City of St. Catharines Council ReportCorporate Report Report from
Parks, Recreation and Culture Services, Director
Date of Report: December 22, 2014 Date of Meeting: January 12,
2015
Report Number: PRCS-010-2015 File: 35.60.20
Subject: Niagara Grape and Wine Festival Fee for Service
Agreement
Recommendation That staff be authorized to disburse $50,000 plus
the in-kind contributions as indicated in the agreement to the
maximum amount shown therein with the understanding that the
Niagara Grape and Wine Festival (NGWF) is responsible for costs
over and above for the purpose of operating the 2015 festival, as
outlined in the terms of the current fee-for-service
agreement.
And further, that the City Solicitor be directed to prepare the
necessary documents and by-laws. FORTHWITH
Summary The mandate of the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival (NGWF)
is to create and promote internationally unique and compelling wine
experiences and to leverage the tourism potential of the Niagara
Peninsula as a grape growing, wine producing and culinary
destination. Since 1998, City staff have negotiated and implemented
a fee-for-service agreement between the NGWF and the Corporation of
the City of St. Catharines. The current 3 year agreement is set to
expire on December 31, 2015.
These agreements have sought to increase the overall economic
impact of the NGWF by requiring festival organizers to pursue
specific organizational, marketing and event goals in order to
receive funding from the City of St. Catharines. Each year, the
Corporation of the City of St. Catharines has provided $50,000 in
support of the NGWF initiatives. This amount has been included in
the 2015 budget prepared by the Department.
Report In addition to the annual $50,000 cash contribution, the
City provides in-kind services recognizing the significant economic
and overall marketing/media exposure that the NGWF generates during
the three major events (Icewine Festival, New Vintage and Wine Fall
Festival).
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The Fall Festival typically has an associated cost that is charged
back to the NGWF for use of Montebello Park and other Parks,
Recreation and Culture (PRC) Services including:
1. Montebello Park Rental 2. Park Repairs 3. Showmobile Rental for
Parade 4. Bleachers for Mayors Stomp
Total
$2,500 $2,300 (inclusive of labour and materials) $1,500 $1,000 (as
required) $7,300
The current agreement specifies that the charges associated with
PRC Services be borne by the Corporation of the City of St.
Catharines as part of its commitment to the NGWF agreement. It
should be noted that the values provided are the maximum amount of
in-kind contributions.
Amounts over and above these values listed are the responsibility
of the NGWF.
With respect to each programmed event, the NGWF must prepare an
annual report to the City of St. Catharines detailing the following
obligations as noted below:
1. To ensure minimum quality standards the NGWF will ensure that
the Parade component receives a minimum of $25,000 funding
support.
2. Overall image and promotion in all Marketing collateral (NGWF
brochures, signage, web-site communications and links, media
packages, press releases, etc.) be developed a minimum of 4 months
prior to programmed events.
3. In the festival program, the NGWF promotes events held in the
City and specifically list events held within the City of St.
Catharines.
4. The NGWF shall forward tourist requests for St.
Catharines/Niagara Region accommodations/site seeing information
directly to Tourism Services. The NGWF shall endeavor to respond to
all requests about Festival programming and events.
5. The NGWF shall work closely with tour operators, attractions and
other tourism businesses in St. Catharines to promote all events
under the Festival umbrella. This would include potential trade
show participation in cooperation with Tourism Services and
industry partners.
6. The NGWF shall extend invitations to City staff to speak at
press conferences throughout the year.
7. The NGWF will continue to promote all 3 Festivals and
specifically encourage visitor stays and patronage with local
accommodation and tourism partners.
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8. In all media opportunities the NGWF will mention the City and
Region and detail activities taking place within the City of St.
Catharines.
9. The NGWF shall advertise and promote its events throughout the
City, the Niagara region, and in relevant markets to promote its
events. Wherever possible, opportunities for coordinated and
cooperative advertising and marketing with Tourism Services and
industry partners will be pursued.
10.The NGWF will be required to annually prepare and submit to City
staff a review of its marketing initiatives for all relevant events
under the NGWF brand.
11.The Niagara Grape & Wine Festival shall document the
following visitor data collection components: visitor inquiries
(postal code data), event patronage and registration (postal code
data), and qualitative surveys.
In addition to these general requirements, the current
fee-for-service agreement requires the NGWF to undertake specific
program or projects in each fiscal year.
These initiatives are identified jointly by City staff and NGWF
staff, in order to increase the overall economic or tourism impact
of the NGWF. In 2014, more focus and effort was placed upon the
Grande Parade and Montebello Park community activations.
Commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812 served as this
year’s Grande Parade inspired theme “Celebrating 200 Years of
Peace.” With this in mind, Festival organizers’ ensured that the
Parade route focused on the new Meridian Centre working closely
with PRC staff to create an area for public seating at the gateway.
As well Festival organizers’ provided more community engagement
through the hosting of the Harvest Food Drive Campaign to assist
Community Cares. Enhanced media relations were designed to target
the events at Montebello Park offering additional onsite space for
live media remotes focusing on Downtown St. Catharines as the
Festival destination and/or headquarters. NGWF continues to work
closely with the Downtown BIA to promote the core as a wine and
culinary destination furthering the City’s revitalization efforts
to attract new visitors. In 2014, festival stakeholders from across
the region participated in a NGWF strategy session. Draft outcomes
of the meeting are attached herein as (Appendix 1) and will form
the foundation for strategic initiatives 2015 thru 2017.
Financial Implications The NGWF disbursement of $50,000 as per
current Fee-For-Service Agreement has been included in the 2015
budget submission.
Conclusion The NGWF’s program of events continues to be a key
travel motivator for visitors to St. Catharines creating positive
consumer perceptions of Niagara’s Wine Country. Festival staff
works closely with City staff ensuring that strategic goals are
recognized and incorporated within the development and execution of
the Festival's program of events and marketing initiatives. What
started as a local Harvest Celebration has
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evolved into Canada’s oldest and largest wine festival. 2015 marks
the Niagara Wine Festival’s 64th anniversary, the Niagara New
Vintage Festival’s 19th anniversary and in 2016, the Niagara
Icewine Festival’s 21st anniversary. The City of St. Catharines
remains committed to building a strong diverse local economy and
this festival continually helps to move that mandate forward.
Notification It is in order to advise Ms. Kimberly Hundertmark,
Executive Director, Niagara Wine Festival, 8 Church Street, Suite
100, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2R 3B3
Submitted and Approved by: David Oakes, Director Parks Recreation
and Culture Services
Report Page 4 of 4
Niagara Wine festival festival
2015 - 2017 DRAFT
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Executive Summary The mandate of the Niagara Grape and Wine
Festival (NGWF) is to create and promote internationally unique and
compelling wine experiences and to leverage the tourism potential
of the Niagara Peninsula as a grape growing, wine producing and
culinary destination.
What started as a local Harvest Celebration has evolved into
Canada’s oldest and largest wine festival. 2015 marks the Niagara
Wine Festival’s 64th anniversary, the Niagara New Vintage
Festival’s 19th anniversary and in 2016, the Niagara Icewine
Festival’s 21st anniversary.
A three year strategic plan is being undertaken following a very
successful period from 2011-13. Commencing with stakeholder
meetings involving tourism & hospitality sectors, education,
media, founding partners and NGWF board of directors in addition to
Festival surveying and economic impact reporting, this plan was
developed under the leadership of the Executive Director of the
Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. The goal of this Strategic Plan is
to position the three Festivals each with their own brand and
developed identities, while uniting them under the corporate
identity of the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. The mission,
vision and strategic priorities remain clear and present in the day
to day operations and long term planning.
This plan is the result of the direction provided by the NGWF Board
of Directors with consultation from stakeholders and industry
professionals. It has also been developed to work in partnership
with the Wine Country Ontario Marketing Plan and the Tourism
Partnership of Niagara Marketing Plan.
Where the role of founding partners is to promote Ontario VQA wines
and vintners, and support production of excellent local wines both
at home and abroad, the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival has the
unique opportunity on three occasions throughout the year to
showcase, promote and cast a spotlight on authentically local VQA
wine and local growers.
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Strategic Priorities .......................................
Visitor Demographics ...................................
Achieving Our Goals for 2015-2017................
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Strategic Priorities Include: 1) Experiential excellence and unique
value proposition across three Festivals (focus on VQA and WCO’s
excellence in promoting Wine Country Ontario)
2) Niagara New Vintage Festival Evolution and Identity
Development
3) Niagara Wine Festival Growth and Position within Tourism
Sector
4) Niagara Icewine Festival Promoting Icewine and growing
opportunities for Icewine sales
Goals for 2015-17 Develop concise annual marketing plan and
strategy that is measurable and works in partnership with
stakeholders and sponsors.
Actively engage stakeholders, sponsors and Festival attendees to
support new initiatives and drive additional cellar door visitation
as a result of Festival promotions.
Develop the value and scope of VQA wine sales in accordance with
Wine Council of Ontario efforts.
Constantly measure and make improvements for visitor satisfaction
and in park (Festival) experiences.
(There is more long term benefit to gain by focusing on visitor
experience as numbers will rise and increase. This is a direct
benefit to winery partners and stakeholders - the goal is more
consumption, traffic and revenue generation.)
Improve communication and develop new online tools to support
events, programming and additional marketing buy in for sponsors,
partners and stakeholders.
(Focus on making everything easier targeting premium
wineries)
The following pages have been subdivided per festival, with focus
on visitor demographics, partner relationships and marketing
recommendations.
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Visitor Demographics Understanding our Visitors: An economic impact
report was generated for 2014 based on extensive in-park and online
visitor surveying that provided the basis for 2014 economic impact
reporting. Approximately 150 attendees were interviewed in-park and
asked to respond to a broad spectrum of questions including age,
gender, income bracket, home postal code, in-park average spend,
other Niagara activities, overnight stay, Wine Route visitation,
travel frequency and more.
Historically, 85% of visitors are repeat visitors to the Festival.
The majority of visitors utilize handheld web devices and engage in
social media activity and browsing during their Festival
experience.
Visitors to each Festival have their own identifying
characteristics that relate directly to the profile of each
Festival.
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Niagara New Vintage Festival The Niagara New Vintage Festival
visitor demographic is traditionally a younger group between the
ages of 19-34 with a college or university education. Their point
of origin includes the GTA, Northern U.S. and Niagara Region. In
recent years there was a shift to broaden the demographic and many
of those attending the Tailgate Party fell into the 35-54 age
group. This is a new group of Inexperienced Aspirationals combined
with locally based Habitual Loyalists. The Niagara based Habitual
Loyalists enjoy drinking wine with friends and have a decent
understanding and tend to support locally produced wine. The
younger Inexperienced Aspirationals are motivated to try new
activities and try new wines as they have no loyalty or affinity
for local Ontario VQA wines.
The New Vintage Festival will continue to focus on the
Inexperienced Aspirational market as the Festival has the potential
to entertain this group and expose them to VQA wines in a new
environment which could then influence future purchases and
interest in the Niagara Wine Route. The focus will be on educating
these consumers to make them loyal VQA wine drinkers and Festival
attendees. Further geographic expansion into the Ottawa market is
also planned for this Festival.
Niagara Wine Festival Over 100,000 people attend the Niagara Wine
Festival annually. With 6 days of In-park events and entertainment
in addition to the Grande Parade and the Discovery Pass Program
there are many visitor profiles that fit the Fall Festival
attendee.
It is estimated that 85% are local Regional residents residing
within a 40km radius to Montebello Park. It is the other 15% which
the Festival is interested in focusing on to increase new
visitation to the area and to further promote the Region and
tourism potential the Wine Route holds for this visitor
profile.
The 15% of attendees who hail from outside of the Region mirror the
Icewine Visitor Profile made up of Enthusiast Influencers. Based
upon the park surveying, we know the average household income is
over $75,000. Average age is over 45 and most are visiting 3 or
more wineries during the Festival weekends. There is much potential
for growth and increased tourism revenue with this group of
Influencers as they often travel in small groups and enjoy premium
wine experiences.
Further geographic expansion is planned for 2015-17 into Toronto,
Ottawa and border states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
New York and Massachusetts.
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Niagara Icewine Festival The Niagara Icewine Festival is an
exclusive event that draws visitors during a low travel season.
This Festival currently attracts those between the ages of 35 to 55
who are college/university educated. Their point of origin is
widespread and includes the GTA, Hamilton, Halton, Ottawa and U.S.
border states.
The Icewine Festival will continue to focus on this affluent
market, which falls into the Enthusiast Influencers segment.
Targeting this segment is key, as they have the disposable income
to afford the most expensive Festival experiences. Further
geographic expansion is planned into the Ottawa market, as
visitation trends are primarily intra-provincial and this
geographic area shows the potential for growth. This segment is
also very proud of Ontario wines, especially highly reputable wines
such as Icewine, and they are more likely to support, promote and
buy into this Festival’s offerings.
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Niagara New Vintage Festival Mandate
The Niagara New Vintage Festival has the goal to create an
emotional connection with consumers. The connection will be based
on telling the story of wine, from Vineyard to glass. This story
will reinforce pre-existing pride in Ontario wines helping to
create consumer loyalty and engagement.
Personality Welcoming, natural, friendly, fresh, local,
farm-to-table, casual and inviting
Brand Vision To increase visitation to the Niagara Wine Route
throughout the year by developing an emotional connection with
consumers, engaging them to become part of the growing, thriving,
award-winning industry.
Positioning The Festival is a sensory experience in which consumers
can touch the vines, taste the wine and food, smell the earth and
feel the sun’s warmth. This new focus will be accentuated through
both the Tailgate Party and Discovery Pass experiences at
individual wineries.
Moving away from the original focus on the latest winery releases
and new vintages of wine, the Festival will continue to be called
the Niagara New Vintage Festival, while transitioning to a focus on
the rebirth of summer and the full experience, “from vine to wine”.
The emphasis is on Festival evolution and identity
development.
The Niagara New Vintage Festival is anchored by the ‘new’ Tailgate
Party which welcomes consumers directly into the vineyard where the
new vintage is just beginning. The Tailgate Party is key to the
identity development and creating an emotional consumer story that
showcases one of Niagara’s strongest tourism assets. The
positioning of the Tailgate Party will be as a casual summer event
that takes consumers to the roots of winemaking and offers an
amazing experiential value.
The Niagara New Vintage Festival will be targeted primarily at
Inexperienced Aspirationals, who are younger, lack knowledge about
Ontario wines and live primarily in the GTA. By educating and
recruiting this segment, we can develop loyalty to all three
Festivals and VQA wines in general.
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Niagara Wine Festival Mandate The Niagara Wine Festival will work
within the overall mandate of the Festival with the specific goal
of increasing overnight visitation to in-park events and the Wine
Route.
Personality Fun-loving, built on tradition, casual, community
celebration, family oriented, inclusive, best of Canada in
Niagara’s backyard
Brand Vision To increase new visitation to Niagara to take part in
the Harvest celebration. To build upon established partnerships to
acknowledge the history and share the tradition of Canada’s largest
Wine Festival for generations to come.
Positioning The Niagara Wine Festival has a clear position within
the minds of consumers in the Region. With the 60th anniversary,
the goal is to celebrate the history of the Festival and reinforce
its role as a celebration of Harvest that is unique to the season
and the area. This will be a key draw for new visitors and those
who have lapsed over the years to rekindle their memories and take
part in a new era of Festival entertainment.
For consistency, the Festival name (Niagara Wine Festival) will
remain the same. However, the focus of the Festival will be on both
grape and wine, particularly around the events that draw locals,
such as the parade. The ‘Grape’ focus helps to tie the Festival
into its Niagara roots and builds upon the established personality
keywords.
The Montebello Park experience anchors the Festival by showcasing a
historic and unique part of St. Catharines that is well received by
visitors. The surveying that has occurred in-park, has shown that
consumers are satisfied with the Festival experience. On a scale
from 1-10, most rate their satisfaction between an 8-10. Most
visitors are also loyal customers who return year on year. This
illustrates that the Festival experience does not need to be
changed, but expanded. Focusing on drawing new markets will help
grow the long term Festival visitation and increase the pool of
loyal consumers.
The 60th anniversary of the Festival will be positioned to not only
celebrate the pride of Niagara, but also the pride of Canada by
featuring Canadian musical talent. A balance between local and
national entertainers will help to increase the target market
beyond Niagara.
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Niagara Icewine Festival Mandate
The Niagara Icewine Festival’s mandate has the specific goal of
increasing the profile of Icewine and increasing Icewine-related
tourism in the shoulder season.
Personality Luxurious, exclusive, indulgent, one-of-a-kind,
premium, world-renowned
Brand Vision Evolve a cohesive Festival that reinforces the value
and uniqueness of VQA Icewine. Develop a magical perception of
winter in Niagara as an annual visitation draw. Lead the
partnership providing a clear and compelling visitor
experience.
Positioning The Niagara Icewine Festival has steadily grown in
visitation and recognition over recent years primarily due to early
marketing, the expansion to three weekends in addition to increased
media coverage.
Over the next three years, a continued effort will be made to work
with partnering winery associations and hotel groups (DMO’s) to
ensure consistent consumer messaging. Icewine is already highly
regarded by consumers and the Festival brand is built around the
exclusive perception and elite offering. The Icewine Gala will
continue to lead the Festival experience and personify the brand
identity with the most luxurious tasting event of the year, over
three January weekends.
Building on the growth of the third weekend of Discovery Pass
experiences, additional entertainment could enhance the weekend to
create additional Festival experiences. A hockey event hosted in
St. Catharines is proposed as the next enhancement to become part
of the tradition, building on the iconic nature of both Icewine and
hockey to Canada’s past and future.
The Niagara Icewine Festival will target Enthusiast Influencers,
who enjoy visiting wine producing regions and are highly educated
with high disposable incomes. Introducing this group to Ontario’s
most rare and renowned wine will help end the misconception that
Ontario wine lacks the quality standards of European wines.
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2015-17 Niagara Grape and Wine Festival: Achieving Our Goals Beyond
the Festival Brand Development and Positioning is the important
task of achieving
our goals in our day to day activity and long term strategic
planning.
A Marketing and Media Plan will be proposed for each festival to
ensure partnerships
are maximized while incorporating measurement tools to provide
insight to media
relationships and campaign results across all media of print,
advertising and web.
The Niagara Grape and Wine Festival Executive is committed to
carrying on with annual
stakeholder planning sessions, offering sponsors, partners,
industry and tourism partners
an opportunity to influence, develop and partner in the potential
Festival growth.
The NGWF will also continue to expand visitor surveying at key
Festival events across
the three Festivals in addition to offering online surveying and
Wine Route surveying with
Premium level wineries to further capture additional data relevant
to visitor experience. This
will provide valuable insight to consumer experiences, spending and
potential wine education
and wine interest allowing partners direct access to an already
identified interested consumer.
Over the next 3 years there will be many developments in the online
world. The
introduction of html 5, growth in development of .mobi sites versus
apps, and increased
smartphone adoption means more are shopping and making decisions
using their phones.
Product information (wine), planning social occasions and inviting
friends and family to
events using smartphones will continue to influence how we engage
our audience.
Working with our agency, we are forward planning enhanced social
media tracking,
online web tool development and enhanced online couponing that
partners can
participate in and support can be linked to the underutilized
itinerary planning and more.
Technological advancement and measurement are key to our future
progression in
communicating with our core audience and engaging new visitors to
become part
of our Festival community.
Moving forward to bring this plan into fruition, we will ensure all
marketing and
promotion activities are aligned with our goals and Strategic Plan
in mind. With each
Festival and event, we move one step closer to achieving our goals
through clear and
consistent goal setting with our Board of Directors, stakeholders
and suppliers.
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(905)-688-0212 ext.117 or E-mail:
[email protected]
Niagara Grape and Wine Festival 8 Church Street, Suite 100
St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 3B3
niagarawinefestival.com
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Recommendation
Summary
Report
