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Town of Lexington Tourism Committee Dawn McKenna, Chair info@tourlexington.us 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Tourism Committee Minutes Thursday, August 26, 2021 3:30 pm Conducted Remotely Members Present: Marsha Baker, Kerry Brandin, Margaret Coppe, Bebe Fallick, Jon Himmel, Dawn McKenna, Wim Nijenberg Members Absent: Sarah Boulos Others Present: Doug Lucente (Select Board Liaison), Fred Johnson, (Center Committee Liaison), Sandhya Iyer, (Economic Development Director), Chris Kauffman, Acting Executive Director, Lexington Historical Society 1) Economic Development Coordinator Report Casey Hagerty (Economic Development Coordinator) is unable to attend today and the branding reveal video has not been completed. Hopefully the video will be available for our September 9th meeting. The new logo is already being used on merchandise and in marketing materials. Casey provided a sample advertorial that was done for Group Tour Magazine and other publications for the Committee to see. In July 2021 there were 9,200 visitors which was a big improvement and approached pre-pandemic July numbers typically 12,000+. Battle Green Guided tours in July 2021 were 646 and Liberty Ride were 479. The books have not yet been closed on FY2021, so the total year-end picture was not available. Due to the pandemic, there was no income or expenses for the Liberty Ride in FY2021. One of our goals is to help provide support and guidance to the Select Board and Town Manager to reinforce the funding needed to run tourism operations. Sandhya indicated that they are still crunching the numbers so the FY2022 budget process has not yet begun. They do not expect any capital projects for this year but are looking at anything else that might be in the pipeline. New businesses mentioned by Sandhya include Cocoa Bubble Tea, Anise Mercantile, Maxima which had a successful pop-up shop and are now opening a physical location, as well as Battle Road Bikes and Pedego Bikes which has electric bikes. Bread Obsession is also coming and as a result businesses such as wine, cheese, and olive oil shops are looking to come to Lexington. Margaret mentioned another new business in East Lexington had opened: Parfait Place which is where Crickets was and near Great Harvest. 2) Minutes The minutes of February 4, 2021, April 8, 2021 and May 6, 2021 were reviewed. It was noted that it is important remember that the Visitors Center is plural, not possessive and that spreading this word so that any references to it, whether online or in minutes, reports, advertising, etc. contain the correct spelling. A few technical corrections and some wording changes were made to the drafts at the meeting. The following motion was made by Dawn and seconded by Bebe passed unanimously by roll call vote: That we accept the minutes of February 4, 2021, April 8, 2021, and of May 6, 2021 with the corrections noted.