Visit Buffalo Niagara 2016 annual report

REV

BUSINESS

ANNUAL IE

W

B

uffalo is in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. Signs of the city’s rebirth and revitalization are everywhere, from new investment on our waterfront to our restored collection of world-renowned architecture, thriving arts scene and boom in new hotels. Entrepreneurs are taking Buffalo’s older, industrial buildings and transforming them into some of the city’s hottest restaurants, breweries, distilleries and event spaces.

The energy and enthusiasm created from Buffalo summoning its collective will is palpable, and visitors are taking notice.

This resurgence is setting new records for Buffalo’s hotel industry, which garnered $239 million in revenues and an average daily rate of $103. And it propelled VBN’s sales team to its best year ever of securing future meetings, conventions and sporting events, worth more than $164 million in economic impact and generating more than 161,000 future hotel room nights. A record number of unique website visitors – over 1 million – tuned into more than 200 blogs published on visitbuffaloniagara. com. And the exuberance of Visit Buffalo Niagara’s 118,000 social media followers helped Buffalo become “America’s Favorite City” as voted on by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.

spread the word about the city’s rebirth in nearly 100 different publications, including Conde Nast Traveler, CNN.com, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News.

VBN also focused on building stronger relationships with its industry partners to accommodate this renewed interest in Buffalo as a visitor destination.

Nearly 100 frontline staff and volunteers at local attractions, hotels and restaurants eagerly attended VBN’s new Arrival to Departure Destination training program, equipping them with an arsenal of Buffalo information to wow our influx of visitors. And a record 300 partners attended VBN’s quarterly industry meetings to stay apprised of new tourism trends and developments.

Buffalo and Erie County’s tourism industry is united in a shared strategy to welcome more visitors here.

Buffalo is in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime transformation.

A near-record number of visiting travel writers also helped build the buzz about Buffalo by experiencing our resurgence first-hand through kayaking through Elevator Alley, riding the Queen City Bike Ferry, feasting at our food trucks and enjoying other activities that visitors would have only dreamed of just a few short years ago. These writers helped

Add to that continued progress in working with group tour operators to drive more international visitors here, and last year was one of the best and most productive for VBN in its 30-year history.

And with a series of additional hotel and attraction openings, expansions and other new developments in the pipeline, Buffalo’s renaissance – and VBN’s efforts to promote it – will only pick up more momentum in the year to come.

Very truly yours,

PATRICK J. KALER President and CEO Visit Buffalo Niagara

JUST THE FACTS: 2016 AT A GLANCE

VBN CONVENTION, SPORTS & GROUP TOUR SALES

$164 million Future economic impact

538

Conventions, meetings, amateur athletic events or group tours booked

284,293 People attended events at the Convention Center

161,680

871

sales leads

Hotel room nights booked

BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER

144 Events hosted

265

Days the Center was occupied

BUFFALO NIAGARA SPORTS COMMISSION

Attendance

194

104,602

Amateur sporting events serviced in 2016

Hotel room nights

VBN MARKETING

$3.2

million Media value of out-of-town media coverage

96

Out-of-town media placements

76,544

Facebook followers

1,028,666 1,413,752 Unique visits to the website

21,654

Twitter followers

YouTube views

20,235

Instagram followers

3

VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

114,939

30,500

Hotel room nights utilized due to events at the Center

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

As Buffalo’s once-in-a-lifetime transformation continued to pick up steam in 2016, Visit Buffalo Record Niagara made great strides in promoting our resurgent destination to out-of-town visitors. breaking figures are in The number of unique visitors to visitbuffaloniagara.com hit an all-time high, while our red social media pages collectively added thousands of followers. VBN’s media relations team had one of its strongest years ever of pitching and facilitating stories about Buffalo in out-of-town newspapers and blogs. And VBN’s sales team and the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission continued to play an integral role in Buffalo’s renaissance by booking and servicing a record number of meetings, conventions and athletic events.

CHEERS TO BEER!

Oh, Canada!

Visit Buffalo Niagara, working in collaboration with the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corporation and with support from Brand USA and a grant from New York State, has continued the implementation of an integrated marketing campaign in southern Ontario. The campaign features e-newsletter distribution to 30,000 subscribers, the production of our annual Buffalo Niagara Shopping Guide, digital banner advertising, paid search and advertising in newspapers, billboards, TV and out of home. As of December 31st, the digital portion of the 2016-17 campaign has yielded 66,000 website visitors and 16 million impressions. The campaign concluded in February and a conversion study will be available by April 2017.

Thanks to a New York State grant, we launched a campaign to market Buffalo as a craft beer destination. We developed a Buffalo Beer Passport in collaboration with the Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association and secured the participation of twenty WNY breweries.

A total of 5,000 passports were distributed to visitors through our website, in our visitor center and at participating breweries. Remaining marketing dollars were spent on print and digital advertising in regional markets such as Erie, Pittsburgh,

Visit Buffalo Niagara began a

Rochester, and

new relationship with Field Day,

Hamilton, Ontario.

a company that specializes in

4

reaching the cultural market in southern Ontario. We produced a multi-panel direct mail piece sent to 50,000 households that educated the cultural consumer in southern Ontario about the value of our cultural attractions compared to their counterparts in Ontario. We also collected more than 1,200 entries to our “Win A Trip to Buffalo” contest.

Hot Off The Press

BUFFALO

RUNNER’S MAP

Two new pieces of collateral have been added to our supply of visitor information tools. VBN created a Runner’s Map for Buffalo’s most active visitors that offers four different routes throughout downtown.

We also developed a Winter Guide to celebrate our off season and give visitors ways to embrace the cold and snow like a true Buffalonian.

DREW BROWN

A Digitally Savvy Destination Visit Buffalo Niagara continued its digital marketing efforts with guidance and execution from our digital agency, eBrains. Our 2016 tactics included e-newsletter distribution to 95,000 domestic subscribers, display This campaign has yielded 18,000 website visitors, 5,000,000 impressions and 12,000 new email leads to our ever-growing database.

A conversion study will be available in mid-April.

CHOOSING TO #TRAVELBUF

New Markets Take Flight

User-generated photos played a larger role than ever in Visit Buffalo Niagara’s marketing strategy in 2016.

VBN launched the hashtag #travelBUF (named after the city’s airport code) in the spring, encouraging its

West Coast in June when it launched a direct flight

followers and fans to share beautiful photos of Buffalo

from Los Angeles to the Buffalo Niagara International

and Erie County. Those fans then shared more than

Airport. VBN partnered with the Niagara Tourism and

15,000 #travelBUF photos on their channels by the

Convention Corporation to make the inaugural flight

end of the year, the most user-generated submissions

to Buffalo extra special, complete with complimentary

a VBN campaign has ever received. VBN then

Buffalo wings, Maid of the Mist ponchos and more.

re-purposed some of those photos on its own social

VBN and the NTCC also jointly hosted several West

media channels, in its touring guide and in the Greetings

Coast travel writers who took the inaugural flight here

From Buffalo: The Best of #TravelBUF 2016 video. Our fans

and wrote about their weekend in Buffalo for LA Travel

and followers enhance and amplify the story of Buffalo’s

Magazine and other outlets.

rebirth through the #travelBUF hashtag.

VISITORS FROM ACROSS THE POND VBN continued to reap benefits

region in the summer and fall

from the meetings it held in

of 2016 on press trips hosted in

London, England in October of

partnership with the Niagara

2015 with 50 group sales agents

Tourism and Convention

and a dozen media in conjunction

Corporation. In addition,

with the Buffalo Bills game there.

the trip resulted in five UK

Two travel writers, Laura Millar

tour operators representing

(with assignments in The Sun

hundreds of travel agencies

and The Daily Express) and Mary

deciding to sell ten different

Moore Mason (editor of Essentially

itineraries that included Buffalo.

America Magazine) explored the Writer Laura Millar with Director of Marketing Karen Fashana and CEO Patrick Kaler

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VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

JetBlue opened the Buffalo Niagara region to the

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

advertising, lead generation and Facebook advertising.

READ ALL ABOUT IT Stories about Buffalo’s architectural restorations, waterfront redevelopment, craft beer boom and culinary renaissance spread across the country in 2016 thanks to an aggressive media relations strategy organized by Visit Buffalo Niagara. VBN helped facilitate 96 stories about Buffalo in out-of-town publications, television shows and websites like the New York Daily News, Conde Nast Traveler, USA Today, Globe Trekker, Travel + Leisure, the Chicago Tribune, Monocle, the Toronto Star and Frommers.com.

Many of the stories sprang from leads generated by VBN’s media relations team through desk side visits in New York City and media marketplaces in Toronto, Sydney (Nova Scotia) and Raleigh as well as a road trip to meet with editors in Erie, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

These stories were collectively worth $3.2 million in ad equivalency value, the amount of money it would have cost to secure equivalant advertising space in those publications.

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On The Cutting Edge Visit Buffalo Niagara branched into some of the latest social media tools available in 2016, including Facebook Live and Snapchat.

VBN communications manager Brian Hayden (with marketing manager Drew Brown as cameraman) hosted a series of Facebook videos called “Buffalo Live” that highlighted quirky and unusual attractions around town, including sponge candy making, last-minute Christmas finds at Vidler’s 5 & 10 and water biking on the Buffalo River. The series of nine videos received over 150,000 views on Facebook.

VBN also added Snapchat to its social media arsenal churning out Buffalo content on a daily basis, using the channel to appeal to a younger demographic. In total, VBN’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat) had an audience of over 118,000 followers tuned in to Buffalo visitor content in 2016, an increase of 20,000 followers from the year before.

Telling Buffalo’s Story Visit Buffalo Niagara continued to excel at telling the rebirth of Buffalo on its blog in 2016, producing over 200 stories (nearly double the total in 2015) about the city’s architecture, waterfront redevelopment, events, food and overall renaissance. These stories, produced by staff and a team of contributing writers, are then shared on Visit Buffalo Niagara’s social media channels and drive a significant percentage of traffic to our website.

SHOWING OFF BUFFALO Visit Buffalo Niagara hosted 23 out-of-town meeting planners and group tour operators in July who had the potential to bring future conventions, meetings The group participated in a multiday familiarization tour that included stops at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Complex, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Niagara Falls. VIP access to a Canalside concert and a Buffalo Pedal Tours ride to showcase Buffalo’s burgeoning brewery scene rounded out the itinerary. The attendees also participated in an “Amazing Race” style competition around Buffalo where they found clues to get to each next stop – either a meeting facility, attraction or local restaurant – acquainting themselves with the city in the process. Opportunities such as these help make the right impression and are critical for ensuring future success in generating sales activity.

operators and receptive operators continues to grow. Last year, Visit

The American Association of Airport Executives’

Buffalo Niagara attracted tours from as far away as Australia, China,

Annual Snow Symposium celebrated its 30th

the United Kingdom, South America and Germany. VBN continued to

anniversary of coming to Buffalo in 2016.

develop relationships with some of the largest global travel brokers

The exhibition hall at the Buffalo Niagara

and enhanced the product available by attending a U.K./ Ireland

Convention Center was filled in April with

sales blitz and other trade shows in New York City and Canada that

gigantic, state-of-the-art snow removal

were internationally focused. These relationships will help VBN

machines, as well as a variety of other snow

achieve its goal of gaining more of the market share in Europe and

removal equipment, services and vendors.

Asia. The Buffalo Niagara region is ranked one of the top 25 inbound

Focused exclusively on airfield snow removal

destinations for international travelers in the United States.

and winter operations, the symposium provides new educational programs and a variety of ideas about winter operations to airport executives from around the world. VBN staff has been thrilled to assist with this event over the years to ensure its continued future success in Buffalo.

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VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

The Buffalo Niagara region’s appeal to international group tour

A SNOWY MILESTONE

Gaining Global Visitors

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

and group tours to Buffalo.

A Record Setting Year Buffalo’s hotel industry had one its strongest years ever,

MONTHLY OCCUPANCY PERCENTAGE, 2016

according to key indicators compiled by Smith Travel Research. The average daily rate of $102.74 and the total

revenue at hotels countywide ($239,710,239) both set all-time records.

84.2 79.2

80%

SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH ERIE COUNTY HOTEL REPORT

OCCUPANCY

90%

AVERAGE RATE

70% 60%

HOTEL REVENUES

2016 61.7%

$102.74

$239,710,239

2015 62.2%

$101.23

$235,913,402

2014 64.1%

$99.56

$228,301,134

2013 65.4%

$101.23

$235,913,402

50% 40%

66.4

61.7

51.3

54.0 41.0

68.5

74.4

73.9 73.1

67.0

68.1

71.7

70.2

68.8 68.2

57.2

68.6 60.7 52.9

52.2

45.6

46.9

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

ERIE COUNTY

NATIONAL AVERAGE

Raising Awareness

8

Visit Buffalo Niagara was a leading participant in

The Erie County

the inaugural Global Meetings Industry Day in April,

Legislature

a worldwide effort to raise awareness of the importance

also recognized

of meetings and conventions to the economy.

Patrick Kaler

VBN partnered with Erie County Executive Mark

and Michael

Poloncarz and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to sign GMID

Even for

proclamations, coordinated with local tourism partners

VBN’s efforts

on a social media campaign and worked to have

in bringing meetings and conventions to town that

Niagara Falls and several buildings in downtown

generate significant revenue for the local economy.

CEO Patrick Kaler, County Executive Mark Poloncarz and VP of Sales Mike Even

Buffalo illuminated blue in recognition of the day.

TOP MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS IN BUFFALO Below are major conventions and events that came to Buffalo in 2016, in order of the most significant economic impact.

NAME

ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT DATE

ROOM NIGHTS ATTENDEES

New York State Board of Law Examiners

$3.9 million

July 24

6,200

3,000

NYS School Boards Association

$2.8 million

October 25

3,300

3,000

The Wesleyan Church

$2.3 million

June 4

3,306

1,525

Empire Baptist Missionary Convention of NYS

$2.1 million

August 6

1,384

1,500

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

$2.2 million

April 6

1,952

1,300

American Association of Airport Executives

$1.8 million

April 22

2,821

600

Church of God and Saints of Christ

$1.5 million

April 9

1,435

900

National Association of State Alcohol $1.1 million and Drug Abuse Directors

September 11

1,900

6500

Multiple District 20 Lions Club of NYS and Bermuda

$900,000

May 11

1,000

800

Knights of St. John International

$800,000

July 17

1,035

350

International Association of Workforce Professionals

$800,000

June 24

915

350

Delaware North

$700,000

November 5

810

500

Western New York Cloggers Association

$600,000

April 14

834

520

A Home Run for Buffalo Buffalo welcomed more than 130 softball teams to the region for the 2016 NSA Girls Fast Pitch World Series. Teams traveled from all over the country including as far as Indiana, Florida, $3 million in economic impact. The event (held for the first time in the Northeast) was a huge success for the towns of Amherst and West Seneca, with nearby hotels, restaurants and retailers feeling the impact of these visiting teams

Director of Sports Sales Chuck Giglia (far left) and Sport Services & Sales Manager Ally Pawarski (far right) look on at the start of the 2016 NSA Girls Fast Pitch World Series in Amherst.

and fans. Hosting the NSA World Series was a big win for the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission after five years of bidding on the event with the host organizations (the towns of Amherst and West Seneca, and the Amherst Girls Softball League and West Seneca Girls Softball Association).

BUFFALO BECOMES

HOCKEY HEAVEN

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

Pennsylvania and Ohio, generating an estimated

9

The National Hockey League Combine and NHL Draft were two of the most Buffalo sporting events of 2016.

The construction

GIVING BACK

of the state-of-

Visit Buffalo Niagara staff made sure to go above

the-art HarborCenter complex in 2014 created an opportunity for the NHL to move the Combine and Draft to Buffalo. Working in collaboration with the Buffalo Sabres and the NHL, the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission provided visitor information to teams, media and prospects, partnered with the Buffalo News to create a visitor’s guide specific to the NHL Draft and developed a map of downtown restaurants and hotels. The NHL Combine brought in an estimated 2,000 room nights and $1.9 million in economic impact and the NHL Draft brought in approximately 11,000 room nights and over $9 million in economic impact.

and beyond in 2016 by giving back to the community they work to promote every day. Staff assembled a bowling team for a Danceability fundraiser that benefits children with special needs, participated in the United Way Day of Caring by completing yardwork at the Boys & Girls Club on the city’s West Side, and sold newspapers on The Buffalo News Kids Day to benefit Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Cradle Beach Camp. Staff also raised hundreds of dollars through jeans day collections for the Buffalo Christmas Wishes program that provides gifts to needy children and families.

VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

anticipated

Training Our Partners

INFORMING OUR COMMUNITY

Visit Buffalo Niagara launched the Ambassador Academy in 2016,

Visit Buffalo Niagara continued

providing experiential educational opportunities to frontline staff at

to ramp up communications to its

Buffalo hotels, attractions and restaurants. More than 300 tourism

industry partners and other community

partners attended VBN’s quarterly industry meetings at spots around

stakeholders in 2016, providing them

Erie County in 2016 to learn more about our efforts and the industry.

with information on trends in the tourism

VBN also started the Buffalo Niagara Arrival to Departure Destination

industry and goings-on in Buffalo.

Training, a combination online/in person certificate program for frontline staff to discover more about Erie County, the history of Buffalo, and tips and techniques for providing exemplary customer service. To date, 100 volunteers and front line staff have completed the course with many more in varying stages at the start of 2017. And VBN organized two familiarization tours in the spring and fall for our partners to become better acquainted with all Buffalo has to offer.

VBN also forged and strengthened relationships with groups that share our vision for building a better destination. We continued to administer the Beacon Award Scholarship program. We also started a partnership with the Western New York chapter of

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the New York State Restaurant CEO Patrick Kaler presenting Micaela Inglese with her Beacon Award scholarship

Association. This led to a co-sponsored Destination Marketing Summit/Food for

Thought gathering in October that included presentations on best practices for training employees, dealing with changes to minimum wage and marketing modules.

WEEKLY: BUFFALO NIAGARA THIS WEEK

500 subscribers. Snapshot of the top events in Buffalo each week.

MONTHLY: TRAVEL PULSE

1,564 subscribers. Summary of tourism trends affecting the Buffalo area including airport and cross-border traffic, currency exchange and hotel data.

QUARTERLY: TOURISM INSIDER

3,233 subscribers. Reports on the added value Visit Buffalo Niagara has provided the community, including media hits the team helped facilitate, recent conventions or sporting events announced and other news.

Serving Our Visitors Visit Buffalo Niagara’s information specialists assisted 82,867 visitors at our two locations in 2016. This represents an increase of over 12 percent from 2015. Last year, visitor center staff made over 41,000 referrals to local attractions, hotels, bars and restaurants based on guest inquiries – providing tremendous benefit to our tourism partners.

A series of downtown visitor center open houses and events – including a free cereal giveaway to commemorate 75 years of General Mills producing Cheerios here, free hot dogs on National Hot Dog Day and wings prior to the National Buffalo Wing Festival – drew more awareness to the visitor center’s offerings.

Buffalo Volunteer Ambassadors were also busy assisting visitors through their donation of time at welcome tables stationed at conventions and amateur athletic events. In 2016, they donated 1,022 hours of their time, translating to a savings of over $27,000 for VBN.

Total Visitor Center Referrals OVER

41,000

OUTSTANDING TOURISM VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

The Butlers of the Mansion on Delaware Avenue

Ann Palmer

OUTSTANDING LODGING MANAGER OF THE YEAR

OUTSTANDING TOURISM EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

Don Vidler Vidler’s 5 & 10

OUTSTANDING LODGING G.M. OF THE YEAR

OUTSTANDING TOURISM INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR

OUTSTANDING TOURISM EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

Jackie Jonmaire Buffalo Museum of Science

B Y

BRING IT HOME AWARD – SPORTS

Kathleen Heyworth Buffalo Speed Skating

Explore Buffalo Tours

Jen Duarte Holiday Inn Express

Ken Burke Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Airport

P R E S E N T E D

TO

BRING IT HOME AWARD – CONVENTIONS

Richard Suchan Catholic Media Conference & National Conference for Catechetical Leadership RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

Ice Bikes of Buffalo BUFFALO AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR

Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy Get it Done Team

Dennis DiPaolo Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant & Banquet Facility Anthony C. Conte Shea’s Performing Arts Center

VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

Business First named Visit Buffalo Niagara one of the top places to work in Buffalo in 2016, capping off a year of awards and recognitions for VBN staff. Vice President of Sales Michael Even earned the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) credential from the Destination Marketing Association International, the DMO industry’s highest educational achievement. Vice President of Marketing Ed Healy received the David I. Levy Communicator of the Year Award from the Buffalo Director Linda D’Agostino was named Associate Member of

TOURISM MATTERS

the Year by the Empire State Society of Association Executives.

At the 2016 Beacon Awards, Visit Buffalo Niagara

Sports Services and Sales Manager Allison Pawarski was

debuted the “Why Tourism Matters” video, a compilation

named one of 12 nationwide to the Connect Women in Sport

of facts and figures that demonstrate the value of

Tourism forum, while Communications Manager Brian Hayden

tourism to the Buffalo Niagara economy.

completed Leadership Buffalo’s Rising Leaders program.

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TIM RUSSERT AWARD

Top of the Class

chapter of the American Advertising Federation. And Sales

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

OUTSTANDING LODGING EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

&

ISM UR

In May, we celebrated National Travel and Tourism Week, bringing attention to the economic impact of tourism in Erie County. Activities included our 6th annual Beacon Awards luncheon, attended by a record 600+ industry partners, elected officials, volunteers and local vendors.

Anthony Conte was inducted into the Ambassador Hall of Fame for his outstanding work at Shea’s, and we awarded our second $1000 scholarship to a local Depew High School graduate who is attending Niagara University. The 2016 Beacon Award recipients were:

TRAV EL

A BEACON OF EXCELLENCE

Community Outreach Visit Buffalo Niagara partnered with community stakeholders on two downtown Buffalo projects that improved the visitor experience and, in one case, came to the aid of a valued partner in a time of need. VBN worked with local artist Casey Milbrand on his “Greetings from Buffalo” mural project, coordinating with developer Rocco Termini to identify a space for it on Ellicott Street and promoting Casey’s IndieGoGo campaign on social media. VBN also launched a successful GoFundMe campaign in early 2016 to replace a historical marker at the Michigan Street Baptist Church that had been

Mayor Byron Brown, CEO Patrick Kaler, developer Rocco Termini and artist Casey Milbrand unveil the “Greetings from Buffalo” mural on Washington Street.

vandalized.

12

THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE The Buffalo Niagara Convention Center (BNCC) had another successful year as Buffalo’s most expansive conference and event space. More than 284,000 people attended 144 different events and occupied the center on 265 days in 2016. These events contributed more than $35 million to the local economy, based on the Association of Venue Managers calculator. Among the notable events hosted at the Center were the New York State School Boards Association conference, the National Prevention Network Annual Conference and the Wesleyan Church General Conference. Collectively, these events led to 30,500 room night bookings at surrounding hotels. The BNCC had another stellar year of service, too, earning an impressive average score of 4.70/5 on their Guest Satisfaction Surveys.

284,000 144 people attended

different events

WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2017

} Gaufest / June 29-July 2, 2017 » Crack out the lederhosen and strike up the band; Gaufest is coming back to Buffalo.

The biennial gathering of Schuhplattler groups, also known as traditional German folk dance troupes, will converge on the Queen City again in the summer of 2017. Nearly 2,000 visitors are expected for the event, which previously came to Buffalo in 1993 and 2005 and will take place at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. }2 017 Gaelic Games Association Continental Youth Championships / July 26-31, 2017 » A weekend tournament of Gaelic football and hurling competitions involving 3,000 youth athletes and up to 250 teams will take place at the West Seneca Soccer Complex at the end of July.

}T he Garden Writers Association / August 4-7, 2017 Buffalo has developed a reputation in recent years as one of America’s great gardening cities; word will really spread once the Garden Writers Association conference comes to town in August. Between 300 and 400 garden writers and influencers are expected in Buffalo this summer to see how hundreds of homeowners have transformed the city, garden by garden, as well as the Olmsted Parks, the Botanical Gardens and other points of interest. The GWA is expected to generate nearly $1.4 million for the local economy. }W orld Junior Hockey Championships / December 26January 5, 2018 » The World Junior Hockey Championships will once again return to Buffalo in December. Under-20 hockey teams from around the world will converge on downtown Buffalo at KeyBank Center and the adjacent HarborCenter. And the U.S. and Canada will make World Juniors history by playing outdoors in a preliminary game at New Era Field on Dec. 28. The World Juniors are expected to yield 6,000 hotel room nights and generate an estimated $6 million in economic impact, capping off a banner year for amateur athletics in the Buffalo Niagara region.

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

}N ational Homeland Security Conference / June 6-8, 2017 The annual meeting focusing on emergency response disciplines at all levels of government will draw more than 1,000 homeland security and emergency management professionals from the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. It will be held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center and is expected to generate 3,600 total hotel room nights in downtown Buffalo and over $2 million in economic impact.

2016 VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Law Offices of Francis A. Letro

Bridget Niland

Daemen College

Donald K. Boswell

WNY Public Broadcasting Association

Minesh Patel

Adam’s Mark Hotel & Event Center

Steve Boyd, Esq.

Steve Boyd, P.C.

Edward A. Rath, III Erie County Legislature

Jonathan A. Dandes

Rich Baseball Operations

Mary F. Roberts

Martin House Restoration Corporation

Brent Rossi

Pegula Sports & Entertainment

James T. Sandoro

The Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum

Paul Snyder, III

Snyder Corporation

Huseyin Taran

Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER

Toni L. Vazquez

Urban Family Practice

Leslie H. Zemsky

Larkin Square

Dottie Gallagher-Cohen Buffalo Niagara Partnership C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA Lesley Haynes

Erie County Legislature Appointment

Thomas R. Hersey, Jr Erie County Commissioner of Environment & Planning

Patrick J. Kaler

Visit Buffalo Niagara

Randall Kramer

MusicalFare Theatre

Dennis P. Murphy

InnVest Lodging Services, Inc.

2016 COMMITTEES Executive Committee CHAIR:

Jonathan A. Dandes

Rich Baseball Operations

TREASURER :

COMMITTEE MEMBERS CHAIR-ELECT:

Mary F. Roberts PRESIDENT & CEO:

Patrick Kaler

SECRETARY:

Toni L. Vazquez Cindy Abbott-Letro

Martin House Restoration Corp.

Visit Buffalo Niagara

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR:

Dennis P. Murphy

Urban Family Practice Law Offices of Francis A. Letro InnVest Lodging Services, Inc.

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VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

Cindy Abbott-Letro

Budget/Finance/Audit Committee CHAIR:

Cindy Abbott-Letro

Law Offices of Francis A. Letro

STAFF: David Marzo

Chief Financial Officer

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Steve Boyd, Esq.

Steve Boyd, P.C.

Toni L. Vazquez

Urban Family Practice

Sales Committee CHAIR: Huseyin Taran Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER

Debbie Heller

Millenium Hotel Buffalo

STAFF: Mike Even VP of Sales

David Lacki

Ellicott Development

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Russ Papia

The Westin Buffalo

Clorissa Bapst

Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER

Alisha Perrault

Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport

Kim Bauer

Residence Inn Buffalo Amherst

Megan Porter

Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport

Melissa Burke

Buffalo Niagara Convention Center

Monica Rapini

Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo

Matt Chiazza

Embassy Suites Buffalo

Edwin Shelp

Adam’s Mark Hotel & Events Center

Wendy Clubine

Buffalo Lodging

Renee Stupski-Pundt Doubletree Club by Hilton

Michael Dobell

Hyatt Regency Buffalo

Heather Turkay

Buffalo Niagara Marriott

Ann Dugan

Buffalo Lodging

Daryl Whitcomb

Holiday Inn Buffalo Airport

Kelly Fox

Aloft Buffalo Airport

Jennifer Whittington Staybridge Suites Airport

Olivia Galante

Hart Hotels

Desirae Zontek

Colleen George

Buffalo Lodging

Buffalo Lodging

Marketing Committee

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CHAIR: Leslie Zemsky

Larkin Square

STAFF: Ed Healy

VP of Marketing

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

E. Frits Abell

Impact Industries

Jim Charlier

JCharlier Communication Design

Caitlin Deibel

Martin House Restoration Corp.

C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA Dora Kukuliatas- Wisniewski

Tom’s Restaurant

Katie McKenna

University at Buffalo

Diana Principe

The Mansion on Delaware Avenue

Mary Roberts

Martin House Restoration Corporation

Kathleen Rooney

Kathleen Rooney Communications

James T. Sandoro Buffalo Transportation/ Pierce-Arrow Museum

Maria Scully-Morreale Albright-Knox Art Gallery Sara Serafin

Canalside Buffalo

Zach Specht

Pegula Sports & Entertainment

Sandy White

Freelance Writer

Destination Development Committee CHAIR: Randall Kramer MusicalFare Theatre

Brad Hahn

Explore Buffalo

STAFF: Cindy Kincaide D irector, Industry Relations &

Leslie Haynes

County of Erie Appointment

Lynn Marinelli

Empire State Development Corp.

Megan Porter

Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport

Destination Development

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Constance Caldwell

Buffalo History Museum

Rob Free

Pettibones/NYS Restaurant Assn.

Dan Garvey

Roycroft Inn/NYS Restaurant Assn.

Todd Geise

Buffalo Zoo

Gary Praetzel Jen Swan

Arts Services Initiative

2016 BUFFALO NIAGARA SPORTS COMMISSION ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIR: C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Jonathan A. Dandes Rick Aronberg

Rich Baseball Operations

Russ Brandon

Buffalo Bills & Buffalo Sabres

STAR Swimming

2016 VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA STAFF Information Technology Manager Marketing Manager Accounting and Benefits Manager Information Specialist Convention Services Manager Regional Sales Director Visitor Center Manager Vice President of Sales & Services Director of Marketing Director of Sports Sales Director of Sports Development Communications Manager Vice President of Marketing

Patrick Kaler President & CEO Cindy Kincaide Director, Industry Relations and Destination Development

Tracy Martell David Marzo Leah Mueller Danielle Pastor Allison Pawarski Mary Jane Poleto Judy Smith Matt Steinberg Lauren Vargo Lori White Dionne Williamson

Convention Services Manager Chief Financial Officer Tourism Sales Director Administrative Assistant Sports Sales and Services Manager Information Specialist Director of Administration Director of Creative Services Administrative Assistant National Sales Director Sales Director; Specialty Market

2016 BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER STAFF Richard Arnold Sous Chef Melissa Bean Convention & Event Service Manager Tom Beiter Controller Melissa Burke Senior Director of Sales and Marketing

Lorna Cullen Susan Kimmins MaryAnn Martin Samuel Mendez Paul Murphy

Executive Assistant Sales & Catering Manager Accounting & Benefits Manager Assistant Operations Manager Facility Director

Terry O’Brien Heather Petrino Keith Pitman Kenneth Sandford Paul Scime Raymond Thom Amy Trautman Brooke Williams Raymond Williams Danielle Winiarski

15

Director of Operations Sales & Service Coordinator Electrician Chief Engineer Food & Beverage Manager Executive Chef Convention Sales Manager Banquet Manager Timekeeper/Security Convention & Event Service Manager

VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM

Kathy Benzel Drew Brown Michele Butlak JoAnn Blatner Karen Cox Linda D’Agostino Denise Drews Michael Even Karen Fashana Charles Giglia Pete Harvey Brian Hayden Ed Healy

2016 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW

Mike Buczkowski Buffalo Bisons Stephen Butler Niagara University Chris Catanzaro Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp.

Brian Cavanaugh D’Youville College Drew Cerza Just Wing It Productions Christopher Ciamaga HARBORCENTER Ryan Coate Spectra Therese Forton-Barnes Events to a Tee Sean Green Riverworks Allen Greene University at Buffalo Kathleen Gregoire Skating Club of WNY Eric Guzdek Northtown Center at Amherst Perry Jenkins University at Buffalo

Peter Jerebko Erie Community College Leo Kaminsky NYSPHSAA Tom Koller Buffalo State College John Lambert University at Buffalo Joe Lojacono Valmark Associates John Maddock Canisius College Bill Maher Canisius College Lynn Marinelli Empire State Development Corp.

Bridget Niland Daemen College Ron Raccuia AdPro Team Sports Edward Rath, Jr. Erie County Legislature Nicholas Salvatore Salvatore’s Italian Gardens Bob Schell Amherst Youth Hockey Lisa Scherer Scherer Event Management Timm Slade Section VI Charles C. Swanekamp Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel Kathleen Twist University at Buffalo Jennifer Van Rysdam First Niagara Center

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT BUFFALO A new Buffalo is on the move, rising upward with great dynamism, realizing the future is now. In the

#Buffalo’s not Austin yet (thank goodness),

maintained turn-of-the-century homes,

but it finally knows how great it could be.

the passion of Buffalonians is reflected

EDITOR, FROMMERS.COM

second largest city in the state with a distinct personality of tree-lined streets, diverse neighborhoods, and wonderfully

JASON COCHRANE, VIA TWITTER

in the innovative fabric of the city.

LA TRAVEL

Buffalo, without a doubt, I think, is one of the great eating cities,” said Michael Stern, a founder of roadfood.com. “When you think of gastronomic meccas in the country, you don’t think of upstate New York. But, in fact, it has so much to offer.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

NOW NEARLY COMPLETE, THE (DARWIN MARTIN) HOUSE IS THE LYNCHPIN OF A FIVE-SITE ‘ALL WRIGHT, ALL DAY’ TOUR THAT AIMS TO BRING HIS FANS TO UPSTATE NEW YORK AND

BACK ON THE MAP AS A MAJOR DESIGN DESTINATION.

CONDE NAST TRAVELER

403 Main Street

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Suite 630

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Buffalo, New York 14203

VisitBuffaloNiagara.com

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716.852.0511