2008 Annual Report Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau

Transcription

1 2008 Annual Report Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau

2 08 Greetings from Alabama s Gulf Coast! Tourism on Alabama's Gulf Coast began in 2008 with quite a bit of optimism after a record year in But as the year progressed, we faced rising gas prices and a weakening national economy. Using lodging revenue as our key indicator, the snowbird season of '08 started us off with a 7% increase. Spring was somewhat soft (-2.5%) as we had anticipated, and that was due primarily to an early March Easter, which always has a negative impact on our spring break family vacations. Summer lodging numbers held their own (-0.3%), bringing our year-to-date at just about even with the previous record year. Then along came Labor Day weekend and the storm clouds began to swirl both in the Gulf as well as on Wall Street. When 2008 ended, our lodging revenue for Gulf Shores and Orange Beach combined had fallen just over 2.8%. Not bad when you consider all that happened. When you see totals this close to the previous year, obviously some companies saw an increase, and some realized a decline. Retail sales on the island were down 10.1% overall, but according to reports from the City of Orange Beach, when those sales were analyzed by type of business, the categories where tourists spend their money, such as restaurants, retail shops, grocery stores, etc. were only down 3.2%. Condominium occupancy rates ran even with the previous year at 46.6%, peaking out in July at 81%. Hotel occupancy rates dropped from 58.2% in '07 to 51.8% in '08, peaking at 86.6% in July. And one last statistic for you numbers junkies: total rounds of golf reflected a 5% decline for the year. So, when one considers all that was going on in the world, tourism along Alabama's Gulf Coast fared better than most other destinations. What this tells us is, that even in the face of major uncertainty, Alabama s Gulf Coast is a treasured necessity that many vacationers are not willing to give up. Herbert J. Malone, Jr. President/C.E.O. Board of Directors Leonard Kaiser, Chairman Kaiser Realty Bill Brett, Vice Chairman Brett/Robinson Gulf Corp. Ed Evans, Secretary-Treasurer The Beach Club Mayor Robert Craft City of Gulf Shores Craft Development Corporation Ben Fairey Charter Boat Necessity Johnny Fisher Lulu s at Homeport Marina Sheila Hodges Meyer Real Estate Mayor Tony Kennon City of Orange Beach Pedro Mandoki Mandoki Hospitality Group Frank Reed Reed Real Estate Tommy Robinson Brett/Robinson Gulf Corp. Mark Stillings Kiva Dunes

3 Internet Marketing Website visit trend data remained constant for 2008, while traffic fell slightly in September and October. There was a 7.6% increase over website visits in However, it became apparent that approximately 15% of all traffic was coming from search engine bots and crawlers. We decided it was time to change the reporting to exclude bots and therefore report human-only traffic. This proved successful as numbers then jumped and we were able to show a 20% increase in traffic over The chart below illustrates the trends with and without the bots. 450,000 Total 400,000 Visits 2008 w/crawlers 2008 w/o crawlers 350,000 gulfshores.com (only) 3,176,381 2,675, ,000 mobile.gulfshores.com 87,270 34,015 golf.gulfshores.com 250, , ,629 alabamabeachsports.com 200,000 31,645 17,073 alabamacoastalcleanup.com 18,343 12, ,000 alabamaseaturtles.com 31,413 23,782 battleofmobilebay.com 100,000 24,899 16,932 50, w/bots 2008 w/bots 2007 w/o bots 2008 w/o bots 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Website Stats Var. Industry Partner Impressions 41,814,206 47,262, % Industry Partner Clicks 2,783,508 2,883, % Industry Partner Booking Clicks 170, , % Downloads Var. RSS: What's Biting 3 47, , % RSS: Media Releases 3 2,688 25, % 1 Only as far back as March 2 Page Views 3 Launched in November 2007 Internet Advertising Totals Var. Spend $439, $510, % Clicks 142,433 83, % CVIs 210, , % Average Cost per CVI $2.09 $ % Includes all online campaigns: Golf/ Leisure/ Sweeps/Mobile

4 Advertising Traditional advertising, including newspaper, magazine and radio campaigns, remained a large focus of the CVB s marketing plan. Targeting prime markets throughout the Southeast and the Midwest resulted in 94,350 inquiries received in up 16,920 from the previous year. In keeping with the CVB s focus on achieving maxium results for its advertising dollar, the advertising program finished the year with a combined cost per inquiry of $2.62, well under its $5 goal. Some highlights include: Compass Family Travel Planner Inquiries - 13,293 Cost per inquiry - $.61 Return on investment - $ Spring Co-op - America s Best Vacation Sunbelt Inquiries - 4,002 Cost per inquiry - $1.25 Return on investment - $ Redbook Inquiries - 4,556 Cost per inquiry - $1.73 Return on investment - Not yet available Visitors to Baldwin County in million -.02% Travel-related employment in Baldwin County in ,567 jobs -0.5% Travel-related wages and salaries in Baldwin County in 2008 $927,726,351 2% growth Travel-related expenditures in Baldwin County in 2008 $2.26 billion -1% Source: Economic Impact of Alabama Travel Industry 2008 Center for Business and Economic Development, Auburn University Montgomery Groups and Meetings The group sales department far exceeded the majority of goals set for them in Sales Leads sent to Industry Partners and Definite Room Nights Booked, came in at 89% and 157% of goal respectively. The department also had measurements, which are a means of meeting those goals, and in those categories the department met 117% of sales call goals, 141% of site visits and 246% of information sent. The department brought 226 groups to the area. Sports Events The Sports Commission also had a great year in terms of meeting goals. The sales team met 95% of its sponsorship sales goal and 127% of goal for the number of events held. They too have measurement goals and were at 107% of the sales call goal and 112% of the site visit goal. The Sports Commission hosted 26 events in 2009, resulting in 10,081 room nights.

5 Public Relations With an intense public relations campaign, the CVB produced a consistent stream of publicity in local, regional and national markets. To achieve these results shown below, the organization hosted two major group trips and several individual press trips for writers representing various regional and national publications. Expanding efforts to the broadcast arena, the CVB hosted a BBC radio senior correspondent in addition to assisting with the filming of several television broadcasts, including George Poveromo s World of Saltwater Fishing (aired on ESPN2), Alabama Stories and At Your Service (both of which aired on Alabama Public Television). Other projects included generating 98 press releases, collaborating with the Alabama Tourism Department on multiple projects, and generating media coverage for the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo CVB Media Coverage 430 newspaper articles reaching people 29 million people 102 magazine articles reaching people 67 million people 48 online-only pubs 50 television stories 4 radio interviews 23 other avenues = 657 total stories, 96 million total print circulation 2008 Sports Commission Media Coverage 91 newspaper articles reaching people about 4 million people 2 magazine articles reaching people about 57,000 people 12 online-only pubs 4 television stories 0 radio interviews 10 other avenues = 119 total stories, 4 million total print circulation 2008 Thunder on the Gulf Media Coverage 64 print articles (newspaper and magazines) 15 online (e-newsletters, online-only pubs, etc) 20 broadcast (radio and TV) = 99 total stories, 4 million total print circulation Hospitality & Information The Hospitality & Information department greeted 60,828 visitors in the Gulf Shores Welcome Center and 72,781 in Orange Beach. They also answered 3,137 phone calls from prospective visitors and mailed 94,350 Alabama Gulf Coast Vacation Guides. The states with the highest visitation at the CVB s Welcome Centers were: Gulf Shores: Alabama, Mississippi, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kentucky, Minnesota Orange Beach: Alabama, Michigan, Illinois, Mississippi, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee

6 Income and Expense Statement for FY 2008 Revenue Tax Revenue 4,596, % Golf Association Co-op 250, % Grants 32, % Tourism Summit Sponsorships 8, % Other Revenue 24, % Interest Income 6, % Total Revenue 4,917, % Expense Personnel Expenses Salaries, Taxes, Benefits 1,423, % Total Personnel Expenses 1,423, % Direct Promotional Expense Advertising 1,846, % Public Relations 35, % Convention Services 21, % Fam/Site Tours 54, % Fulfillment 23, % Phone 51, % Postage 145, % Promotions/Promotional Materials 110, % Travel & Trade Shows 12, % Travel & Entertainment 61, % Research 151, % Total Direct Promotional Expenses 2,514, % Operational Expense Building Repair & Maintenance 76, % Computer Equipment/Maintenance 129, % Dues & Subscriptions 36, % Equipment Lease & Rental 38, % Equipment Repair & Maintenance 46, % Insurance 100, % Licenses & Taxes % Local Meetings & Travel 25, % Professional Development 10, % Professional Services 23, % Rent - Gulf Shores Office 41, % Supplies 33, % Utilities 49, % Miscellaneous 2, % Debt Service 98, % Debt Service - Interest 145, % Total Operational Expense 858, % Transfers to Special Events Fund 95, % Transfers to Sports Commission Fund 15, % Transfers to Powerboat Race Fund 142, % Transfer to Emergency Reserve Fund 200, % Total All Expense 5,249, % Net Revenue Over Expense (331,358) -6.74%