back to county council home page

Tourist Development Council Meeting
Minutes
February 15, 2005
Ocean Center

Call to Order:
Chairman Frank Bruno called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m.

Approval of Minutes of December 14, 2004:
Motion to approve the minutes was made by Jim Bazemore and seconded by John Masiarczyk.

Status Report on Expansion:
Matt Greeson, Assistant County Manager distributed a written status report, which he went over in detail. The Interlocal Agreement regarding right of way issues is expected to be finalized this week by staff and go to the City Commission by March 2nd.

Directors Report:
This report was presented by Rick Hamilton, Director. A calendar of upcoming events through June, with the convention bookings was available. There are three upcoming sales trips. Destinations Showcase, International Franchise Convention and National Association of Consumer Shows. International Franchise Convention is a new show that we will be attending for the first time. These groups come in the first three days of the event to meet, train and go over sales figures with the existing franchises. The next three days, they bring in potentials from around the country to meet the existing ones. They also come as business people and bring their families to make this a vacation. The National Association of Consumer Shows is meeting in New Orleans in June. This is also one we have never attended. These are groups like Home Depot etc.

The Financial Report was given by Donna DePeyster. She had a summary statement of revenues, expenditures and changes available. This is a revised report that is simple to read as requested by the Board. The first page summarizes the data with the following pages giving a very detailed listing of the revenues and expenditures. The Financial Report will be given on a quarterly basis as was agreed on by the Board.

The Marketing Report was given by Rick Hamilton. There were some issues with the marketing plan that was presented while Rick was out. Rick is meeting with the manager on the 25th and at the conclusion of that meeting he will have a clear understanding of how the county wants him to proceed with the plan. Up to this time we will continue to go on our sales trips as outlined in the marketing plan. Additional staff will be hired after the meeting on the 25th. After this a more concise report will be given to the board.

Update From Partners:
There was no report for Hotel-Motel. Both Hotel-Motel and CVB expressed their appreciation for how well things are moving along. CVB would like an opening date, which Matt can probably give once they are under contract with a guaranteed construction price.

Lori Campbell Baker said the Daytona Beach area is only 13% down for hotel-motel rooms available which is a considerable improvement from several months ago when it was 30% down.

Public Participation:
Ques: What would happen to the revenue when half of the hotels go condo. Ans: A study was done in St. Petersburg -Clearwater that was very negative. This has not been explored in our area but apparently is hurting them on the west coast. Gilly Aguiar had not seen this report but has heard some things about it and it may be something that should be looked into now. This may be a zoning issue.

Board Discussion:
John Masiarczyk talked about making a flyer/booklet with all pertinent peoples names and phone numbers so when anyone asks for information about what is going on in our county they would know who to contact. Frank Bruno said there is a magazine but it needs to be updated.

Lori Campbell Baker would like a listing of all the new convention centers that are being built for our information, as there are some interesting aspects that could be looked into. She also talked about a letter that goes out from Financial and Administrative Services to condo owners that say if you rent your condo be sure to register and pay the bed tax. She does not feel the wording is strong enough and some owners do not respond to the letter.

It was decided to meet bi-monthly. If anything comes up that everyone should know about, an e-mail will be sent. A date was not set for April.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:10 a.m.

back to county council home page

 

Comments or questions?
E-mail the

Volusia County, Florida.