Hernando County Tourist Development

Council Members

John Athanason City of Weeki Wachee

Joe Bernardini

City of Brooksville

Michael DeFelice Hernando County Growers

Association

Michael Dolan FSC Business Consultants

Roger King

The Dolan House

Yann Milcendeau Hernando Beach Motel

John Mitten

Hernando County Board of County Commissioners

Catherine Reeves The Bistro

Therese White Motel 6

____________________

Tammy J. Heon Manager, Tourism

Development

 

Nature’s Place to Play  

MEMORANDUM TO: Members of the Hernando County Tourist Development Council FROM: Tammy J. Heon, Manger, Tourism Development SUBJECT: TDC Meeting DATE: April 7, 2020 The TDC Meeting is scheduled for 2:00 pm on Thursday, April 9, 2020. To comply with CDC guidelines on public gatherings, this meeting will be conducted via Skype. To join the meeting by phone; dial 1-863-510-7930; the Conference ID is 694617667. Citizens are encouraged to participate by phone and submit their comments to be entered into the record via email to theon@FloridasAdventureCoast.com. The deadline to submit public comment for the April 9 TDC meeting will be 5:00 p.m. on April 9, 2020. Attached are your minutes from the previous meeting, back up material and agenda. If you have not already done so, please confirm your attendance at this time via email to mrose@FloridasAdventureCoast.com. Thank you,

Tammy J. Heon

Hernando County Tourist Development Council Meeting April 9, 2020 2:00PM – 4:00PM Location: Via Skype Dial-in number: +1 (863) 510-7930 Pin number: 694617667

Meeting called by: Tammy J. Heon, Manager, Tourism Development Mission Statement The Hernando County Tourist Development Council will identify, create, support and enhance activities, consistent with community assets that increase visitation and provide local economic impact. 2:00 Call to Order 2:00 - 2:30 Approval of Minutes – March 12, 2020 meeting Finance Report – Tammy Heon Tourism Manager’s Report – Tammy Heon

Update on Tourism Operations due to COVID-19 Team Update Marketing efforts Budget Revisions Hotels & VHRs Tourism Economics & Trends for Recovery

Consent Agenda

Leads Report Website Analytics

2:30-2:40 Old Business Grant Funding Training - August Madden Media Advertising Program

2:40:3:40 New Business

2020-2021 Budget – Action Item

3:40-3:50 Council Member Reports John Athanason, City of Weeki Wachee Joe Bernardini, City of Brooksville John Mitten, County Commissioner Catherine Reeves, The Bistro Michael Dolan, FSC Business Consultants Michael DeFelice, Hernando Grower’s Association Yann Milcendeau, Hernando Beach Motel Roger King, The Dolan House Therese White, Motel 6

3:50-4:00 Public Comment 4:00 Adjournment of Business Meeting

TDC Meeting 03/12/2020

Page 1

HERNANDO COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

“The Hernando County Tourist Development Council will identify, create, support and enhance activities, consistent with community assets, that increase visitation and provide local economic impact.”

March 12, 2020 – MINUTES OF MEETING

The Hernando County Tourist Development Council conducted their meeting on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 2:00 pm. The meeting was held in the conference room at the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport, 15800 Flight Path Drive, Brooksville. The meeting had been advertised and the public was invited to attend. The following is an attendance record and summary of discussions that took place at the meeting. MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF: Michael DeFelice Tammy Heon, Tourism Development Manager Mike Dolan Michelle Rose, Administrative Assistant II Roger King Yann Milcendeau Therese White EXCUSED: John Athanason, Joe Bernardini, John Mitten, Catherine Reeves CALL TO ORDER: Mike Dolan called the meeting to order at 2:43 pm, on Thursday, March 12, 2020. MINUTES of the February 13, 2020 Meeting: A copy of the minutes of the February 13, 2020, TDC meeting was included in the meeting package. MOTION: A motion was made by Michael DeFelice to approve the minutes of the February 13, 2020, TDC Meeting. Motion seconded by Therese White. Motion passed; all in favor and no opposed. FINANCE REPORT: Tammy Heon Tammy Heon reported that the January collections were $98,443.77, an increase of 17.8% over January 2019, which had returned $85,540.22. YTD collections as of January 7, 2020, is $350,351.76 is 14.5% increase over FY 2019 which were $305,983.98. The February collections were $129,625.47, an increase of 52.8% over FY 2019, which returned $84,836.61. YTD collections are $479,977.23 which is an increase of 22.8% over last year at this time when YTD collections were $390,820.59. Tammy Heon reported that the trend is positive as we are showing an increase of 22.8% over February 2019 and a 10.7% increase YTD from 2019 when we were down $39,000 YTD due to hurricanes and red tide. She noted that collections are from vacation rental homes revenues. She feels the $20,000 software expenditure for the Clerk’s office, Host Compliance, allows the office to identify vacation rental homes is paying off. However, it is important to note that some of these revenues are a one-time payment as the Clerk’s office is collecting taxes back to 2015 for those homes that have been rented that long. Additionally, some homeowners are discovering that renting out their home eliminates their homestead exemption and will be choosing not to rent in the future. It may be six months before we can accurately see any trends or predictable revenues.

TDC Meeting 03/12/2020

Page 2 Expenses YTD are personnel and benefits at $112,427 with a balance of $272,154. Operating expenses YTD are $385,602 with $211,256 encumbered and a balance of $217,473. Non-operating expenses YTD are $47,800 with a balance of $193,518. Total YTD expenses are $545,829 leaving a balance including reserves of $683,145. TOURISM MANAGER’S REPORT: Tammy Heon Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: Tammy Heon reported that the Governor has suspended travel for all state employees for 30 days. He has recommended mass gathering events of 250 people be cancelled. Therefore, Friday Night Live is cancelled. Welcome Center: Construction is nearly complete. The cabling installation and furniture assembly are scheduled for next week. We’ll start to unpack on Friday. The decorative shutters are being painted bright blue. The wall graphics are being hung today. Tammy’s hopes are that the ribbon cutting celebration be scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, with the Chamber of Commerce and Mainstreet Program. That date falls during National Travel and Tourism Week. Downtown restaurants can participate in a Taste of Brooksville event to go along with the ribbon cutting. Grant Funding: Tammy Heon reported that we are modifying the forms and process this year. Instead of recipients attending training after approval of a grant, applicants must attend training to prior to applying, thereby being fully aware of procedures and requirements beforehand. Grant funding training is planned during National Travel and Tourism Week. CONSENT AGENDA: VIC Reports, Leads Reports, Website Analytics MOTION: A motion was made by Michael DeFelice to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion seconded by Yann Milcendeau. Motion passed; all in favor and no opposed. NEW BUSINESS: Madden Media: The Visit Florida co-op retargeting campaign proved to be a great success over the past two years. Tammy Heon said that the original approval and commitment of $9,000 generates 23,000 views. Advancing to the $20,000 level will increase our views to 50,000 and run eight months. This campaign can be turned off and turned back on without penalties as there are guard rails in place with Visit Florida during crises situations. The program will include a 30 second video advertisement. We will utilize our fantastic b-roll assets collected from TV show footage and video captured at various events. Tammy Heon said that we can create a very nice 30 second video and have a great ad campaign that has historically performed well for us. This campaign’s trackability is much more effective than our print campaigns, which are limited to reader response cards. Discussion ensued regarding moving forward considering the new COVID-19 developments of the past 24 hours. MOTION: A motion was made by Roger King to adopt the expansion of the campaign to the $20,000 level. Motion seconded by Therese White. Motion passed. TDC MEMBERS REPORTS: Michael DeFelice: He reported that he has resigned from The Hernando County Growers Association board and there is a new board in place. Yann Milcendeau: He reported that he has abruptly lost reservations at the hotel due to COVID-19. Roger King: He reported that he has lost two reservation because guests are afraid to travel by plane due to COVID-19.

TDC Meeting 03/12/2020

Page 3 Therese White: She reported that she has observed a slight downturn in the market this week due to COVID-19. However, the annual repeat visitors seem unaffected because they feel safe in Florida. Michael Dolan: Nothing to report at this time. PUBLIC COMMENT: Nothing to report at this time. The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 pm. Prepared by: Michelle Rose

1,500 500 850Distribution:

1,113Monthly Average: 1,500Current Inventory:2,850Year To Date:

Brochure Distribution Report

Michelle RoseFlorida’s Adventure Coast Brooksville – WeekiWachee Visitors Bureau

March 31, 2020Prepared for:

Website Analytics Summary – March 2020 (3/1 – 3/31)

OVERVIEW Traffic & Pageviews

Sessions Users Pageviews Pages/Session/Duration %New Sessions 11,679 10,593 36,261 3.10 1:05 88.98

GEOGRAPHY Top States

Top Cities

Acquisition Top Traffic Sources

Social Media Traffic

Top Referrers

Behavior New vs Returning

Top Pages Visited Page Title

Landing Page

Exit Page

Content Drilldown

Demographics

Interests

Technology

CAMPAIGNS

CAMPAIGNS – TOP WITH DETAIL

(compared to March 2019)

Google Search Console Report – March 2020 (3/1 – 3/31)

OVERVIEW

SEARCH Top Queries

SEARCH Top Pages

SEARCH Top Dates

Destinations Florida and Downs & St. Germain Research

COVID-19 Impact on Florida TourismMarch 24th 2020

Study Purpose & Methodology

• This study is designed to track the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry of Florida.

• The first wave of surveys were sent on March 19, 2020 by DMOs to industry partners in their respective counties.

• A total of 995 completed surveys from industry partners in 37 counties are included in this report.

• This study is a collaboration between Destinations Florida and Downs & St. Germain Research, which donated its time and expertise to this project.

• The number of responses by county ranged from 2 to 142, and no attempt was made to weight results by county.

2

Major Impacts on Tourism Businesses Since March 1

• Hotels, vacation rental agencies, B & Bs, etc., reported a drop in occupancy compared to 2019• 82% occupancy this week in March 2019

• 23% occupancy this week in March 2020

• 99% of hotels, vacation rental agencies, B & Bs, etc., had drops in bookings 30 days out• Average decrease was 63%

• 94% of hotels, vacation rental agencies, B & Bs, etc., had drops in bookings 60 days out• Average decrease was 49%

3

Major Impacts on Tourism Businesses Since March 1

• 97% of tourism businesses had drops in profits & revenues• Average decrease in revenue was 49%

• Average decrease in profit was 47%

• 1 in 3 tourism business laid off employees

• 6 in 10 tourism businesses cut employees hours

• 1 in 2 tourism businesses had difficulty securing critical supplies

4

Average Occupancy for this Week in March 2019 vs. 2020

5

82%

23%

Average Occupancy for this Week in March

2019 2020

Bookings

6

-63%

-49%

Average Drop in Bookings

30 Day Out 60 Days Out

99% of hotels, rental agencies, B & Bs etc., reported a drop in bookings 30 days out

94% of hotels, rental agencies, B & Bs etc., reported a drop in bookings 60 days out

Revenue and Profit

7

-47%-49%

Average Profit and Revenue Drop Due to COVID-19

Profit Revenue

97% of tourism businesses reported a drop in profits

97% of tourism businesses reported a drop in revenue

Layoffs & Hours

8

33%

67%

Have you laid any employees off since March 1, 2020?

Yes

No

58%

42%

Have you cut employees’ hours since March 1, 2020?

Yes

No

Government Required Actions

9

25%

22%

12% 12%

37%

20%

Reduce capacity Close Reduce hours Have employees workfrom home

No Change Other

Because of COVID – 19, have you been required by government agencies to:

Voluntary Actions

10

25%24%

23%22%

20% 20%

Close Reduce capacity Reduce hours Have employees workfrom home

No Change Other

Because of COVID – 19, have you decided on your own to:

Supplies and Labor

11

50%50%

Had difficulty securing critical supplies since March 1, 2020?

Yes

No

16%

84%

Had difficulty getting enough employees to report to

work since March 1, 2020?

Yes

No

Outlook

12

1%

8%

13%

10%

18%

7%

10%

3%

30%

31-Mar 15-Apr 30-Apr 15-May 31-May 15-Jun 30-Jun 15-Jul After July

When do you think the major impact of COVID – 19 will end?

Tourism Busines Profile

Tourism Business Revenue

14

62%

15%

7% 5% 4% 4% 4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

<$1 million $1 to $1.9 million $2 to $3.4 million $3 to $4.9 million $5 to $9.9 million $10 to $24.9million

$25 million ormore

Total revenues for tourism businesses in 2019

Tourism Business Size

15

60%

17%

11%

5%

4%

3%

2%

<10

10-24

25 - 49

50 - 99

100 – 249

250 – 499

500 ormore

Number of employees for tourism businesses

Types of Tourism Businesses

16

14%13%

11%7%

6%6%

5%5%

4%3%

3%2%

2%2%

1%1%

1%1%

1%1%

1%1%1%1%

0.3%0.2%

8%

Vacation rental home/condoBar/RestaurantHotel or motel

RetailEvents, concerts, festival, weddings

Arts, museum, cultural, etcSports (e g , golf, tennis, fishing, boating, baseball, etc )

Government, schools, etcReal estateAttraction

MedicalBed and Breakfast

Visitors servicesMedia

Health/WellnessFinance/Economic Development

Nature, ecology, etcConstruction

Non-profitTransportation

RV parks and campgroundsMeeting facility/meeting resources

DMOPark

Tour OperatorMarina

Other

Destinations Florida and Downs & St. Germain Research

COVID-19 Impact on Florida TourismMarch 24th 2020