HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Lodging Tax Advisory Committee - 09/25/2017Lodging Tax Advisory Committee
Minutes
September 25,20L7
Kent, Washington
Date:
Time:
Place:
Attending:
Approval t-22-L8
September 25,2077
4 p.m.
Centennial North & South
Committee & Chair; Bill Boyce, Andrew Hutchison, Andrea Keikkala, Barbara
Smith, Tim Higgins
City Staff & Guests; Ben Wolters, Julie Pulliam, Michelle Wilmot, Erin Buck,
Colin Campbell, Jason Thomsen, Bridget Baeth, Florin Mehedint, Ryan Millard,
Mike Raven
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Agenda: Called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm
Welcome & Introductions & Corrections
Welcome and introductions
Move item #5 to item #7
Approval of the June 26, 2O17 Minutes
Andrea Keikkala moved to approve the June 26, 2017 minutes and Tim Higgins
seconded, motion passed 6-0.
Budoet
Ben presented the budget as printed in the packet, showing the operating budget as
well as the Lodging Tax Revenue shown from month to month, Wolters explains that
the YTD Revenue is Bolo above 20t6.It is expected for $300,000 in revenue by the end
of 20!7, which would mean $20,000 in additional revenue if the current pace is kept,
There is also the potential of three new hotel locations in the next three years, HolidayInn Express, Extended Stay and the City Sale of the Naden Site, which has
tremendous interest to the hotel market.
4.JayRav Presentation- VisitKent.com
Site re-designs:
JayRay redesigned the existing site to inspire Kent as a choice, and to tell the story
that goes beyond the businesses, and into the community. The new site encourages
overnight stays, offering a three day itinerary to nearby places in Kent. The re-design
targets lowering the site bounce rate of 87o/o, which measures viewers who leave the
site after looking at the first page, By using simple and clean presentation, JayRay
hopes to reduce that number, and keep visitors on the Visit Kent site.
Word Press is the software used to design the new website; it includes its own search
engine optimization which will help Kent be found as an option for food, dining and
hotel stays. A search bar at the top of the page will also be added, a feature that the
previous site did not have. This will help visitors better pin point the information that
they need, Viewers can now enjoy a mobile responsive site as well, which means the
page will adjust in size and dimensions specific to the type of device being used
(laptop, I-Phone, Tablet).
The addition of an events calendar will be used on the new website; this calendar can
import from your own personal calendar, as well as be used for re-occurring events.
The re-design will also be integrated with TripAdvisor to pull in hotel and restaurant
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Lodging Tax Advisory Committee
Minutes
September 25,2OL7
Kent, Washington
Approval L-22-L8
listings, Using TripAdvisor allows information to be current and up to date as they
manage things like closures, address changes and hours, TripAdvisor is also a fair way
to display rankings for businesses based on customer reviews and quality, They use an
algorithm that accounts for the number of reviews against the quality of reviews, and
generates a rating for the establishment.
Website Demo/Tem plates :
The new site offers interactive templates that allow you to hover, search and include
moving photos, as well as the integration of photos from social media. Another
interactive addition is through an active map that shows viewers close attractions in
the area of Kent, such as the Space Needle and popular cities such as Portland,
Oregon,
The integration of Trip Advisor will be displayed through cards that will be listed based
on the ranking established by TripAdvisor. The cards will populate in order and the
viewer will be able to see things like ratings, addresses, hours and photos,
Feedback: The committee feedback focused on the algorithm used by TripAdvisor for
hotel rankings. The worry is that there would too much faith placed on reviews that
could easily be skewed with inaccurate and false statements. JayRay representatives
assured the committee that these reviews would be the average of all reviews and
represent current market best practices.
Bill Boyce would like JayRay to research more information on how TripAdvisor
calculates their ratings, and how they account for outliers and possible false reviews,
This information will be emailed to members in the coming weeks, in preparation for
the Visit Kent website going live on October 16th,
Vacant LTAC Position
Wolters explains the vacant position at the Marriott Town Suites and plans to reach outto new management, Wolters also will reach out to the new General Manger with
Ramada Inn, as there may be two vacant positions to fill. Wolters will report the
finding of the vacancies at the next meeting,
6. Next Meetino Date December 4, 2O17
Bill Boyce announces the next meeting date of t2-4-I7, to allow for personal holiday
schedules as well as tourism schedules.
Next Meeting
December4,2OtT@4p.m,
Meeting adjourned
5:15 p.m.
Submitted
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Julie Pulliam,LT Secretary
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