The Chaffee County Visitor’s Bureau divides its budget into two main sections, administrative and marketing.
Within the administrative budget are fixed costs passed onto the organization by the county, such as general fund service and insurance as well as expenses such as legal. Also considered administrative expenses are meetings for community outreach, office supplies and “miscellaneous.” In the 2009 budget, administrative expenses total $8,250.
The following is a line by line explanation of the lion’s share of the budget: the marketing portion of the budget that totals $330,750. The following crib sheet is organized by line item description, total allocated, variance from 2008 budget and explanation.
Marketing Director, $45,000, down 2.9%. Through 2008, the “marketing director” had been an independent contractor, not an employee of the county. As an independent contractor, the marketing director pays their own health insurance, office expenses, and does not participate in any county funded benefits or vacation/sick days. For four years, the previous director had not had a raise; a cost of living increase had been approved in 2008 making last fees total $45,350.
Marketing Coordinator, $26,400, up 6.8%. Through October 2008, the marketing coordinator assisted the marketing director with implementing CCVB marketing tactics, providing fulfillment (which means sending out Visitor’s Guides to interested visitors who request them) and performed administrative functions such as taking minutes at meetings, properly posting notices of meetings, etc. Also an independent contractor, this position was funded in 2009 but it is unclear if it will be filled. The position had made $24,000 and received a cost of living increase to $24,720 in 2008.
VG Fulfillment, $5,000, net mail expense projected cut in half. When April Prout was hired as Marketing Coordinator in July 2008 she researched and got board approval to move fulfillment functions to Arkansas Valley Publishing (aka Mountain Mail). Prout estimated the cost for AVP to handle and pay bulk mail postage for sending out Visitor’s Guides would be $5,000 annually. This reflected a cost savings, since the Visitor’s Guides had been mailed at first class postage rates. This marks the first time this function has been outsourced.
VG Photos, $20,000, up 100%. Some of the best photography the CCVB uses is purchased from local photographers with the remainder of filler photos supplied by AVP. These photos are frequently also used for public relations purposes such as when writers and editors request photos to accompany stories in magazines and newspapers. The board doubled the photography budget from $10,000 in 2008 to $20,000 in ’09. Previously, the budget had increased more gradually: from $5,000 every two years, to $5,000 in 2006, $6,000 in 2007, and $10,000 in 2008.
Web consulting, $10,000 up 233.33%. This category has been used to hire of an independent contractor who specializes in web marketing to make recommendations on such things as search engine optimization and Google pay per click advertising and produce banner ads. The board increased this budget from $3,000 in 2008 to $10,000 in 2009. It is unclear if and or to whom this contract has been awarded.
Online marketing, $83,675, up 67.35% This category funds online, internet-based advertising campaigns, Google pay per click, online interactive brochures, direct database marketing, etc. over the past five years the CCVB, in keeping with trends in advertising and tourism marketing has steadily increased the percent of funds spent on online advertising while decreasing its spend with more traditional media such as print and radio. Search engine optimization, proposed at a budget of $4,000 has also been rolled into this category.
800#. $1,000, unchanged. Telephone bills to pay for a bank of toll-free phone numbers that are routed to either the Salida or Buena Vista Chambers of Commerce to respond in person to visitor inquiries.
Advertising Co-Op, $15,000. Unchanged. This is the amount of dollars allocated for 1:1 matching fund to support advertising local events. The CCVB allocated $19,000 to 10 organizations in 2009.
Offline marketing, $83,675, down 12%. This category is new in 2009 and reflects all advertising that is not internet based. The category used to clearly indicate how much money was spent on national advertising, regional advertising and winter marketing. This past fall, at the suggestion of then-CCVB chair Greg Ralph, the winter marketing category was eliminated on paper, though the board approved Ralph’s request to double winter marketing from $20,000 to $40,000. Therefore, advertising in support of Monarch, the leading driver of winter tourism, accounts for nearly half of the CCVB’s offline budget. Ralph, who also voted on the budget, is Monarch’s marketing director and a shareholder in the ski area.
Creative, 0, down $100%. Some $5,000 had been budgeted for the past five years to pay for professional graphic design for the annual visitor’s guide cover and print ads in the state vacation guide, and other regional print media, primarily focused in Front Range newspapers and magazines. With no budget, it is unclear how or who is creating art for the CCVB’s visitor’s guide cover and print media advertising.
PR Travel, $2,000, down 50%. This had paid for the CCVB contractor marketing director and coordinator to attend the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Covered costs include registration, travel to/from the event as well as hotel charges and meals.
PR FAMs, $5,000, up 66%. FAMs are the industry term for familiarization trips, which is when – in this case, the CCVB, pays for meals, hotels and other expenses for writers and editors to visit the area in person.
Visitor Surveys, $5,000, n/a. Starting in 2006 the board decided it was interested in market research to better understand the visitors that come to the area, their motivations, and provide baseline data against which CCVB performance could be judged and marketing courses altered if data so indicated. The board had decided professional, independent research should be conducted every two years. The CCVB had budgeted to do an economic impact study of four key events in 2008 but despite going through the full bid review process, the project was killed by the Board of County Commissioners. The Board voted to conduct its own surveys and thus budgeted less for this category.
Event Sponsorship, $30,000, eliminated. This category is another instance of the board rolling several historic categories into one. This fund was used to support the Bootstraps, Underwriting and new Niche grant categories in support of tourism-boosting events and initiatives. Though budgeted, in January, the board subsequently decided to eliminate this category and the grant subcategories within it.
It is unclear how the CCVB intends to allocate the resulting $62,400 resulting from the apparent elimination of the marketing coordinator position, eliminating $26,000 in funding in support of grass roots events and initiatives, and who/where the $10,000 for web consulting services has or will be awarded.
Loading ...
Recent Comments