2010-06-28-TOUR2-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington Tourism Committee Minutes June 28, 2010 Present: Mary Jo Bohart, Kerry Brandin, Bebe Fallick, Dawn McKenna, Paul O'Shaughnessy; Staff: Masha Traber Guest: Fred Johnson Absent: Susan Bennett, Carla Fortmann, Mary Gillespie, Kathleen James, John Patrick, Lou Sideris, In the absence of a quorum, we were unable to conduct any formal business. Instead we had informal discussions of the following (items addressed in different order): 1) Liberty Ride a) We will have a several thousand dollars operating surplus over the $17,500 cushion at the end of the fiscal year. Our Charter tours for FYI totaled 125. That is up from 80 in FY09. Over 4,600 visitors came to Lexington via charter tours in FYI 0. b) 2011 Dates of Operation were discussed. The pros and cons of three options were discussed (1) Weekends only in April and May, Daily beginning May 30 th ; ( 2) Start two weeks earlier run May 14 daily; (3) Defer decision to end of season and simply advertise operates April —Oct, check website for actual dates. It was the consensus of those present that since we have been working to align dates of operation, it makes the most sense to do (1) which is how the historic houses are now operating. A formal vote will be brought to the Committee at our next meeting. In the meanwhile, Masha will inform the travel guides of the anticipated change. 2) Activities a) Briefly viewed the AAA article and discussed the positive impact we hope it will have. b) In the fall we will discuss what we might accomplish with an Adams Grant for cultural tourism and decide whether to submit a Letter of Intent. c) Open Meeting Law Training was briefly mentioned. d) A handout from the Tourism Breakfast was given. One of the interesting statistics is that in the first four months of 2010, hotel stays in Middlesex County are up 20.9% compared to 12.9% in the State and 3% nationwide. e) GMVCB is placing an ad in the Yankee Magazine 75 Anniversary Commemorative September /October 2010 edition. There are 6 spots available for local ads. Since Yankee Magazine is a good fit and the money is relatively cheap we will place an ad with our marketing funds. f) We will make an offer to the Motor Coach Association to have a special Liberty Ride Tour on the evening of August 21 St at a reduced rate. They are looking for tours that evening.