Merchant Meeting

• 2016 Recap

• Holiday programming

• Dickens on Centre 2017

• Your involvement!

Why December?

December is the

LARGEST OPPORTUNITY

2013 2014 2015 2016

Jul Dec Jul Dec Jul Dec Jul Dec

OCC (%) 73.1 41.8 83.2 48.2 86.2 56.3 87.8 51.5

ADR $218.86 $150.41 $226.58 $163.70 $240.80 $167.07 $243.72 $183.91

RevPAR $160.06 $62.80 $188.62 $79.00 $207.52 $94.02 $214.09 $94.66

2016 Recap

2016 Dickens on Centre

Statistics:

• ~ 15,000-20,000 attendance

• 19 Centre St. Vendors

• 16 2nd St. Artists

• 19+ entertainment groups

• 45 volunteers

Results

$2,849,900 economic impact $2,746,5000 - out-of-county visitors

$103,400 - Amelia Island residents

Research

Research

STR – Lodging Statistics

Occupancy 64.4% +15%

Average Daily Rate $154.30 +2.57%

RevPAR $103.50 +17%

Event Weekend

STR – Lodging Statistics

Occupancy 51.5% -8.5%

Average Daily Rate $183.91 +10.1%

RevPAR $94.66 +.07%

Month

• ~50/50 increased staffing, extended hours

• 39% increased inventory

• 58.7% saw an increase in customer traffic

• 50% saw sales exceed YoY

• 42% saw sales +10%

• 21% saw sales +15%

• 35% saw sales + 20%

• 80.4% rated the event Excellent

Merchant Survey Results

Public Relations Pickup

Public Relations Pickup

Facebook – Event and Runup

Event

Marketing

Pre-Event Promotions

2017 pre-event advertising in 5-hour drive market

2017 Event

Execution

Holiday Lighting

Holiday Lighting

• Centre Street from Front to 8th

• AICVB fully funding

• Licensed & insured

• Permisson process underway

• Dates

• October 30th – installation

• November 24th – lights on

• January 3rd – lights down

Lighted Christmas Parade

Thursday,

December 7th

Window Dressing

Jeff Kurtz managing, more details to come!

• Holiday Home Tour, Amelia Museum of History

• Holiday Cookie Tour, B&B Association

• Lighted Christmas Parade, America’s Youth

• Parade of Paws, Humane Society

• It’s a Wonderful Life, Amelia Community

Theatre

• Breakfast with Santa, Women’s Club

• Victorian Eversong, St. Peter’s Episcopal

• Lodging partners

3rd Party Partnerships

Saturday, December 9th at Main Beach

3rd Annual Dickens on Centre

December 8-10, 20172015 2016

2017

Make Your Plans

December 8-10, 2017

Partners

2017 Planning

• Review site plan

• Hours of operation

• Earlier vendor recruitment

• Island wide programming ideas

• Trash collection for downtown businesses

• Parking – off-site parking, shuttle from Central Park

• Dickens After Dark – nighttime ghost, adult pub tours

Site Plan

Reserved parking, permit only

Logistics

Centre Street Closing

• Thursday, parade hours

• 7am Friday, Dec 8th –

10pm Sunday, Dec 10th

• 3rd and Front Streets open

• Portion of 2nd Closed

• Vendors down middle of Centre

Logistics

Event Hours

• Friday: 5 – 9pm

• Saturday: 10am – 9pm

• Sunday: 10am – 7pm

Consider extending your

hours to maximize ROI!

Parking

• Entertainment (Stage / Roving)

• Kid Zone

• Living Theatre*

• Marketplace & Artist Alley

• Window Decorating

• 2017 Commemorative Ornament*

• Photo Opportunities

• St. Nick

• Fezziwig’s Courtyard

Event Programming

* New in 2017!

Entertainment Highlights

Entertainment Highlights

New Entertainment

Kid Zone

New

• Toy soldier entrance

• Toddler rocking horses

• Toy solider magnet craft

Vendors

• 14+ Centre St. vendors

• 17+ 2nd St. Artists

• Branded booths

Vendor Results

• 186 avg. transactions

• $29.46 avg. transaction price • $3-$91 range

• $2,002 avg. revenue (+$30,000 total)

• 4.68 ranking for DOC

• 4.36 ranking for DOC attendees

Fezziwig’s Courtyard

Old Fashioned Photos

St. Nick Photos

Hours

• Friday: 7pm – 9pm

• Saturday & Sunday:

11am – 1pm

3pm – 6pm

Commemorative Ornament

• Submit your holiday events

• Sales / themed events / specials

• Extend hours of operation

• Window decorating competition

• Wear Victorian costumes

• Volunteer

Your Involvement

Amy Boek, AICVB

aboek@ameliaisland.com

Mallory Wanek, PRI Productions

malloryw@priproductions.com

Contacts

Questions?