HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-02-05-TOUR2-minMinutes of the meeting of
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 11:30 a.m.
G -15
Members Present: Mary Jo Bohart, Kerry Brandin, Bebe Fallick, Trisha Kennealy, Dawn McKenna,
Denise Rickets
Absent: Lou Sideris and Jim Shaw
Guest: Susan Bennett, George Burnell, Paul Ross, Melisa Tintocallis, and Linda Vine
1. Strategies and Funding Based on Vision and Mission Statement
a. Policy on Trip Advisor ad and charges— The Committee will consider a policy to provide
one (or more) of the ad spaces to Lexington businesses and organizations to help defray
costs of maintaining the page and advertising in general. Trisha Kennealy has recussed
herself from participating in this discussion due to a potential conflict should she decide
to advertise.
b. AAA Travel marketplace —March 1St -3rd; Need help with setup, staffing and takedown;
have handed out about 3,000 brochures in the past. Invite local businesses to
participate by providing materials for us to distribute.
c. Advertising opportunities – we need to draft a document to give to businesses to let
them know about the various marketing opportunities available while partnering with
the Tourism Committee.
2. 12:00 Liberty Ride Operations and Marketing
a. Request for increase in fees that the Tourism Committee pays to the Historical Society
for Liberty Ride users who visit the houses. Susan Bennett and Paul Ross presented
their request to the Committee. We discussed the fact that in 2012 there were 20k
visitors to the houses, and approximately 7k took the Liberty Ride. The percentage of
Liberty Ride customers that visited the houses in 2012 increased to 49 %, which does not
include the GoBoston customers. Masha attributes the increase in visitors to the
houses by prompt given in the Visitor Center, and the better timing with the Liberty Ride
starting at the Visitors Center. Liberty Ride is reimbursing the town for the free parking
in municipal lot. The Historical Society is asking for an increase of $3 for adults doubling
the reimbursement to $6, and also increasing the children rate by $2 for a total of $3.
GoBoston pays $4 for adults and $1 for children. Susan was asked why the Town, which
also contributes $40k in advertising and $1.4 million in CPA funding for capital projects
would be asked to pay a higher reimbursement than GoBoston. The Liberty Ride just
began a new six year contract which will increase the hourly rate by $15 to $95. This
makes consideration of the steep increase challenging this year. We need to review an
updated budget before making any decisions. We will think about the possibilities and
take up the request at the February 26 meeting. The Tourism Committee wonders
how we might get a larger percentage of the 20k house visitors onto the Liberty Ride. A
memo will be sent to the Historical Society with ideas of how the request might be a
win -win. Ideas such as including only one house, providing a higher commission to the
Historical Society on Liberty Ride tickets they sell at their houses (currently 10 %) were
some of the suggestions.
b. Joint tourism training deferred
c. Liberty Ride Trolley deferred
3. Signage
a. Parking signs— Recommended sign with white circle around P on Oxblood background.
b. Battle Green Sign no update.
4. Minute Review and Approval deferred
5. Visitors Center
a. George Burnell /Carl Valente will provide a report to Selectmen February 11
b. Edits to the Programmatic Report were discused
c. Public Input meetings have been scheduled. — Collected names of Tourism Committee
members who could participate in what meetings.
i. Business focus, Thursday, January 31 at 8 am
ii. Chamber Historical Society, Tourism Boards: Thursday, February 7 at 8 am
iii. Town Meeting, Boards & Committees, Public: Tuesday, February 12 at 7 pm
6. Updates– no discussion, just as noted on agenda
a. Antony Park -HDC February 7th
b. A French A Faire - February 10
c. Future Date Meeting Changes
d. Revolutionary Revelry
e. 300 Celebration
Adjourned at 2:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Trisha Kennealy
Documents available at the meeting:
1. Lexington Historical Society Admissions Data 2000 -2011
2. Liberty Ride Visitorship data FY2011 – FY2013 to date
3. Liberty Ride Compensation for Historical Society House Tickets Memo from Susan Bennett
2/5/2013
4. Economic Benefit to Historical Society from LibertyRide /Tourism Marketing Memo dated
January 28, 2013
5. Proposed New Parking Signs
6. Minutes from 3/12/2012
7. Minutes from 4/30/2012
8. 1/8/2013 Draft of Minutes from 10/30/2012
9. Minutes from 12/19/2012
10. Minutes from 1/8/2013
11. Visitor Collaboration email from Dawn McKenna dated January 24, 2013 2:00 PM
12. Meeting of Tourism Stakeholders summary from George Burnell dated November 28, 2012
13. Tourism Committee Meeting Schedule December 2012 – June 2013