tourism advisory council meeting · 2019 ski season 20% increase in skiable terrain, mostly...

Tourism Advisory Council Meeting Monday, November 13th, 2017

633 Third Ave 37th Floor Boardroom

New York, NY 11:00am – 12:30pm

Webcast address: https://livestream.com/vvt2/TAC111317

AGENDA

I. Approval of Minutes Cristyne Nicholas

II. Chairman’s Report Cristyne Nicholas a. 2018 Meeting Dates b. January 2018 Meeting: Tourism Counting and Visitor Numbers c. Winter Media Night Review

III. Executive Director Report Ross Levi

a. Fall Promotion Review i. Fall Commercials ii. Fall Foliage Report

IV. International Marketing Report Markly Wilson

a. WTM London b. FAM Trips and Trade Missions

V. Experiential Marketing and Events Report Lizete Monteiro

a. POD Tour Review b. Welcome Centers

VI. Catskills Spotlight Ross Levi

a. Catskills Challenge b. Advertising c. Digital Partnerships d. Guest Speaker: Warren Hart, Director of Greene County Economic

Development, Tourism & Planning i. http://www.visitthecatskills.com/ ii. http://www.visitthecatskills.com/ride-the-catskills

VII. New Business Next meeting:

Monday, January 22nd, 2018 11am – 12:30pm 633 Third Avenue, NYC

https://livestream.com/vvt2/TAC111317

http://www.visitthecatskills.com/

http://www.visitthecatskills.com/ride-the-catskills

NYS Tourism Advisory Council2018 Meeting Dates

Monday, January 22, 201811:00am – 12:30pm

633 Third Avenue, NYC

Monday, March 19, 20181:00pm – 2:30pm

Empire PlazaAlbany, NY

Monday, May 21, 201811:00am – 12:30pm


Monday, September 17, 201811:00am – 12:30pm


Wednesday, November 28, 201811:00am – 12:30pm


Please RSVP by the Friday before the meeting to:[email protected] or 212-803-3689

November 13, 2017

A Division of Empire State Development

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Tourism Advisory CouncilMeeting

2018 TAC MEETING DATES

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Monday, January 22

Monday, March 19

Monday, May 21

Monday, September 17

Wednesday, November 28

WINTER MEDIA NIGHT REVIEW

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FALL COMMERCIALS

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Two spots promoting fall activities &destinations

Catskills

Fall events

Six week air time in drive markets

Shown during programs with highviewership like MLB Playoffs

CATSKILLS

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FALL EVENTS

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FALL FOLIAGE REPORT

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Reports from volunteer field observers

Color expectations for the upcomingweekend sent out every Wednesday

Generating increased newspaper,television and radio interest andcoverage across the Northeast

Consistently one of the most traffickedpages on the I LOVE NEW YORK website

Spurs much social media engagement

FALL FOLIAGE REPORT COVERAGE

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WTM LONDON

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Delegates Included:

Wine, Water andWonders of Upstate NY

Niagara Falls USA

Maid of the MistCorporation

Central New York

Destiny USA / The Strong

I Love New York

SCOTLAND & IRELAND SALES MISSIONS

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ILNY/Norwegian Airlines Roadshow

Dublin & Belfast, Ireland

Edinburgh & Glasgow, Scotland

Tour America in Ireland featuringpackages for passengers arriving atStewart Airport

Dutchess County, Greater Niagara, VisitBuffalo, Rockland County, Wine Waterand Wonders, Capital-Saratoga &Central NY

INTERNATIONAL FAM TOURS

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Hudson Valley-focused FAMs for touroperators and press from Scotland &Ireland to promote Norwegian Air flights

Receptive tour operator FAMs from China

Several individual press trips from UK,Ireland, Germany and Australia

Daily Mail – America as you Like it

The Sun, The Irish Sun & The Scottish Sun

The Press and Journal

I LOVE NEW YORK POD 2017

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NEW FOR 2017

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Tour Stops

Increased number of NYC events and outof state events (Montreal, Toronto, NJ, PA)

Activations

NYS 360◦ - takes visitors to the attractionusing VR technology

Improved Digital Apps

Interface much more user friendly

Apps can be updated remotely and liveon multiple device software

Added digital events calendar app

TOUR RESULTS

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Attended 25+ events with audience sizes of50k+

12,700 emails collected, up 63% from 2016

11% response rate from surveyed consumers

97% likely to consider traveling to/within NYS

97% likely to recommend a NYS getaway toa friend

77% of visitors left with new ideas aboutthings to see and do in NYS

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SOUTHERN TIER WELCOME CENTERINTERSTATE 81 NORTHBOUND

BROOME COUNTY

ARTIFACT EXHIBIT

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DIGITAL KIOSKS

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TASTE NY STORE

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CAROUSEL-THEMED DINING AREA

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ENTRANCE SIGN / FEATURE

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I LOVE NY LIFE-SIZE SCULPTURE

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MOHAWK VALLEY WELCOME CENTERI-90 NYS THRUWAY WESTBOUND

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

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ENTRANCE SIGN / FEATURE

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MOHAWK VALLEY WELCOME CENTER

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MOHAWK VALLEY WELCOME CENTER

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TASTE NY

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HISTORY TRAIL

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PLAY AREA

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CATSKILLS SPOTLIGHT

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Governor’s initiative to support the growth of tourism in the Catskills region

Catskills Challenge

$5 million TV and Out-Of-Home ad campaign

Digital campaigns to attract secondary millennial market

CATSKILLS CHALLENGE

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Summer 2016 event featured kickoff at Bethel Woods Center for the PerformingArts with longtime Catskills resident, Robert De Niro

Local officials and tourism industry leaders participated in outdoor activitiesavailable in the Catskills

Announcement of grants and funding to improve regional tourism infrastructure

SUMMER 2016 COMMERCIAL

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SUMMER 2016 OUT OF HOME

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DIGITAL CAMPAIGN

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Beautiful Destinations TimeOut

DIGITAL CAMPAIGN

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Thrillist

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IT’S ALL HERE, ITS ONLY HERE.

GUEST SPEAKER: WARREN HART

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DISPLAY CREATIVE RIDE THE CATSKILLS

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DISPLAY CREATIVE RIDE THE CATSKILLS

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NATIVE ADVERTISING

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BEST PERFORMING CREATIVE

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INFLUENCER MARKETING: BABES RIDE OUT

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INFLUENCER MARKETING: COMPASS + TWINE

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Top Highlights

New/updated Attractions and Lodging in the Region

• Delaware County o In October, Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul was in Roxbury for the

groundbreaking of a new property, The Roxbury at Stratton Falls o The Roxbury, Contemporary Catskill Lodging, is in the process of reviving and

renovating a 5,700-square foot mansion that was built in 1848, constructing eight fantasy cottages, a state-of-the-art spa and cabana facility

o Livestock Foundation and Bovina Valley Farms will be opening a brand new set of tourism attractions in the town of Bovina in 2018: The Bovina Creamery, the new home of Cowbella and Bovina Valley

products, will be making yogurts, cheeses and butters Dry Town Tavern is a new inn and restaurant

o The Bramley Mountain Trail is the newest addition to the Delaware County hiking trails, in the Towns of Delhi and Bovina, totaling about 4 miles in length

• Greene County

o $9 Million in Capital Investments at Hunter Mountain Resort for the 2018-2019 ski season 20% increase in skiable terrain, mostly intermediate which they are

light on 10% increase in capacity 40K new ski visits over 3 years Operational, November 2018

o $2 Million in Capital Investments at Windham Mountain for the 2017-2019 ski season on snow-making equipment

o New unique properties: Tiny Homes Resort, Nordic House, Scribner’s Catskill Lodge

o Exit 21 Catskill the County is tearing down an abandoned Quality Inn and redeveloping the site for a mid-upscale hotel, restaurant and commercial uses

o New Catskills Beverage Trail formed with seven breweries and wineries

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New/updated Attractions and Lodging in the Region (cont’d)

o Crossroads Brewing has opened a new brewery production facility in the Village of Catskills.

o Greene County and the Village of Catskill have completed the renovation of the Historic Catskill Mountain Railway Bridge over the Catskill Creek and have constructed a waterfront walkway along the creek providing access to the new brewery/restaurant/performing arts district

o Annual Taste of Country Music Festival at Hunter Mountain Resort 5th Anniversary 2007

o TAP New York 20th Anniversary 2018 o East Durham Irish Festival 40th Anniversary 2018 o Catskill Mountain Foundation 20th Anniversary 2019

• Sullivan County

o Resorts World Catskills 2018 Over $1 Billion investment o Kartrite-Resorts World Catskills Waterpark 2018-2019 $300 million

investment o YO 1 Wellness Center 2018 $90 million investment o Redesigned Monster Golf Course 2019 o Numerous boutique hotels 2018/2019 o Woodstock Festival 50th year anniversary 2019 o Several new craft beverage openings o Thompson Education Center

• Ulster County

o Construction of visitor’s centers at Minnewaska State Park in New Paltz and Walkway Over the Hudson in Highland have begun

o Continued expansion of the 70-mile Ulster County Rail Trail system o New Hampton Inn, Residence Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hotel Dylan were

built o Numerous boutique hotels 2018/2019 are planned and some under

construction o Rail Explorers pedal-powered vehicles are debuting along rail trail in 2018 o City of Kingston awarded $10 million for downtown revitalization in 2017 o Emerson Resort & Spa completed a multi-million dollar renovation in 2017 o Smorgasburg Upstate – an upscale monthly marked – drew record crowds

and hosted two Bob Dylan concerts along the Kingston waterfront in 2017

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Recent Marketing Efforts and/or Campaigns • Catskills Region

o Successful CATS Regional effort with Ad Workshop digital media campaign o I Love NY Thrillist, Beautiful Destinations, Influencers, and PR through Finn

Partners o Co-Partnership with Hunting Works for New York

• Delaware County

o Launched our rebranding campaign which included a new logo, color palette and tag line “Escape to the Perfect” Produced the 2017/2018 travel guide under this rebrand and have

received rave reviews for the design and content o Focus on seasonal videos and digital efforts to highlight activities and

activities. Videos were supported by paid media and resulted in thousands of visits to the greatwesterncatskills.com and its social channels. Over a 25% increase in Facebook likes/followers A 210% increase in Instagram followers Increase of 14% in Twitter followers

o Launched a program where we will be working with Delaware County lodging producers to offer them very low cost and easy to maintain websites that we will be producing on their behalf

o Working on a new website for the greatwesterncatskills.com • Greene County

o Launch of the Mountain Bike Campaign Banner ads produced over two million impressions Native advertising provided over 1.5 million impressions Within a week of video feature on Facebook, the video garnered

more than 10,000 views, 168 shares, and 117 likes • Sullivan County

o Sullivan Catskills rebranding effort in 2016/17 with new web site and social media Facebook over 21,000 fans, Twitter and Instagram gaining in followers

o Leveraging the Regional and State effort, SCVA works with The Door marketing firm and has garnered Total Impressions from Summer 2017: 248,085,054 with Total PR Value from Summer 2017: $4,961,701.08

o International marketing through I Love NY and Brand USA

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Recent Marketing Efforts and/or Campaigns (cont’d) • Ulster County

o Began new Ulster County “Seek For Yourself” rebranding campaign in 2017 o International marketing through I Love NY and Brand USA continued in 2017,

including working with I Love NY and Norwegian Air to attract visitors to the Catskills after landing at Stewart International Airport

o I Love NY Thrillist, Beautiful Destinations, Influencers, and PR continued through Finn Partners

o Made significant gains in Instagram and Facebook followers in 2017

Updates on Awarded Market New York CFA Projects • Catskills Region

o CATS Ride the Catskills CFA, awarded in 2015 and execute in 2016-2017 fiscal year Project has been completed and all funding has been received See analytical reports for results

• Greene County o Greene County Mountain Bike Ride Center, awarded in 2016 and execute in

2017 fiscal year This project included the creation and implementation of a

comprehensive campaign, the design and launch of an adaptive micro-site, a branded brochure, a dynamic video and an aggressive media plan, that is currently producing the following results:

• Banner ads generated over two million impressions • Native advertising provided over 1.5 million impressions • Within a week of video feature on Facebook, the video

garnered more than 10,000 views, 168 shares, and 117 likes

• Ulster County o Conversion of 11.5 miles of County-owned Ulster & Delaware Railroad

corridor into accessible, shared use trail along northern short of the Ashoken (West Hurley to Boiceville)

o RUPCO redevelopment of defunct 70,000 square foot factory in Kingston repurposed as Film/TV production and post production and makers space

o Open Space Institute will reconstruct 7 miles of the High Point and Smiley Carriage Roads through Minnewaska State Park along the Shawangunk Ridge

o Bardavan 1869 Opera House will complete a comprehensive interior/exterior restoration construction plan for the Ulster Performing Arts Center

o City of Kingston will construct 4 trailheads on 1.5 miles of former railroad right of way in the City.

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o City of Kingston will design improvements along Kingston’s waterfront area as part of the Roundout Riverport Shoreline Project

Success Stories for Visitation to the Catskills

• Catskills Region

o Tourism is a $1.2 billion industry, supporting 17,822 jobs o Tourism generated $335 million in direct labor income and $558 million

including indirect and induced impacts o Traveler spending in the region grew by 5.3% in 2016 o Tourism in the Catskills region generated $152 million in state and local taxes

in 2016 o Sales, property, and hotel bed taxes contributed $83 million in local taxes

• Delaware County

o Since late 2016, Delaware County has seen an explosion of new and expanding restaurants and beverage producers, like Awestruck Ciders in Walton, Wayside Cider’s tap room in Andes and The Bull & Garland Pub in the town of Hobart, Outsider Café and Picnic in Margaretville, and Sarkey’s Burger & Wings in Delhi

• Greene County

o Increased visitor spending in 2016 by 4.2% o Greene County is the most dependent upon tourism with 21.2% of all

employment sustained by visitors o Were it not for Tourism-generated sales tax and local taxes, the average

household in the county would have to pay an additional $1,028 to maintain the same level of government revenue

• Sullivan County

o Sullivan Catskills realized an 8% increase in visitor spending in 2016 helping the CATS Region see an overall regional growth in NYS regions with a 5.3% growth over 2015

o Sullivan Catskills won the NYSTIA “Excellence in Tourism Marketing Award” for 2016 campaign and the 2017 Travel Guide received the American Graphics Design Award

o 2017 sales tax and bed tax increased over 2016 to date • Ulster County

o Ulster County’s $554 million in visitor spending in 2016 was a $21 million increase over the previous year, and the seventh year in a row that it increased. Ulster County’s total represents 45 percent of the Catskill Region’s total sales of $1.2 billion.

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Success Stories for Visitation to the Catskills (cont’d)

o Ulster County’s 2017 occupancy tax through the first three quarters produced the highest total since the county began collecting the tax

o Earned a Telly Award in the Travel/Tourism for “Golf in Ulster County” in 2017. This marks the second year in a row Ulster has earned a Telly and the fourth over since 2011

o The 2017/18 Ulster County Travel Guide earned a Service Industry Advertising Award (SIAA) for excellence in printed publications nationally. It marked the sixth year in a row that Ulster County was recognized by the SIAA

TAC minutes 9/25/17 1

Tourism Advisory Council Meeting Minutes“Draft – Subject to Board Approval”

Date: Monday, September 25, 2017Location: 633 Third Ave, New York, NYAttendance:

TAC MembersCristyne Nicholas, Thomas Mulroy, Ali Sirota, Elinor Tatum, Gail Grimmett, Katherine NichollsPhone: Dan Fuller, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Thurman Thomas

ESD / NYS StaffRoss Levi, Executive Director of Tourism; Markly Wilson, International Marketing Director; Sara Emmert, SpecialProjects Manager; Lisa Soto, Director of Tourism Marketing, Licensing, & PR; Kelly Garofalo, Project ManagerTourism Marketing & Partnerships; Anna Pakman, Director Digital Strategy Marketing; Madeline Belloff, AssistantPress Secretary and Digital Production Specialist

TAC GuestsPhil Royle, LEGOLAND New York; Hayley Coriaty, LEGOLAND New York; Ralph Tragale, Port Authority of NY andNJ; Pricilla Brendler, Greater Hudson Heritage Network; Tom Martinelli, Amtrak by Rail; Josiah Brown, New YorkWelcomes You; Richard Stone, Trajectory Sports & Media Group LLC; Natasha Caputo, Visit Westchester; LisaReifer, JetBlue; Sarah McGinnis, Maurice D. Hinchey Catskills Interpretive Center; Cambria Tallman, Emerson ResortSpa; Kayleen Scali, Emerson Resort Spa; Tamara Murray, Emerson Resort Spa; Jennifer Walden Weprin, QueensBorough; James Sorell, Brier Katama Group; Peter Feinman, New York History BlogPhone: Ashley Graf, JetBlue; Linda Ayres, Finn Partners; Jill Simpson-Luciano, Southwest Airlines; Mark Dorr,NYSHTA;

Meeting called to order: 11:04am

I. Approval of minutes – Cristyne Nicholas• Motion to approve by Ali Sirota• Minutes approved with a second by Katherine Nicholls

II. Chairman’s Report – Cristyne NicholasA. Meeting Overview

• Welcome back! The last time we saw each other was in May before the summer break, which hopefullytreated all of you well. The tourism team here certainly had a busy summer, which we are going to hearabout during the staff reports shortly.

• After that, we will hear from our special guest Phil Royle, Head of Community & Project Relations atLEGOLAND. He will be speaking to us about the latest developments for the LEGOLAND theme park inOrange County.

B. Introduction of Ross Levi as Executive Director of Tourism• I want to begin my report by formally congratulating Ross Levi on his recent promotion to Executive Director

of Tourism at I LOVE NEW YORK. Ross has been a crucial member of the I LOVE NEW YORK team fromthe start, and he will now lead the tourism team in promoting New York State as a world class destination.Ross will manage all New York State tourism staff, coordinate efforts with the state’s regional TourismPromotion Agencies, and partner on all I LOVE NEW YORK marketing initiatives. He will also continue towork closely with the TAC board.

• As many of you know, Gavin Landry accepted a position with VisitBritain as Regional Director for theAmericas. Gavin was instrumental in increasing visitation to New York State during his tenure. He has left avery strong foundation on which Ross and the entire team can continue to build and achieve even greaterheights. And I have to say, for Britain to approach Gavin, I think speaks volumes on how far the I LOVE NEWYORK team has come over the years. We invited Gavin to attend this meeting so that we could give him aproper farewell and thank you, but he was unable to attend due to his schedule. We plan to invite him toNovember’s meeting and hope he will be able to join us then.

C. New York State Summer of ’17 Governor Tourism Announcements• Moving on, I want to highlight the governor’s efforts to yet again spotlight tourism, this time through his New

York State of Summer 2017 campaign. Through this campaign, the governor made several announcementsinviting visitors to partake in the many summer activities we have.


• Hopefully, everyone had the chance to read the releases prior to the meeting, but they included:o An announcement of more than $2 million to expand hiking trails across the stateo An invitation for visitors to enjoy new cabin & facility upgrades at campsites throughout the stateo An announcement about the extended Path Through History Weekendso An invitation for visitors to enjoy early Memorial Day access to select swim locations at beacheso And an announcement about expanded Taste NY offerings at state parks and travel hubs

• We thank the governor for his continued support of the tourism industryD. Tourism Infrastructure Updates

• Since we last met, there have been exciting developments at both LaGuardia Airport and The Moynihan TrainHall that I would like to share.

• On August 8th, the governor, together with Delta CEO Ed Bastian, announced the start of construction onDelta's new facilities at a groundbreaking ceremony at LaGuardia Airport after the Port Authority of New Yorkand New Jersey signed a new, long-term lease with Delta. The groundbreaking marks the beginning ofconstruction on the final component of the new, unified airport at LaGuardia, which will provide all LaGuardiatravelers with state-of-the-art amenities and expanded public transportation, including the planned AirTrain.

• Delta is investing $3.4 billion to construct the eastern half of the new LaGuardia-the first new airport in theUnited States in more than 20 years. Delta's investment in the new facility is the airline's largest investment inits history and is one of the largest private investments in a public asset in New York State. The Port Authorityis committing $600 million to leverage Delta's $3.4 billion investment to rebuild its terminal and gate facilitiesat LaGuardia Airport.

• The western half of LaGuardia, as well as the roadways, is already under construction following agroundbreaking in June 2016. The first new gates are scheduled to open next year and the new airport is ontrack to be fully completed by 2021.

• We have a short video that was played at the groundbreaking that we would like to show.• Video presentation• On August 17th, the governor announced the start of major construction of the Moynihan Train Hall, a world-

class transportation hub for the 21st century. The Farley Building redevelopment into the Moynihan Train Hallwill create a new 255,000-square-foot Train Hall for Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak passengers andincrease total concourse floor space in the Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex by more than 50 percent.The Farley Building will also house 700,000 square feet of new commercial, retail and dining space within themixed-use facility and create an iconic civic space for Manhattan's West Side.

• The Moynihan Train Hall is part of the $2.5 billion transformation of the Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complexannounced by Governor Cuomo in January 2016 to dramatically modernize, upgrade and redesign America'sbusiest transit hub into a world-class facility for the 21st century. All LIRR and Amtrak trains will be served bythe nine platforms and 17 tracks that will be accessible from the Train Hall.

• If you would like to learn more about the Moynihan Train Hall, there is a video link in the agenda addendum.E. TAC Member Updates

• Lastly, I have an update on TAC Membership. Nancy Elder has decided to resign from TAC after leaving herposition at JetBlue. Nancy was an active member of TAC for a number of years. We thank her for hertremendous contributions to TAC and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.

• This resignation leaves us with five vacancies:o one appointed by the governor,o two recommended for appointment by the Assembly Speakero one recommended for appointment by Senate Minority Leadero and one recommended for appointment by the Senate Temporary President

• If you know of anyone that wants to be on TAC, the best way to have them appointed is to reach out to theAssembly Speaker, Senate Majority Leader, and Senate Temporary President directly.

• That is all for me – are there any questions?• Now we turn to Ross for the Executive Director Report, which will cover much of ILNY’s summer marketing

campaigns.

III. Executive Director Report—Ross Levi• It's been quite a whirlwind in the six weeks since I’ve been named Executive Director, but it’s also been very

exciting. When I was approached to take the position, one of the main reasons I said yes was because of thestrength of the tourism team. And by that I, of course, mean our internal team but also the tourism team atlarge. The New York tourism team. That includes our TPAs, our attractions, our State's trade organizations,and the TAC.


• We have an amazing team doing amazing work, and I felt a sense of responsibility to keep the momentum wehave going. What I've heard as I've been talking to folks across the state was, when we heard the sad newsthat Gavin was leaving, everyone was holding their breath because there was going to be that jolt of Gavin’sreplacement having to find where we are and meet all the new players, et cetera. Luckily, what I'm hearingfrom everyone is that it was a sigh of relief when the announcement was made. I don't think that's so muchabout me. I think that's about us. I think that's about the idea of what Governor Cuomo and everyone thatworks in the tourism industry have created over the past four or five years. So I'm in the enviable position ofnot coming in to right a ship in the wrong direction, but to continue the momentum and speed on the rightpath. So, I 'm excited to be heading the internal team and continuing to deepen our relationship with the TACand all our partners across the State.

A. Summer Commercials• It's been a very busy summer in terms of our advertising. We've run no fewer than four different commercials

for the summer season, each of which is 30 seconds long and has a unique “theme”. We often rotate assetsfeatured in the commercials so that we’re highlighting different regions and seasons to our greatestadvantage. It’s very difficult to try to show a State as big and diverse as New York in 30 seconds, so we’vedecided to focus on specific regions, communicating that each region will get its turn.

• This is the approach we took this summer, and had the following commercials on the air:o Adirondacks and the Thousand Islandso Finger Lakes Agritourismo Equal Rightso General Attractions

• Video presentation of each commercial• All four of the ads were on air in early June in our drive markets and ran for six weeks.

B. State Fair Promotion• Another very important campaign that took place over the summer was emphasizing the New York State Fair,

which continues to be a really important tourism asset for New York State. We were very involved in the NewYork State Fair, both in terms of marketing the fair as well as representing all that New York State has to offerto those who did attend.

• We worked very closely with the Fair's advertising team to expand their reach beyond Syracuse and theimmediately surrounding area. We helped complement their market by developing TV ads, print ads, andradio promotions that ran in the eastern and western part of the State as well as in New York City. We wouldlike to show you the TV ad that we ran.

• Video presentation• We also did a fair amount of PR and social media promotion. For example, our Digital Team went to the fair

and posted a number of Instagram Stories so that viewers could see in real time the exciting things happeningat the Fair and be inspired to visit.

• One of the governor’s goals for the State Fair this year was to beat last year’s record attendance, even if justby one person. I’m happy to say we did beat that goal, and set another record number for attendance.

• In addition to promoting the State Fair, we wanted to make sure we were engaging those who were there inorder to maximize the idea that New York State is a great place to visit. We always have somewhat of apresence at the Fair, but we really presented I LOVE NEW YORK in a big way this year. We activated in TheCenter of Progress with an I LOVE NEW YORK Experience—a series of four different selfie activations.Lizette Montero and our events team—in coordination with our agency Jack Morton—developed four different“selfie” stations that made it look like you were at four different top line attractions. You could pose on thesummit of Mount Van Hoevenberg in the Adirondacks, with a Watkins Glen racecar, holding up a canoe atGreen Lake, and with a giant fish and a little fish at Lake George.

• Additionally, we had three large TV screens that showed our top line attractions on a loop throughout the day.I spent a lot of time in the Center of Progress and it was amazing to see people who literally were sitting downon these benches for the full five minutes of the loop and saying, “Oh, we have to go there!” People loved itand they loved doing the selfie activations.

• We let people know that if they used social media to post their selfie pictures with our hashtag, they may befeatured before the evening's free concert on the TVs at Chevy Court. This not only got people excited abouttaking pictures and sharing on social media, but it also had the double effect of people seeing those photosbefore the concert and making a point to visit our activation.

• We had a presence at the I LOVE NEW YORK Pavilion where people could go in and do vacation planningwith all the available pamphlets. As in past years, the Pavilion is run by the New York State Tourism IndustryAssociation.


• The I LOVE NEW YORK Pod was at the fair for the opening days, which of course engaged visitors in a veryinteractive way.

• Finally, we had an I LOVE NEW YORK fishing day on Sunday, August 26th

which included a statewide fishingtournament at Onondaga Lake in partnership with Bass Nation New York. Participants were members of BassNations New York’s 35 local chapters that span from the Thousand Islands to Long Island. They competedfor the largest catch of the day and had the chance to win cash prizes for their local clubs. The weigh inceremony took place at the new pond in the fairgrounds, and afterwards there was casting demonstration sothat kids and their families could be a part of the fishing day.

C. Pride Month• This past June was Pride Month, and I LOVE NEW YORK LGBT participated in eight different activations

throughout the state.• This year we stepped up our presence and brought electronic kiosks that mirror what is in the traveling pod,

which we called our alt pod or mini pod. People were able to take the I LOVE NEW YORK quiz or find outwhat their travel buddy profile is on the kiosk. It was a great way to engage people and make an invitation tothe LGBTcommunity to visit New York State.

• During New York City Pride, the Governor made an announcement about the 50th

anniversary of Stonewall,which is taking place in New York State in 2019. This would be significant in and of itself with New York Stateand New York City being the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement, but is also going to be the siteof World Pride. World Pride is a festival that generally lasts weeks to a month, and moves to different parts ofthe world every two years. This year it was in Madrid and they have chosen New York for the 2019 WorldPride location.

• Given that World Pride is happening on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, which is internationally recognizedas important for the LGBT community, it Is going to be the biggest cultural event and party for the LGBTcommunity in the world in 2019. So, we need to get started early with the planning and promotion of thesesimultaneous events to let folks know that, not only should you come to be a part of this exciting celebration,but you should make an extended stay in New York to experience all the great things the entire state has tooffer.

• The Governor announced that a Stonewall 50 Commemoration Committee will be coming together very soonto assist in planning the events and exhibits throughout New York State.

• I LOVE NEW YORK will be going to Pride and other LGBT events over the next year-and-a-half making thatpersonal invitation to folks. Additionally, we’re opening an I LOVE NEW YORK LGBT Welcome Center inconjunction with the event itself so people have a place to come, relax and more importantly, find out about allthe great things to see and do in the city and state.

• The last thing I want to mention for our LGBT segment is that we continue to remain—along with California—one of the only states with an official Pride Day for the LGBT community at our State Fair. In fact, we were thefirst State Fair with an official LGBT day. This year, we were part of the evening parade as well as the infofair. We had our rainbow heart buttons and hats all over the place.

D. Influencer Campaign• Most everything we talk about here has a digital component to it. One specific digital campaign worth

mentioning is an influencer campaign we completed this summer.• The campaign involved partnering with eight diverse families with significant social media followings. We sent

them to various regions in New York State to post about their family friendly adventures and becomeambassadors for I LOVE NEW YORK.

• They have a personal relationship with their followers, so when they say and show a great place, it has a realeffect. You can see some of the comments from their followers; you have somebody who says, “I just bookedfor Labor Day weekend in Watkins Glen. Can't wait and would love tips and advice on what to see and do”.Another one says “What great trip. Your post got me wanting to plan our family's next road trip.” So this wasan exciting campaign.

E. Questions• GAIL GRIMMETT: How does I LOVE NEW YORK interact with the travel agency community? Travel Leaders

has 3,000 travel agents who all specialize in different areas—like LGBT for example. If I LOVE NEW YORKwere to reach out and let these specialized agents know what is available in New York State, they could startplanning itineraries and reaching out to their communities, which is a really big opportunity.

• ROSS LEVI: Yes, I would absolutely like to talk to you about that. We will connect offline.


III. Guest Speaker—Phil Royle, LEGOLAND New YorkA. Introduction by Cristyne Nicholas

• We are now very excited to welcome Phil Royle from LEGOLAND. Phil is the Head of Community & ProjectRelations for LEGOLAND New York and leads all community and project relations for the development andopening of the park in 2019. LEGOLAND is a premier family attraction and global brand with only two otherUS locations—California and Florida. The $350 million LEGOLAND New York will clearly betransformational, not just for the Hudson Valley region, but for the entire state, creating 1,300 permanent, parttime and seasonal jobs, along with 800 construction jobs. It also represents product development that alignsperfectly with I LOVE NEW YORK’s strategy of promoting family travel, which market research has shown tobe the most profitable travel sector for the state. For this reason, NYS has committed $7.1 Million in REDCfunding for LEGOLAND New York, which has been named a priority project by the Mid-Hudson REDC, 3years in a row. We are very pleased to have Phil here today to give the TAC an overview of LEGOLAND NewYork and update us on its progress. So without further ado, I will turn it over to Phil!

B. LEGOLAND New York Presentation• Thank you everyone. I'm Phil Royle. I'm the Head of Community and Project Relations for LEGOLAND

Developments, and am overseeing LEGOLAND New York coming to this area. I am very excited to be hereand work with you and your team as we get this theme park up and running.

• I have worked with Merlin Entertainment for 16 years. Originally, in London in the United Kingdom, but I’vealso worked in California, Texas, Florida and now New York. My job is to oversee our attractions' openings.

• Merlin Entertainments, which manages LEGOLAND properties throughout the world, makes memorableexperiences with our diverse portfolio of attractions. These include Madam Tussaud’s, a wax museum inLondon and also in NYC on 42nd Street, multiple theme parks around the world, observation wheels aroundthe world, and LEGOLAND Parks.

• Currently, we have eight LEGOLAND parks with New York LEGOLAND being number nine. The others arelocated in Dubai, Japan, the UK, Denmark, Germany, etc. LEGOLAND New York is scheduled to open latesummer 2019 or possibly the beginning of 2020.

• As a company, we are the second largest visitor attraction company in the world—second only the DisneyWorld Group. We have 62.9 million visitors, 128 sites, 15 hotels, and six holiday villages in 20 differentcountries on four continents with 27,000 employees worldwide.

• We are a British run company and our stronghold was originally in the United Kingdom with 24 attractions inGreat Britain. Currently, however, we have 26 attractions in North America. So we are slowly growing ourbusiness in the USA, which we are very excited about, particularly as we look towards what we can do in theNew York State area.

• Our first North American LEGOLAND attraction was opened in Carlsbad, California in 1999.• I’m going to show you a brief video about Merlin Entertainments, our parent company.• Video presentation• Moving on, this is what LEGOLAND New York will look like. There is a video available online that provides a

more detailed fly though, which you can access on our website at legoland.com/newyork.• Essentially, we're buying 521 acres of land. The first phases of development will commit $350 million to the

project. Eventually that will increase to $500 million within the first five years. So, it's the largest singleinvestment that Merlin Entertainments has ever made since the inception of the company.

• We've been looking at the northeast now for the last five to six years, and excited that it will be the third andfinal LEGOLAND Park in North America.

• Our current LEGOLAND Parks include:o Billund in Denmark, opened in 1968, is home to the toy company Lego.o Windsor in the UK, opened in 1996, is 1.5 miles away from Her Majesty's summer homeo Carlsbad in California, opened in 1999, is our first North American propertyo Deutschland in Germany was opened in 2002o Florida, opened in 2011, is on the site of the former Cypress Gardenso LEGOLAND Malaysia was opened in 2012o LEGOLAND Dubai was opened in December 2016o LEGOLAND Japan was opened in April 2017

• Our future LEGOLAND sites include:o New York, set to open 2019/202o South Korea, set to open in 2021/2022o Three more in China and an additional site in Japan


• LEGOLAND Park is a world of fun and adventure where the emphasis is based on rides and attractionssuitable for young children aged 2 to12. That's all we do, we concentrate on families with children 2 to12 andwe do that very well.

• Each LEGOLAND Park is split into themed areas that consist of 50 rides, shows and attractions. You can seeon the screen our driving school. The vehicles aren’t restricted to a track, but rather can drive wherever theywant. Kids first attend a driving theory lesson experience before going out on the track, learning to stop atsignals and drive on the right side of the road.

• We also have the LEGOLAND Hotel at each of the parks, but New York will be the first theme park to openwith the hotel opening on day one. It will be a 250-bedroom hotel. Children can stay in the largest box of Legobricks that they're ever going to want to stay in. It is not a place for family date night. It is not a place for you togo for a romantic dinner. There are going to be children running around with pirate patches and sword fightingthroughout the hotel lobby. But that’s what we are, and we can promise that your children will have anamazing experience.

• The New York hotel will look very similar to the Florida hotel with 250 bedrooms, five fully immersive themes,pirates, adventure, 25 kingdoms, ninjago and a 250-seat family-style restaurant with a skyline lounge.

• When we say family restaurant, it is a buffet, but the children have their own buffet island in the middle of therestaurant where they can get the good food like mac-n-cheese and chicken tenders.

• Each of the rooms is fully themed. The one on the screen is pirate themed so the curtains are designed tolook like sails on a pirate ship. Kids have their own TV and play area where the Lego movie plays 24 hours aday. They also have a Lego filled swimming pool, which is filled with foam Lego bricks that float.

• In addition to the hotel, the New York Park will have The Factory. This is where children can learn about theprocessing of the Lego brick and how the Lego brick became the world's most popular toy.

• All of our parks are designed with renewable energy and are environmentally friendly where possible.LEGOLAND Florida was the first theme park in North America to operate solar powered rides; three of therides there have solar panels that support the ride throughout its operating day.

• With regards to food, we start from scratch so that everything will have local ingredients where possible. Thismeans that all of our food is produced onsite every single day. We know our attendance numbers and who isstaying in the hotel, so we don't need to bulk buy food and then freeze it.

• Lego has always been about education and creating playful experiences to enable every student to succeed,so we have a number of education programs.

• One of my favorite is called Tall Towers, which enables children to build an observation tower out of duplobrick, the oversized Lego brick, and then place it on an earthquake table. Of course once it’s on the table, itshatters everywhere, and they stare at us and wonder why we’ve done that. We then spend the next 25minutes teaching them about interlocking bricks and building structurally sound buildings. They build theirtower again, place it on the earthquake table, and it doesn't fall down. So, they've spent an hour playing butreally we've educated them about interlocking bricks and building a structurally sound building.

• We also offer a number of robotics classes, one of which we call Dr. Heart Beat. The children pair up and theyuse a laptop to program one of the NXT robots for Lego. They think they're playing with robots but reallythey’re learning about red and blue blood platelet cells and the body.

• In addition to the New York Park, we have a community Welcome Center in Goshen in Orange County, NewYork. It is about an hour-and-a-half away from New York City. The theme park will be about a five minutedrive from the Welcome Center.

• The theme park will be 523 total acres. Parking will be in the back, and back of the house will be in the front.This red dotted line is 4,000 feet of roadway that brings guests into the back of the parking structure. What'sdifferent about our attractions is that we charge for parking when you leave. Generally, when you go to atheme park or you go to a sports game, you're paying for parking as you enter. That creates a backlog ontothe local roads and infrastructure. We charge for parking when you leave our attractions so it puts thepressure on us to get you out of our theme park rather than the local infrastructure getting you into the themepark.

• The theme park itself will be built on 151 acres. We are donating 151 acres back to wetland conservation inand around the theme park space. We also have space for future development.

• After three years, we'll open a sea life aquarium, which is a 30,000 square-foot indoor aquarium, again builtfor children 2 to 12.

• Opening year attendance for the New York Park is expected to be in line with other LEGOLAND Parks—between 1.5 and 2.5 million visitors a year. This fits in line with other attractions in and around this area.Hershey Park, for example, sees about 3.5 to 4 million visitors a year. Sesame Place sees about 3.5 millionvisitors each year.


• We split our visitor demographic down to a third tourist, a third day trippers, and a third local residents. Whatthat means is that people are going to come from domestic and international markets. The drive-time marketfor LEGOLAND Park is between six and eight hours. We also have Norwegian Airlines bringing approximately200,000 visitors a year into the Hudson Valley through a now international Stewart Airport.

• The LEGOLAND New York Park will have five hundred full-time employees, 500 seasonal employees, and300 part-time employees. We are spending between $350 million and $500 million in the first five years. Inlieu of property taxes, we will be running a pilot program with the town of Goshen in which they will receive 65cents per attendee—up to two million visitors—and then 20 cents per attendee after that point. There is nocap on payments. This is in addition to regular taxes. Essentially, the more successful the LEGOLAND NewYork is, the more successful the town of Goshen will be. If needed, LEGOLAND will pay for the use of allpolice, fire and medical services required for our operations.

• We will of course hire local construction labor, of which 800 construction workers will be signed under aproject labor agreement to build LEGOLAND New York.

• In 2019/2020 in the Hudson Valley area alone, LEGOLAND New York will see 1.5 to 2.5 million visitors a yearand create 1,300 jobs; Woodbury Commons will bring 13 to 14 million visitors a year and create 3,000 jobs;Norwegian Airlines will bring 2,000 visitors a year and create 50 jobs; and Resorts World Casino will bring 4million visitors a year and create 2,400 jobs. So, in the year 2019 and 2020 the Hudson Valley will see 6.7million more visitors in the area than it does today.

• We’ve had a very busy past 18 months and have now completed all of our environmental processes. TheTown Board has given all of their final checks and balances to make sure that we can move ahead. We'renow in the final stages of receiving the last few permits needed from the State. We hope to close on theproperty soon and start digging on site.

C. Questions• CHAIR NICHOLAS: You showed us the pool for the Florida site, but what will the pool and the amenities be

for New York? Is it an indoor pool?• PHIL ROYLE: Absolutely. The theme park is seasonal, operating from April to the end of October. The hotel,

the Education Center, and the Sea Life Aquarium will be year round and will be built with indoor amenities.Three of our LEGOLAND Parks currently operate in the snow, so we know how to operate in these colderclimates.

• CHAIR NICHOLAS: Will the pool be similar to a water park like the Great Wolf Lodge?• PHIL ROYLE: No, it won't be a water park. We do have a LEGOLAND Water Park in California and Florida.

Unfortunately, the market doesn't require that here in New York because of the short operating season; tobuild a substantial water park costs $35 to $50 million and it isn’t necessarily worth it with a short operatingseason.

• RICHARD STONE: You used the one-third, one-third, one-third division of the people who would be staying.Does that indicate that tourists would be open to going other places besides LEGOLAND?

• PHIL ROYLE: Absolutely. We know full well that people aren't going to come just to LEGOLAND. Hopefully,they're going to come and stay with us for a night or two, then they're going to go off and enjoy other thingsthe region—like Woodbury Commons or the casino. I'm hoping that that Route 17 area will become a bit of atourism corridor with people flying into Stewart so we don't have to worry about bringing folks out of the city.

• As for visitors that are coming specifically to the city, they might spend four or five days in NYC, but we’rehoping they will spend an extra day up in the Hudson Valley and experience everything in Orange County.

• TOM MARTINELLI: Where do you see the domestic market targets coming from?• PHIL ROYLE: Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York—all of those areas. The northeast,

especially New York, is one of our biggest markets for our Florida theme park. We know the people in thenortheast love to go to the warmer climates, but they also love to enjoy LEGOLAND Park. So, we know thismarket is in particular favor of a LEGOLAND attraction.

• TOM MARTINELLI: You didn't mention Montreal. Is that on your list too?• PHIL ROYLE: It will be, yes. We'll obviously get those who drive down to the northern part of the state.• CHAIR NICHOLAS: Well, we wish you all the best and we look forward to being at the groundbreaking or

opening. Last but not least, we turn it over to Lisa, who will review Fall Media Night and the Path ThroughHistory Weekends.

IV. PR and Path Through History Weekends—Lisa Soto, Director of PR and LicensingA. Fall Media Night

• As most of you know, we have our seasonal media marketplace events three times a year: in the fall topromote winter, in the winter to promote spring / summer, and in the summer to promote fall.


• This summer we had an Oktoberfest themed fall media marketplace at the Flatiron Hall’s Beer Cellar, which fitperfectly into our theme.

• Instead of a trade show style event with tables and literature, we opted for a more festive networkingreception.

• We had NYS craft beverages and interactive activities and demonstrations including pumpkin carving, old-fashioned apple coring, an apple pie contest, the NYS haunted history trail, and even a visit from the headlesshorseman of Sleepy Hollow.

• Our TPAs had the opportunity to interact with the media in a relaxed, fun setting and the media were able toexperience a taste of fall in NYS in the middle of July.

• We had over 50 media from places like Conde Nast, National Geographic and the NY Times as well familytraveler bloggers and social media influencers.

B. Path Through History Weekends• The last time we met, we spoke about June Path Through History Weekend planned for Father’s Day

Weekend.• We promoted it with a press conference at the Corning Museum of Glass and the weekend was a huge

success with over 380 events.• This year for the first time we are hosting a second Path Through History Weekend in the Fall on Columbus

Day weekend.• This lends itself nicely to Halloween history themed events such as:

o The Hyde and Shriek! A candlelight Ghost Tour of Hyde Hall in Central NY where ghostlymanifestations have been reported over 150 years, many identified by the TV show Ghosthunters

o Tours with a Halloween Twist at Lyndhurst mansion in the Hudson Valley that talks about itsinhabitants over a period of 120 years.

• Also with the 100th anniversary of suffrage around the corner on November 6, there are a number of women’srights related events such as:

o Broome-Tioga Suffrage Anniversary Parade that ends at the historic Landmark Church where the1913 NYS Woman Suffrage Convention was held

o A presentation at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx about prominent NYC women who were againstthe Suffrage movement.

• I am excited to say that since I created these slides last week, the number of events has increased and wenow have 328 events scheduled so far, which puts us at a 42% increase in total events from last year.

• It’s safe to say now that it was definitely a good idea to have an another PTHW in the Fall• Having Path Through History Weekends in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall gives our attractions an

opportunity to bring in visitors at a time when their visitation is low, which will hopefully boosts otherbusinesses and activities in their communities like restaurants, hotels, etc.

• Finally, I want to acknowledge Priscilla Brennler from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network. They are ourvendor that helps us put together these events. It takes a lot of work and they are extremely helpful in gettingthe collateral out to all our different partners and people hosting the events.

V. New Business• CHAIR NICHOLAS: Anything anyone wants to share? Perhaps an upcoming event we should be aware of?• ROSS LEVI: I mentioned I'm in Syracuse tomorrow. That's actually for the World Canals Conference. I think

everyone knows this is the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal. In recognition of that, the World CanalsConference, which again is one of the things that moves around the world every year, chose New York Stateto host this years’ conference. I'm part of a panel discussion tomorrow about canal tourism. I LOVE NEWYORK is also giving an official welcome during lunch. I’ll also mention that TBEX, a group of about 600 travelbloggers, has announced that their next conference will be at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY.

• RICHARD STONE: Is there any update on Brand USA and the Trump Travel ban?• ROSS LEVI: We are in discussions with Brand USA. I think everyone knows we are very active partners with,

Brand USA, who is the DMO for the United States. We work with them to make sure that New York has a veryvibrant presence when talking about coming to visit the United States. I will say that we are hearing anecdotalstories about a decrease in international visits. The good news is that this decrease is being countered byupticks in domestic tourism. So, to some degree, the overall numbers are staying consistent. This is obviouslysomething we are keeping an eye on. International tourism is phenomenally important for us—one third of allvisitors to the United States comes through New York State, which means it's a great opportunity for us tomake an invitation to those folks to spend time here and spend their money here.


• JOSIAH BROWN: I just wanted to extend an invitation from the New York State Tourism Industry Associationto our annual meeting and conference coming up in Watkins Glen on October 26th and 27th.

• TOM MULROY: The last meeting we brought up the app downloads and there was going to be some followup on that and where that stands. We have 70 million visitors a year for this State and it just seemed low—though it was high compared to other states. I just want to find out why we can't get a little higher than that?

• ROSS LEVI: Your questions actually led us to have a discussion about how we can have a dedicated TACmeeting to discuss how we count visitor numbers in general—not just in the digital realm. So we're looking attrying to put together a presentation for the TAC on counting and how we count our numbers. And so that willbe a part of that.

• MR. MULROY: Are these just downloads or visits?• CHAIR NICHOLAS: Those are downloads for the app.• ANNA PAKMAN: It's definitely not a one to one when you compare visits to app downloads. Millions of

people may shop at The Gap but they don't all have The Gap app installed.• MR. MULROY: Another good statistic would be how many people visit our website too. Do we have that?• CHAIR NICHOLAS: Yes. I think it will be helpful when we discuss this to give a data presentation. It's always

good to give a reminder on how we get our tourism numbers and how we can compare to other cities andother states. Most states use the same data gathering company so it’s the same matrix.

• TOM MULROY: I think someone was also going to reach out as far as hotels and how we can work with themlike we're doing with the airlines? How can we partner with the Marriotts and the Hiltons to help market theState? Finally the last follow up item was the one concerning the tourism drivers like a TripAdvisor. What arethe biggest drivers that they can track to show people are coming to New York State?

• CHAIR NICHOLAS: The last point concerning tourism drivers we were going to wrap into that data collectionmeeting we mentioned. As far as working with hotel chains, George Ntim wanted to help us with that.Additionally, we have a meeting with Vijay Dandapani, who's the Hotel Association president in New YorkCity. We also want to talk to Mark Dorr to make sure that we're altogether on that.

Meeting adjourned: 12:36pm

Next meeting:Monday, November 13

th, 2017

11am - 12:30pm633 Third Avenue, NYC

tourism advisory council meeting · 2019 ski season 20% increase in skiable terrain, mostly...

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