TDC Board Book August 2023

Palm Beach County

Tourist Development Council Board Book

2023

TDC BOARD MEETING ATTENDANCE SHEET

August 10, 2023

(Seat)

(1)Vice Mayor Maria Sachs, Chair (1/14/21)

(4) Jim Bronstien, Vice Chair(9/30/26) Appt(3/1/95) ReApp(9/18/18) Dis.3

(2)Roger Amidon Appt(9/30/25)Dist. 1

(3) Jim Mostad (9/30/20) Appt (10/16/19), Dis. 2, St 3

(5)Daniel Hostettler(0930/23) Appt (05/18/21). Dis 4.

(6)Commissioner Adam Frankel (9/30/24) Appt (03/08/22)[Dis.5]

(7)Don Dufresne (9/30/23) Apt(6/5/12) ReAp(5/3/16)&(8/20/19) Dis6

(8) Davicka N. Thompson (9/30/2024) Appt(12/6/16)RdAppt(8/25/20) [Dis.7]

(9) Commissioner Christina Lambert Appt (10/01/22)- (9/30/26) At-Large

STAFF

Verdenia C. Baker, County Administrator

Liz Herman, Assistant County Attorney

Dave Lawrence, Culture

George Linley, Sports

Michelle Hillery, Film & TV

Jorge Pesquera, Discover

Deborah Drum, ERM

Dave Anderson, PBCCC

Kathy Griffin, PBCCC

Emanuel Perry, TDC

Joan Hutchinson, TDC

Vannette Youyoute,

O:\TDC MEETINGS\TDCMtgs2023\Generic Pages for Board Book\attendnc

** Reappointment during current year

NA- Does not count towards attendance.

P/W - Workshop P/S - Special Meeting

TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Thursday, AUGUST 10, 2023 – 9:00 A.M.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ATTENDANCE*

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS*

3. JULY 13, TDC MEETING MINUTES*

4. CONSENT ITEMS FOR AUGUST 2023

MARKETING AGENCIES REPORTING

A. DTPB ACTIVITY REPORT*

B. CULTURAL COUNCIL ACTIVITY REPORT*

C. SPORTS COMMISSION ACTIVITY REPORT*

D. FILM & TV MONTHLY NEWSLETTER*

E. FILM & TV PRODUCTION REPORT*

PBC CONVENTION CENTER OPERATING REPORTS

F. CONVENTION CENTER INCOME STATEMENT & FINANCIAL OPERATIONS ANALYSIS COMPARED TO BUDGET & PRIOR YEAR*

G. CONVENTION CENTER MARKETING UPDATE*

H. CONVENTION CENTER “PACE” REVENUE REPORT*

OTHER TDC-SUPPORTED AGENCY/DEPARTMENTS REPORTS

I. ERM PROJECT STATUS REPORT*

J. PBI TRAFFIC REPORT*

K. CONTRACT TRACKING REPORT*

5. OLD BUSINESS

A. TDC TOURISM PERFORMANCE METRICS

1. TDC DASHBOARD CURRENT MONTH & FY2023*

a. Bed Tax Collections*

The next meeting will be on September 14, 2023.

*Attachment included.

Tdc/tdcmtgs2023/Agenda 8 10 2023

TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Thursday, July 13, 2023 – 9:00 A.M. MINUTES

1. ROLL CALL*

Present

Vice-Mayor Maria Sachs

Absent

Seat 5 Vacant

Roger Amidon Jim Bronstien

Jim Mostad

Commissioner Adam Frankel

Davicka Thompson

Don Dufresne

Commissioner Christina Lambert

Staff

Dorritt Miller, Assistant County Administrator

Liz Herman, Assistant County Attorney

Emanuel Perry, TDC

Vannette Youyoute, TDC

Joan Hutchinson, TDC

Dave Lawrence, Cultural Council

Jennifer Sullivan, Cultural Council

Lauren Perry, Cultural Council

George Linley, Sports Commission

David Fontanarosa, Sports Commission

Michael Zeff, Sports Commission

Michelle Hillery, Film & TV Commission

Alberto Jordat, Film & TV Commission

Gustav Weibull, Discover The Palm Beaches

Milton Segarra, Discover The Palm Beaches

Erika Constantine, Discover The Palm Beaches

Kelly Cavers, Discover The Palm Beaches

Beril Gutierrez, Discover The Palm Beaches

Matt Mitchell, ERM

Dave Anderson, Convention Center/Spectra Venue Management

Kathy Griffin, Convention Center/Spectra Hospitality

Joe Harrington, PBI Airports

Paul Connell, Parks & Rec.

Other

Leigh Bennett, Visit Florida

Derrick Steinour, Hilton West Palm Beach

Jennifer Claesen, Marriott Singer Island

2. MOTION TO APPROVE AGENDA ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS*

Motion to approve July 13, TDC Board Meeting Agenda was made by Roger Amidon and seconded by Jim Mostad. Motion carried 7-0 with Jim Bronstien and Seat 5 vacant.

3. MOTION TO APPROVE JUNE 8TH TDC MEETING MINUTES*

Motion to approve June 8th TDC Meeting Minutes was made by Jim Mostad and seconded by Davicka Thompson. Motion carried 7-0 with Jim Bronstien absent and Seat 5 vacant.

4. MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE CONSENT ITEMS FOR JULY 2023*

MARKETING AGENCIES REPORTING

A. DTPB ACTIVITY REPORT*

B. CULTURAL COUNCIL ACTIVITY REPORT*

C. SPORTS COMMISSION ACTIVITY REPORT*

D. FILM & TV MONTHLY NEWSLETTER*

E. FILM & TV PRODUCTION REPORT*

PBC CONVENTION CENTER OPERATING REPORTS

F. CONVENTION CENTER INCOME STATEMENT & FINANCIAL OPERATIONS ANALYSIS COMPARED TO BUDGET & PRIOR YEAR*

G. CONVENTION CENTER MARKETING UPDATE*

H. CONVENTION CENTER “PACE” REVENUE REPORT*

OTHER TDC-SUPPORTED AGENCY/DEPARTMENTS REPORTS

I. ERM PROJECT STATUS REPORT*

J. PBI TRAFFIC REPORT*

K. CONTRACT TRACKING REPORT*

L. MARKETING AGENCIES & CONVENTION CENTER DIVERSITY REPORTS 05.31.2023*

Motion to receive and file Consent Items for July 2023 was made by Commissioner Adam Frankel and seconded by Davicka Thompson. Motion carried 7-0 with Jim Bronstien absent and Seat 5 vacant.

5. OLD BUSINESS – DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. TDC TOURISM PERFORMANCE METRICS

1. TDC DASHBOARD CURRENT MONTH & FY2023* - Emanuel Perry

a. Bed Tax Collections*

b. Report Out Metrics*

Perry Bed Tax Collection – May 2023 collected in June was $5.9M compared to the same month last year at $6.2M, a (4%) decrease. Actual May was 29% above budget and (27%) below the prior

month at $8M. Actual May was 62% higher than in 2019. Revenue from non-hotels continues to support bed tax collection during the off-season

FYTD 23 Collections at $70.6M, was higher than last fiscal year to date at $64.8M by 9%, reflecting a strong recovery from the pandemic. FYT collections are pacing 15% ahead of the Approved Budget and 55% higher than our record in 2019.

The Rooms sold for May were 388,682, (3%) lower than last year. Rooms available for May at 592,503 are 4% higher than last year. Hotel Rooms Active today in the County 19,113

Occupancy for May 2023 was 65.6%, (6%) over last year. Occupancy for May 2022 was 69.8%. May 2019 was 70%. The average daily rate for May was $221 50, (3%) lower than last year, and 43% higher than in 2019. The Revenue/Available Room for May 2023 was $145.34 lower than the prior May by (9%)

Hotel room net sales FY23 year over year May decreased (7%) to $82M compared to $88M. Non-hotel room sales FY23 year over year May increased 21% at $14M compared to $12M. Hotel room net sales FYTD 2023 increased 9% at $984M compared to $903M. Non-Hotel room sales FYTD 2023 increased 14% at $183M compared to $160M. FYTD 2023 Taxable Revenues Fiscal Year over FY2022 increased 10% at $1.1B compared to $1B. FYTD 2023 Taxable Revenues Fiscal Year over FY2019 increased 57% at $1.1B compared to $743M.

Airport passengers for May 2023 were 640,507, 16% higher than in May 2022, and the Total Estimated Seat Capacity at 22% higher than last May 2022 with 788,145 seats. PBI Passenger 12-month rolling is an 8% increase at 8,354,359 over last year.

Leisure & Hospitality Employment for May, 95,500, increased 6% over the same month last year. Accommodation employment went up 6% higher over last year at 11,600 employees. F&B was up 5% at 61,600 employees. Arts & Entertainment employment is 6% lower than last year at 22,300 employees.

B. PBI UPDATE – Joe Harrington Harrington

PBIA had 7.22 million travelers to the airport in 12 months. That is a record for the airport, and It is only the third time we have hit 7M or more in 12 months For the month of May, total passengers were up more than 16% year over year, a 22% increase. A 14% increase in air carrier operations. Weight landed, air cargo, and load factor were all down slightly, as well as general aviation activities. Just people shifting travel patterns back to commercial, from private aviation after the pandemic. For the 7th consecutive year, PBI was named among the top 10 domestic airports.

This is a great accomplishment. We were recognized by Travel and Leisure Magazine. We encourage you to share it on social media and get the word out about it.

6. NEW BUSINESS – DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. FIRST AMENDMENT OF FIVE YEARS AGENCY CONTRACT & EXHIBITS* – Emanuel Perry – MOTION TO APPROVE

Perry

This is the first amendment to the agency's five-year contracts. It is just updating the schedules that we brought to this board prior, which were included during the finance meeting and also the TDC meeting, their exhibits include, diversity reports, performance measures, and things like that. We are bringing this to the board to ask for a motion to approve so we can take it to the Board of County Commissioners on September 12th.

Motion to approve First Amendment of Five Years Agency Contract & Exhibits was made by Commissioner Adam Frankel and seconded by Roger Amidon. Motion carried 7-0 with Jim Bronstien absent and Seat 5 vacant.

B.

Linley

At the last TDC board meeting, we wanted to invite the leadership for our PGA Tour event, Andrew George, to give us an update. Andrew is the Vice President for golf events at IMG and the Executive Director of Palm Beach County's PGA Tour Event. Andrew worked with Ken Kennerly for a long period.

It feels like it is the world's biggest reality TV show right now in golf, every time I talk to George L. there is something new happening and I am sure a lot of you guys saw the hearings that went on earlier this week.

I would like to step back to 2023 because many of you were instrumental, in what happened at the last Honda Classic. It was the 42nd and final Honda Classic at PGA National. We raised $7.2M for charity. With the economic impact of over $70M, we had almost 200,000 people at the event again. I want to say thank you to everybody for opening up your doors to hotels and restaurants and our community.

It is not hard to recruit fans into Palm Beach County. We have a special relationship with NBC. Every year there are 60 minutes highlighting the county. They go above and beyond to make sure they are not just showing the golf courses, but also the beaches and the weather and everything that those are sitting in New York or the Midwest that are staring outside the windows at the snow can feel the impression.

Passing the baton from Honda on to what a new title sponsor will be challenging I would like to highlight the three different parts. There is an agreement between the management team and Ken. He has turned into a board member for us. He is an advisor and a mentor to me. I have been with him for about 15 years. He is going to stay involved in the tournament in an advisory committee role. But the management contract

SPORTS COMMISSION

1. PGA Tour – George Linley/Andrew George

A. George

is secure between the PGA Tour and our event. I think that is something to highlight again to the credit of this room and everyone in Palm Beach County.

We do not have a title sponsor at this point, and they have locked in the 2024 date for February 26th to March 3rd. That is the only thing I know of maybe one other time in 25 years for the PGA Tour. It shows what they feel about this community, about PGA National Resort, the competition side, and just what we have built over the last 30 years.

The next step is the resort and our host site. We locked up through 2028.

It is a good recruitment tool for us and of course, having a lot of those players live locally. Now the other part of that is working out the schedule. The plan is to announce the next 2024 schedule in totality here in the next month. Our date is going to be mitigated this year around some of the bigger events.

The last piece is the title, Honda had given us a bit of prep for this. They had some changes in strategy, and I think they got to the point where each president had said, I do not want to be the one to let it go.

But they finally needed to make a move. It allowed us to build 42 years of history with them in this county. George and I are having conversations every day with Emmanuel to make sure we keep it in Palm Beach County.

I think there are a lot of events. around the country and we want to make sure that we keep this here for the next 40 to 50 years in Palm Beach County.

The title search is ongoing. They ask for a substantial up-front commitment, where they started with $15M times 10 years Right now each of the title sponsor prospects has asked for the tour.

We are getting a little bit more of that from the news, while there is still a lot to this agreement on what people are calling a merger but is more of a partnership. The good part is that allows us to keep this going in the charity realm, in the economic impact realm, and if we can get the players back together where we do not have this tension that we have kind of had exhaustion for two years of this side versus this side, I think is a win.

With about six months to go before the event, it is going to be challenging for us in year one, as I kind of watch along with the PGA Tour leading the discussion around the title sponsor. We are going to have to make up the difference that they have, especially in the first year, to get us to year two and year three where they are going to step up their sponsorship fees.

The other thing that coincides and where we have had some conversations that could be an opportunity is to bring in the tourism groups. The PGA Tour would allow two commercial entities,

You would not see the Coca-Cola Classic and then presented by another commercial brand. Where they have integrated now and kind of changed their bylaws is to have tourism groups or location-based branding.

Bermuda has a championship over there, the Butterfield Bermuda. There is an opportunity for us, either short and/or long-term, to take on a bigger stake, with Palm Beach County and talk about not just taking that 60 minutes on air, but taking it beyond that in the branding aspects, in the logo aspects.

One part of our new agreement with PGA National is we would take back over merchandise. For those that do not know, they have always handled the merchandise onsite, for all of our logos, for the Honda Classic. We would take control of that and would have the ability to do some branding year-round.

In the community and around the world as well. There are some upcoming opportunities, there are some numbers that we are still getting back from the tour. This last year was $219M in total earned media.

The player’s deal was the highlight on the media side, but the fact that we were flat year over year on linear TV, and then our total earned media was up about 30% year over year, shows that things are going in the right direction. People are watching this county, watching golf, and paying attention.

Linley

It is important to note that over the last 10 years, we have tracked about 100,000 room nights from the Honda Classic from direct hotel room blocks. It is players, sponsors, exhibitors, and whatever travel groups we can track. It is not necessarily capturing all of the day visitors or the overnight stays that would happen from golf fans, and enthusiasts that are coming in.

Attendance numbers have grown five or six years ago. It surpassed the 200,000 mark of unique visitors to the grounds of the PGA tournament The peak was at about 220,000 in total attendance and maintained it consistently. When you look from the tourism standpoint, it ranks as the highest golf event from room nights, media value, and total attendance compared to any other golf event that takes place annually, and any other sporting event in terms of total attendance. And not necessarily room nights, but total attendance.

The room night numbers are very powerful. We probably need to do some kind of analytics to see what those visitors, or spectators, what kind of overnight stays would be happening from those that we really cannot get our arms around.

The other key factor for a tourism benefit is the only sporting event that consistently delivers network TV. We do have other events that are on cable, ESPN. But this is two days on the Golf Channel and two days on NBC.

I think as Andrew alluded to, our Sports Commission and Discover The Palm Beaches had several conversations and had a meeting not too long ago with Culture and Film. We talked about the potential partnerships with the PGA Tour event. I think there is a chance this year to accomplish two items. One would be to seize a great marketing opportunity for the county, and that would be adding to the title somewhere, whether it is The Golf Classic of the Palm Beaches that would allow you at some point if you do find a title to put that in place with golf. But if you only mentioned the Palm Beaches Classic that would be a much greater stretch. We have inquired about what it would cost to put the Palm Beaches’ name in it.

Amidon

What would the potential investment be?

Linley

Andrew, you could speak to it with more confidence. If we go to the Golf Classic of the Palm Beaches.

George I think you are trying to look at comp sets for the other events.

They are starting at the two million range. But it is primarily the TV part. The assets on site can be customized as you know. It is the TV piece of this. The other part does not always happen where you have an opportunity to kind of leverage it, especially in year one. They do not have any leverage, but the fact that there is likely going to be a bit of a reduction gives us a chance to put the name Palm Beach and the Palm Beaches into the title.

And I think this county versus anywhere else, is a little bit more prestigious. I am from Iowa, and I do not know if a title called Iowa Classic would be attractive. But being in Palm Beach has prestige and some value too for an entitlement company as well

Amidon

Did you already state the economic impact?

George

We were about $70M and are growing. And thank you to everyone here for helping us try to capture as many hotel room nights as we can. This was a record year 2023 for hotel room nights, and that is still probably a snippet of it. I know everybody here tries their best to capture that tourist crowd. But it is a bigger number, about 12,000.

Thompson

What has our previous investment looked like?

Linley

It has grown over the years. When we first started, we were just over $100,000 We support both the tour event and the Honda, the IMG, through the presence of our PGA event for the Honda. Also, host two other amateur tournaments. There is a high school invitational for high school teams around the state and the county. And then there is a junior, classic.

And those happen at separate times. And we also support those events. But we are over $100, 000 now. We were already prepared this year to increase our level of support directly from the Sports Commission. We did have a conversation with our Executive Committee. If this comes, we will come and do a full presentation.

We were talking about how we could get there. If there was ever a time with our budget being strong with reserves, looking at angles, this would be the time. I kind of liken this to what happened to the PGA Tour Champions event several years ago when they lost their title sponsor You cannot compare that event to the Tour event. There are TVs, it is not network TV, the attendance is just a fraction, but it is good attendance. It is a great event, and the overnight accommodations are 20% of what the PGA Tour event creates.

But they lost their title. But the City of Boca and Sports Commission stepped up significantly. We went from a traditional $30,000 grant to providing $200,000 in a year of need was our best effort to save the event. The City of Boca Raton stepped up. Their actual beach, their parks, and the beach taxing district stepped up

And so if there was ever a time to step up and support this event that has been with us now for two decades. This would be the year to do it, in my opinion. Our Sports Commission is prepared to do that. We are working right now as fast as we can to get as much information because it changes every day.

Vice-Mayor Sachs

Would this board be willing to have a full presentation?

Perry

Yes. The presentation will start with the Finance Committee. We are working with all the agency heads, and they are willing to contribute to this cause to make sure that we keep Golf in Palm Beach County.

If we have full support from all of the agency heads and the Finance Committee, I will ask if they will be willing to touch special projects, and we will just do a full overview of the importance of keeping golf in Palm Beach County. The timeline will be once we get the confirmed numbers from Mr. George, then I will schedule a special finance meeting, and then we will act swiftly.

Mostad

How many of the significant portions do you foresee coming from special projects?

Perry

We are going to allocate it amongst all five funds, that way it is not a major blunt to any agency.

Mostad

That is healthy. I think we need to think not just one year, but if we do this once, then it is hard to go backward Andrew, we should not think about this as a one-year bridge but is this something sustainable for some time as well, and what is our threshold to measure it with?

Amidon

I would be curious to see comp set information about what that ROI and for those tournaments to be

Mostad

It has everyone's support, and to continue to know that George, you have done a wonderful job for the community, there is no question about that. I do not think we should be thinking one year, we can layer this in and plan for it. It is a huge difference for George and Dave and everyone else to kind of know that this is coming on the pike.

Segarra

This is an opportunity to plan and elaborate a two or three-year plan, for two reasons.

Number one, golf is one of our top sports, with 160 golf courses, important to the local community, and important to the visitors. This tournament is the top event that we have that projects this destination to other markets. This is an opportunity for us to start developing a plan Discover is fully on board with this. We hope we can make it happen.

Linley

I will give you a summary of some of the initiatives that we have implemented this year. Our sports commission is part of the leadership board for an organization called Compete Sports Diversity. It is an organization that tries to inspire sports organizations, community leaders, and nonprofits, within the tourism space, particularly sports tourism

2. Agency Diversity Report Update – George Linley

space to promote diversity, both from internal and external points., We work closely with this organization, as members, and we have a presence on the board.

We attended their winter and summer meetings, and we are looking to host to bring the event to the Palm Beaches within the near future. During the Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Federation Cup, a world-class tennis event the United States played Austria here and they won.

We worked with the USTA, which has a diversity division, very strong, and created an event for diversity during the actual event, something that Michael Zeff spearheaded it. It was activated right before the opening of the Billie Jean King Cup competition on Saturday.

C.Y.G. also produces the African American Golfers Hall of Fame. It has now been in our community since 2004 and we are a major sponsor. We have even taken some of the awards from our Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame and we are now presenting those awards at the African American Golfers Hall of Fame.

We helped create an event, called the Florida Shine Classic. The inaugural event in January took place at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. We provided funding, it is an event for minority baseball high school players in Florida to have an all-star game.

It is an event that we believe can grow. The Palm Beach Lakes High School Baseball Coach partnered with us to help establish this. He has his nonprofit organization, and this was year one.

Also, within our diversity plan, we partner with Discover and the Cultural Council on the Gay Polo Tournament, which takes place every year now. It has become an annual event and a mainstay at the National Polo Center.

We will be supporting Discover and the Cultural Council with the Arts and All Access Summit coming up this year. We have two unique speakers from the sports industry, I think it will be fascinating presentations from that realm.

And of course, our office must reflect the industry we support. We are going to be bringing on more individuals. We have two hires that should happen shortly, and diversity is at the top of my mind.

3. Update – George Linley

Linley

We talked about our PGA Tour event. Golf is a major tourism driver, we sell the fact, that the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour, and the LPGA Tour have been here for two of the last three years.

It is a big selling point when we are recruiting for golf events like Optimus International Junior Golf Championship or American Junior Golf Association, Florida Youth, and the Florida Youth Golf Association. these are sanctioned events and NCAA events. We have hosted four NCAA championship events, two nationals, and one regional.

We are going to host two more, in 2025 and 2026, for a total of six over the last eight years, and this August we are traveling to Indianapolis, the headquarters for the NCAA There is a big portal that is coming out and we are going up there to meet with the committee chairs for different sports. Golf is going to be a big sport we are pursuing.

We have a quick video just to kind of summarize what we have been doing on the NCAA D1 level.

We just hosted the Women's D1 Golf Regional. They are going to play for the National Championship and our goal is to bring the National Championship here to the PGA National Resort which is the best venue at the moment.

We are hoping we can still use them to bid, but we look countywide for other options when we are pursuing those golf events.

I think there is an indirect impact because it is a selling point for us when we are trying to bring other golf events here.

We have Perfect Game, Prospect Select, and a few other organizations. June is probably one of the biggest months. August will slow down, and we will be back at it in October before Spring Training,

The last item I will say in an update, there is a lot of information in your packet. It has a tourism update, where we are at in-room nights through the first three quarters.

If you are watching TV, you might see The Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup, which is a major international soccer event that is taking place where Inter Miami plays in Fort Lauderdale, we have partnered with CONCACAF and organizations that work with them. This June, we hosted six, national teams that, trained in Palm Beach County on their way to the Gold Cup, which is now in Fort Lauderdale.

They stayed for a couple of weeks. That is probably a couple of thousand room nights. Team Haiti is one of the teams that was here. We had a dinner for the entire team and their coaching staff and their personnel. They have become a very competitive team. Saint Kitts, Martinique, and Trinidad. There are six total teams. The list is in your packet that is here for training.

In 2026 the World Cup, arguably the most recognizable sporting event on the globe, is coming to South Florida. And over this last month, we did make contact with FIFA directly. We are hoping to be able to do something similar, which would be on a much larger scale. We would love to position ourselves as a team base camp. Had many

conversations also with Milton about it. A team would live with us, and it would not just be the team, if you get them, depending on the nation, their fans will come and descend upon us because their team is here. It is an atmosphere that is hard to replicate. Is 2026, but the work would begin now to do something like that.

Vice-Mayor Sachs

How do you select the country? Or the country selects where they want to live for the World Cup?

Linley

I am still learning the whole process. Part of it is working with FIFA over the last couple of years, there is a lot of information that is coming our way.

They will place teams in different areas. And it could be a team base camp anywhere from a major stadium to a college or university to a parks and rec field. And each nation might have its own needs. A team that is ranked in the top ten going to probably require a lot more than a team that is not as highly ranked because they can demand it.

They do seek, if they can, four and five-star hotels for all teams. Whether or not that is going to be possible. I might be knocking on some of your doors just to see. I know there will be significant funding required, but I am not sure who pays for all of it.

Whether it pays for hotels, or the teams do, or how it works. But it is something that we cannot ignore when it is coming to South Florida. And this Gold Cup is a good test run.

In 2026, hopefully, the Palm Beaches will be part of the World Cup in some way.

Segarra

We should know a year ahead about which ones are assigned to Miami. FIFA does a draw and creates eight groups of four teams each. And they will assign, Group H will play in Miami, Group A will play in Chicago. And then we will know, and then we can go ahead and let's say they have Brazil, Mexico, Italy, and some others. We can promote those destinations to attract those residents to come here.

C. ERM

1. Update – Matt Mitchell Mitchell

A Sargassum update, there is not a lot of it. We had a regional forum meeting last week, and the state reported that there was a 75% decrease in the amount of Sargassum that they were expecting in June. That kind of echoes what we have said, we are seeing regular, typical accumulations of Sargassum. Not a lot of impacts on the region.

For the beaches, we did wrap up a successful season of sea turtle walks last month. We did have a VIP night where we had some TDC participation, Commissioner Woodward joined us. That is one of our most popular public events where we get visitors to connect with the resources.

It is really special we can share that with our partners and with our elected officials. A couple of outreach items, season two of the Wild Palm Beaches began airing this month on the Destination America channel. Six new episodes, a lot of them are very urban and environmental-centric, focusing on our Pine Glades Natural Area, the county's Natural Areas Festival, and some ongoing restoration projects that I have going in Lake Worth again. some good TV coverage there.

And, last but not least, since we do not have a meeting next month, I hope to see everybody at our 8th annual Night for the Natural Areas at the Twisted Trunk Brewery in Palm Beach Gardens. Proceeds from the event go towards education and exploration of our natural areas.

And they do release an annual drink in our honor, Loxahatchee Water. It should be a neat event. Hope everybody can come out on Saturday the 19th from 2 to 7 p m.

D. DISCOVER THE PALM BEACHES

1. Agency Diversity Report Update – Milton Segarra

Segarra

I can tell you that diversity, equity, and inclusion are part of the strategic pillars of Discover the Palm Beaches. Promoting the destination, as well as hiring and retaining employees, under this diversity and inclusion, and accessibility concept.

Just to validate that, from our 49 total full-time equivalents in this fiscal year, 30 of them, or 61% are white, 6 or 12% black, 20% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 4% other. We have 34 females and 15 males in our total team. We have made efforts across the board. In sales, we have a multicultural, specific sales manager that is taking care of those particular markets. Also, we participate and are part of national-specific associations in black LGBTQ. And we have a very active role on those particular national boards and associations.

In terms of social media between 40 to 50% of all the influencers that we bring to the destination represent diversity, equity, and inclusion. For the marketing budget, we do allocate funding for print and digital advertising in those specific markets.

From a destination standpoint of view, not only hiring and retaining, but communicating how important diversity, equity, and inclusion are for us. We are sending this message to our main market.

2. Update – Milton Segarra

Segarra

We saw a downtrend in April and May. Also, 4,500 hotels in Florida saw the same trend. Is this competition slash Florida fatigue, as some people have called this? Is a consequence of the political events that are happening right now.

We are in a good position. Because of the preliminary numbers for June, occupancy will be 1% up from last year. And last year we had a very good occupancy for the month of June, ADR is pretty much flat at $183, only 1% down.

REV PAR is going to be flat at $116, which is competitive for the month. And hotel room nights were up 2.8%, and room night revenue was 3.5%. We should see an immediate turnaround from April and May’s downturn. And we should expect something similar in July.

We feel very confident that will happen. Solidifying the last quarter of our fiscal year. How are we going to do that? Beryl, Erika, and Kelly will give you a recap of some specific activities we are doing now in the summer.

Constantine

We are not taking our foot off the gas from July through August. Great things we have upcoming, and we have even more.

We still have a full suite of media running, broadcast, print, out-of-home, radio, display, and social media In our top markets, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and Atlanta. We have some digital in Jacksonville, Fort Myers, and Naples. And we have media running in the Hamptons and New York City.

We are going in full force with a media plan to impact visitation. International is still on fully in Toronto, Montreal, Mexico, Colombia, the UK, Germany, and Brazil. We have many different print placements. We have a big partnership with Brand USA in the UK. A ton of digital running It is a 360 approach in those markets as well.

And then a full suite of events coming up. We have a new website launching soon. We are partnering with the Historical Society of Palm Beach County on their endless summer events in the Hamptons, Beryl will be attending, and we will have a ton of media and influencers there.

We have got a James Beard Foundation dinner coming up, Taste of the Palm Beaches, right in New York City where we are taking over their space for four nights and hosting ticketed dinners, bringing our chefs up there to cook and represent their restaurants. We have Pushkar from Stage, Clay Conley from Buccan, and Lindsay Autry, a great suite of chefs.

Our Shopping Soiree is coming up. We have got journalists and fashion designers working together to see all the great shopping that we have in the destination. Our Love

the Palm Beaches Savings Pass encourages visitors to come to visit and enjoy savings at over 20 attractions in the destination.

A good push for those families and drive market visitors looking to take that last trip before school starts. We have got a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue coming up with a window display during New York Fashion Week. Put the Palm Beaches on the map.

And then, our Love the Palm Beach's Residents campaign has been going strong all summer. It is a 360-approach to reaching our top drive markets and reaching our top fly market, and then we are also reaching the residents because we know it is important that they invite their friends and family down to come to visit, as that is, 40% of our visitors, Love the Palm Beaches residents campaign is still going strong as well

Gutierrez

As you know, Mark Zuckerberg, who owns Instagram and Facebook, all of a sudden last week, right after Fourth of July, decided to launch a brand-new platform for all of us. It is called Threads, and it has taken the world.

In five days, they have gained 100 million followers. And this has not been launched yet in European Union or Brazil and many other Asian countries. We predicted that it was going to be a highly successful, platform, and we launched it on the first day, which gave us a tremendous competitive advantage.

We are the second most followed destination in Florida after Orlando. Congratulations to Hilton, West Palm Beach. They also launched it and PBI as well. If you have launched it and I am not aware of it, please let me know because we are getting ready to shout out to all our partners.

And on the social media front, we hired a videographer in January. His name is Isaiah. I wanted him to come here, but his best friend is getting married, so he couldn't make it. Since January, we have been producing tons of videos. You are going to see a recap of the videos that we have worked on.

Starting with Love the Palm Beaches campaign, which has been successful. We have about 7, 000 entries through social media and on our website as well. Now, in the Love the Palm Beaches campaign, we did ask our mayors to participate as well. The mayor of Palm Beach Gardens and Mayor Scott Singer from Boca Raton as well.

They created videos asking their communities to tag us on social media to share their love for the Palm Beaches. You are going to see the Palm Beach mayor, the Palm Beach Gardens mayor, who did a fantastic job. After that, we are going to go to our celebrity series. There will be some examples of the celebrities with whom we have built relationships.

Then we are going to see Only in the Palm Beaches series, which highlights all the top destination attractions. We also started highlighting our cities. We started with Lake

Worth Beach, and to the pleasant surprise of everyone, we broke not only our record but many records in the state of Florida, with 10 million views on our video. We will be filming every single city in Palm Beach County.

Cavers

This summer has been very busy. We just launched our new Mobile Visitor Information Center that is at the Convention Center. Not only is it encouraging those visitors and attendees to spend a little bit more money, go out to our restaurants, and maybe extend their stay because they are enjoying themselves so much, but it is also a place where everyone wants to take a picture.

It becomes a great social media opportunity. We will have it at Florida Airports Council. We have a list of meetings that want to have it pop up at their event. The Pink Retreat concluded in June of this past year at PGA National. Within 48 hours, the room blocks sold out when they launched.

The Pink Retreat is happening, and they will be coming again next year. It is a great way to show the diversity of our community. This was started by a female black woman that was an art therapist that was inspired by the colors of Lilly Pulitzer. It is an event that allows people, women, to come to fill their cups, focus on wellness, and uplift everyone.

Seven hotels within the room block. We are excited to bring them back next year. Not only is it an opportunity to have the meeting here, but we had Travel Trade that wanted to come and visit the Pink Retreat. What they say is that in the summer, rather than sending everyone up north to cooler environments, this is an event that people want to come down and attend.

We had 10 travel trade agents come to join us for the event. It is a busy summer for us. On top of Jehovah’s Witness coming to the destination. We have Turning Point at the Convention Center. What is it, 4,700 of our closest friends will be here. Tony Robbins is coming here in August.

And then Florida Airports Council and I cannot thank the airport enough, they are doing a lot of the heavy lifting along with our marketing and sales team and our board members.

Peter Yesawich will be the speaker at the event, he is one of our board members. Smart Medians, which is a trade publication, will be at PGA National in September.

Another industry trade publication that creates events throughout the year will be happening at Tidelines. We are capturing some of that low-hanging fruit from the international market. IPW is a trade event that happened in San Antonio, in which we capitalized on a lot of that travel trade.

The Canadian market is some low-hanging fruit, especially from the incentive, a market where we can capture some of those groups that are looking to book incentive trips here to the palm beaches. And then we are just in the UK and Germany on some sales missions

and with our brand USA we have a lot of the taxis wrapped in the UK where you can see our brand throughout the streets of London.

Thompson

In the advisory group with Sergio, we discussed some of the responses that Sergio and Jorge were working on crafting about the travel advisories. Where are they with that? Has there been any feedback from the community when you all go out with them?

Cavers

We are focused on creating welcoming environments. That is where our focus is, not leaning more into the political play, but more toward being a very diverse destination. Showcasing the events that we support that are diverse and focused more on that welcoming environment.

Dave, thank you for the support.

Segarra

Tomorrow, we have a meeting with the rest of the TDC agency. As part of the meeting, we will discuss a more unified collaborative approach to this particular position. We had a training session with our sales and all the staff that is facing the customer to prepare us to properly handle any particular request for conversation.

Cavers

We have also elevated our presence in various industry organizations. We will be the keynote sponsor for the National Coalition of Black Media Planners which will happen in September in Atlanta, where we can showcase the diversity of our community. And we are out in the market making sure that we are present, continually highlighting the welcoming environment and the diversity of our destination.

Amidon

Are you all getting any specific feedback from any groups? Are you collecting the information? You’ve got to be careful about a message, but is there anything specific?

Cavers

we are getting questions like, How do you feel about this, what is your opinion on this? It is a lot of things of that nature that we have to focus back on the business aspect of what the event is. What is your goal for the meeting? And then we lean more into solving for that goal of the meeting, which a lot of times for associations, their meeting is their largest revenue generator for them.

Anderson

It is extremely important that we are having a lot of success locally now, and we need to be able to pull it all together.

We need to show the people that are asking questions about what we are doing now. Coming out of COVID, we started doing those small events, but then we all kind of started showing the industry that we were back. We must be doing stuff right now. We need to make sure that all those planners see that.

Vice-Mayors Sachs

Is there another location that is taking some of our business away?

Cavers

Specifically, no, I would not say that there is but, we have to stay competitive. I think California is popping up more and we are seeing more of California that we didn't see.

Segarra

We need to focus right now on summer, but also on the upcoming high season. And for that, we need to start planning, right away. And Gustav is going to be doing a few surveys on the market. We need to know consumer sentiment. To see exactly what the expectations or likelihood of engagement are and coming and visiting in our top prime season. We are going to get that, and we will have the opportunity to adjust any specific marketing or sales, or any branding effort for a partnership to make sure that we can come up with a viable plan to make sure our high season is successful.

Amidon

With the West Coast and the impact from Hurricane Ian, any impacts from those typical midwestern visitors to the west coast, are we seeing any more of them over here?

Cavers

We are. I think that has been a combination of the impact of getting a taste of what it is like over here and enjoying it and coming back for repetitive business promotions for keeping that repeat business.

To the businesses that have moved down here or relocated down here or leadership that is now working remotely. American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons does 2,000 meetings a year. Their executive director, headquartered in Chicago, now lives down here. So, you know, we are capitalizing on those types of opportunities that help us.

Amidon

I interacted with several guests at the resort, but I was expecting more. And maybe it is happening, maybe along the highway where maybe the rates are more comparable to over on the west coast.

Mostad

There is some impact, like some of the properties are just now reopening. Ritz Naples opened a week ago. That is the main, that is one of the main competitors for beachfront here. I think you are right; it was really hard to quantify that.

It would be a cumulative effect of still trepidation with the islands. It is the hurricanes in the last few years, international, you know, trepidation traveling to Europe, which has changed significantly, outbound to the UK and other destinations in Europe is way up, and so it is a cumulative effect, that impacted us, when you look at the bed tax for May, you see that it is down for June compared to 2019. It is staggering how well we have kind of leveled off. There is not a big growth spurt, which is something we have got to factor into. A lot of the lodging institutions are seeing a jump from here to the next 12 months. We would like to hold on to where we have been.

Dufresne

If you take 2019 as a base, we would be thrilled to be a 10% growth factor. 10% year over year, we are still blown way past that. Even if we have a 10% retraction, we are fine.

Segarra

Thanks to the Success Continuation Plan that the board approved, we invested part of those funds into those specific markets, the Chicago, Boston, D. C., and Philadelphia markets, and we saw good response from those markets to a point in which in the upcoming marketing plan, we are going to be assigning additional funding from our regular budget to those markets again.

We do not go there once and then disappear. We maintain and hope that consistency will create some sort of additional incremental business from those markets to our hotels and part of the destination.

Amidon

You are investing in the ROI. That is what I am trying to do

I am talking to the guests. Hey, where are you visiting from? It is still getting a lot of northeast, but once in a while, we will get that Midwesterner, which is good. I am just trying to get a real feel for that ROI. Not only my resort but the entire area for your

Dufresne

I do not know how much money we need to spend on that market. And if you take your typical Fort Myers visitor, your average Fort Myers, average South Florida visitor, a very different demographic than your average Southeast Florida visitor. Very different.

Nothing wrong with Midwestern. We have 20 bike nights, and 20 bike night events over there now in July. It is a very Harley Davidson kind of crowd. It is a very different market there

Amidon

I do not know what the specifics are about their ADRs or their occupancy, but I know from Emmanuel, he was able to get the number of room nights that were impacted by the hurricanes.

I am not sure how many rooms are out of service, but there are a lot of rooms in that area. It would be interesting to know what their ADR is and then, we can attract them over here to afford our ADR.

Vice-Mayor Sachs

For the September meeting then we can review that a little bit about how we are planning for the high season.

Segarra

The full plan will be presented to the board in September. In the same way, we did, in the Caribbean, the cruise line companies target those particular. We were not alone in the hunt for those. But we had a very good competitive advantage that we know.

But it is still a highly competitive market, because of the demographic of that mid-west, It is very attractive to many destinations.

E. CULTURAL COUNCIL

1. Agency Diversity Report Update – Dave Lawrence

Lawrence

Our most recent diversity report indicates that 41% of our staff are persons of color.

We are actively working on this as part of our DEIA work. We have an active equity and community investment committee on the board of directors. We also have a staff equity committee that meets regularly. We are working with consultants on board and staff training and other initiatives.

She is also looking at doing a sort of assessment of all of our printed materials and looking at the way we communicate with people. We are doing a deep dive into this

work, participating in advancing the mission through the county, and we have been actively involved in that process.

We revised all of our grant and selection process committees to make sure that they are representative of the people that we are serving. A minimum of 50% of every panel is made up of persons of color. Our artist database has quintupled in the last five years. 64% of the artists that are exhibiting in our gallery spaces are new to the Cultural Council. And 40% of those represent people of color. We have done a great job in terms of diversifying the artists that we are serving through the work that we do. A couple of other things that we are working on specifically, working with the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and other historical societies around the county on a black cultural heritage tour piece that will not only exist on our website but a community resource highlighting specific tours that people can take. And then, the Arts and Tourism Summit, Access for All is taking place August 30th and 31st at the Convention Center.

We have over 250 people registered to attend, and our goal was 300. We are easily going to hit that. It is going to be two full days of conversation, sort of convention style. With cultural performances, we have an art market on the second day, that is all artists of color that will be showing and selling their work.

On the first day, we will have an SBE vendor spotlight in the afternoon. We have more than 25 speakers, many of whom are from outside the state of Florida. I want to give a special thanks to Jennifer Sullivan, on our team, and Heather Andrews who have done a magnificent job putting all this together.

To remind everybody, this is a collaboration of all of the TDC agencies, I want to make sure to thank all of the agency heads and, especially the Convention Center for helping us, pull all this together. It is going to be something that we can all be proud of; it is another way that we can continue to signal to the world that Palm Beach County is welcoming to all and that we take this very seriously.

I have with me today our Director of Marketing and Cultural Tourism, Lauren Perry, who's going to share some great results from the Mosaic and our Open Studios program.

Perry

I know that you have seen on the screen in some earlier meetings a lot of our Mosaic collateral materials and some of the advertising that we did.

But I wanted to come back and give you some numbers. Our ad agency, Push, reported to us that through our advertising campaign, which spanned the months of both April and May, we had over 11.5 million impressions. Our digital ads had a 1.02% click-through rate with a $1.02 cost per click. We felt like that was a really strong performance. The

2. Update – Dave Lawrence/Lauren Perry

Lawrence

landing page, MosaicPBC.com, is where all those offers live. We had over 74,000 people visit that landing page during those two months. 71,500 of them were new users. I had never visited that page before, and this is a six-year-old campaign.

You had some of these numbers in your TDC report, but the actual number of referrals that we received sent to our partner organizations from MosaicPBC.com was over 18,000. The number that is in the report for referrals is low, that was wrong, and we found an error in our calculation.

We also signed up over 5,000 new email subscribers. Those are a whole new audience that we will be reaching all year round, thanks to Mosaic. And these results, compared to previous years, are the highest achievements that we have received in six years. We had 25 cultural partners participating. Most of them were cultural organizations. We had a couple of retail. We had Visit Palm Beach participating. Most of them when I surveyed them reported they had a noticeable increase in traffic from the campaign. More than half of them have redemptions of their offers.

And just to note the Ann Norton Sculpture Garden had 262 people redeem their offer. Kravis Center had 178 people buy tickets through Mosaic That was over $12,000 worth of ticket buys. Mounts had 121 people redeem the offer. The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum had 106. And the Society of Four Arts almost broke 100.

We feel like we had some good, strong offers this year. And we are hoping that when we go back to our cultural partners, we can continue to work with them to come up with really good offers to make this campaign even more successful.

There was Open Studios, which was the one-day event we did on May 20th as part of Mosaic. We had over 75 artists and galleries participate in that event. It was from noon to 5 p.m. And 57 of those artists responded to our survey. Based on their responses 1,362 visitors showed up at their spaces in total.

That is just for the 57 that responded. We were keeping track of zip codes. We know that 32% of those 1,362 came from outside Palm Beach County. That was an encouraging number as well. All the artists we spoke to were saying they were selling artwork, or they were receiving commissions for artwork.

That is part of our goal at the council to help them. Then just to add to that, our PR agency SHARP helped us track our earned media placements. We achieved 13 earned media placements, which gives us about a 67-, or 76-million-person impression.

Part of that was paid broadcasting. Where I went on television in Tampa, Orlando, and Miami. I sat in Palm Beach Drama Works on their stage and talked about Mosaic. We got some exposure for Drama Works as well as the other organizations participating in the campaign.

Additionally, we had a social media influencer campaign. We worked with both locals and some mommies who live in Florida outside of our market.

Lawrence

We have hired the Director of Community Engagement. We have created a Community Engagement Department. Again, this helps with our DEIA work. She will start on August 1st .

We are moving to the contract phase with all our Category B and CII grants, moving forward for next year.

We are in a lot of planning right now; the council will unveil a new strategic plan in January. Our board and staff are active in that process, and we also have a new website that will be coming online sometime this fall. We are deep in redoing that, a lot of work happening, and a lot of exciting things are on the horizon.

Hillery

Diversity remains a priority for the Film and Television Commission. Of our six employees, 50% would be considered diverse, which is wonderful for us. In addition to the importance of our board of directors, the diversity in which we market and promote our diverse locations here in Palm Beach County for filmmaking, and of course the programming. That is put out through the Palm Beaches TV channel. Some of that programming which is just recently released this summer includes On the Town of the Palm Beaches with Frank Licari who covered Latin style, and Around the World covering European, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures which was a wonderful program that was just put out.

He also covered, health and wellness and family-friendly fun. That family-friendly fun included, The Therapeutic Rec Center out at Lake Worth which is run by Parks and Rec and is a wonderful facility for adaptive learning and education. In addition to the SOS Warriors out in Riviera Beach, I believe are the only high school band that was selected to play over in England.

That is also wonderful for us to cover. We delivered four brand new Just Bring Your Game shows that are now being reviewed by the Sports Commission in a collaboration effort between the two of us. That also has a great deal of diversity, and we cover Pride Month as well, which we did a lot of social media and show coverage on those efforts too.

One of the new shows that we are sponsoring is What’s Poppin PBC with Kitty Lunden. Another six episodes with her. She just did a wonderful show on Black Enterprise, Black-owned businesses here in Palm Beach County Covered the Muck Tavern out in Belle Glade.

F. FILM & TV

1. Agency Diversity Report Update – Michelle Hillery

We are working with the Cultural Council on the Arts and Tourism Summit. We are thrilled to be able to showcase some of that diverse programming on the screens at the summit.

We are putting together a specific series of those shows and clips of those shows. To demonstrate what the Palm Beach TV channel is all about and how we embrace the culture here in Palm Beach County and that welcoming, open community that we have. And finally, the Student Showcase of Films, which we just concluded, over at the Maltz Jupiter Theater. 650 in attendance, it was a wonderful success. From that, I can tell you that 55% of our student finalists are of diversity, 26% of our judges, and 43% of our presenters. While we showcased a great deal of that diversity last year, this year was an even, stronger showing.

Hillery

It is important to note that 2022 had record-breaking production numbers. $7M in production was spent here in Palm Beach County. Close to 500 productions utilized Palm Beach County as a backdrop for film and TV. We are about 5% ahead of schedule to date for that production revenue, and we are looking at potential back-to-back recordbreaking numbers for production.

We have generated $187M in economic impact to Palm Beach County, representing about a 12% increase year over year in the same period. We have a Screen Actors Guild strike going on.

That will certainly affect us in ways, but Palm Beach County is known for a lot of reality unscripted shows. We are a right-to-work state here. We have not seen too much of an impact from that as of right now. But one of the impacts that we are going to see, which we are monitoring, and we are also ahead of the curve, In Tallahassee, House Bill 5, which passed did reorganize our state film office.

We are one of 50 film commissions throughout the state of Florida. Some people think, are you going away, what is happening with your film office? And all of us collaboratively, we are coming up with a press release today on behalf of Film Florida, letting the community know that the state film office is restructuring.

They are now rebranding and restructuring and going into the Department of Commerce. They will no longer be known as the Office of Film and Entertainment, but that office will remain open. They will continue to update their production directory, their location, and library. They will still be answering phones and redirecting any inquiries back to the appropriate film offices.

I have been a part of an organization called Film Florida, I was the president a few years ago. They keep dragging me back on the board, I guess I am an alternate on the board

2. Update – Michelle Hillery

again. But what is good about all of that is Film Florida, which is a statewide organization is an advocacy group.

Our state film office cannot advocate because they are at the direction of the governor. With Film Florida, as an advocacy group, we can step up and take on whatever responsibilities we need on behalf of the state.

Vice Mayor Sachs

I wonder if there will be changes to our local outreach. Could you let everybody know, just copy everybody, because we won't be coming back until September. But I know there has been, always been a lot of back and forth with Film Florida.

Hillery

Yes, we are very much involved, and we have our finger on the pulse of what is going on. We are not anticipating any disruptions if you will. We have a sales tax exemption program that is in place. It is not an incentive program, but it is a sales tax exemption program. That is important to the state of Florida here.

G. CONVENTION CENTER

1. OVG Venue Management

a. OVG 360 Diversity Report Update – Dave Anderson

b. Update- Dave Anderson

2. OVG Hospitality

a. OVG 360 Diversity Report Update – Kathy Griffin

b. Update – Kathy Griffin

Anderson

When our company was bought a couple of years ago by OVG, Oakview Group, we turned into one of the largest private management companies in the world for arenas, stadiums, convention centers, and theaters. We currently have 30,000 employees. And, when they flew us out to L. A. a couple of years ago for the executive meeting, the first thing on the agenda was DEI. It was very impressive. It was the chairman, and he committed from day one that, DEI was always going to be at the forefront of our organization.

Since that time, one of the first things they did is they hired Dr. Debonair Oates-Primus, who's our VP of DEI. She has been on for a couple of years now. She is doing an amazing job and the great thing about it is she can focus solely on that.

That is her sole purpose. One of the first things she did was roll out a DEI training program for the entire company. It started with the executive leadership. They all were flown out to L. A. And it was an immersive thing for four days. Then they started rolling it out to the company. I was on the second tier of the rollout.

It was six weeks, every Monday. And it was for 90 minutes. With 40 of my peers and a moderator running the diversity training. And it was incredibly strong. And it was incredibly impressive because it was, it was almost all interactive.

Discussion-oriented all the way through. And it was a very diverse crowd. And there were a lot of discussions about people's experiences. From somebody like me, or somebody who's a minority coming into our organization.

So now that is rolling out to all of our general managers, and we will be rolling out to all of our frontline staff over the next 12 months. It is a very impressive effort by the company. The other thing that they are doing, which is great, is there are just ongoing things available to all of us every month

And the world of the internet and to be able to connect is so great now. They have monthly, sometimes bi-monthly calls. Where they will have guest speakers and sessions and you can just jump on, and you can join in and listen. One of the sessions I made a month ago, featured eight employees of ours from around the country, a couple from Canada. And the whole session was based on the moment they came out in the industry and told people that they were gay. And it was extremely strong, and powerful. The other thing that they just started was they are bringing on executive leaders, minorities who either own or run businesses around the country, not affiliated with us. Talk about how they are rolling out diversity within their companies, and they own the companies.

The other thing that our company rolled out is a diversity supplier program which Kathy and I are involved in so all of the local companies we use small businesses are now part of a national network, and all of our buildings can go on to the network, and if they want to use one of our companies locally they can actually go on and call them directly and start using them now the same thing with me if I am looking for light bulbs And I found that there is a minority-owned business in Iowa that is in our program.

I can buy lightbulbs directly from him or her because they are on the program. We are part of the beta test that just rolled out, but again, you are talking within a year, you are talking 350 accounts. All of us probably have 10, 15, or 20 vendors per account. It is just going to be this massive database of minority-owned businesses around the country.

My team is very diverse, but then, probably the thing I am most proud of is that they are in leadership positions. Directors, managers, and key decision-makers are minorities within my team.

This allows people that are coming into the organization to see them. And to see them in these leadership positions.

We have Turning Point starting today. Again, high profile and high intense event. We have got Trump on Saturday, along with a bunch of his other friends.

These people are running the show. They are on the front line. They are the leaders of my organization. And it is a great testament to what we have done as far as growing our team and making it reflective of the local market.

Griffin

I have just finished week five of the DEI training. We have one more day to go. And as Dave said, I am going to echo what he said. It has been very enlightening. I have always considered myself to be very open and on the forefront of this, but this training has shown me blind spots that I did not know I have so it was great. A big part of this is now taking that training and putting it into action. There is one area that I am particularly proud of that we do here at Palm Beach County Convention Center is our relationship with blend with Trinette Morris and Katrina Long Robinson. We partner with them to help us reach out to local minority businesses in the area and bring them in as partners. We just did a food truck rodeo, and every food truck was a minority partner. Whether it is catering for us. Many different levels, whether it is a supplier. Once a quarter we do an expo forum. They come in, they have an opportunity to have a table set up, show us their wares, if it is a food product, do a tasting, and then basically an elevator pitch to us.

Right now, we have 12 to 15 local minority-owned businesses that we work with regularly Part of these quarterly sessions also includes the office of OBEO coming out and they do a class for the folks who are there. Help to get through the process to get certified. So, we are making sure that people, you know, can be a little intimidating, everything that they have got to do.

Helping them get through that process and becoming a certified Palm Beach County, OBEO vendor. On top of that, I am also on the advisory board for Inlet Grove, as is our chef. We go into the school; we work with the students. OVG does a 4,000 scholarship every year that we present to the school at the banquets that they do in the spring.

We bring the students out on site, where there is more that can be done and more that will be done.

Right now we are on a huge hiring spree. You know, we are doing well, about 50% through on what our target numbers are. Right now, our workforce that we have from management to front line to admin is about 55% diverse.

Anderson

I would just avoid, Okeechobee on Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening due to Turning Point, so as Kelly mentioned, the actual event starts today, they ramp up today and tomorrow, but Saturday and Sunday are going to be pretty intense, Trump will be on probably at 6:30 or 7 o'clock on Thursday. We are currently meeting with the Secret Service, and as with any of these events and with the political atmosphere everybody knows about, we take these things very seriously. The cooperation with Secret Service and local law enforcement has been amazing, we are tight and buttoned up and ready to go.

But then we roll right into Airport Council, which is fantastic, and the airport is hosting the big opening reception next week, which is great, and then, of course, we go right into Tony Robbins as well. Summer, there is no down month for us. It is just continuing, but things are really good.

7. BOARD COMMENTS

Amidon

Any updates on Brightline? I know they hit a snag up there in Stuart.

Segarra

We had a meeting yesterday morning with some of the industry colleagues and we had a representative from Brightline, and he stated that very soon, most likely in September, Brightline should be running to Orlando.

8. PUBLIC COMMENTS

No public comments.

9. ADJOURNMENT

There is NO meeting in August.

The next Meeting will be on September 14, 2023.

*Attachment included.

Tdc/tdcmtgs2023/Minutes 7 13.2023

4. CONSENT ITEMS

TO: Tourist Development Council

FROM: Jorge Pesquera, President/CEO

DATE: July 31, 2023

RE: Discover The Palm Beaches Monthly Activity Report July 2023

The following is a summary of DTPB activities in support of TDC Performance measures for the month of July 2023. This report demonstrates positive trends relative to owned visitor digital footprint, advertising impressions, social media engagement, and booked room nights for the Month of June

June 2023 Performance

Occupancy and Demand

 Hotel Occupancy for June increased by 2.2% to 63.4%, selling 4.4% more hotel rooms than last year

 Shared lodging sold 30% more room nights compared to last year, with a 6.6% increase in occupancy

 Total room nights sold from hotels and shared lodging increased 11% to 526,000.

ADR and Revenue

 Hotel rates were down 1.4% to $182.

 Shared lodging rates were up 3.4% to $332, the per room equivalent was up 1% to $141.

 Overall lodging revenue was up 8.6% at $89M

 Bed taxes are expected to be around $4.6M

Key Performance Trends

 Growth in hotel room nights sold ranked 2nd in the State at 4.4% and 1 of 5 Florida market with positive growth

 Downtown West Palm Beach, Upscale and Budget hotels had negative growth while all other segments grew

 Luxury rates were down 10% with a 26% increase in demand

 Downtown Delray Beach sold 10% more room nights but due to new inventory occupancy and rate declined

Performance Measures - TDC

DTPB OBJECTIVES 2022 – 2023

Leisure/Consumer

 Increase Consumer and Travel Industry database to 410,000

 Generate 14,000,000 in Owned Views Digital Footprint

 Generate 7,000,000 Social Engagements

 Generate 700,000,000 Advertising Impressions

 Generate 250,000,000 Earned Media Impressions

Meetings & Conventions

 Book 110,000 DTPB only room nights (Hotel Meetings Leads)

 Generate 50,000 Group Level Booked Room Nights Convention Center Shared

 Generate 40,000 Group Level Actual FY Room Night for Convention Center Shared

 Generate 80 participants in Destination Reviews

 Generate 110 Destination Site Participants

100.0% 114.9%

115.1%

Marketing Overview by Month FY 2022 - 2023

100.0% 69.7%

69.7%

50K

Citywide

107.5%

107.5%

Target 80

Success Continuation Plan

FY2023

PROJECT DATES LEAD MARKETS STATUS

Marketing

Broadcast TV Buy January 16 - April 16

Brand/Media

• Bonus impressions running to meet target KPIs in NYC

Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, New York

• Chicago - NBC & CBS - 9.9M est. impressions

• Boston - NBC, CBS, ABC - 10.4M est. impressions

• Washington DC - NBC & CBS - 13.3M est. impressions

• New York - NBC & CBS - 16.1M est. impressions

• TV continues through August; impressions to be shared following completion

• Broadcast TV in top DMAs:

Broadcast TV Buy June - September

Brand/Media

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale - CBS & NBC

Orlando – NBC & Spectrum

Tampa – NCB

Atlanta- CBS

• Shifted funds from Accessibility, Sustainability and TDC Partnerships due to timing of iniatives

Community Outreach Toolkit March 1 - June 30

TDC Collaboration: Signature Events JanuarySeptember

Social/Brand

Palm Beach County Residents

Brand/PR/Social Varies

• Launched “Love The Palm Beaches” referral campaign to engage Palm Beach County residents and encourage them to invite friends & family for a trip, with significant reach across social media, broadcast TV, radio, out of home, direct mail, print, PR and digital display, resulting in 33,665,593 paid media impressions, 260,645 earned media impressions, 7,600+ social media tags, 1.1m impressions generated by influencers.

• Partnership with Sports Commission for any support with RFPs or events for FIFA World Cup and College Football Playoff 2026

• Aug 30-31, Partnership with Cultural Council to prepare a highlight reel for the "Arts and Tourism Summit on DEIA" to be posted on LinkedIn

• Partnership with Sports Commission for TEAMS 2023

• Reallocated $150K into Summer Broadcast to bolster season, bringing total to $100K from $250K, based on estimated slated partnerships for remainder of fiscal

TDC Collaboration: Film Studio

Planned Completion: September 30, 2023

Social/Digital/ PR/Brand N/A

TDC Collaboration: Airlift JanuarySeptember Digital/Brand/Medi a Fly Markets (TBD)

Destination OTA Co-Op JanuarySeptember Digital

Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, New York, Philadelphia

• Requesting proposals to build out additional assets in Film studio space for video and podcast recording; awaiting confirmation of space availability in 5th floor studio

• Completed campaigns with Breeze - Charleston route; Asheville campaign with Allegiant; starting campaign to promote Wilmington, NC with online giveaway

• Continuing to customize creative with specific call to action to book within certain time frames with lower demand forecasted. Majority of campaigns running Florida markets plus Atlanta.

• Booked campaigns for July, August, September for $153,000 with reallocation of some Metaverse funds.

PROJECT DATES LEAD MARKETS STATUS

International Strategy: Traditional JanuarySeptember Brand/Sales/Media

International Strategy: Digital JanuarySeptember Digital

Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, UK, Germany

• Media running in Canada, UK, Mexico, Colombia and Germany. Media running February - September 2023

• Placements include Robb Report & Forbes MX; Elle & InStyle Mexico and a sponsorship of the Toronto Polo Club season

• Campaigns running in Mexico (Mexico City & Guadalajara), Colombia (Bogota, Medellin, Baranquilla), Canada (Toronto & Montreal), and Brazil (Sao Paolo).

• Launching campaigns in the UK on June 1, shifted $60,000 from Metaverse funds.

Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, UK, Germany

• Hosted Brazilian influencers @vazaonde and @ines.lafosse, combined following of 576k followers. Hosted @jujunatripblog 219k followers

• Hosted Toronto's top influencer and leading media @blogto (2.5 million followers) in partnership with Visit Florida

• Hosted Canadian influencer @luxe.tourista (183k followers)

• Boosted posts in target markets, 80.5m reach YTD

• Launched March 30 at Global Meetings Industry Day

• Owned & Paid Media plans in place, content being created, PR support

• Episodes:

7. The Future of Incentives with Stephanie Harris

8. Transformational Events with The Pink Retreat & Maritz

9. Partnering with Destinations to Create Welcoming Environments with Emily Scheiderer

10. Sustainable Meetings with Mya Surrency

• In discussion with Sun Bum for brand partnership

• Evaluating opportunities with Top Golf to promote family fun and golf in The Palm Beaches

• Confirmed partnership with Saks 5th Avenue for high-impact window display activation Sept. 7-21 to coincide with New York Fashion Week

• Evaluating additional New York Fashion Week brand activation opportunities for additional media exposure

• Have had multiple conversations with MarTech consultants to help advise and guide these projects over the next 12 months.

• Per our prior notes on investing in some infrastructure marketing technology projects prior to building out the Metaverse platform, we have three projects we will begin using these funds for: 1) data lake, 2) customer data platform (CDP), 3) data clean room

• Reallocated $153,000 of this budget to OTA campaign portion to cover July, August, September

• Reallocated $60,000 of this budget to digital international strategy to launch in UK.

• Original total $400K, currently $187K remains which will be used by year end for Metaverse supporting infrastructure projects or reallocation to other SCP projects.

PROJECT DATES LEAD MARKETS STATUS

• Plan approved for:

• Joined Travelability's Destination Ally Club

• Enter into Partnership with Travelability for writing an Accessibility Strategic Plan and for Travelability to work with The Palm Beaches in an advisory capacity

• Wheel The World Assessments wrapping up with 30 partners + PBIA and PBCCC to conclude by August

• Received official Certified Autism Destination certification with all staff completing accreditation

Accessible Travel JanuarySeptember PR/Brand/Social All Target Markets

• Press release distributed for Certified Autism Destination and accessibility program announcement garnered an audience of 22,860,000+ print and digital readers, yielding an advertising value equivalency of over $877,000

• Hosted accessibility influencer @justcpnotspecial with 63k followers. She also wrote 2 blogs for us, one in Spanish

• Invited to participate on a panel discussing Accessibility Strategies at Travelability's Emerging Markets Summit

• $168K to be allocated to summer drive market broadcast, bringing allocated total from $250K to $82K based on first steps this year

Sustainability June - September

Brand/PR/ Community Engagement

Palm Beach County Residents; Drive Markets & Fly Markets

• Sea to Preserve campaign creative concept approved, moving forward with build out of additional assets

• $75K reallocated to drive-market broadcast for summer bring total from $225K allocated to $150K allocated

• Media to begin in September to continue Love The Palm Beaches, including print, radio, TV and OOH

• Launched marketing promotions to databased and additional distribution channels such as Cvent and 3rd party partnerships. Executed on PCMA and trad experience and received new lead opportunities and contracts to utilzing incentive dollars. Secured 40,000 plus room nights with incentive dollars and aquired two industry events - confidential and Smart meetings national meeting

• Initiated new convention center focused promotion to become more competitive Nationally for 2024 adn beyond.

* Finalizing Short Term PBCCC promotion for 4th Trimester 2023 period over need dates targeted for short term corporate business.

Total allocation already committed into events contracted into future years

PROJECT DATES LEAD MARKETS STATUS

• Commenced planning process for enhanced participation multicultural trade events and marketing partnership agreements. Signed marketing partnership with National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners ,LGBTQ's annual PROUD event in Los Angeles, and Connect Diversty, Faith and Specialty Markets

•Confirmed ConferenceDirect DEI Focused commitment$12,750.00

Multicultural Market

JanuarySeptember Sales/Marketing BIPOC, Hispanic, LGTBQ+

•Confirmed Proud Experience Summit and IGLTA Membership$10,720.00

* LGBT Meeting Professionals Association Partnership$5,000.00

* Stratagic Partnership with NCBMP - $30,000.00

$25,000 already budgetd to utilize at NCBMP Conference in Atlanta December 3 - 6

* Southern Province Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Tampa 7/19 Presentation - $6,000.00

* Evolve Mastermind Conference Speaking Arrangement$2,000.00

• Initiated discussions with existing representation firms to determine capabilities and potential to manage MICE and other expanded sales/marketing responsibilities. Reviewing proposals from representation firms. Expanded presence and activation in Colombia with travel trade operators, tradeshow and golf activation

Expanded Representation Firms

Transformational Events

JanuarySeptember Sales/Marketing

Domestic, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, UK, & Germany

•Finalized VoX International Agreement for MICE Canada Group representation. Contracted Partnership at $34K

•Seeking proposal from UK with a cost of $16,000 for remainder of this FY and will need additional $10,000 for Cananda Client Activations

$25,000 for additional campaign in GDS impacting leisure travel trade for summer

$15,000 for Mexico MICE additional market

WIll relocate remainder of the $165,000 to continue MICE market and representation in Canada, UK, Mexico and Domestic to continue monthly support in 2024 per agreements

DecemberSeptember Sales/Marketing

Wellness, Culinary & Multicultural

• Initiated discussions with major internationally acclaimed event organizers to secure a Palm Beaches launch in late 2023. Executed on planning trip with wellness event organizers

• Launched The Pink Retreat partnership for event in June 2023

Remainder of $200,000 Wanderlust / Wellness Retreat

Scheduled ot occur in November of 2023 and October 2024

Destination

Servicing/Mobile Visitor Information Center

JanuarySeptember

Sales/Marketing Group & Leisure Events

Incurred additional expenses of on GMID and of transportation costs and housing and registration for PBCCC group. Executed on additoinal site inspections that included airfare and overnight accommodations. Executing on Mobile VIC Center to be utilized for Convention Center Group & Consumer Events. Incurred additional expenses for Site Visits on airfare, transportation and overnight stays for planners. Incurred additional expense for GHC transportation from hotels within the room block to the Convention Center during their May meeting. Finalized the Mobile VIC and had additional expenses to support Florida Airport Council Annual Meeting that had record attendance for trasnportation and their opening reception.

PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD

July 2023

1 New performance indicators as of 10/1/22. Previous year totals were not measured.

ADVERTISING

Advertising during the month of July utilized the Council’s new cultural tourism brand campaign to target drive market audiences (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Atlanta) and Canadian tourists (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal), who typically start to plan their winter vacations during the summer months. Rather than develop standalone creative for the Canada sub-campaign, the Council and its agency, Push, decided to utilize our beautiful new tourism campaign for print and digital placements. The campaign was also translated into French for digital placements that linked to a French-language landing page hosted by the Council An English-language lenticular mailer featuring three spectacular cultural photographs also went into production and will arrive in Canadian mailboxes in August for additional outreach.

The Council began to develop its FY24 media plan with Push in July. Advertising placements (print, digital and OOH) in specific markets are being refined in conjunction with the drafting of the Council’s FY24 Cultural Tourism Marketing Plan, which will be presented to the TDC for approval in September.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Council and its PR agency, Sharp, continued to plan for FY24 in July. Tasks included gathering notable information on upcoming events and happenings from Palm Beach County cultural organizations, holding an exploratory call with a potential national broadcast partner, Colleen Kelly, and developing a detailed public relations calendar. Additionally, the agency continued outreach to target editors to engage in fall FAM trips and to build out a larger media list of potential FAM trip targets.

Also in July, the PR agency researched and identified upcoming editorial opportunities and provided information on arts and culture in The Palm Beaches to the editorial team at the South Florida Sun Sentinel for their October issue.

The Council’s marketing and PR team attended the Gold Coast PR Council’s annual Bernays Awards in July in support of several award nominations, including a joint nomination with The Palm Beaches.

PARTNER COLLABORATIONS

The Council attended the Board of County Commission meeting on July 11 to receive special recognition from Mayor Weiss for the NYC consumer activation held in December 2023 in collaboration with Mounts Botanical Garden and The Palm Beaches. Mounts also received a prestigious national marketing award for the activation from the American Public Gardens Association

A productive meeting was held on July 14 at the TDC offices to discuss FY24 collaboration opportunities amongst the agencies. The Council identified ways to

HIGHLIGHTS

work with The Palm Beaches (Art Basel, MOSAIC, Open Studios, Wanderlust); with the Sports Commission (Ultimate Weeks of Sport, TEAMS conference, Gay Polo Tournament); and with the Film Commission (MOSAIC, YouTube/Social Media content sharing, Black Cultural Heritage Trail). The Council awaits word on a possible Brightline station activation in late August/early September with The Palm Beaches. A meeting has been scheduled in September to discuss potential collaborations or co-ops with Palm Beach International Airport with the new marketing director.

The Council was pleased to provide an evening of entertainment for the Florida Airports Council 2023 54th Annual Conference and Exposition, hosted by Palm Beach International Airport at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on July 24. A Palm Beach County-based artist performed two sets of jazz standards from the 1950s/60s/70s to support the “Golden Age of Travel” theme as part of the opening reception.

The Council continued to plan for the upcoming Arts & Tourism Summit: Access for All, which will be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in partnership with the other TDC agencies on August 30-31. Nearly 300 attendees in the cultural and tourism sectors have registered for this voluntary professional development event. The speaker lineup was finalized in July, along with the featured performers and other ancillary programs. The Council is currently working on the printed program design, Run of Show, and gathering all slide presentations.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/SECTOR SUPPORT Institute for Cultural Advancement (ICA)

The final session in the Cultural Council’s signature professional development series for FY23 was held on July 13th. The nine-part series was offered for free to cultural organizations and creative professionals and covered a number of important topics within the sector, including arts marketing and grant writing.

Cultural Sector Support

The Council team attended several live performances in July, including West Side Story at Lake Worth Playhouse, Shakespeare by the Sea at Carlin Park in Jupiter, and Shakespeare by the Palms in Royal Palm Beach. Staff also visited the Palm Beach Zoo and Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, and the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum in Boynton Beach.

TDC Board Monthly Report July 2023

Sports Tourism Report

October 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is engineering a record setting year for sports tourism in The Palm Beaches (October 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023) During the first three (3) quarters in FY 23, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission hosted 165 events, which generated room night production of 280,382.

Over the last three months of FY 23, the Sports Commission will host 32 more events, which will attract sports-related visitors from around the state, nation, and globe. Based on the room night projections for the remaining summer months, the Sports Commission should exceed the 300,000-room night benchmark.

Sports Commission Tourism Impacts: October 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

• 280,382 tracked room nights.

• $68,923,503 in projected hotel revenue (using FY 22 ADR for April @ $245.82)

• $4,135,410 in projected bed tax revenues.

 The sports tourism impacts exclude several sizable events that have not reported room night numbers in June.

 Spectator room nights from MLB spring training are not included in the room night data as of this report.

 Winter Equestrian Festival room nights of 61,672, primarily from spectator growth are not included.

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Sports Tourism Production Report (FY 23)

October 1 , 2022 - June 30, 2023

The Ultimate Week of Gymnastics in the Palm Beaches is here with the USA Gymnastics Stars & Stripes Championships and the FIG Trampoline and Tumbling World Cup

The ultimate week of gymnastics took place in The Palm Beaches with the USA Gymnastics 2023 Stars & Stripes Championships and the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) Trampoline & Tumbling World Cup. Both events took place at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission partnered with USA Gymnastics in creating this extraordinary week of gymnastics, and illustrates why The Palm Beaches is considered one of Florida’s premier sports destinations.

The USA Gymnastics Stars & Stripes Championships occurred on July 28-30 while the FIG Trampoline & Tumbling World Cup immediately followed on August 3-5. The Palm Beach County Convention Center became the epicenter of gymnastics with nearly 900 gymnasts competing over both events. USA Gymnastics serves as the national governing body for its sport while the FIG represents the global authority for gymnastics and the oldest established international federation of an Olympic sport.

The Stars & Stripes Championships serves as the annual national championships for the USA Gymnastics Trampoline & Tumbling Development Program, Levels 5-7, as well as HUGS (special needs) athletes, for trampoline, double mini-trampoline and tumbling. The Stars & Stripes Championships attracted nearly 700 gymnasts (ages ranging from 6 – 18) from across the nation. The Palm Beach County Convention Center was also home to this event during the summer of 2019.

The FIG World Cup brought a global attention to The Palm Beaches and served as the penultimate event in the five-competition 2023 World Cup Series, which include stops at Baku, Azerbaijan, Santarem, Portugal, Coimbra, Portugal, and Varna, Bulgaria. The Palm Beach County Convention Center was home to the top trampoline and tumbling gymnasts. A total of 250 gymnasts from 29 countries competed in the men’s and women’s individual and synchronized trampoline, tumbling and double mini divisions. The FIG World Cup also served the first Olympic Qualifier to take place in the United States for the 2024 Summer Olympics Games in Paris.

Winning the bid to host both the FIG World Cup and the Stars & Stripes Championships is a historic occasion for Palm Beach County and the state of Florida. Hosting a World Cup and national event contiguously, organized by gymnastics’ international governing body and national governing body, transformed The Palm Beaches into an unrivaled stage for the sport. Furthermore, both events l created a significant economic impact for Palm Beach County. Both events combined bring an economic impact of over $6 million and a hotel impact demand of more than 4,500 rooms.

Okeeheelee Park is the Sports Commission’s Key Venue for

August

USA BMX Gold Cup, August 5-6:

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission partnered with Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation and the Okeeheelee BMX Parent Council to bring the USA BMX Gold Cup to Okeeheelee Park and its renowned BMX Track. This event brings over 300 BMX riders and nearly 1,000 total visitors from across the nation. The event features youth divisions for boys and girls, from 9 years of age to high school. The USA BMX Gold Cup also has divisions for professional riders.

The Sports Commission also supported the USA BMX Florida State Championship, which took place on January 21-23, which created 1,041 room nights. The USA BMX Gold Cup will deliver a strong tourism impact during the month of August, which is traditionally one of the slowest months for Palm Beach County’s hospitality industry.

Okeeheelee BMX is Palm Beach County's only BMX racetrack. It is ranked number one in the eastern United States as well as Florida's number one track for the past 10 years.

GOODE Water Ski National Championships, August 9-12:

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission and the Ski Club of the Palm Beaches have partnered to host USA Water Ski & Wake Sports’ 81st GOODE Water Ski National Championships at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach from August 9-12, 2023. This year’s event will mark the fifth time the National Championships has been held in The Palm Beaches and the first time since 2019.

The nation’s top water ski athletes will compete for national titles in slalom, tricks, jumping, and overall, in respective age divisions and two open divisions during the four-day event. Over 600 adult participants, 200 youth participants, and thousands of spectators will travel from across the nation to participate in this event.

In addition to the thrills and excitement that will be generated by this action-packed event, the GOODE Water Ski National Championships will bring tremendous economic benefits to the local community. This event will fill thousands of room nights during the month of August while creating an enormous level of economic benefits for Palm Beach County’s hospitality industry. In 2019, the event filled over 2,000 hotel room nights and created an estimated $1.5 million in visitor spending.

USA Water Ski & Wake Sports is the national governing body for the sport, which is comprised of more than 600 member clubs throughout the nation. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is supporting the Ski Club of the Palm Beaches and its efforts to organize the GOODE Water Ski National Championships. The Ski Club of the Palm Beaches is one of the most active and productive clubs in the country and partners with Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation to maintain five freshwater ski lakes custom-designed for competition waterskiing at Okeeheelee Park.

Events & Operations

Event Support

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl

 Reach out to Palm Beach County golf courses to secure venue for Golf Outing

 Discuss transportation bus needs with transportation vendors

 Secure locations for luncheon and beach party with game date confirmed

Miracle League All-Star Weekend

 Finalize hotel blocks and begin assigning players/families to hotels

 Coordinate off-site events for Friday Opening Ceremony and Saturday Awards Gala

 Meet with transportation provider to confirm transportation needs

Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award

 Meet with Groza Committee and determine 30-player Watchlist to be distributed nationally

 Meet with A/V company about updates to Banquet, incorporating new LED elements into the show

 Secure larger miniature Lou Groza Award trophies to be provided to high school winners and national finalists

Finalizing Contract Obligations

• Columbus Day Discovery Showdown

• World Comes to the Palm Beaches

• Perfect Game WWBA World Championship

• USTA Columbus Day Open

• TimberTech Championship

• ClubCorp Champions Classic

• Men’s Senior Baseball League

• 3v3 Live National Championship

• Holiday Basketball Classic of the Palm Beaches

• Hardball 360 Fall Classic

• FYSA Palm Beach Gardens Classic

• Monster Mash Lax Clash

• USTA Men’s 50 Clay Court Championship

• USTA National Men’s 70,85,90 Clay Court Championship

• Delray Beach Pickleball Classic

• Okeeheelee Halloween Slam

• “Little Mo” Internationals

• EDP Soccer Playoffs

• NextStar Lacrosse

• The Junior Honda Classic

• CPI Horse Show

• American Youth Soccer Organization

• Eye of the Hurricane

• Wellington Soccer Shootout

• Winter Equestrian Festival

• Development Player League Winter Showcase

• APP Boca International Masters

• The Honda Classic

• Delray Beach Open

• Savanah Bananas World Tour

• Palm Beach Challenge College & International Baseball Festival

• ITF W25 Circuit

• Palm Beach Gardens Soccer Spring Classic

• Delray Beach Pickleball Open

• Wellington March Madness

• Palm Beaches Spartan Sprint Weekend

• Spartan Race Elite Series

• RUSH Spring Showcase

• Play at the Plate – Palm Beach Classic

• Hardball 360 Spring Training

• Delray Beach International Tennis Federation (ITF) Championships

• “Little Mo” East Regionals

• Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament Exotic Bass Roundup

• NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Regional Championship

• Delray Beach Pickleball Open

• iDo Beach Tennis BT 10x

• Florida Shine Classic

• Prospect Wire Southeast Championship

• Florida State Golf Association 106th Amateur Championship

• Prospect Select Palm Beach Classic & Classic Futures

• Junior Tour Powered by Under Armour Summer National Championship

• Perfect Game Summer Series

• USTA Boy’s 18’s & 16’s National Clay Court Championship

• Cal Ripken 9U-11U State Tournament

• Prospect Select Palm Beach Open

• GOOODE Water Ski National Championship

• MNO Tennis Series

• NBA Josh Howard King of The City Basketball Tournament & Festival

• Mud Girl Run

• Sailfish Marina Big Dog Fat Cat Shootout

• US Soccer Boys U15 Team Training

• Palm Beaches Spartan Weekend

• Under Armour Junior Golf National Championship

• USA Track and Field Masters 5K

1. Category G Grants

Event Servicing Grants

a. I Do Beach Tennis ITF Open Singer Island (November 6-11, 2023) – Riviera Beach Municipal Beach Park - $25,000 Cat. G NEW

b. 5v5 Soccer Tour National Championship (November 17-19, 2023) The Gardens North County District Park - $20,000 Cat. G NEW

c. Battle Youth National Championship (December 4-10, 2023) – Village Park - $100,000 Cat. G; Up to $50,000 FSF Restricted Funds

d. Winter Equestrian Festival (January 3 - March 31, 2024) – Wellington International - $125,000 Cat. G; $10,000 FSF Restricted Funds

e. Florida Rush Hockey (January 12-15, 2024) - Palm Beach Ice Works & Palm Beach Skate Zone –$25,000 Cat. G; $5,000 FSF Restricted Funds

f. Boca Raton International Masters (January 17-21, 2024) - Patch Reef Tennis Center - $25,000 Cat. G

g. Florida Exposure Cup (February 1-4, 2024) Palm Beach Ice Works & Palm Beach Skate Zone - $15,000 Cat. G NEW

h. Delray Beach Open (February 9-18, 2024) - Delray Beach Tennis Center - $35,000 Cat. G

i. Palm Beach Challenge College & International Baseball Festival (March 1-31 ,2024) Santaluces Athletic Complex – $20,000 Cat. G

j. Delray Beach Pickleball Open (March 20-24, 2024) Delray Beach Tennis Center - $20,000 Cat. G

Sports-Development

Sports Development Executive Summary

In FY 23, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission (PBCSC) is deploying an aggressive sales and sports development effort to increase the number of sports tourisms generating events taking place in The Palm Beaches. The PBCSC continues to cultivate relationships with event owners, as well as identify, solicit, secure, and retain sports events to grow room night actualization. Below is a recap of sports development efforts that have taken place during FY23.

Event Bids & Development

A primary mechanism for event solicitation is through the Event Bid and Development process. To recognize potential bid opportunities, the PBCSC will be at the forefront of the industry and engage with event owners.

Bid submission is a highly effective tool to recruit sporting events. Attached is a comprehensive list of the bids that have been submitted in FY 23, and below is a breakdown of the development efforts over the past month:

• Florida Women’s Hockey League Winter Series

o November 17 - 19, 2023

o 150 projected participants

o 100 projected room nights

o Palm Beach Skate Zone

• Florida Women’s Hockey League Spring Series

o March 22 – 24, 2023

o 150 projected participants

o 100 projected room nights

o Boca Ice and Fine Arts

• Kickball 365

o December 2 - 3, 2023

o 450 projected participants

o 250 projected room nights

o Wellington HS Turf Fields

• I Do Beach Tennis ITF BT200 Open Singer Island

o November 6 – 11, 2023

o 750 projected participants

o 2,200 projected room nights

o Singer Island Waterfront Area

• Conference USA Women’s Beach Volleyball Championships

o April 25 – 27, 2024

o 200 projected participants

o 400 projected room nights

• First Responder Games

o June 2 – 16, 2024

o 1,200 projected participants

o 2,000 projected room nights

o Multiple venues throughout Palm Beach County

Event Site Visits

When trying to bring events to Palm Beach County, engaging event rights holders to conduct a site visit or familiarization tour is one of the most beneficial event development strategies. Site visits allow for an event owner to explore potential sports venues while experiencing Palm Beach County’s tourism assets, such as hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Attached is a comprehensive list of the site visits that have been conducted in FY 23, and below is a breakdown of site visits conducted over the past month:

• US Soccer, US Soccer U15 Development Team Training, North County District Park

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission in partnership with Northstar Meetings Group will be hosting the TEAMS Conference and Expo this October 2-5, 2023 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. This TEAMS Conference is the world’s leading conference and expo for the sports-event industry. TEAMS attracts more than 1,000 attendees including CEOs, executive directors, and event managers from sports organizations as well as representatives from sports commissions and convention bureaus, corporate sponsors, event suppliers and other hospitality industry opinion leaders. Attendees will have the opportunity to schedule up to 40 appointments with governing body representatives and event rights holders. The pre-scheduled one-on-one sessions in your booth will allow quality face time, facilitate real business and generate ROI. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission won the bid to host TEAMS Conference in 2018.

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Bid Calendar - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Bid Calendar - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Bid Calendar - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Bid Calendar - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Bid Calendar - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Site Visits - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Site Visits - FY23

Palm Beach County Sports Commission Site Visits - FY23

Marketing & Promotions

o The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s monthly e-newsletter:

Social Media & Digital Advertising

Social Media:

• Creating and publishing content across all Palm Beach County Sports Commission social media accounts which currently includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube

• Managing HubSpot marketing software to schedule posts and track engagement across all platforms

Top performing social media posts:

• � � � � Big news dropping August 2! � � � � We're getting ready to unveil the preseason Watch List for the Lou Groza Award! � � � � Who do you want to see make the list? � � �

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission, in partnership with Baptist Health, the Miami Dolphins, and Spirit of Giving, hosted the Back-to-School Football Fun Fest Presented by @BaptistHealthSF at Village Academy in Delray Beach this morning!

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will announce the 30-player preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-kicker Award on Wednesday, August 2. This watch list marks the beginning of one of the biggest earned media drivers for the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. Each year, this award helps expose the sports commission’s brand to millions of football fans from around the world.

Below you will see just how impactful the Lou Groza Award was for the sports commission in 2022. The award generated nearly 3,000 placements that generated over two billion impressions for the award.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC COLLABORATES WITH LOCAL EXPERTS IN THIS ISSUE

DEADLINE FOR L-DUB

STUNTS AND SFX

SONGWRITER COMES HOME

LMGI FAM TOUR TOUTS PBC

NED VENTURE FLASHBACK

DOWNTOWN WEST PALM

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACADEMIA

Nat Geo’s new show, When Sharks Attack 360, built a cutting-edge VFX shark lab in The Palm Beaches to investigate the reasons behind shark attacks on humans. The research team is led by Dr. Stephen Kajiura, a professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton who gained widespread recognition after the premiere of this jaw-dropping show that aired during SharkFest, summer’s must-sea TV event -entertaining and educating audiences about these fascinating creatures and their interactions with humans.

Throughout the six-episode series, Dr. Kajiura and his team conduct research and hunt for clues off the waters of Palm Beach County, showcasing our pristine ocean, coastline and intracoastal waterways. Much of the show also takes place in the visual effects lab, where experts analyze data and get up-close-and-personal with massive 3D holographic sharks. It’s important to note that none of the shark attacks the team investigates took place in The Palm Beaches.

When Sharks Attack 360 premiered on National Geographic last month and is now streaming on Disney + and Hulu. In addition, a SharkFest collection page is available on the Nat Geo TV App and ABC App, containing content that also features Dr. Kajiura and other FAU scientists.

VANILLA ICE ON ZOMBIE PLANE

Brace yourself as Palm Beach County's very own Vanilla Ice teams up with the talented Sophie Monk to battle hordes of zombies on a nail-biting flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. This thrilling film is a wild concoction of horror, comedy, and non-stop action that you absolutely cannot miss!

Zombie Plane brings together two unlikely heroes who must face their fears head-on to save themselves and the other passengers from a terrifying new zombie strain. Vanilla Ice a.k.a. Rob Van Winkle showcases his acting chops in this high-stakes survival story. Meanwhile, Sophie Monk, the Australian actress known for her charm and wit, adds an extra dose of excitement to the mix.

Be sure to check out the video for an exclusive look behind the scenes of this soon to be cult classic with none other than Vanilla Ice himself!

FILM FLORIDA’S NEW BOARD

Film Florida, the chief marketing and legislative advocate for the state’s entertainment production industry, presents its Board of Directors for 2023-2024! Palm Beach County Film Commissioner Michelle Hillery president from 2014 to 2016 and continues to serve on the Board. Meanwhile, Broward County Film Commissioner Sandy Lighterman, who has served the organization in leadership roles for 10 years, has been tapped to lead the organization. Immediate past president, Gail Morgan, expressed support for Sandy, noting “…her vision, enthusiasm, and tenacity will continue to show the far-reaching benefits our industry has on Florida including creating jobs, spurring economic development and enhancing tourism.” Film Florida also recognizes student filmmakers by awarding $12,500 in grants and scholarships; $1,000 for the Sara Fuller Scholarship is presented annually at The Palm Beaches Student Showcase of Films. A complete list of Film Florida’s board members can be found on their website

Newsletter of the Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission | AUGUST 2023

FAU OWLS KICK OFF SEASON ON ESPN JACKRABBIT HOMESTEAD MOVIE

With summer in full swing, college football season looms largely around the corner and with that in mind, we look ahead at the 2023 televised schedule for the FAU Owls. Two home games slated to start the season will be featured on ESPN+.

The Owls kick off the season at home on September 2 against Monmouth, followed by a September 9 matchup against Ohio. With offseason changes that include the transition from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference (AAC), FAU looks to start strong and establish themselves as a threat to new opponents. One season removed from a 5-7 record; the Owls are hoping to make a name for themselves this year in the AAC and jump out to an early lead in the conference. To catch all the action live from Boca Raton this season, be sure to tune into ESPN+ on September 2 and September 9.

STUNTS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS IN PBC

Lights! Camera! Stunts! At the Palm Beach County Film & Television Commission, we’re here to help bring action-packed scenes to life in the most thrilling and safe way possible. Our dedicated permitting team assists productions with securing the necessary permissions for stunts and special effects throughout The Palm Beaches.

Safety is our top priority, and we work closely with production crews to ensure all necessary requirements are met to make the creative vision a reality. Whether it's jaw-dropping fight sequences, mesmerizing mechanical effects, or heart-pounding vehicular stunts, we've got you covered! Each production is unique, and that is why we give each production personal service. Unsure about which category your request falls under? No worries, the permitting team works closely with production companies to ensure the process goes smoothly. Click here to learn more about Stunts and Special Effects in The Palm Beaches

Kimberlea Kressel, a graduate of Dreyfoos School of the Arts, has spent her adult years as a writer, producer and now a director. Although she now resides in Los Angeles, California, she has remained close friends with other classmates from Dreyfoos and credits these relationships as the foundation of a seamless creative process.

Recently, a small group of these friends, including other South Florida residents, collaborated to bring her short film and psychological thriller, Jackrabbit Homestead, to life - marking Kimberlea’s debut as a director. The film tells the story of a woman battling grief and forgiveness as she struggles to bury her past and create a new future after losing her wife. After privately raising 76% of the funds needed to complete this project, Kimberlea is seeking the support of her community to raise the remaining funds for post-production costs. To support this film, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/jackrabbit -homestead-a-short-film#/ for more information.

L-DUB FILM FEST DEADLINE APPROACHES

The 11th annual L-DUB Film Festival in Lake Worth Beach takes place September 22-24, at the Lake Worth Playhouse. With the deadline to submit fast approaching, September 1 is the last day for submissions, as the festival is seeking exciting new features, documentaries and narratives, music videos, animations, and experimental works to screen for the audience over the course of the three-day event.

The L-DUB film festival takes pride in promoting local filmmakers by showcasing their work with the goal of bringing together movie lovers and movie makers alike to share ideas and their passion for the industry. Awards for this year’s festival will include Best Feature, Best Short, and Best Student Film, with more awards and prizes to be announced. There are no topic or length limitations for submissions, however student submissions will require a valid ID. Click here to submit a project and find out more about the L-DUB film festival.

BEST OF PALM BEACH COUNTY ON PBTV WATCH PARTIES

Wanna know where to find a great local breakfast and who makes the best coffee? Or perhaps you need an invigorating Yoga class or want to support a Black-owned business? Get the insiders connection to the very best local spots and a whole lot more by watching the upcoming PBTV watch parties on YouTube or Facebook, every Tuesday at noon. Hosted by local sports celebrity Theo Dorsey each PBTV Watch Party highlights segments from shows on ThePalmBeaches.TV with programming designed to give you the insiders view about fantastic experiences you can enjoy in The Palm Beaches. But here’s a little secret, as good as the PBTV Watch Parties are, now they’re about to get even better for visitors and locals alike, stay tuned!!

MASWIFE FILM FEATURES HAITIAN LIFE

Mora Junior Etienne, a Haitian immigrant, and 20 year resident of the County is the mastermind behind the new movie Maswife 2 which held a promotional event recently at the Embassy Suites Hotel in West Palm Beach

After receiving amazing feedback from peers and industry professionals for the first installment in December 2021, Mora decided to create a more cinematic version the second time around. It’s been his life goal to bring Haitian culture to the big screen and larger markets through streaming services and Maswife 2 is well on its way.

Production took place in several locations throughout The Palm Beaches including Veteran’s Park in Royal Palm Beach, and locations in Lake Worth Beach and Boca Raton. The film premiered in March at the Boca Marriott to a full house and continues to receive rave reviews. Mora continues to fulfill his dream to bring Haiti to international film success.

FTC PRODUCES VIDEO FOR LGMI

The Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission recently produced a virtual FAM tour video featuring different areas of the County for the Location Manager’s Guild International (LMGI). The purpose of the tour is to promote all the natural beauty and different filming locations Palm Beach County has to offer and familiarize producers, designers, location managers, and filmmakers around the world to come to Palm Beach County to film their next project.

The video can be found on the FTC’s YouTube channel and gives great insight to the reasons why the County is truly a oneof-a-kind destination with more to offer than year-round ideal weather conditions and beautiful sandy beaches. Florida remains a desirable filming and travel destination and the FAM tour serves as a tour guide. Click here to watch the FTC’s virtual FAM Tour, and see what The Palm Beaches have to offer filmmakers.

FOCUS ON FILM

JAMIE FLOYD MUSIC VIDEO FILMED IN PBC

Two-time Grammy nominated recording artist Jamie Floyd’s SAD SUMMER music video is worth checking out! Directed by Tyndall Dickinson, 2023 recipient of the Burt Reynolds Scholarship from The Palm Beaches Student Showcase of Films, the music video was crafted entirely by students of G-Star School of the Arts in the Village of Palm Springs

West Palm Beach native Jamie Floyd joined forces with her former arts teacher, Larry Decarmine and a team of G-Star students in July and filmed scenes in Studio B and on the rocks in Boynton Beach near Ocean Inlet Park Led by Tyndall Dickinson, the students produced a high-quality professional level music video that was created entirely in Palm Beach County. Check out the result of this special collaboration, watch Jamie Floyd - Sad Summer (Music Video) - YouTube

FL OFFICE OF FILM AND ENTERTAINMENT

In light of recent changes, the Florida Office of Film and reassures all stakeholders of the state’s entertainment production industry that their commitment to supporting a vibrant creative sector remains steadfast.

Effective July 1, 2023, certain services offered by OFE transitioned to the newly created Florida Department of Commerce. To that effect, industry professionals will continue to receive prompt assistance from the dedicated team at OFE. Moreover, the Division of Economic Development within FloridaCommerce will continue administering the Entertainment Industry Sales Tax Exemption program. Qualified production companies producing motion pictures, made for television motion pictures, television series, commercial advertising, music videos, or sound recordings in Florida may be eligible. Some of the qualified expenditures include equipment, studio space, and location fees. To learn more or apply for the sales tax exemption, click here

WATCH PBTV ONLINE, ON ROKU AND IN PUBLIC SPACES

One of the County’s most unique tools to inspire experiences, eco-tourism and backdrops in the region is The Palm Beaches TV. The channel is now showing across six screens at PBI Airport in the baggage claim area. It’s also streaming at the PBC Convention Center, the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County and at the Downtown West Palm Beach Visitor’s Center on Datura Street. Select hotels also stream the channel in guest rooms. Check out PBTV on Free TV, Roku or stream it directly from ThePalmBeaches.TV and let the channel become a virtual guide for you to explore and share all that Palm Beach County has to offer.

FILM FLASHBACK: NED VENTURE

Skate park hero Ned Venture, along with his brothers and sister, go on a wild adventure after finding a stash of stolen diamonds in an abandoned warehouse. When the gang of wise-guy wannabes discover the diamonds are missing, things get crazy and the chase gets underway. The production took place during the summer of 2012 and starred three local teens from Royal Palm Beach, Stone and Harrison Harward and Trey Ramirez. Production filmed at several locations including Abacoa Town Center in Jupiter, Currie Park in WPB and Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park. “The film has a message of self-empowerment” said Julie Stone, Executive Producer. The cast and crew enjoyed a redcarpet premiere to celebrate the completion of the self-funded independent project. Watch the trailer here

LOCATION SPOTLIGHT DOWNTOWN WEST PALM BEACH

The County seat rolls out the red carpet to welcome filmmakers and the city continues to evolve which ensures the backdrops are always new and exciting. The active downtown vibe found in West Palm Beach offers angles that read big business, waterfront, and small town, with options like art, culture, shopping and lifestyle locations too.

Filmmakers appreciate support from city officials concerning production and the production value on-location filming offers, and business owners enjoy being featured and having their establishments recognized.

Recently Night Dove Pictures secured several downtown West Palm Beach locations for a film along the Flagler waterfront, capturing scenes at the Centennial Fountain and the semi private cocktail lounge Camelot, part of the Subculture Restaurant Group that is so pro film, they started a film festival!

Meanwhile, location scouts are looking for luxury penthouse options and a feature film slated for summer 2024 is searching for film friendly Marinas and a streaming service project is shooting plates in and around the downtown area.

Explore film friendly locations for your upcoming production in the FTC’s online searchable locations database.

EDUCATION CORNER LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACADEMIA

With summer vacations coming to a screeching halt, we’re ready to embark on another successful school year in Palm Beach County, Florida! Being the 10th largest school district in the U.S, including more than 60 high schools and colleges, many institutions in The Palm Beaches offer students a curriculum that fosters film, television, photography, digital media, and other art programs.

For nearly 30 years, The Palm Beaches Student Showcase of Films has recognized these outstanding students in the state’s largest juried film competition and award show where each year more than $20,000 in scholarships and awards are presented in the following categories: Documentary, Music Video, College & High School Feature/Shorts, Animation, Commercial PSA, Environmental PSA, Screenwriting and Poster Design. Schools like AW Dreyfoos School of the Arts, G-Star School of the Arts, Palm Beach Gardens Community High School, and Seminole Ridge Community High School, provide students with hands-on experience to cutting-edge technologies and collaborations with local studios and production companies. The county’s programs have proven to be instrumental in shaping careers and the future of the industry by creating a new generation of skilled and diverse entertainment professionals that will elevate the county's status as a prime destination for film and television production. Visit our website to learn more about our local collegiate schools and programs.

Film Commissioner Michelle Hillery | Director of Operations Alberto Jordat

Production Designer Kelly King | Social Media and Events Developer Vanessa Cadet Production Coordinators Brandon Perry and Matthew Mazzamaro Administrative Assistant Angie Crocitto

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Mayor Gregg K. Weiss | Vice Mayor Maria Sachs

Commissioners Maria G. Marino | Michael Barnett | Mack Bernard | Sarah Baxter | Marci Woodward County Administrator Verdenia Baker

Contributors: Vanessa Cadet, Angie Crocitto, Penelope Douglas, Alberto Jordat, Kelly King, Matthew Mazzamaro, Brandon Perry

Production Activity Report For June 2023

Variance Explanations

Percentage change variances of ± 10% in perf ormance statistics are explained in this section.

1. Production Days: While Total Production Revenue is up 2% year-over-year, and on track for potential back-toback record-breaking years, the 12% YTD decrease in Total Production Days is due to the consolidation of production schedules from visiting and local production companies. This is partly due to the increase in costs associated with production, such as personnel/labor and travel expenses. The decrease in Production Days is also attributed to the “Florida fatigue” phenomenon, a post-COVID era where some attention has been taken away from the Sunshine state as other states have fully reopened Looking at preliminary data for July, we anticipate seeing an improvement in Production Days and/or Total Productions.

2. Total Leads: A 27% decrease in Total Leads, as we’ve been routinely reporting, can be attributed to the usage of available technology by industry professionals. The advent of digital location databases, such as the comprehensive locations library on the FTC’s website, coupled with tools like Google Earth, has provided production companies with greater accessibility to scout potential filming locations virtually and/or independently. Still, a 27% decrease in Total Leads as of June 2023 represents a five percentage-point increase from the previous month when Total Leads YTD were down 33%.

3. Lead Responses: A 25% decrease in Lead Responses goes hand-in-hand with the decrease in Total Leads. The 25% YTD decrease represents a seven percentage-point increase from the previous month when Lead Responses were down 32%

4. Lead Conversions: A 10% decrease in Total Lead Conversions represents 28 leads converted to projects during the first six months of 2023 versus 31 Lead Conversions during the same period in 2022.

5. Website Unique Visitors: A 167% increase in website visitors in June 2023 versus June 2022 is largely due to an increase in traffic from a series of Tune-In Announcements related to sponsored programming airing on traditional television and/or The Palm Beaches TV. These email campaigns are part of the FTC’s digital marketing strategy, demonstrating the effectiveness of our email marketing efforts. Additionally, the overall 102% YTD increase in Website Unique Visitors is also attributed to a substantial surge in website traffic during the months of January and February. This surge was largely driven by an increased interest in The Palm Beaches Student Showcase of Films during those months, with an increase in clicks to pages on the website specifically related to the 28th annual event. The FTC anticipates a continued variance of over 10% in this category throughout the year, reflecting the ongoing interest and engagement from visitors to our website.

June 2023 Permits & Shot No Permits

Cendyn

Cendyn

Harvey

Howard

Nick's

Cendyn

Howard

23-156 6 Reel Digital Inc. Boca Raton, FL

23-157 6 Reel Digital Inc. Boca Raton, FL

23-158 6 WSFL TV Plantation, FL

Lake Wyman Park - Boca Raton & South Beach Park - BOCA

Lake Wyman Park - Boca Raton & South Beach Park - BOCA

Tales from the 90's

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens- 4000 Morikami Park Rd, Delray Beach, FL 33446 Morikami Museum

Brightline Station West Palm Beach

Trirail Station West Palm Beach

Exterior of Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

Exterior of Publix on the corner of Rosemary and Fern St.

23-159 6 Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm Beach, FL

Brightline Station West Palm Beach

Trirail Station West Palm Beach

Exterior of Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

Exterior of Publix on the corner of Rosemary and Fern St.

23-160 6 Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm Beach, FL

Nick's

Cendyn

Cendyn

June 2022 Production Companies & Support Services

Permits & Shot No Permits Projects Subtotals

Palm Beach Convention Center

FINANCIAL OPERATIONS ANALYSIS REPORT-BUDGET COMPARISON

Palm Beach Convention Center

FINANCIAL OPERATIONS ANALYSIS REPORT-PRIOR YEAR COMPARISON

For the Eight Months Ending June 2023

TDC

Marketing Report – August 2023

Social Media

Media

Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County celebrates Justice for All with Peace, Love and Hippies [google.com] The Florida Bar

The doors of the Palm Beach County Convention Center opened recently to welcome 500 guests and supporters of The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach

WATCH: Trump brags about possessing classified documents related to Iran | News [google.com] Western Standard ... attendees at the 2019 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, FL.

Pence says DeSantis' attack on Disney follows 'footsteps of the radical left' - Florida's Voice [google.com] Florida's Voice

... the 2020 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 22, 2020.

Turning Point Action Palm Beach County Convention Center [google.com]

The Palm Beach Post

Donald Trump Jr. speaks during the Turning Point Action general session at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach July 16,

Donald Trump Delivers Remarks at Turning Point Action Conference | C-SPAN.org [google.com]

C-SPAN 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers remarks from the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach,

Donald Trump speaks in West Palm Beach as Gov. DeSantis is in Nashville - YouTube [google.com] YouTube

Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach on

Tucker Carlson Warns Young Conservatives to Pay Attention to Topics With 'Unapproved Words' [google.com] NTD News

Tight Security for Trump Speech. On Day 1, conference-goers crammed into the Palm Beach Convention Center's main hall after spending hours in line.

Trump post on Jan. 6 investigation renews questions about what took place in Palm Beach [google.com] The Palm Beach Post

Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point Action general session at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. It is not known what charges Trump

Trump expects third indictment, this time in Jan. 6 probe, he says - The Kansas City Star [google.com] The Kansas City Star

Donald Trump arrives on stage at the Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida,

What to do this weekend: Back to school expo, cuts with cops, pet adoption event | WPEC [google.com] WPEC

The Palm Beach County Collaborative will hold the Back to School bash at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Those looking to volunteer can

DEFINITE Room Rental by Month

July 2023 Project Status Report

Department of Environmental Resources Management

Tarpon Cove: Restoration work at Tarpon Cove continues with the final grading of 17,500 cubic yards of sand acquired from the Sawfish Island restoration project in Jupiter The sand will create an estimated 14 acres of seagrass habitat surrounding the islands Additionally, the placement of 10,000 tons of limestone is ongoing and will create over 1.8 acres of oyster habitat Finally, six aid-to-navigation signs will be installed around the islands This phase of the project is anticipated to be complete by early fall

Artificial Reefs: Over the last few weeks, ERM has coordinated the deployment of several artificial reef projects One project, which was supported by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Artificial Reef Construction Grant, features a sculpture donated by the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida (CCA Florida). The sculpture stands 8 ft. tall and was deployed in 65 ft of water offshore of Delray Beach This sculpture was placed alongside another reef module, two limestone rock piles, and four pieces of reused concrete It was designed and built by a local artist to memorialize Bob Burton, a longtime member of CCA Florida, avid fisherman, and lover of the outdoors. Together, these reef modules and nearby rock piles create an exciting reef trail with a variety of habitats for fish and invertebrates to call home

Reef Culvert Deployment: ERM Staff coordinated the deployment of 138 concrete culverts about 3.5 miles from the mouth of the Palm Beach Inlet in an area known as 3-Mile Reef To diversify habitat in the area, the culverts were “sprinkled” around four Reef Dart sites Reef Darts are unique artificial reef modules that offer up to 45 ft of vertical relief They are made of reused concrete utility poles and culverts and designed to land upright on the seafloor. All material placed in the 3-Mile Reef site has been designed and donated by the PBC Fishing Foundation

Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners

Gregg K. Weiss, Mayor, Maria Sachs, Vice Mayor, Maria G. Marino, Michael A. Barnett, Marci Woodward, Sara Baxter, Mack Bernard

TARPON COVE OYSTER REEF

BOB BURTON MEMORIAL REEF

Sea Turtle Surveys: ERM staff assisted Inwater Research Group (IRG) in conducting sea turtle abundance surveys, as well as capture and tagging efforts, in the northern segment of Lake Worth Lagoon IRG has been conducting marine turtle population assessments in Lake Worth Lagoon on behalf of ERM since March of 2005. All captured turtles are measured, weighed, photographed, and tagged with flipper and implanted tags prior to release Long-term efforts to monitor the sea turtle population residing in the Lake Worth Lagoon are a valuable addition to ERM’s comprehensive program to restore the Lake Worth Lagoon. All work with marine turtles is conducted under state and federally issued permits.

SEA TURTLE SURVEYS

Bench Installation: ERM staff worked with Florida Trail Association (FTA) members to install a bench along the Echoche trail in the Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area The bench is located just over a half mile from the parking lot at Beeline Highway This bench provides a nice shady resting area if you’re hiking to or from the observation tower The materials, labor, and craftsmanship were all provided by the Florida Trail Association. Thank you FTA!

BENCH INSTALLATION

Night for the Natural Areas: On Saturday, August 19th from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Twisted Trunk Brewery will host the 8th annual Night for the Natural Areas fundraiser at their location in Palm Beach Gardens This event raises funds to help support the education, adventure, exploration, and conservation program of Palm Beach County’s Natural Areas

Palm Beach Heights Willing Seller Program: Palm Beach County continues to acquire environmentally sensitive lands in Palm Beach Heights, an approximate 715 3 acre undeveloped area north of Indiantown Road and northeast of Beeline Highway In the last two months, the County has closed on 7 additional parcels (totaling 9 2 acres) and entered into contracts to acquire an additional 7 parcels (totaling 15.51 acres). If these contracts are successfully closed, the County will own just under 310 acres in Palm Beach Heights.

Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners

Gregg K. Weiss, Mayor, Maria Sachs, Vice Mayor, Maria G. Marino, Michael A. Barnett, Marci Woodward, Sara Baxter, Mack Bernard

PALM BEACH HEIGHTS

FY2023 CONTRACT TRACKING REPORT

SUBCONTRACTS OVER $100,000

5. OLD BUSINESS

To: Tourist Development Council

Fr: Emanuel Perry EP

Date: August 04, 2023

Topic: TDC Dashboard August Report–Activity June and FYTD 2023

Bed Tax CollectionsJune 2023 collected in July @ $4.7M compared to the same month last year @ $4.5M was an increase of 6%. Actual June was 50% above Budget and (20%) below the prior month @ $6M. Actual June was 65% higher than 2019. Revenue from non-hotels continue to support Bed Tax Collection during the off-season.

FYTD23 Collections @ $75M, were higher than last fiscal year to date’s $69M by 9%, reflecting a strong recovery from the pandemic. Fiscal Year to Date collections at $75M are pacing 17% ahead of the Approved Budget. FYTD collections of $75M, 56% higher than our Record 2019.

Tourist Development Council Dashboard

Current Month 2023 vs. 2022 Fiscal Month 5.A.1

June 2023 Net Hotel Sales decreased (0.3%) over Last Year, Non-Hotel Sales increased 26% over Last Year

July Collections for June 2023 increased 6% over Last Year. Over last Month decreased (20%); 50% above Budget

June 2023 Hotel Room Nights Sold increased 6% over the same month Last Year.

June 2023 Hotel Room Nights Available for Sale increased 4% over Last Year. 19,119 Rooms Open.

June 2023 Passengers through PBI increased 21% over the same month Last Year.

June 2023 Est. Seat Capacity at PBI increased 27% over the same month Last Year.

Tourist Development Council Dashboard

Fiscal Year 2023 vs. 2022 5.A.1

FYTD 2023 Hotel Net Sales increased 8% over Last Year, Non-Hotel Sales increased 15% over Last Year

FYTD 2023 Collections increased 9% over Last Year, compared to FYTD Budget higher by 17%

FYTD 2023 Hotel Room Nights Sold increased 7% over Last Year

FYTD 2023 Hotel Room Nights Available for Sale increased 3% from Last Year

June 2023 Passengers Through PBI is up 14% over Previous 12 Month Rolling Actuals

June 2023 at 92,300 up 5% over Last Year ; F&B at 60,300 increased 5%; Arts & Entertainment at 20,600 increased 4%;

at 11,400 up 8%

Tourist Development Council Dashboard

Current Month 2023 vs. 2019 Fiscal Month 5.A.1

June 2023 Net Hotel Sales increased 53% over Year 2019, Non-Hotel Sales increased 305% over Year 2019 June 2023 Passengers through PBI increased 16% over FY 2019 for the same month

July Collections for June 2023 were 65% above June FY19 and 6% above June FY22.

June 2023 Hotel Room Nights Sold increased 9% over FY 2019 for the same month.

June 2023 Hotel Room Nights Available for Sale increased 13% over Year 2019. 19,119 Rooms Open.

June 2023 Est. Seat Capacity at PBI increased 16% over FY 2019 for same month

FY2023

Tourist Development Council Dashboard

Fiscal Year 2023 vs. 2019 5.A.1

FYTD 2023 Hotel Net Sales increased 48% over 2019, Non-Hotel Sales 149% higher than FYTD 2019

FYTD 2023 Collections increased 56% over FYTD 2019, and 9% higher than FYTD 2022

FY2023

FYTD 2023 Hotel Room Nights Sold increased 8% over FYTD 2019

FYTD 2023 Hotel Room Nights Available for Sale increased 12% from same period 2019

June 2023 FYTD Passengers Through PBI increased 10% over FYTD 2019 12 Month Rolling Actuals

June 2023 at 92,300 up 5% over 2019 ; F&B at 60,300 up 1%; Arts & Entertainment at 20,600 up 24%; Hotels at 11,400 down (2%) over FY 2019

GROSS COLLECTIONS

NET COLLECTIONS

PALM BEACH COUNTY