HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018/04/18 MASON COUNTY LODGING TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
Commissioners'Chambers
411 North 5T" Street, Shelton, WA 98584
Wednesday,April 18, 2018 2:00 p.m.
Members in Attendance: Chair Terri Drexler, Kelly Bergh, Duane Wilson, Stephanie Rowland, Kristy
Johnson, on behalf of Nathan Welch, Heidi McCutcheon and Shaun Tucker. Also in attendance were
Rachel Hansen and Kevin Schmelzlen. Absent: Nathan Welch
Chair Drexler called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m.
Approval of the January 31, 2018 meeting minutes
Heidi/Kelly moved and seconded to approve the January 31, 2018 meeting minutes. Motion
carried.
1st Quarter Reports
Shelton/Mason County Chamber of Commerce- Heidi McCutcheon handed out information, and
reported that their Facebook page has close to 2200 followers. The most popular Facebook items
were discussed. Visitor counts are down 3% versus the previous year. For the first quarter, she
reported that the office has received 531 phone calls, which is a decrease of 6.5% from 2017. It
was reported that the online event calendar is looked at the most. Heidi announced that the
National Forest office is bringing a forest service staff person in for wilderness permits as well as
discounted passes for seniors. This officer will be brought in between May and September and is
expected to create a 30% increase in foot traffic.
Shaun and Heidi had a discussion about possible reasons for the decrease in numbers.
North Mason Chamber- Stephanie- She passed out an annual guide and said the North Mason
Chamber numbers are going back up now that the road construction is finished. At the Visitors
Center, in person visits and phone calls are up from 2017. The number of visitors served by email
has gone down, which she attributes to information being available on Facebook and the
website. Stephanie said she did not have a breakdown for Facebook numbers, but in regards to
the website, numbers are up.
Northwest Event Organizers-Rachel Hansen showed a PowerPoint and discussed all of the
research and resources used to build relationships and partnerships thus far. In regards to
lodging tax for the Olympic Peninsula, she said they are up 10.11% for the first quarter, while
Shelton is down 3.12%.
Rachel showed changes on the website including the addition of videos and photos. Traffic on
the website is down about 300 hits at this time. She said one of the most engaging items on the
website are the blogs which are being reshared on various websites. Email traffic and referrals
have gone down also, which Rachel attributed a large part of this decline to contests and
sweepstakes held by Wild Side which required registration via email. She pointed out that inquiry
for wedding venues have a large response and she feels that is a missed opportunity for the
County at this time. Facebook currently has 38,777 followers up from 28,122 in 2017.
Shaun and Rachel had a conversation about her successes and struggles so far. Shaun asked
what the cost would be to join the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Group and the Olympic Culinary
Loop. Rachel explained the fee is based upon the County's lodging tax budget, so for Mason
County, the cost would be around $3,000. Heidi commented that the Culinary Loop should be
Lodging Tax Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2018
part of the Tourism Group. Rachel agreed, and added that the county should join the Culinary
Loop. Heidi commented that becoming a part of the tourism group would be well worth the cost.
Rachel spoke about the popularity of the blogs once again, and questioned if older blogs should
be left on the website, archived, or deleted. Currently, old blogs are not removed. It was
suggested archiving blogs for availability and historical reference.
Shaun voiced concern over the lack of hotel rooms within Mason County and some other
challenges being faced with tourism versus Port Townsend and Port Angeles.
Stephanie praised Rachel on her work and accomplishments so far.
Fjord magazine is now available outside of the County on the Washington State Ferries and on
the Coho Ferry to Victoria. Rachel said she has also attended various events and has been able to
spread the magazine through the Taylor Shellfish locations.
Duane asked if Cmmr. Drexler had a transition plan in place for which Commissioner will take
over LTAC after the election. She said at this time there isn't because she is unsure which
Commissioner will step up to take over once she leaves office.
Other Business— none
Public Comment- none
Calendar— next meeting for 2nd quarter reports will be scheduled in July.
The meeting adjourned at 3:33 p.m.
LODGING TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON
ATTEST:
LTA(`"Clerk Cmmr. Terri Dr ,ler, Chair
LTAC Page 12