The Tourism Marketing District (TMD) was established in July 2010 to seek the highest return on investment for marketing the Santa Cruz area. The TMD plan focused on six primary areas: brand development, expanding media reach, travel media exposure, online marketing, international leisure marketing to the UK, and corporate meetings. Results included tripling the media budget, doubling website visits, increasing paid advertising equivalency and expanding hotel contracts. Occupancy rates increased 28.5% over five years, with quarterly increases ranging from 22-34%, outperforming county and state averages.
2. Seeking Best ROI for TMD
Strategic Marketing Group
Establishes Benchmarks & Goals
• Marketing Analysis
• Industry Outreach
• Recommendations based on
highest ROI
2
4. TMD Plan: Six Primary Areas of Focus
4
• Brand Development
• Expansion of Media Reach
• Travel Media Exposure
• Online Marketing
• International Leisure
(UK)
• Corporate Meetings
Market/Group
6. Expansion of Media Reach
Media Buy More Than Triples
$800,000
$700,000
$600,000
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
$200,000
$100,000
6
$0
Budget Growth for Direct Advertising
2009/2010 2014/2015
7. Travel Media Exposure Goal:
Increase PAE by 20% Annually*
7
* $8 Million by 2014/2015
9. Online Marketing Initiatives Goal:
Increase Traffic from 300K to 450K in Three
Years
9
• Web Site
• Social Media
• E-Marketing
10. Website Growth Doubles 2009 to 2014
10
800000
600000
400000
200000
0
Website Visits: 2009 to 2014
June 09/10 June 10/11 June 11/12 June 12/13 June 13/14
13. Corporate Meetings
13
Advertising Initiatives:
• Cvent
• Meetings Focus
• Silicon Valley Business Journal
• Google Adwords/YouTube/Facebook
• Meeting Professionals International
(MPI) Perspective Magazine
14. Corporate Meetings
14
Destination Presence
At Trade Shows:
• MPI Northern California Chapter
Annual Conference & Expo 2015
• Sponsorship of MPI Professional
Education Program
15. International Marketing- UK
15
• Visit CA
• Brand USA
• Black Diamond
• Pow Wow Trade Show
• Go West Trade Show
16. International Marketing- UK
16
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Web Traffic from the UK increases 130%
2009 2014
17. Market Development:
Contracts With Local Hotels Grow from 3 to 50
17
• Bonotel
• Bon Voyage
• Virgin Holidays
• New World Travel
• Meeting Point North America
18. Recap of TMD Goals and Results
18
• Website Sessions- 300K to 600K
• Paid Advertising Equivalency- $3.9M to $14M
• E-Marketing Reach- 15K to 30K
• Occupancy…
19. Annual Occupancy Increases 28.5%
Last 5 Years*
19
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
Occupancy Percentage Five Year Trend 2009 -
2013 YTD
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
*as reported by Smith Travel Research, Inc.
20. Percent Change in Occupancy By Quarter*
Santa Cruz County- 2009 to 2013**
20
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4
2009
2013
33%
Increase
31%
Increase
22% Increase
34%
Increase
*Calendar Year **as reported by Smith Travel Research, Inc.
21. Occupancy Growth 2010 through 2013*
21
*as reported by Smith Travel Research, Inc.
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2010 2011 2012 2013
% Increase in Occupancy Santa Cruz
% Increase in Occupancy Monterey
% Increase in Occupancy California
% Increase in
Occupancy
Santa Cruz Monterey California
2010 3.7 3.4 5.9
2011 11.6 4.6 5.3
2012 6.3 3.8 3.6
2013 3.9 3.4 2.8
6.4 3.8 4.4
<--Average %
Increase