the returning business channels. Finally, we continued our long-term strategic alliance with HelmsBriscoe to increase visibility of Bloomington as an ideal destination to host your meeting or event.

As we come out of the pandemic, we look forward to more growth and bringing even more events to Bloomington.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

Group Marketing

BY THE NUMBERS

Although the meetings market has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing larger leads for future sporting events in multiple years.

373,871*

2021 Smith Travel Research Results • 47.5% OCCUPANCY • $104.66 AVERAGE DAILY RATE • $49.74 REV PAR

POTENTIAL GROUP ROOM NIGHTS

222,385 Sporting Events 151,486 Meetings * Includes city-wide, USA Volleyball, AAU Junior Olympics, and United States Bowling Conference

5,474

ROOM NIGHTS HANDLED

BY OUR HOUSING TEAM

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GROUP

Threshold 360

VIRTUAL TOURS

Our virtual tour platform, Threshold 360, continues to support virtual tours on our website.

Threshold 360 tours also help support our group sales team’s ability to promote our destination to planners, offering them virtual tours of hotel meeting space and event venue space. Along with tours, we were able to create interactive maps identifying the locations included in the RFP submissions.

2021 Results

• 75,970 unique views • 296,997 engaged views • 1 16 locations captured free of charge

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

Meetings and Groups

WEBSITE ENHANCEMENTS

The meetings and groups section of our website got a refresh in 2021. Based on the meeting website usability study conducted by our digital agency, MMGY Global, we improved on key areas of our group pages, which included:

• Interactive map • Meeting space tours and specifications • Hotel feature comparison • Clear access to simplified RFP form • Contact information for BCVB staff With this feedback from nine meeting planners across different market segments, we engaged with our development partner to create webpages that our clients would find help in their decisionmaking journey. Our primary improvement was the development of an interactive hotel and meeting specification chart. We utilized our Threshold 360 active gallery footage for each hotel, allowing clients to take their own virtual tour of the hotels. Threshold 360 capabilities also offered us the opportunity to add an interactive map of Bloomington, showing the location of our meeting hotels.

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Events Secured in 2021 2023 USA Girls Volleyball Championship

(31,000 room nights) 2025 USA Boys Volleyball Championship

(29,000 room nights) GROUP

SPORTS EVENTS AND CONFERENCES Minnesota Sports and Events, a new regional commission developed by the Bloomington CVB, Meet Minneapolis, and Visit Saint Paul, launched in 2020. The organization has bid on 35 world-class events for future years that will have a significant impact on the Bloomington, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul communities. Many of these opportunities engage all our hotel partners and several venues to be competitive in the overall bid cycle. We are welcoming back some high-profile live events in 2022, such as the NHL Winter Classic, the NCAA Women’s Final Four, and the MLS All-Star Game, all of which will have significant economic impact on the region.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

GROUP

SPORTS EVENTS AND CONFERENCES Sporting events continue to play a significant role for Bloomington, and our relationships and face-to-face meetings with event owners and rightsholders are a big advantage in securing this business. The return of the in-person Teams Conference and Expo this year gave us the opportunity to meet with over 30 sports planners who source business for the Midwest and will consider our destination for their event. In addition, we also attended Esports Travel Summit in partnership with Wisdom Gaming, who will be opening a new facility at Mall of America in the second quarter of 2022. Wisdom Gaming specializes in esports production, tournaments, design, and strategic brand activation, which was of great interest to this market segment.

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YOUTH SPORTS TOURNAMENTS RETURNING

In 2021 we began to see youth tournaments and events return to our market, which resulted in an increase in the number of teams, hotel room nights, and attendance.

We are hopeful that this growth will continue to build in 2022.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

GROUP

Campaign

CREATIVE

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GROUP

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS The Bloomington, MN CVB continues to monitor the international market. In 2021, we saw 28 international routes that served mainly Mexico and the Caribbean, including a direct flight to Amsterdam and a direct Icelandair flight to Reykjavik in the summer months. We continue our strong relationship with Brand USA, United States Travel Association (USTA), Visit USA United Kingdom, Visit USA Nordic countries and the International Incoming Travel Association (IITA) with receptive operators. We are supporting the market by attending IPW and Brand USA Global Marketplace to continue our relationships with European tour operators.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

MSP Airport

2021 STATS RANKED #1

MID-SIZE AIRPORT IN NORTH AMERICA BY AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL

25,202,120 PASSENGERS

740,879

INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS

24,461,241 DOMESTIC PASSENGERS

741

AVERAGE DAILY FLIGHTS

137

NON-STOP DESTINATIONS

Photo credit: Arts@MSP/Jen Lewis, 2021

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LEISURE There was a gradual increase in leisure marketing opportunities throughout the year as COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, traveler sentiment improved, and destination attractions, restaurants, and hotels began to fully open. Our team took the opportunity to increase image assets by engaging with our agency on a video and photography shoot, leveraging relationships with influencers, and gaining access to user-generated content on social media platforms. The marketing team also conducted a brand sentiment survey in order to prepare our messaging for the recovery phase of the pandemic. For the majority of the year, initiatives focused on promotion via three primary channels: email marketing, social media, and paid search. During the fourth quarter, we transitioned into using a greater mix of media tactics to target the upper Midwest.

ONLINE DIGITAL REACH & ENGAGEMENT

OVERALL WEBSITE TRAFFIC

LEADS TO HOTELS

LEISURE SUBSCRIBERS

572,892

128,944

134,720

12% INCREASE COMPARED TO 2020 22

51% INCREASE COMPARED TO 2020 Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

Social Media

ENGAGEMENT

Social Media

INFLUENCERS

As tourism rebounded in 2021, our goal for social media was to reconnect with visitors and our network of digital Bloomington ambassadors. With the shifting landscape of social media, we have adapted by making new types of creative assets and focused efforts on inspiring travel through a variety of social media strategies.

By welcoming a diverse array of creators from across the country to Bloomington, we gained over 60 photography assets from professional photographers and creators, went viral with Instagram’s Reels, partnered with other local DMOs and were able to promote over 25 local businesses in Minnesota! We organized these influencer trips with the generous help of our partners in order to keep these campaigns incredibly cost-efficient and, in turn, allowed partners to gain valuable exposure with little effort on the part of their lean-staffed teams.

In 2021, Facebook impressions topped 5.3 million and Instagram reached 1.2 million impressions.

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LEISURE

Professional

PHOTOGRAPHY

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

LEISURE

User-Generated

CONTENT

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LEISURE

Campaign

CREATIVE

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

LEISURE

Play, Stay and Save

PASS

The BCVB’s digital Play, Stay and Save Pass has been live for over a year now and offers travelers and locals digital coupons for hotels, restaurants, and attractions that are free to download. The pass has grown to 28 offers, which includes the addition of Lip Lab and NorthStar Tavern. Hotel offers were the most popular offers, representing 58% of the redemptions.

In 2021, there were 2,299 downloads of the savings pass, of which 96% opted into our leisure subscriber list. The pass is proving to

2021 Annual Report

be a valuable platform to grow our first-party data, which aligns well with our 2022 key initiatives.

Media promoting the Play, Stay and Save Pass included paid social and targeted banners, generating 1,790,922 impressions and 3,285 clicks.

Learn more at BloomingtonMN.org/ PlayStayandSave

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planning as well as promoting Bloomington hotels, restaurants, attractions, and Mall of America.

This partnership brings great value to both of our organizations, and we are proud of the safe and creative ways visitors were welcomed in 2021. The future looks bright, with new ideas and activations set to launch in 2022 including the Title IX Celebration, Mall of America’s 30th birthday, and more integrated media partnerships between the Bloomington CVB and Mall of America.

Mall of America

PARTNERSHIP

The Bloomington CVB’s partnership with Mall of America creatively navigated through the starts and stops of 2021. We found opportunities that would keep us in front of travelers and clients so when the time was right, we were ready to welcome back visitors.

Our leadership teams identified new ways in which to expand our partnership and bring increased visibility and awareness to our destination and Mall of America. Working together on group and leisure marketing initiatives helped to maximize our budgets and reach during a period of limited resources.

The Bloomington and Mall of America Visitor Guide was produced in a digital format only in 2021, allowing for timely and updated information while still inspiring future travel 28

Mall of America Partnership Strategies

• Advertising, Digital & Promotional Campaigns • Media and PR Efforts • Social Media Activations • Influencers, Bloggers & Familiarization Tours • Video & Photo Asset Development • The Big Ticket™ Adventure Pass • Bloomington & Mall of America Visitors Guide • I nternational Marketing Sales Missions & Familiarization Tours

•U S Travel and Brand USA International Marketing

• Joint Trade Show Representation • Shared Meeting & Special Event Space • Under One Roof Meeting Offering

Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

Partner

MARKETING

The Bloomington CVB develops partnerships that prove to be win-win and produce results for website positioning, leisure leads, event sponsorships, and digital campaigns.

VALUE OF 2021 PARTNERSHIPS $57,294

• A rtistry • B loomington hotels • C rayola Experience •D elta Air Lines •D estinations International • E xplore Minnesota Tourism • F lyOver America • I celandair • L ip Lab •M inneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport

• P aisley Park • S EA LIFE® at Mall of America • S un Country Airlines • T he Escape Game • T he Fair on 4

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Diamond Service

AWARDS

The Bloomington Diamond Service Awards is a program that was created 25 years ago to honor front-line service personnel in the Bloomington hospitality industry and celebrate those that enhance Bloomington’s reputation as a welcoming, world-class visitor destination.

We were prepared to honor 85 outstanding finalists in our annual award ceremony, originally scheduled for March 2020. We sadly were forced to postpone the event due to the pandemic. The 24th annual Diamond Service Awards gala has now been rescheduled to May 15, 2022, when the finalists from 2020 will be recognized and awarded for their hospitality. This signature event brings together the Bloomington hospitality community, city leaders, and supporters of Bloomington CVB initiatives.

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

The WE Mural in Bloomington’s South Loop was completed by Ua Si Creative in September 2021 as a part of the city’s creative placemaking initiative.

ADMINISTRATION 2021 Budget Allocation

Minnesota and Lodging Tax

6.875%

State of Minnesota

Bloomington CVB

2%

City of Bloomington

5%

0.15%

0.50%

Hennepin County

Transit Tax

Sales & Marketing 56.1%

Special Events 1.1%

Lodging Tax

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Administration 14.8%

Operations 28.0% 31

MEET THE TEAM

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Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

BCVB TEAM & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2021 BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT-LARGE

President & CEO

Vice President Governmental Affairs, Metropolitan Airports Commission

BONNIE L. CARLSON

CHAIR: MR. MITCH KILIAN

VICE CHAIR: MR. DAVE MONA

SALES

Senior Consultant & Former Chairman, Weber Shandwick

DAN O’NEILL

MS. FAY BEAUCHINE

Vice President of Strategy & Sales

President, Brojure

TODD LEHRKE

DR. JOYCE ESTER

Director of National Accounts

President, Normandale Community College

TAMMY BARNUM

MR. DAN JASPER

Sales & Marketing Assistant

Vice President of Communications, Mall of America®

LISA CONNELLY

MS. KATHY TUNHEIM

Online Housing Manager

Principal & CEO, Tunheim

SUSAN BREEN Client Services & Online Housing Coordinator

CITY OF BLOOMINGTON MR. TIM BUSSE

MARKETING

Mayor, City of Bloomington

JAN KROELLS

MR. JACK BALOGA

Vice President of Marketing

Bloomington City Council

SHERRI MULLERY Vice President of Business & Foundation Partnerships

JOELL MORIN

MR. JAMIE VERBRUGGE City Manager, City of Bloomington

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Director of Digital Marketing

SHELBY STAHL

MR. SHANE CHRISTENSON

Social Media & Partner Marketing Manager

General Manager, AC Hotel by Marriott Bloomington Mall of America

PAIGE PAULSON

MR. ALEX FRANCIS

Marketing Communications Manager

General Manager, Radisson Blu Mall of America

MR. JIM SACCOMAN

ADMINISTRATIVE

Hospitality Advisor

LORI REBERS

Director of Administration

EVE CAHOON Finance Manager

LINDA MALMSTEDT Receptionist

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2131 Lindau Lane, Suite 420 Bloomington, Minnesota 55425 (952) 858-8500 BLOOMINGTONMN.ORG /BloomingtonMinnesota

@BloomingtonCVB

@BloomingtonMN