LT-SS-2020-003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Plan Framework Proof Points {To be adapted tc each audience} r Ellensburg is a great place to meet-close by and centrally located. n lt's a place to relax, unwind and escape the crowds. . The historic downtown offers new discoveries in locally-owned shops, restaurants, pubs, galleries and museums. " There's always something to do in Ellensburg with a rich calendar of events for every interest. : Ellensburg gives you easy access to hundreds of miles of open space, trails and waterways. Funding Assurnptions The tourism plan uses a baseline budget of $461,680 for marketing/advertising, web, collateral and visitor centers in 2020 (2019 funding plus $SO,0O0) which is funded through the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) . Approximately $225,000 of that goes to marketing and advertising, A 5 percent per year growth in LTAC funding could reasonably be expected over the next five years based on earlier growth trends. Tactics that may exceed those funding levels are called out in the following workplan and may require additional funds or new funding sources. . 202O: $+0t,sgo (S225,000 for marketing and advertising) : 2a2L'.5484,764 ($236,250 for marketing and advertising) t 2022: 5500,002 ($248,063 for marketing and advertising) . 2A23: S525,452 {5260,466 for marketing and advertising} : 2A24: S551,725 ($273,489 for marketing and advertising) Other potential funding sources do exist, including the creation of a Tourism lrnprovement District {TlD), which is tourism-business led with participants self-assessing fees for a common goal, The challenge for TlDs and other strategies such as advertising sales in guides or co-promotions with business partners is the time it takes to develop and manage these strategies. Unless the strategy results in substantial funding increases, the time required may not be made up by the revenue increase. Staffing Assumptions Today's staffing levels are not sufficient to expand the tourism effort to sports and meetings. We anticipate that beginning in 2020 the sports tourism effort will require a .5 FTE for outreach and follow up. ln 2021, we expect that the addition of meetings tourism outreach will require another .5 FTE. These can be the same or different people. This is a sales-oriented position that requires someone who can cultivate relationships and be tenacious in follow up. We do assume that the marketing work which supports this outreach can be conducted by the current tourism marketing director position with the outside support of marketing agencies or freelancers. As in other communities where the chamber of commerce is also the destination marketing organization, it is important to dedicate this staff time specifically to tourism work. City of Eilensburg FF;e-Yeal" Tourisnr 5trategic Plan2019 2A