►
Description
Katherine O'Donnell from Richmond Region Tourism provided an update to the Board of Supervisors on the status of the Tourism Improvement District initiative in Chesterfield County.
A
B
Good
afternoon,
chairman
members
of
the
board,
thanks
for
having
me
here
today,
thank
you.
Thank
you.
Mr
Holland
glad
to
be
here
to
share
with
you
the
details
of
the
opportunity
before
us
with
the
tourism
improvement
district
we've
talked
about
this
before,
but
this
will
go
into
some
more
detail
and
then
be
happy
to
answer
any
questions
for
you.
B
So,
as
you
all
know,
we
are
speaking
of
the
pandemic
that
Mr
Holland
just
brought
up.
We
are
recovering
quite
well
in
our
community
from
the
pandemic,
which
is
a
good
thing,
but
there's
also
more
room
for
us
to
grow,
and
we
know
tourism
is
important
because
it
supports
quality
of
life
and
jobs
and
our
economy
in
our
region.
We
actually
outperform
the
nation
in
people
staying
in
hotels,
which
is
really
interesting.
This
is
what
this
program
is.
All
about
is
leveraging
our
hotel
visitors
to
drive
more
resources
to
drive
more
visitation.
B
We
have
recovered,
thankfully,
from
covid
we're
back
to
pre-covered
levels
when
it
comes
to
Hotel
occupancy
and
room
tax
collection.
So
that's
great
news,
but
we
still
have
room
in
our
hotels
for
more
visitors
and
when
you
look
at
how
we
Trend
against
the
nation,
the
blue
portion
of
the
circle
is
visiting
friends
and
family.
So
the
number
one
reason
people
go
almost
anywhere
is
to
visit
friends
and
family,
and
that's
wonderful
that
we
have
that
such
a
strong
Market
here.
B
We
know
that
our
residents
love
living
here
and
invite
their
friends
and
family,
and
we
want
that
to
continue.
The
green
bar
is
marketable
trips,
meaning
people
who
come
here
just
for
vacation
for
leisure
for
without
knowing
anyone,
and
that
is
where
we're
lower
than
the
national
average
and
the
opportunity
that
we
have
to
grow,
that
portion
of
the
tourism
market
share
through
marketing
and
advertising.
B
When
you
look
at
our
competitors,
it's
a
little
bit
difficult
to
read,
but
when
we
did
our
tourism
master
plan
a
few
years
ago,
we
benchmarked
against
some
competitive
cities-
and
you
can
see
here
that
our
funding
in
compared
to
those
is
the
lowest.
And
so
this
opportunity
will
really
give
us
more
dedicated
resources
to
level
set
against
our
competition
and
really
tourism.
B
So
when
you,
when
we
think
about
tourism
Improvement
districts,
there
are
newer
for
Virginia,
but
they've
been
around
for
20
years.
There's
20
states
with
them
in
the
U.S
more
than
200
exist
in
the
country.
You
can
see
here.
The
blue
states
are
the
ones
that
already
have
them.
The
yellow
states
are
the
ones
that
are
considering
them.
Many
of
them
are
states
that
we
compete
with
or
cities
within
those
states
that
we
compete
with,
but
we
will
be
the
first
in
Virginia
to
do
this.
B
So
in
2021
the
general
assembly
passed
legislation
to
enable
localities
to
set
up
tourism
Improvement
districts,
and
it
allows
any
locality
to
do
so
and
we
are
approaching
a
regional
one
which
I'll
explain
to
you
in
a
little
while.
But
the
Mandate
in
the
code
of
Virginia
is
that
the
tid
benefits
the
payors,
which
in
this
case
is
the
hotels
so
that
all
the
expenditures
are
put
forward
on
activities
that
bring
direct
benefit
to
those
who
are
paying.
It
requires
support
via
Hotel
petition.
B
B
So
when
we
were
thinking
about
a
tid,
this
has
been
going
on
for
over
a
year
and
a
half.
Now
we
really
wanted
the
hotel
Community
to
lead
the
way
and
how
this
is
set
up.
So
this
is
the
steering
committee
that
helped
guide
what
the
the
tid
looks
like
that
you'll
have
before
you,
representation
from
around
the
region
and
varying
tourism
attractions,
and
we
they
landed
on
this
purpose,
which
is
really
to
drive,
visitation
and
hotel
occupancy
to
the
entire
Richmond
region.
B
With
this
again,
a
dedicated
fund
for
marketing
and
sales
activities
that
not
only
benefit
the
hotels
but
the
entire
Community,
because
when
people
stay
in
our
hotels
they
eat
in
our
restaurants.
Shop
in
our
shops,
visit
museums
and
attractions
and
support
the
entire
ecosystem,
so
rtid
would
be
Chesterfield,
Hanover,
Henrico,
Richmond,
Colonial,
Heights
and
Ashland.
So
each
jurisdiction
would
pass
a
tid,
but
it
would
act
as
one
Regional
tid.
So
all
the
funds
would
come
together.
B
It
would
be
assessed
on
lodging
properties
with
41
rooms
or
more
located
within
those
jurisdictions,
with
a
two
percent
fee
that
would
be
added
onto
the
guest
room,
folio
and
the
term
would
be
10
years,
the
way
that
it
will
be
governed-
and
this
is
really
what
the
hotels
love
the
most
about.
This
is
that
it'll
be
governed
by
the
hotel
community,
so
they'll
really
be
driving
how
the
money
is
spent
every
year,
we'll
be
updating,
Richmond
region,
tourism's
bylaws,
to
add
a
subcommittee
of
our
board
of
directors
that
will
govern
the
tid.
B
So
there's
a
there's,
an
overall
service
plan
that
outlines
the
allowable
expenditures
but
they're
fairly
broad.
So
each
year
we
would
want
to
come
up
with
a
very
specific
work
plan,
that's
driven
by
the
market.
So
the
hotels
will
be
telling
us
what
need
periods
they
have.
What?
What
times
of
year
they
need
additional
marketing,
and
then
we
will
work
together
on
a
plan
to
support
that
and
then
they
would
conduct
an
audit
of
the
tid
expenses
every
year.
B
B
There
are
a
lot
of
opportunities
of
what
we
could
do
with
the
tid
funds.
One
of
them
is
leveraging
new
and
existing
sports
facilities.
You
all
have
heard
many
times
from
us
and
from
our
friends
at
sportsbackers
and
others
how
important
Sports
tourism
is
for
our
region,
but
Sports
tourism
costs
money.
There
are
fees
to
bid
on
these
events.
B
There
are
fees
to
host
the
events
and
so
the
more
resources
that
we
have,
the
better
we'll
be
able
to
leverage
the
facility,
development
and
enhancement
that
you're
doing
at
River
City
Sportsplex,
the
VCU
multi-purpose
Center
Pocahontas,
State
Park
other
facilities
around
the
region
that
will
book
hotels.
Here,
it's
a
great
opportunity
for
us
to
continue
the
momentum
that
we've
had
with
sports
tourism.
It
will
also
allow
us
to
create
an
incentive
fund
for
high
profile
events
that
we
can't
currently
afford
to
bid
on.
B
When
we
look
on
the
meetings
and
Convention
side
of
things
very
similar,
it
will
allow
us
to
create
some
customized
incentive
programs
for
Meeting
Planners
or
to
host
more
industry
conventions.
Mr
Winslow
has
been
to
some
of
our
industry
conventions
before
those
are
expensive
to
host,
but
it's
a
great
opportunity
to
bring
organizers
and
rights
holders
and
Meeting
Planners
here.
B
So
we
would
love
to
do
more
of
that
and
again,
are
we
benefiting
the
hotel
properties
and
and
amenities
that
you
all
will
be
having
online
in
Chesterfield
in
the
future
and
then
on
the
Leisure
side,
as
I
mentioned
before,
we
want
to
move
that
green
bar
in
the
circle
more
people
coming
here
for
vacation.
So
this
could
increase
our
Leisure
advertising
by
at
least
2
million
million
dollars
a
year
and
for
perspective.
We
usually
have
half
a
million
to
eight
hundred
thousand
dollars
to
work
with.
B
So
it's
really
an
increase
in
the
amount
of
money
that
we
can
spend
to
get
the
Richmond
region
on
the
consideration
set
for
people
for
vacation.
We
could
expand
our
our
marketing
to
six
or
seven
hours
away
from
about
four.
Now
we
could
increase
to
destinations
that
have
direct
flights.
We
keep
adding
great
flights
at
our
airport,
and
so
we
want
those
people
to
come
here
and
if
we
have
more
dollars,
we
can
promote
a
region
to
those
folks
and
campaigns
with
online
travel
agencies
such
as
Expedia
Etc.
B
We
know
our
marketing
works
and
we're
able
to
track
that
very
in
a
very
sophisticated
way.
Mr
Holland
sees
this
at
our
board
reports
every
other
month,
and
so
just
with
more
investment,
more
people
coming
here
and
then
there's
some
interesting
targeted
promotions.
We
can
do
around
sustainability
around
motor
coach
tour
with
the
big
buses
that
come
accessibility,
Workforce
Development,
and
we
will
also
be
covering
membership
to
the
Virginia
restaurant
lodging
travel
Association
for
every
Hotel
within
the
tid.
B
So
when
we
look
at
what
this
will
look
like
for
our
region,
the
productive
budget
for
the
first
year,
based
on
the
two
percent,
would
be
eight
million
dollars.
Chesterfield's
estimated
collections
are
around
1.7
million.
You
can
see
how
the
expenditures
would
break
out
in
this
chart.
Here
again,
this
was
driven
by
the
steering
committee.
Sixty
percent
will
be
spent
on
the
sales
and
marketing
type
of
activities.
That
I
was
just
mentioning.
B
Thirty
percent
would
go
into
a
contingency
in
reserve
which
again
allows
us
to
save
up
for
those
high
profile
events,
whether
they're
Sports
tournaments
or
meetings
and
conventions
that
have
extensive
and
expensive
fees
to
bid
on
anti-host
and
then
the
rest
would
be
Administration
and
operations
which
would
help
Richmond
region
tourism
execute
all
of
this
a
little
bit
of
additional
staff,
and
things
like
that,
so
the
process
has
been,
as
I
said,
an
extensive
one.
We
had
the
steering
committee
that
led
the
way
on
this
we've
had
discussions
with.
B
So
in
terms
of
the
hotel
petition
process
in
Chesterfield
in
Chesterfield,
there
are
43
Hotel
hotels
with
more
than
41
rooms
of
those
29
of
those
owners
signed
the
petition,
which
represents
68
support
of
the
did
again
based
on
the
revenue
that
they'll
be
contributing
to
the
fund.
And
if
you
remember,
we
just
have
to
have
a
minimum
of
51.
So
we
feel
very
strong
about
the
68
that
there's
overwhelming
support
from
the
hotel
Community
to
move
forward
with
this.
B
Don't
and
we
work
with
a
consultant
that
helps
us
and
put
this
together
and
they
have
helped
a
lot
of
tids
around
the
country
and
they
have
never
had
they
have
data.
That
shows
that
that's
not
something
that
happens
that
people
don't
decide
not
to
come
somewhere
because
of
a
two
percent
fee,
and
especially
because
our
region
we're
all
doing
this
together.
Each
jurisdiction
is
doing
it,
so
there
won't
be
a
competitive
advantage
against
a
neighbor,
since
the
entire
region
that
we
represent
will
be
participating.
B
D
A
E
Yes,
Mr
chairman
I,
want
to
take
this
opportunity
to
thank
Mr
Donna
for
her
leadership
in
this
area,
because
serving
on
the
Richmond
region,
tourism
board
I
see
these
numbers
each
and
every
day,
and
this
is
a
area
that
is
really
hot
for
sports
tourism.
A
lot
of
people
come
here
and
folk
come
here
and
are
so
happy
they
move
here.
We
have
CEOs
moving
here
with
their
families,
which
is
really
great
for
our
region.
E
So
thank
you
for
your
efforts
and
thanks
for
being
here
today
and
I'm
very
supportive
of
this
initiative,
as
we
continue
to
move
the
region
forward
and
to
enhance
the
quality
of
life,
and
sometimes
we
don't
think
about
that.
But
when
we
have
others
come
and
spend
money
here
in
this
region
in
Chesterfield,
it
makes
a
difference
on
that
for
our
citizens,
and
so
thank
you
for
for
your
leadership
again,
thanks
for
being
here
today.
Thank.
B
F
If
it
just
helps
supplement
the
presentation,
two
things,
one
is
the
Greater
Richmond
Convention
Center
authority
to
do
something
similar
within
its
own
budget,
because
it
was
pulling
the
the
precious
resources
of
rrt
towards
incentivizing
convention
center
events
and
that
wasn't
right
necessarily
for
the
region.
So
the
convention
center
Authority
itself
has
supplemented
the
RIT
budget
for
those
incentives
and
deals
that
are
needed
to
benefit
the
convention
center.
F
F
If
anything
from
talking
to
these
Hotel
owners,
you
know
they
have
some
conference-based
convention
space
that
they
themselves
right
now
have
to
100
percent
Market
on
their
own
within
their
own
budgets,
and
sometimes
the
fees
that
they
charge
sometimes
can
preclude
somebody
from
coming
there.
Well,
this
whole
incentive
fund
is
meant
to
do
two
things.
One
bring
the
marketing
out
from
these
hotels.
F
So
if
you
know,
if
a
place
in
in
Chesterfield
has
5
000
square
feet
of
space,
then
it's
going
to
be
part
of
a
marketing
program
and
then,
when
it
comes
to
use
that
space,
hopefully
again
the
pressures
on
the
business
and
having
to
support
that
will
also
be
alleviated.
So
that's
the
win-win
from
the
hotel
owner's
perspective
and
goes
without
saying.
If
the
convention
space
is
full
in
Chesterfield
and
most
of
the
new
hotels
being
constructed
in
Chesterfield
have
some
so
sort
of
convention
space
and
growing
in
square
footage.
It's
it's!
D
I
mean
so
it's
really.
It
really
is
one
Builds
on
the
other
and
I
think
that's
it's
almost
a
double
incentive.
That
way
I
mean
you
look
at
what's
going
on
at
Spring,
Rock,
green
and
the
hotel
is
going
to
be
beautiful.
Conference
Center
go
up
there.
The
hotels
are
coming
at
the
lake
and
possibly
you
know
with
the
South
Side
Speedway
Redevelopment.
D
A
A
The
funds
that
are
that
are
going
to
be
generated
and
come
in.
What's
the
audit
process
at
the
end
of
the
year
to
show
how
the
funds
were
used
and
two,
the
enabling
legislation,
did
it
give
any
specific
guidelines
to
help
the
committee
in
their
when
they're
actually
preparing
the
budget
and
how
the
money
is
going
to
be
spent
I
think
it's
helpful
for
the
public
to
know.
You
know
what
those
two
yeah
issues.
B
I'll
take
the
second
one.
First,
the
enabling
legislation
is
is
pretty
broad.
It
says,
I
believe
it's
mostly
just
sales
and
marketing
type
language,
but
each
jurisdiction
has
a
service
plan
that
they
have
reviewed.
The
attorneys
have
reviewed
that
our
steering
committee
help
guide.
That's
a
little
bit
more
specific
and
lists
out
the
different
things
that
could
be
spent
on
many
things.
I've
already
mentioned
Marketing
sales,
bringing
in
media
training
for
Workforce
Development,
going
to
a
trade
show
setting
up
presents
at
a
show,
there's
a
lot
of
possibilities
in
the
plan.
B
That's
that's
again,
it's
pretty
high
level
and
then
each
year
that
it'll
be
very
detailed,
and
that
will
be
what
the
committee
of
Hotel
owners
enrichment
region,
tourism
will
partner
on
to
say
this
year.
We're
going
to
go
to
this
many
trade
shows
and
we're
gonna
have
this
big
of
a
presence
and
we're
going
to
bid
on
these
events,
but
this
much
money
because
they're
going
to
bring
in
these
many
people,
it
will
be
much
more
granular
every
year.
So
that's
does
that
sort
of
answer
your
question
for,
for
the
second
part,
except.
B
Yes,
and
so
for
the
auditing
process,
that
we
have
not
determined
exactly
how
we
will
do
it,
we're
audited
every
year
at
Richmond
region,
tourism
already,
so
we
may
end
up
just
using
the
same
Auditors.
We
haven't
quite
gotten
that
far
because
we
need
to
set
up
the
steering
governing
committee,
which
will
be
one
of
the
next
steps
and
they'll
help
us
follow
that
line
of
thinking,
but
we
will
take
advice
from
them
as
well
as
our
board
of
directors
on
the
best
way.
We
just
haven't
quite
nailed
that
down
yet.