1  

The Tourism Partnership of Niagara Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors

January 14, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. MM5 Room

5881 Dunn Street (Maid of the Mist Campus, Niagara College), Niagara Falls

Present - Bram Cotton, Tish DiBellonia, Rick Dritsacos, John Lohuis, Sue Murray, Valerie Taylor, Stephen Thompson, Janice Thomson (Co-Chair), Wayne Thomson (Co-Chair), Linda Welsh, Helen Young Staff - Robin Garrett, Tina Truszyk, Karin Jahnke-Haslam Regrets - Anthony Annunziata, Lee Carr, Hillary Dawson, Anna DiCienzo, Vincent DiCosimo, Dragan Matovic, Greg Medulun, David Oakes, Kerry Painter, JD Pachereva Guests - Paul Samson, Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sport, Bassel Annab, Exposoft, Toni Williams, Niagara Falls Tourism. 1. Call to Order Co-Chair Janice Thomson called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m.

1.1. Attendance was taken and a quorum declared. 1.2. Agenda review

1.3. Conflict of interest – none declared. 1.4. Approval of Minutes – Dec. 4, 2012

1.5. Approval of AGM Minutes – Dec. 4, 2012

2. Co-Chairs’ Report The Co-chairs reported that they had a productive meeting with the CEO and promised to keep meetings on time and on schedule. Any items that need further discussion/clarification will be referred back to the committee for discussion and recommendations. 3. Marketing Committee Report

3.1. Reservation system contract – EXPOSOFT presentation Mr. Bassel made a presentation to the Board on the capabilities and scope of the system. There were a number of questions that were fielded. Mr. Bassel and Ms. Williams were excused from the rest of the meeting.

Motion – to approve Agenda as presented. Moved – Valerie Taylor Seconded – Wayne Thomson Motion Carried

Motion – to approve the Dec. 4, 2012 minutes. Moved – John Lohuis Seconded – Sue Murray Motion Carried

Motion – to approve the Dec. 4, 2012 AGM minutes. Moved – Linda Welsh Seconded – Wayne Thomson Motion Carried

Motion – to approve awarding the contract to Exposoft. Moved – Helen Young Seconded – Valerie Taylor Motion Carried

   

2  

3.2. Awarding the AOR contract

Several questions concerning the recommendation were fielded.

3.3. Icewine promotion update

Director of Marketing presented the creative and tactics.

OOH CREATIVE

Motion – to move In-camera. Moved – Sue Murray Seconded – Rick Ditsacos Motion Carried

Motion – to move out of in-camera. Moved – Helen Young Seconded – Bram Cotton Motion Carried

Motion – to approve the unanimous recommendation of the Marketing committee to award Loud + Clear the contract as TPN’s Agency of Record. Moved – Helen Young Seconded – Sue Murray Motion Carried

   

3  

Winter in Niagara 2014 Food & Drink magazine editorial team visited Niagara to cover the following activities among others in the coveted December 2013 Holiday issue:

§ Gala § Jordan Street Festival § Niagara on the Lake Street Festival

3.4. Rendezvous Canada

The CEO presented an opportunity to partner with OTMPC on Rendez-Vous Canada. Background Stats:

§ 1,323 delegates § 931 Canadian sellers (504 organizations)

§ Incudes key travel industry influencers from PMOs, DMOs, hotel, attraction and transportation sectors

§ 343 International buyer (268 organizations) § 76 Asia Pacific § 84 European § 40 Latin America § 91 Canadian (including receptive tour operators) § 52 US (CTC has a target of 68 delegates for 2013)

§ 38 CTC Country Directors, Trade Managers and CTC head office executives § 11 travel trade media

§ Ontario delegation included 194 delegates from 110 organizations (includes buyers and sellers)

§ Niagara delegation included 23 organizations (20 from Niagara Falls and 3 from NOTL)

Itinerary Sunday - City tours, CTC market seminars, Welcome Reception, CTC Monday - Pre-scheduled 12-minute B2B meetings, Ontario/Ottawa Evening Tuesday - Pre-scheduled 12-minute B2B meetings, official free evening (numerous receptions) Wednesday - Pre-scheduled 12-minute B2B meetings, Closing Reception

OTMPC Partnership Opportunities – Gold

§ $10,000 + activation costs

OOH CREATIVE

   

4  

§ Ontario/Ottawa evening, 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM, Monday May 13, 2013 § Canadian War Museum, 1,500 delegates § Showcase regional interactive experiences and wine & culinary

§ Opportunity to have delegates experience our region’s products and taste our local wine & culinary products

Benefits § Brand recognition (signage/logo) at Ontario/Ottawa night § Brand recognition (verbal) during briefing on bus transfer from designated hotels to

event § Access for two non-RVC delegates to attend event § *Brand recognition (logo) in event e-mail and evening room drop § *Brand recognition (signage/logo) on partner banner at Welcome desk in

designated hotels § *Option to distribute approved material at Welcome desk § *½ page ad / advertorial in RVC newspaper wrap § *Brand recognition (logo/link) on OTMPC section of RVC web site § *Brand recognition when partners mentioned/highlighted

§ *Partnership recognition to be confirmed as plans and convention develops OTMPC Partnership Opportunities – Silver

§ $5,000 + activation costs § Experiential area at main entrance to tradeshow floor § Choice of Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday § May 13-15, 2013, Ottawa Convention Centre

§ Opportunity to have delegates experience your region’s products or taste wine & culinary products

Benefits § Brand recognition (signage/logo) on tradeshow floor § Networking in social areas at RVC Marketplace § Access for two non-RVC delegates to be on tradeshow floor § *Brand recognition (logo/link) on OTMPC section of RVC web site § *¼ page ad / advertorial in RVC newspaper wrap § *Brand recognition (signage/logo) on Partner banner at Welcome desk in

designated hotels § *Option to distribute approved material at Welcome desk § *Brand recognition when partners mentioned/highlighted § *Partnership recognition to be confirmed as plans and convention develops

Recommendation

§ Buy Gold and two Silver packages (Monday) § Partner with DMOs

§ $10k each + $10k from Ministry’s partnership program = $30k § $20k goes to OTMPC and $10k available for activation costs

§ TPN manages creative – Niagara Canada brand § DMO staff on the floor § Benefit: Opportunity to present Niagara brand and region-wide experiences to world-wide

travel trade selling Canada Recommendation: Invite all DMOs to partner and use funds raised to access Ministry's matching funding program.

Motion – to approve participation in the OTMPC Partnership Opportunity with Rendez-vous Canada, as presented. Moved – Wayne Thomson Seconded – Linda Welsh Motion Carried

   

5  

4. CEO report

4.1. Air Flight Feasibility Study – CEO update the Board on the study.

4.2. Culinary & Wine Tourism Summit – Update including program was presented. 5. Finance & Audit Committee The Chair of the Finance & Audit covered a number of topics.

5.1. TPA Audits & projected cash flow All the KPMG audits are completed. There is a net amount due to TPN from the Ministry.

5.2. Financials – Nov 30, 2012 were distributed earlier as part of the finance package. It was

noted that a few receivables were overdue. The Finance committee directed the Director of Corporate Services (DCS) to start charging interest of 1.50% on overdue accounts.

5.3. Actual vs. Budget 2012/13

Cash flow may be an issue at the end of March and early April depending on the timing of government funding for the 2013/14 TPA. The DCS was directed to apply for a $500k Line of Credit. Terms and conditions will be brought forward to the next Finance meeting. The Chair also suggested that the TPN should ask suppliers to extend payment terms up to 60 days to alleviate any potential cash flow issues.

5.4. KPMG Management Letter

5.4.1. Management Response – the new volunteer committee member, a Chartered Accountant, will work with the DCS to enhance the TPN accounting procedures and processes.

5.4.2. The DCS requested a “Best Practices” document from the Ministry. This is still outstanding.

5.5. Insurance Update – It is not mandatory that TPN carry WSIB. The Finance & Audit

committee directed the DCS to get quotes for volunteer coverage from WSIB and 2 other private companies.

5.6. Budget 2013/2014 was presented with minor changes from the budget presented at the

Dec. 4th meeting.

Motion – to approve the Marketing Committee report. Moved – Valerie Taylor Seconded – Stephen Thompson Motion Carried

Motion – to approve 2013/2014 Budget as recommended by the Finance & Audit committee with the addition of the following notes; that the potential of matched Ministry funds totals $613K, $5k was moved from Product Development to Partner Communications. Moved – Valerie Taylor Seconded – Stephen Thompson Motion Carried

Motion – to approve the Finance & Audit Committee report. Moved – Valerie Taylor Seconded – Stephen Thompson Motion Carried

   

6  

6. 2013/14 Business Plan, Budget, and Performance Measures There was discussion about the meaning or definition about the “Festival and Event Promotions” and the “Opportunities” line items in the budget. At the Dec. 4th meeting, the Board directed staff “to create criteria for promotions that will fall under the Opportunity Fund”. There was discussion about the title of the “Opportunities” line item and that it had changed from “PR Events & Opportunities” to “Opportunities”. Separating “PR Events” and “Opportunities” as well as dropping the “Festivals and Event Promotions” budget line item were discussed. The following action steps were identified:

• Create criteria for the “Opportunities” budget. The Air Flight Feasibility Study and Rendez-Vous Canada partnership expenses should not be allocated under Opportunities

• Change the “Festival & Event Promotions” line item to “PR Events” and develop criteria for this budget

• Ensure TPN has recourse with any funding partner, should they not deliver on their obligation to TPN

• Create criteria for the Ministry’s matching funding program so DMOs can apply

7. Other business The Director of Marketing noted that the Travelzoo report was distributed to the Marketing committee. It was recommended that the Director of Marketing go back to Travelzoo to address the integrity of their report. The number of rooms they claim were booked is inaccurate. Members would like the Director of Marketing to include her analysis along with any future reports and distribute the report to the full Board. 8. Next Meeting

8.1. February 13, 2013 – to include segmentation research presentation for 2 hours 9. In camera

10. Adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Motion – to change the budget line item “Festivals & Event Promotion” to “PR Events” and develop funding criteria for this category as well as the “Opportunities” line item. Moved – Sue Murray Seconded – Rick Dritsacos Carried – with one abstention

Motion – to move in-camera Moved – Wayne Thomson Seconded – Helen Young Carried