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popular event. Lodging Tax would be used to help support entertainment (less than
<br />$3,000) to market this event via social media, direct mail postcards, radio ad, and TV
<br />ads. We estimate attendance for this event is 2,000. Over 1,200 people were counted
<br />at one time in the middle of the farmer's market alone during the busker parade.
<br />November/December – Hometown Holidays – Hometown Holidays serves the entire
<br />county by promoting activities and events being held in Ellensburg, Kittitas, Roslyn
<br />and Cle Elum. EDA events include Moments to Remember, Plaid Friday, Cookie
<br />Scavenger Hunt, Girls Night Out, Teddy Bear Tea, and Elves Workshop. Lodging Tax
<br />would be used to help support entertainment (less than $1,000), for a Yakima bus for
<br />Girls Night Out and to market these events via social media, direct mail postcards,
<br />radio ad, and TV ads. Estimate attendance for all events is 4,000 plus general
<br />shoppers.
<br />Downtown Maps – Over 10,000 downtown maps are distributed each year to hotels,
<br />the events center, CWU, and conferences. Lodging Tax would be used to help print
<br />these maps in house.
<br />The weekly Farmer's Market is a huge draw to Ellensburg and downtown, and they
<br />are a strong partner of the EDA. Last year we worked with the Tourism Office on a
<br />monthly campaign, and we believe it helped increase traffic. Vendors at the market
<br />were also strong advocates of the Roslyn market so there was a lot of cross -
<br />promoting. One of their weaknesses is their website, which is difficult to navigate and
<br />does not work responsively on smart phones and tablets. Lodging Tax would be used
<br />to cover a portion of a new website for the farmer's market, giving both the EDA and
<br />Tourism Office a better website to cross -promote. Estimated market attendance is
<br />4,000 annually.
<br />See included Marketing Budget form the Tourism Office. All marketing will be done in
<br />partnership the Tourism Office and will use the Arnett Muldrow branding styles, colors, and
<br />type -faces.
<br />2. Please provide the following estimates of how any money received will resultin increases in
<br />the number of people traveling for business or pleasure on a trip:
<br />Utilizing previous ZIP code survey figures from 2015, of the 1,000 shoppers surveyed, 4% came from
<br />Yakima, 4% from King County, 8% from other areas of Washington (not Kittitas County, Yakima or
<br />King County), 9% from other states, and 3% from other countries. Overall, 28% of the shoppers
<br />during a non-event week came from outside of Kittitas County. 2016 Google Analytics for
<br />ellensburgdowntown.org demonstrates that of the 30,169 sessions on the site in the past year
<br />(24,329 users), 25% came from outside Washington State. Of those in Washington State, 25% came
<br />from Seattle (an increase from 14% in 2015), 3% from Yakima, and 2.6% from Spokane. (NOTE: the
<br />new ellensburgdowntown.org website is still being developed, and we expect to go live before the
<br />end of the year). For buskersintheburg.org, there were 5,573 visitors over the past year to the
<br />website, 15% from outside Washington State, with 26% of those from Seattle and only 4% from
<br />Ellensburg. Facebook statistics indicate that, of the 3,645 likes for the Ellensburg Downtown
<br />Association, over 44% of the audience comes from 50 miles away or more. These statistics — along
<br />with head counts and survey results from Girls Night Out, Hoedown, and Buskers in the Burg —
<br />were used to develop the overnight stay estimates below.
<br />This application includes estimated visitors for all events and activities of the EDA.
<br />County -wide Lodging Tax Application P a g e 112
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