VISITOR SERVICES DEPARTMENT 2014-2015 PLAN Prepared By: Colleen Dwyer, Director of Visitor Services VISITOR CENTER OPERATIONS/COLLATERAL DISTRABUTION GOAL: Create a welcoming, attractive and informative environment within the Visitor Information Center offering comprehensive information and personalized assistance to 6,000 annual visitors. STRATEGIES: Maintain current materials about the destination, attractions, events and activities in the Visitor Information Center. Monitor consumer requests and create materials as needed. Supervise two part time employees ensuring adequate staffing during operational hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday). • Pending decision concerning extended hours during special events such as, Downtown Get Down and Seminole Block Parties, Springtime Tallahassee, and Winter Festival, staff the Visitor Information Center accordingly. Manage and maintain the Visitor Information Center gift shop including inventory, consignment contracts, cash procedures and window display. Track information on visitor’s interests, means of transportation and origin though the maintenance of an online survey completed by center visitors for Marketing Department. GOAL: Manage and track distribution of 120,000 Visit Tallahassee visitor guides. STRATEGIES: Manage contracts with two distribution vendors. • Information Distributors stores the 120,000 visitor guides and distributes more than 33,000 guides to industry partners in Leon County with two deliveries annually. 1 • Florida Suncoast Tourism Promotions distributes more than 6,000 visitor guides annually to 27 Florida AAA Offices, Amtrak stations in Tampa and Lakeland, 22 chambers of commerce, Cross City and Lake City airports, nine attractions and 220 lodging establishments along I-95-, I-10 and I-4. Ensure adequate supply of visitor guides and other destination marketing materials are delivered to area partners, five VISIT FLORIDA Welcome Centers, five regional chambers of commerce and destination marketing organizations and five military bases delivering more than 57,000 guides per year. Fulfill an average of 10,000 visitor information requests within 48 hours from phone, mail, web and reader response inquiries generated by advertisement. Seek opportunities for distributing in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. STAFF SUPPORT GOAL: Assist Visit Tallahassee staff by providing department specific marketing materials and provide more than 23,000 customized visitor information packets to the 275 groups visiting Leon County annually. STRATEGIES: Manage the division’s uniform and promotional budgets by monitoring departmental spending, soliciting quotes, ordering items and maintaining accurate inventory of products. Offer personalized support for each department by creating needed collateral, supplying destination marketing materials and shipping items to tradeshows and conferences. Create group tracking system in the Internet Destinations Sales Systems (iDSS) allowing all departments access to group information and demographics. GOAL: Assist Marketing Department in maintaining information for www.visittallahassee.com. STRATEGIES: Maintain the consumer opt-in database. Maintain industry database for ongoing communication and use in Visitor Guide and Meeting Planner’s Guide. 2 Approve and edit more than 1,400 events submitted annually to website calendar of events including Council on Cultural and Arts (COCA) morethanyoutought.com calendar. INDUSTRY ASSISTANCE GOAL: Inform local and regional partners about special events, exhibits and marketing campaigns. STRATEGIES: Create and distribute a monthly events calendar to hotel and attraction front line staff. • Annually survey the calendar recipients to solicit input and determine its effectiveness. Perform quarterly visits to hoteliers and attractions in Leon County to share information on upcoming marketing programs and determine need of assistance from Visit Tallahassee. 3 FY2015 Budget Summary Visitor Services FY 2013-2014 Other Contractual Services FY 2014-2015 Other Contractual Services $ 13,200.00 Travel & Per Diem - Postage 40,000 $ 13,200.00 Travel & Per Diem 1,700 Postage 48,000 Rental & Leases - Rental & Leases - Printing & Binding - Printing & Binding - Promotional Activities Promotional Activities 21,732 TDC Merchandise 5,000 27,732 TDC Merchandise 5,000 350 TDC Direct Sales & Promotions - TDC Direct Sales & Promotions TDC Community Relations - TDC Community Relations Other Current Charges - Uniforms 1,500 Publications, Memberships Sub-total Operating Industry Participation $ 1,500 1,000 Sub-total Operating 82,432 $ 100,182 Industry Participation - Total Budget Uniforms Sponsorships & Contributions $ 1,700 Training 1,000 Sponsorships & Contributions Other Current Charges Publications, Memberships - Training - - Total Budget 82,432 $ 100,182 Notes: Travel & Per Diem- added for attendance of iDSS National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota Postage- increased $8,000 due to rising postage for Visitor Guide mailings and growing need to have ship materials to trade shows for sales team. Promotional Activities- increased $6,000 for purchase of Trailahassee and #IHeartTally promotional items TDC Direct Sales & Promotions- added for registration for iDSS National Conference Other Current Charges- includes staff and security costs should the Visitor Information Center remain open extended hours. 4 FY 2014/15 Sales Plan Detail Visitor Services Department Date May-15 Show/Event iDSS National Conference Location Target Show Cost Minneapolis Travel Cost 350 $ 350 1,700 $ 1,700 Industry Participation - Net Cost 2,050 - - - - $ - $ 2,050