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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHotel-Signature Evnts Cmte - 10-01-2014CITY OF PALM DESERT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM To: Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk From: Robin McCormick, Economic Development Technician Date: September 8, 2015 Subject: Submission of Minutes for the Hotel & Signature Events Committee Attached for your records are the approved minutes of the Hotel & Signature Events Committee Meetings of October 1, 2014, November 5, 2014, January 7, 2015, March 4, 2015, April 1, 2015 and June 8, 2015. Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. Thank you. Attachments (as noted) G \Econ Deveiopment\Hotei Committee\RK Memo - Minutes ooc 03 PALM DESERT APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT HOTEL AND SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, October 1, 2014 — 4 p.m. North Wing Conference Room — Palm Desert Civic Center 73510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260 CALL TO ORDER John Wohlmuth called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Marilyn Dyer Jeff Kokinacis Jan Harnik Arnold Kirschenbaum Ralph Scatena Bob Spiegel Scott White Staff /Others Present: John Wohlmuth, City Manager Rudy Acosta, Assistant City Manager Martin Alvarez, Director of Economic Development Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst Rachelle Klassen, City Clerk Robin McCormick, Recording Secretary KC Kinsey, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR None APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING October 1, 2014 V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. INTRODUCTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND STAFF Mr. Wohlmuth asked that everyone introduce themselves. Rachelle Klassen briefly informed the members of their obligation to complete Form 700. Once the packets were distributed Ms. Klassen swore in the members. B. DATES AND TIMES FOR MEETINGS Mr. Wohlmuth began by asking if Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. was good with all members. Mr. Wohlmuth suggested we start with even months (due to the By -Laws stating meetings would be every two months). It was noted that since this is a new committee and there are many items that need to be discussed, Mr. Wohlmuth suggested that there be a November meeting, calling it a special meeting then continue with a regular December meeting. Ms. Harnik suggested that there could be a need for an additional meeting in October since there are many important items coming up to discuss. C. SELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR Mr. Wohlmuth asked for Chairman nominations after a brief description of the position. Robert Spiegel moved to nominate Ralph Scatena as the Chairman. The motion was seconded by Jan Harnik and carried by 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Dyer, Harnik, Kirshcenbaum, Scatena, Spiegel, and White; NOES: None; ABSENT: Kokinacis). Mr. Wohlmuth asked for Vice Chairman nominations. Jan Harnik moved to nominate Scott White as Vice Chairman. The motion was seconded by Robert Spiegel and carried by 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Dyer, Harnik, Kirshcenbaum, Scatena, Spiegel, and White; NOES: None; ABSENT: Kokinacis). D. CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION OF BY-LAWS FOR HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENT COMMITTEE 2 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING October 1, 2014 Mr. Wohlmuth explained the draft By -Laws. Meeting times and dates will need to be decided. The members of the committee will vote on the contents of the By-laws. Mr. Wohlmuth recommended keeping the By - Laws the same, but plan that staff have monthly meeting for at least the first half of the year, October through March. After that the committee can take a look at how late spring and summer look for activities and decide whether to continue monthly or go to every other month meetings. One of the changes asked for was that the committee be able to create sub -committees that would meet on an ad hoc basis. Making it so interested parties could also attend. Robert Spiegel moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the By -Laws with the addition of adding sub -committees. Motion was seconded by Jan Harnik and carried by 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Dyer, Harnik, Kirshcenbaum, Scatena, Spiegel, and White; NOES: None; ABSENT: Kokinacis). After the vote, Mr. Wohlmuth added that the "term" of each member needed to be determined. Each member chose a piece of paper with a date on it signifying the length of their term. The results were: Marilyn Dyer 12/31/16 Two Year Term Arnold Kirshcenbaum 12/31/17 Three Year Term Jeff Kokinacis 12/31/17 Three Year Term Ralph Scatena 12/31/18 Four Year Term Scott White 12/31/18 Four Year Term E. HOTEL INDUSTRY UPDATE Mr. White handed out two reports (Greater Palm Springs STR Data 2011- 2014 and Greater Palm Springs -by cities for August 2014) that are generated by STR and explained some of the data on each report. There was much discussion on the industry's challenge to grow mid -week business. Mr. Scatena stated that groups are very important to the hotels for that type of business. Ms. Harnik asked if Scottsdale and Phoenix was similar to the Coachella Valley. Mr. White said it is hard to compare those cities to the Coachella Valley because they have one of the busiest airports in the country with Southwest and everything else. The Coachella Valley loses a lot of business to Scottsdale/Phoenix because of their air service. Mr. Spiegel asked if there was any way to get Southwest in Palm Springs. Mr. White responded that there could be an opportunity to go after low cost carriers. 3 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING October 1, 2014 There are new smaller, fuel efficient planes coming on board. In order for this to be done it would take the cities in the valley to develop some type of fund to give "marketing support" to the airlines. Mr. White said that they have hired a company to do an analysis on how many people are from the Coachella Valley going to LAX and Ontario airports and what is their destination. Mr. Scatena added that our challenge is to figure out how to increase fight traffic to and from the Northeast and Washington DC area. It is a big obstacle for us, as it takes either two stops to get here or not enough flights in/out of the valley. Other areas have solved the flight problem, making them a more desirable destination. Ms. Dyer reported that Intrawest was busy all summer with Canadian visitors. They love the warm weather. There are 66 vacation homes and turn over two to three times a week. She stated if they had more rooms, they would have more visitors. West Jet has a direct flight which makes Palm Desert a desirable destination for the Canadian visitor. F. INTRODUCTION TO MEASURE G AND H Mr. Wohlmuth informed the committee that there are two Council Member seats open and on the ballet, one incumbent, Jan Harnik, running for a second term and the other open seat is due to Jean Benson retiring along with Measure "G" and Advisory Measure "H". Mr. Wohlmuth explained that should the City of Palm Desert voters pass the Measure "G" ordinance increasing the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from nine percent (9%) to eleven (11%) percent Advisory Measure "H" is written to solely allocated the two percent (2%) increase to promotional efforts, including advertising, public relations, special event publicity, marketing collateral development, the City's monthly BrightSide newsletter, and the official Palm Desert tourism website to maintain a consistent image for the City's local, regional, and national marketing campaigns. Mr. Wohlmuth advised that if the answer is YES on Advisory Measure "H" the Council would commit that to those budgets, if the answer is NO on the Advisory measure "H" and fifty-one percent (51 %) of the voters vote YES on Measure "G", then it is the total discretion of City Council as to where to two percent (2%) is allocated. It could go to Fire, Police, Marketing, General Fund, etc. Mr. White asked what the value of the two percent increase represented. Mr. Wohlmuth answered approximately $2,000,000. There was much discussion on the support of these measures. Both Ms. Harnik and Mr. Spiegel feel that it is necessary to educate the voters as 4 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING October 1, 2014 much as possible. Ms. Harnik suggested preparing a flyer that could be handed out at meetings explaining that there would not be an increase in taxes to the Palm Desert residents would be a great help. Mr. Scatena added that the title of the flyer should be changed to Hotel Visitor Tax Increase, with aka: Transient Occupancy Tax and in a bullet point format. Another idea suggested by Ms. Harnik is to schedule a town hall meeting at one of the hotels or the Joslyn Center to bring the voters out to make sure they understand this increase would only affect hotel guests as it is a "hotel tax increase". Mr. Wohlmuth shared that with the help of David Hermann, they are contacting groups and organizations in Palm Desert such as Rotary, Builders Associations, and the Joslyn Center where he can do a presentation and discuss the measures. Mr. Spiegel suggested that Mr. White could possibly speak at the Chamber Breakfast. Ms. Harnik thought the Chamber could include information in their email blasts. Ms. Harnik suggested that there should be a sub -committee that would meet on an ad hoc basis to further discuss other avenues to educate the voters. Mr. Wohlmuth offered to be on the committee, along with Ms. Harnik, Mr. White, Mr. Scatena and Mr. Hermann. Mr. Wohlmuth said he would work on setting up a conference call. DISCUSSION OF EVENTS/IDEAS THAT CREATE HOTEL VISITS Mr. Wohlmuth went over the concept of this committee ideas starting with "Characteristics of Signature Events", on with "Themes of Special Events" and "Signature Even is a summary of all ideas: Characteristics of Signature Events • Overnight Audience • Unique • Leverage on Existing Events • Align with Brand of Palm Desert/Hotels • Speak to Millennials • Potential for Growth • Consider Existing Assets • Shoulder Season • Weekday Event (4-5 days at least) • Expand Weekend Events • Draw -Enough -Fun • Sunday-Thursday/Teachers and asked for then continuing t Ideas". Below 5 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING October 1, 2014 • Those that can Travel/Professionals • Advertise to Larger Market Themes of Special Events • Food • Jazz • Music • Family Themes of Special Events, cont'd • Art • Health & Wellness • Cultural Tourism • Recreation/Outdoor • Sports Competitions • Auto/Expo/Auction Signature Event Ideas • New Year's Eve Party on El Paseo • Jazz Festival • Art Prize • Film Festival (Partnership w/ Palm Springs) • Sunset Events • Food & Wine Stand Alone • Skateboard Event • Soccer • Car Auction/Car Show • Art Auction • Sculpture Symposium • Brew Fest • Golden Voice Concerts • Meeting Planner Swim VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING October 1, 2014 IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS None X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chairman B. Committee Members Mr. Spiegel asked that Mr. Alvarez update the committee on the hotel at Larkspur and Desert Willow properties for next meeting. C. Staff Mr. Alvarez discussed with the committee the Coachella Valley Annual Events for 2014-2015. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS XII. NEXT MEETING DATE —November 5, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. XIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m. hwl— / I �( 01 al e l4— Robi McCormick, Recording Secretary 7