Agenda Page 1 Updated 4/11/2021 8:56 AM Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Time: 10:00 AM Call to Order Approval of Agenda Approval of January 2020 Minutes Public Comment County Staff Report A) Staff Introductions B) Jeff Schwartzenberg - 1st Quarter Analysis C) Steve Chandler - 1st Time Visitor Report County Manager Report Old Business A) Visioning Statement & Visioning Document 1) Visioning New Business A) What is our Mission / Branding? B) Wind Turbines Director's Report A) Highlights from our Staff Retreat B) Maritime Museum C) African American Experience of NENC AAENENC D) Occupancy Tax Report OCC TAX RPT Currituck County Tourism Advisory Board Agenda Currituck County Extension Center
Transcript
Agenda Page 1 Updated 4/11/2021 8:56 AM
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Time: 10:00 AM
Call to Order
Approval of Agenda
Approval of January 2020 Minutes
Public Comment
County Staff Report
A) Staff Introductions
B) Jeff Schwartzenberg - 1st Quarter Analysis
C) Steve Chandler - 1st Time Visitor Report
County Manager Report
Old Business
A) Visioning Statement & Visioning Document
1) Visioning
New Business
A) What is our Mission / Branding?
B) Wind Turbines
Director's Report
A) Highlights from our Staff Retreat
B) Maritime Museum
C) African American Experience of NENC
AAENENC
D) Occupancy Tax Report
OCC TAX RPT
Currituck County
Tourism Advisory Board Agenda Currituck County Extension Center
Currituck County Tourism Advisory Board April 14, 2021
Agenda Page 2 Updated 4/11/2021 8:56 AM
E) Upcoming Events
Board Members' Report
Other Business
Adjourn
CURRITUCK COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA
Draft Minutes Page 1 Updated 11/2/2020 6:04 PM
January 13, 2020 Minutes – Regular Meeting of the Tourism Advisory Board
CALL TO ORDER
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Benjamin Beasely Board Member Present
Todd Cartwright Board Member Absent
Doug Brindley Board Member Present
Sharon Price Board Member Absent
Sophie Bennewitz Board Member Present
Ann Bell Board Member Absent
Keith Dix Board Member Present
Bob White Ex-Officio Present
Tameron Kugler Director Present
Ben Stikeleather Ex-Officio Present
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Keith Dix, Board Member
SECONDER: Benjamin Beasely, Board Member
AYES: Benjamin Beasely, Board Member, Doug Brindley, Board Member, Sophie
Currituck County Tourism Advisory Board January 13, 2020
Draft Minutes Page 2 Updated 11/2/2020 6:04 PM
COUNTY STAFF REPORT
A. None
COUNTY MANAGER REPORT
County Manager reported that they are rethinking trash collection on the beach. Recycing has become expensive and less regular trash receptacles make more trash available to wildlife as the trash is sitting beside the already full receptacles - idea is to convert recycling receptacles to regular trash receptacles to keep more trash off the ground
Maritime Museum slabs have been poured and expect to go vertical with steel in 10 days or so - expects the Museum to fully open in Spring of 2021.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Visioning Statement & Visioning Document
i. March 4
March 4 will be the date of the meeting to update the Visioning Document at the Extension Ctr.
NEW BUSINESS
A. 2020 Election of Officers
Doug Brindley re-elected as Chair
Keith Dix re-elected as Vice Chair
B. Presentation & Consideration of Event Grants
Grants presented to Tourism Advisory Board:
Flower & Garden Show - Currituck Master Gardeners, Adam Formella ($3,451) Truckin' Food Truck & Wine Series - Sanctuary Vineyards, Tameron Kugler subbing for John Wright ($7,000) Crabdaddy Seafood & Music Festival - Sanctuary Vineyards, Tameron Kugler subbing for John Wright ($2,500) Pig Point Kayak Fishing Tournament - Currituck Chamber of Commerce, Josh Bass ($20,000) Mustang Rock & Roast - Bearded Face Productions, Mike Dianna ($20,000) Currituck Wildlife Festival - Coinjock Ruritan Club, Rhonda Morris ($15,200) Outdoors Day - Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, Sharon Meade ($9,600) Peach Festival 2020 - Knotts Island Ruritan Club, Lee Waterfield not present ($19, 875) Peach Festival 2019 - Knotts Island Ruritan Club, Lee Waterfield not present ($7,273.61)
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
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A. Website Refresh
New look for website in January or early February to complement style of the new Corolla landing page
B. Quarterly Report
Second Qtr. report briefly reviewed - highlight is that Social Media followers on FBook grew over 4,000 during the 2nd qtr., Twitter acct has grown to 6,000 followers, website stats are cyclical (after a year, should have better comparative data), bounce rates
1. Second Quarter Report - Oct - Dec 2019
C. Occupancy Tax Report
Basically running in place - flat (up .67% as of last year in November)
Cautiously optimistic regarding bookings Election year does not seem to be making a impact - political fatigue Keep marketing efforts though end of March with the message to book early to get what you want and keep family happy County Manager updated TAB on Southern Shores hosting DOT speaking to mid-Currituck bridge - DOT is doing everything up to the impending lawsuit - looks like $20 toll each way in season
1. Occupancy Tax
D. Upcoming Events
i. Visit NC Conference
Conference March 22-24 in Asheville, NC - those that will be attending: Tameron, Kaye, Stuart, Alex, Bob White, Doug Brindley Director discussed those conferences she feels are valuable in terms of networking and education.
ii. Memorial Day Beach Blast
May 24, 2020: Changing the time and concentrating on the music & food - not a lot of kid stuff - cornhole boards and a bouncy house - Blackwater Rhythm & Blues is the band
Director also brought up that they are revamping the Wednesday event - worked with John Wright and Sophie to come up with some new ideas - renaming it - we are not going to discourage children but will market it as an adult event - possible special tour focusing on Prohibition and bootlegging with $20 ticket - curated crafters and food trucks
iii. Maritime Museum
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Director said that with the museum building completion date set tentatively for the end of October, she is looking to set up some small events (lectures, etc.) leading up to the grand opening.
BOARD MEMBERS' REPORT
None
OTHER BUSINESS
Grant consideration and selection February 18 at BJs restaurant at 11:00 AM. Director will email date and attach the score sheet that is formulated to be filled out online if desired.
ADJOURN
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Benjamin Beasely, Board Member
SECONDER: Sophie Bennewitz, Board Member
AYES: Benjamin Beasely, Board Member, Doug Brindley, Board Member, Sophie
History Year round workforce housing New Ideas (skywheel, zipline, fishing pier)
Other things that impact the target market
Local’s Hospitality Social media reviews Assessing trends and future potential (as feedback for decision making)
State government
Marketing Clear definition of tourism Negative image
Unknowns
Accessibility Communicating assets to locals and visitors
Growth in Southeast Virginia
Social media
Horses Boat Basin Dredging Promoting Agri-tourism Old technology/web info
Sea to sound access Geographic challenges Better incorporate new technologies (specifically geo related)
Increased commercialization (loss of habitat)
Moyock mega site Complimentary marketing of beach & mainland
Education
Educate business owners re: technology and social media
Improving sea/sound access
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5-10 Year Vision for Tourism in Currituck County
Participants reviewed the previously identified vision statement (Currituck County is a well known, year-round,
accessible and diverse tourist destination) to answer the question: “What should tourism in Currituck County
look like in the next 5-10 years?”
Revised statement: Currituck County is a year-round, accessible and diverse visitor destination.
Strategies to Support the Vision
Participants reviewed and revised objectives to support the vision.
Vision: Currituck County is a year round, accessible and diverse tourist destination.
Objectives:
1. Continue to develop strategic partnerships with other businesses and organizations (internal
and external).
2. Stay abreast of marketing trends and technologies.
3. Establish a critical mass of businesses in order to recruit/support a mainland hotel or lodging.
4. Continue to improve communication between tourism, planning, economic development and
recreation.
5. Create more personalized, targeted marketing
6. Promote year-round tourism.
Parking Lot
Participants were given the opportunity to capture discussions and ideas in the “parking lot” that could be
further examined at a later date.
● We have 2 tourist destinations, should we market them differently?
● What effect will air B&B have on our tourism?
● Additional ideas for vision wording:
○ Desireable
○ NCs first county
○ Historic
○ The premier
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Summary
Vision: Currituck County is a year round, accessible and diverse visitor destination.
Summary of New Ideas Regarding the Current State of Tourism in Currituck:
● Currituck has improved accessibility options for visitors
● There are a variety of added amenities in the county (waterpark, sports fields, etc)
● There is a new/different political climate that has and could have impacts on tourist industry (HB2,
travel restrictions, etc)
● Currituck has experienced some economic recovery and stabilization and even growth in the housing
market.
● New technologies abound, specifically those that utilize GPS
Supporting the Vision:
Revised Objectives:
1. Continue to develop strategic partnerships with other businesses and organizations (internal
and external).
2. Stay abreast of marketing trends and technologies.
3. Establish a critical mass of businesses in order to recruit/support a mainland hotel or lodging.
4. Continue to improve communication between tourism, planning, economic development and
recreation.
5. Create more personalized, targeted marketing
6. Promote year-round tourism.
***= new or substantially different objectives
Recommendations and Considerations:
1. Revisit vision statement - in its current state, it provides an adequate target, but is weakly worded.
2. Review above information to more fully develop an operational plan - need specific strategies for each
objective.
3. Share plan with businesses, stakeholders and county officials.
4. Begin immediate action on objectives and strategies identified.
5. Have regular check-ins at staff and board meetings to determine status of implementing strategies to
reach objectives.
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African American Experience of
Northeastern North Carolina
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Introduction
The African American Experience of Northeastern North Carolina (AAENENC) is a collaborative project between five NC counties that include:
• Camden
• Chowan
• Currituck
• Dare
• Pasquotank
The AAENENC is an African American Heritage & History Trail that is set to launch on Juneteenth 2021
• On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to issue General Order No. 3, officially freeing America’s final slaves.
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Overview
The five counties each have significant sites important to the African American community and to the history of the counties. The AAENENC brings these sites together in an organized way to create a “trail” to those interested in discovering this heritage.
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5-County Initiative
Recognizing the importance of these sites and also the opportunity to drive cultural tourism to this area with its resulting economic impact, the five DMO directors decided to embark on this project in the fall of 2020 with the goal to have a cohesive trail “on the ground” by the summer of 2021.
Understanding the need to involve African Americans in our counties to help us identify and interpret our cultural sites, an advisory board was created to drive this project. Each county appointed two or more individuals in their respective counties to serve on this board.
With COVID preventing the group from in-person meetings, the challenge was moving forward with this aggressive timetable.
As luck would have it, Cameron Lowe, director of the Currituck Cooperative Extension office and a seasoned professional leading groups in visioning and planning, agreed to take on this project and assist us with coming up with a plan.
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Facilitation
• The process of guiding a group to share ideas, opinions, experiences, and expertise in order to achieve an agreed upon outcome, purpose or plan.
• Facilitators are tasked with enabling groups and organizations to work more effectively and support everyone to do their best thinking
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Effective Meetings
• Content (what) – driven by participants
• The intelligence that people bring to the table
• Substantive nature of the discussion/meeting
• Process (how) – driven by facilitator
• How to structure the conversation, decision making
• Interpersonal dynamics
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A Peek Behind the Curtain
Able to move from
information paralysis to
a fully formed and
organized plan.
Fully online added
additional challenges,
but also afforded
additional benefits.
Engaging a facilitator
significantly reduced
the time to get to a final
plan.
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Our Vision & Our Mission
Vision
The African American Experience of NENC celebrates the contributions of African Americans and encourages a deeper understanding of the significance of the region’s cultural heritage in order to build more inclusive communities.
Mission
To inspire exploration and appreciation for the African American Experience of NENC and ultimately drive cultural tourism and economic impact.
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Many Hands Make Light Work
The Advisory Board is made up of four working Committees:
• Product
• Marketing
• Community Outreach
• Administration
Reporting
It is important that each committee take minutes so that
the other committees can refer to each other’s work.
Google Docs has been utilized to keep documentation,
minutes, agendas, notes and other information for ready
accessibility to all board members.
Meetings – Keep the Momentum Going!
Regular meeting cycles are important to keep the
momentum going.
The entire advisory board meets every two weeks with the
committees also meeting every two weeks and giving
reports to the advisory board.
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How Do We Pay For This Project?
Each County is contributing an amount to a collective fund.
• The ultimate goal is to establish a 501c3, but that process that did not fit into the current timetable.
• This first idea was to identify a fiscal agent which proved to be problematic.
• An inter-county agreement was considered, which also had challenges.
• It was finally agreed to hire a consultant who would handle all contracting and monetary matters and would have a separate contract with each county.
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Zoom and Other Networking Platforms
As Lee Nettles, Executive Director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, commented, “Get from point A to point B virtually. Zoom is your buddy. We are so spread out geographically. Trying to schedule meetings and keep everyone engaged would be impossible were it not for the remote option. Yes, it's a little uncomfortable, but really helpful in this case, with or without a global pandemic.”
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Going Forward
• Website launch and marketing strategy in place by June 19, 2021
• Once we launch, the AAENENC is not finished! The intent is to continue to identify and create more site ready assets, as well as to obtain grant funding for projects while continuing to collect both oral histories and stories to add to the experience
• Explore opportunities to create thematic itineraries centered around graveyards, churches, schools, etc.
