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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 12/15/2020 - Memorandum From Amanda King Re: Visit Fort Collins 2020 Annual Report And Update MEMORANDUM Communications & Public Involvement 215 N. Mason St. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.416.2209 fcgov.com DATE: December 9, 2020 TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers THROUGH: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager Tyler Marr, Interim Information and Employee Services Director FROM: Amanda King, Communications & Public Involvement Director RE: Visit Fort Collins 2020 Annual Report and Update Per the City’s contract with Visit Fort Collins (VFC), Cynthia Eichler, President and CEO, has provided the attached memo and draft 2020 Annual Report. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 TO: Amanda King FROM: Cynthia Eichler RE: Visit Fort Collins 2020 Summary Update Visit Fort Collins adapted to an ever-changing environment in 2020. While marketing and management functions delivered results through public relations, sales, visitor services and economic health stimulation, it was done in new and deliberate ways to accommodate safety, and relevant results for our residents, visitors and businesses. We chose to pause the Destination Master Plan process in April 2020. With a high degree of impact to the tourism industry and continuing unknowns, many stakeholders were unable to participate. The organization also believed an evaluation of the industry would need to be determined once a path was available, for a return to greater economic process stability. The process will resume in January 2021 and a finalized plan presented in May of 2021. One item from the master plan process was brought forward during the pause. Visit Fort Collins facilitated a Feasibility Study to determine if further conversation regarding a Tourism Business Improvement District was viable for the organization. The study affirmed the possibility existed and the board chose to continue forward with a formation discussion. Visit Fort Collins has engaged with Civitas as a consulting company to further that effort. We have also worked with city leadership for guidance and additional information will be shared at upcoming check in sessions. Please find the recently completed Visitor Profile and Economic Impact Study. This is our second study, and the information is used to help Visit Fort Collins in strategic decision making. The information also demonstrates a positive connection to Jobs, Household Income, Sales Tax Generation and a strong Return on Investment. Our final item to share is the recently debuted eCommerce site. During this challenging time Visit Fort Collins has created a platform to support small businesses. As an organization we can deliver additional opportunity to connect residents, friends & family and fans of Fort Collins to the businesses they love. Immediate results have included sales of $1000 per day on the site, over 180 inquiries to participate and positive economic impact. Please take an opportunity to visit the site at The Fort Collins Marketplace DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Visit Fort Collins adapted to an ever-changing environment in 2020. While marketing and management functions delivered results through public relations, sales, visitor services and economic health stimulation, it was done in new and deliberate ways to accommodate safety, and relevant results for our residents, visitors and businesses. PUBLIC RELATIONS Activities resulted in $3.12 million in paid ad equivalency exposure. COVID-19 RESPONSE • Creation of a dedicated landing page • Implementation of FoCo From Home virtual events calendar and information round-up • Creation of FoCo ToGo Page to drive business during Spring months • Creation of Business Resource Kit (QR codes) • Creation and promotion of the Safely Pledge • Hotel support for all things COVID-19; County and City updates, Colorado Lodging Association Updates, QR codes for guest assistance • 3 Quarterly Coffee Meetings hosted virtually with GMs and DOS members in attendance • Hotel, county and city support during the Cameron Peak fire; one instance included finding over 300 rooms as a winter storm moved in, in addition to the evacuation of Estes Park. • We were able to conduct a limited number of site visits and booked the American Society of Animal Sciences for 2021 and 2025. • Booked USA Artistic Swimming for 800 room nights in January 2021 VIRTUAL TRADE SHOWS Attended 3 trade shows virtually meeting with more than 70 meeting planners and events rights holders 3% 8.6Kfollowers 39.2K 14%followers 9% 19.8Kfollowers social mediaPlanner boxes (pictured at right) distributed to Top 30 Event Planners – Love Fort Collins COVID-19 RESOURCES • Weekly Newsletters with updates and resources • Quarterly Zoom Meetings • Promotion initiatives to support businesses FORT COLLINS MARKETPLACE Visit Fort Collins launched an online marketplace on Black Friday to highlight local businesses. More than 20 vendors are participating, including Coppermuse & Dandelion Toys. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 VISIT FORT COLLINS STAFF Cynthia Eichler President and CEO Katy Schneider Director of Marketing Erik Barstow Director of Sales Justin Koroneos Partnership Manager Melissa Draxler Office Manager & Executive Assistant to CEO Drew Southers Welcome Center Lead Visit Fort Collins leads the region in attracting visitors for a diverse set of experiences, facilitating the highest quality visitor experience in order to enhance the area’s economy and quality of life for residents. TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT With information from the Tourism Master Plan, the Board of Directors to begin to explore the concept and viability of a Tourism Improvement District. As part of the process, Visit Fort Collins engaged with Civitas, a nationally recognized company, with expertise in the creation of tourism improvement districts. The board began with a Feasibility Study to determine if a district could be utilized in Fort Collins and the State of Colorado. Through that study and conversation with the City of Fort Collins it was determined a district could be created and administered. With this determination in hand, the Board of Directors entered into a second agreement with Civitas to begin work to move forward with a Tourism Business Improvement District Formation process. In addition to working with the City of Fort Collins legal services department a hotel steering committee was formed. This hotel committee, along with Visit Fort Collins staff continue to work toward the creation of an improvement district to strengthen financial resources and investments for tourism. VISITOR PROFILE AND ECONOMIC IMPACT RESEARCH Research was conducted for a second time to assist in strategic decision making. Visit Fort Collins again worked with RRC Associates, a firm specializing strategic market research, data analysis and consumer intelligence for the tourism and outdoor recreation industries. The first study engaged a timeframe in 2016/2017, the current study analyzed 2019/2020. Timing for the study was May 2020 to April 2020. A majority of the research timeframe was not impacted by COVID19. 3 signature links 4 desired outcomes: branding our community building our community including our community sustaining our community 10 strategic themesPhoto: Richard Haro2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gary Ozzello (Chair) Director of University Relations, Canvas Credit Union Jennifer Wright Manager of Special Projects & Executive Support, Colorado State University Ken Brink Visitor Services Manager/Captain, Larimer County Natural Resources Ellen Rotunno Director of Sales, Best Western University Inn Kate Cooper (Treasurer) Director of Events and Community Engagement, Ginger and Baker Molly Skold (Secretary) Vice President of Marketing and Communications, East Campus Realty, LLC. Sandi Fredrickson General Manager, Marriott Fort Collins Chris Ashby Director, The Ranch Andrea Coy Communications Coordinator, Designer, Bohemian Foundation Bethany Cloud Tap Room Manager, Odell Brewing Company Lauren Gleason Director of Events & Conference Services, Colorado State University Daniel Benton General Manager, Hilton Fort Collins Sean Godbey Owner, Old Town Spice Shop Amanda King Communications & Public Involvement, City of Fort Collins Matt Robenalt Executive Director, Downtown Development Authority In addition to the Board of Directors for Visit Fort Collins a, a Leadership Committee convened for this community wide effort. Leadership Committee Members included: • John Williams, Advanced Energy • Matt Robenalt, Downtown Development Authority • Ginger Graham, Ginger & Baker • Jason Dennison, Downtown Business Association • David May, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce • Amanda King, City of Fort Collins • Molly Skold, Campus Retail, LLC • Jim McDonald, City of Fort Collins Arts and Culture • Cheryl Zimlich, Bohemian Foundation • SeonAh Kendall, City of Fort Collins • Ken Brink, Larimer County • Gary Ozzello, Colorado State University/Canvas Credit Union • Ben Costello, Mountain Whitewater • Kevin Smith, Hilton Fort Collins • Tom Scharf, Music District Work was paused in May 2020 as the intensity of COVID19 challenges intensified. The process will begin for completion in 2021. This will also provide for additional considerations to be made for recovery, and a bridge to core components of the overall plan. In partnership with the City of Fort Collins, a Destination Master Plan progressed. The opportunity focused an opportunity to look at tourism in a strategic, comprehensive manner and will assist in leading the community and stakeholders towards aligned goals. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE key highlights 4,197 jobs 35.4x return on investment $10 m sales tax generated DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins Visitor Study 2019/20 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 ▪Methodology and selected findings ▪Visitor profile and Demographics ▪Travel Party Characteristics ▪Family & Friends ▪Experience and Perceptions ▪Visitor Information Requests ▪Satisfaction Ratings ▪Conclusions July 2020 2 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Introduction & Selected FindingsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Introduction This report summarizes the findings from a 2019/20 visitor profile study conducted on behalf of Visit Fort Collins by RRC Associates. The information from this project is intended to assist Visit Fort Collins in gaining a better understanding of its current visitor segments, to profile the most important demographic characteristics of visitors, to measure satisfaction with a variety of attributes of the experience, and to understand the dynamic of tourism overall in Fort Collins. July 2020 4 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Selected Findings ▪Fort Collins attracts a healthy variety of visitors from varying demographics. Fort Collins also attracts a large share of first-time overnight visitors (56%), while day visitors tended to be repeat visitors (80% of day visitors had visited previously). ▪In 2019/20 47% of local respondents reported hosting out-of-town visitors in the past 3 years, demonstrating the importance of local residents to the larger tourism economy. ▪The average overnight travel party spent $1,104 in Fort Collins throughout their trip, and day visitor travel parties spent $259 during their visit. On a per-person, per-day basis, overnight visitors spent $141 while day visitors spent $106 ▪Overnight visitors stay an average of 3.8 nights in the area, up from 3.5 nights in 2016/17. Average travel party size was 3.8 people for overnight visitors, up from 2.9 people. The larger travel party sizes and longer stays contributed to the increase in total visitor spending. ▪Satisfaction with aspects of Fort Collins is high. Overall value of the visit, overall town cleanliness, and variety of activities/things to do received the highest scores. Individual ratings remained consistently positive compared to 2016/17. ▪Among overnight visitors only, California is the top source of visitors to Fort Collins this year (12%), followed by Colorado (8%). July 2020 5 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Methodology The 2019/20 Visitor Profile Study utilized three different techniques for gathering information about visitors to Fort Collins. 1.An in-person survey at popular locations in the area, such as Old Town Square, Breweries, CSU stadium, etc. 2.Stationary survey kiosks placed in strategic locations, including the Fort Collins Visitor Center, the Museum of Discovery, and hotel lobbies. 3.An online survey delivered to those who had requested the Fort Collins visitors guide. Between the three research methodologies, a total of 1,113 surveys were gathered between July of 2019 and April of 2020. July 2020 6 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Survey Questions Some of the key topics addressed in the survey include: ▪Geographic origin, including overnight, day visitor, or local resident; ▪Demographic information, including gender, age, household composition, and household income; ▪Visitor expenditures ▪Activity participation and attractions visited on the trip; ▪Patterns of local residents hosting out-of-town visitors in their homes; ▪Satisfaction with the experience in Fort Collins, including lodging, dining, variety of activities, and customer service; ▪Overnight visitor habits and behavior, such as number of nights stayed, location of lodging, and type of accommodations. July 2020 7 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visitor Profile & DemographicsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visitor Demographics Fort Collins attracts a variety of visitors. In terms of household status, a mix of visitors with a variety of household makeups was recorded in the survey. Compared to the 2016/17 version of the survey, Fort Collins had an increase in shares of visitors from households with children at home and a decline in single visitors without children. A mix of ages and household incomes is also documented, with a noticeable group of 25-to 34-year- olds in the sample, but relatively consistent shares as 2016/17. Most visitors earn $150,000 or less in annual household income. July 2020 10 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Overnight Visitors Three out of five overnight visitors were staying in a hotel/motel, marking a 9% increase over 2016/17. Additionally, 2019/20 saw a decrease in visitors staying with family/friends (12%), which was the number two accommodation type in 2016/17, shifting toward vacation home rentals, such as AirBnB, as the second highest share of visitor accommodations (15%). 72% of overnight visitors were staying in Fort Collins, with a small minority staying in other locations like Loveland. The share of visitors staying in Loveland (11%) saw a sizeable increase when compared to 2016/17 Overnight visitors were staying in Fort Collins for an average of 3.8 nights. July 2020 11 Including Boulder, Estes Park, Cheyenne WY, Timnath and other CO. locations in smaller shares DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Prior Visitation Over half of overnight visitors surveyed were first-time visitors to Fort Collins, while 4 out of 5 day visitors had been to Fort Collins at least once prior to their visit. On average, overnight visitors had made 2.1 visits to Fort Collins in the past 5 years, while day visitors averaged 6.6 visits in the same period. July 2020 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Top States for Overnight Visitors Among overnight visitors only, California is the top source of visitors to Fort Collins this year (12%), followed by Colorado (8%), while in 2016/17 California was the second highest; notably there was a 6 percentage point decrease in Colorado visitors between the two sample years. Other important states for overnight visitors include Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas, each accounting for 6% of overnight visitors, followed by smaller shares from Missouri (4%), Ohio (4%), Minnesota (3%), and Oklahoma (3%). July 2020 13 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Travel Party CharacteristicsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Travel Party Makeup The majority of survey respondents indicated that they were traveling with their spouse, including 71% of overnight visitors and 44% of day visitors. The next highest share of visitors had children with them; however, day visitors had smaller shares in this group (19%) and larger shares traveling alone (32%). Notably, 2019/20 recorded a decrease in shares of day visitors traveling with friends (from 26% in 2016/17 to 16% this year). People were traveling with an average of 3.3 people in 2019/20. Overnight visitors were in a larger travel party (3.8 people) as compared to overnight visitors (2.7 people). July 2020 15 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Reason for Visiting Recreation/general vacation and business were the top 2 reasons for visiting Fort Collins; however, visitors here for business were primarily on day visits (34% of all day visitors), while those seeking recreation/ general vacation offered large shares of both overnight (49%) and day visitors (23%), emphasizing the importance of these two motivations as visitation drivers for Fort Collins. When compared to 2016/17 survey results, the high share of day visitors traveling to Fort Collins for business stands out, having increased by 30%, however business offered little growth in overnight visitors during the same period. July 2020 16 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Family & FriendsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Family & Friends Just under half of local residents indicated that they have hosted out of town visitors in their home in the past 3 years (47%), a substantial decrease from 2016/17; however, a larger share of respondents indicated that did not know or were unsure. The average party size of such visitors was 2.7 people, staying an average of 3.8 nights. July 2020 18 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Experience & PerceptionsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visitor Activities Fort Collins visitors participate in a wide variety of activities during their trip. Consistent with 2016/17, the most popular were dining out, visiting Downtown Fort Collins, and visiting breweries; these results show the importance of visitors to the restaurant and retail industry in and around the Downtown area. Shopping, general sightseeing, visiting distilleries/wineries are also important visitor activities. Business meetings, hiking/climbing, people watching/hanging out, and cultural performances/arts round out the list of top activities for visitors. July 2020 20 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Travel Party Spending Amounts July 2020 21 In 2019/20 visitors were asked to estimate their spending throughout their trip in 5 categories (instead of in terms of simply overall spending as asked in 2016/17). Fort Collins visitors contribute a significant amount to the local economy, spending money on lodging, restaurants, retail stores, recreation, and other spending. The average overnight travel party spent $511 on lodging. Other than lodging, the highest spending category for visitors was on food & drinks/restaurants/bars, which is consistent with the high participation in these activities. Throughout their trip, overnight visitor travel parties spent an average of $436 on food & drinks, while day visitor travel parties spent $173 in this category during their visit. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Total Spending Amounts July 2020 22 Overall spending throughout visitors' trips averaged $910, showing that Fort Collins visitors contribute a significant amount to the local economy. The average overnight travel party spent $1,369 in Fort Collins throughout their trip and day visitors spent $297 during their visit, however the largest shares in both categories spent between $100 and $499. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Spending Amounts Per-Person, Per-Day July 2020 23 When comparing overall visitor spending on a per- person, per-day basis, the overall average was $125 across all visitor segments, up from $88. Overnight visitors spent on average $141 during their trip, while day visitors spent an average of $106 per- person, per-day during the day they visited. These figures are higher than those documented in the 2016/17 research. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visitor Information RequestsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Information Requests Among people who requested information about Fort Collins from the Visit Fort Collins website, most had already decided to visit Fort Collins and wanted more information about what to see and do (33%); however, this share was much higher in 2016/17. Similarly, only 1 in 4 respondents who requested visitor information visited Fort Collins, while in 2016/17, 68% had. Of those who did visit after requesting information, the month of their visit followed similar patterns as 2016/17, with increased visits in January and February. July 2020 25 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Satisfaction RatingsDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Satisfaction with Fort Collins Satisfaction with aspects of Fort Collins is high. Overall value of the visit, overall town cleanliness, and variety of activities/things to do received the highest scores. Individual ratings remained consistently positive compared to 2016/17. July 2020 27 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Likelihood to Return/Recommend Approximately 55% of respondents are likely to return to Fort Collins in the future (rated 9 or 10), down somewhat compared to 74% in 2016/17. Respondents are also less likely to recommend Fort Collins this year compared to 2016/17. Results are still positive yet decreased by a significant margin since 2016/17. July 2020 28 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 ConclusionDocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Conclusion The visitor profile study results provide an important level of information about Fort Collins visitors. ▪Changes between the results of the 2019/20 compared to 2016/17 emphasize an evolving dynamic in Fort Collins visitation and positive trends in Fort Collins tourism. ▪Restaurants, bars, breweries, Old Town Fort Collins, and scenic nearby areas offer powerful drivers of visitation to Fort Collins, as evidenced by both high participation and spending in these areas and activities, as well as a high share of respondents citing these aspects as primary reasons for their visits. ▪Reasons for visiting Fort Collins include general vacation, business (especially among day visitors), visiting family/friends, combined business/pleasure, and college -related visits. This diversity demonstrates an overall level of health in the tourism economy. ▪Overall satisfaction ratings of local services and amenities in Fort Collins remains high, though likelihood to recommend and likelihood to return both declined. July 2020 30 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Thank You RRC Associates 4770 Baseline Road, Suite 360 Boulder, CO 80303 RRCAssociates.com 303-449-6558 July 2020 31 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Prepared for: Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau Prepared by: RRC Associates, Inc. 4770 Baseline Rd., Ste 360 Boulder, CO 80303 303/449-6558 www.rrcassociates.com Visit Fort Collins 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism October 2020 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 RRC Associates 2019/20 ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM Draft Results INTRODUCTION This report summarizes the estimated economic impact of tourism in the City of Fort Collins in 2019/20 (the 12-month period encompassing April 2019 to March 2020). The results are primarily based on a year-long visitor study conducted by RRC Associates and on the IMPLAN economic impact modeling system, a software and data package widely used for assessing the economic impacts of a variety of industries, including tourism. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Table 1 below summarizes selected key findings from the research. Table 1 Summary of Selected Key Findings Economic Measure (all figures in millions except jobs) 2019/20 2016/17 Percent Change Direct economic impact* $222.0 $176.0 26.1% Secondary economic impact (indirect and induced effects) + $124.3 + $98.6 26.1% Total economic impact (Direct economic impact plus secondary impact) $346.3 $274.6 26.1% DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 2 Total Jobs 4,197 3,801 10.4% Total Labor Income $112.2 $89.4 25.5% City of Fort Collins sales tax generated by tourism $10.0 $7.7 30.7% ROI (Influenced leisure trip spending to Visit Fort Collins budget) 35.4 times 30.6 times * Excluding airfare and expenditures outside of the City of Fort Collins. Using information from the 2019/20 Fort Collins Visitor Study, hotel lodging statistics from Rocky Mountain Lodging Report, and IMPLAN multipliers for the City of Fort Collins, this report estimates that the total economic impact of tourism for the City of Fort Collins in 2019/20 to be $346.3 million, including direct economic impact in the City of Fort Collins of $222 million and secondary impacts (indirect and induced) of $124.3 million. These figures are up 26.1 percent from the 2016/17 Economic Impact study, an impressive gain that captures the increased level of tourism in Fort Collins over that time period. The estimated number of jobs in the City of Fort Collins attributable to tourism is 4,197, including 3,259 jobs directly tied to the tourism industry. The number of tourism jobs was up 10.4 percent. The total labor income attributable to tourism in the City of Fort Collins is $112.2 million, up 25.5 percent. The estimated amount of tax (sales, lodging, food service, and admissions) that visitors contribute to the City of Fort Collins is $10.0 million, or approximately $160 per household in the City of Fort Collins. The return on investment for Visit Fort Collins’s total budget in terms of generating marketable, influenced visitors to Fort Collins, is 35.4 times, up from 30.6 times return in the 2016/17 report. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 3 METHODOLOGY This report presents estimates of the economic impacts of tourism in the City of Fort Collins for 2019/20. The information used to calculate the economic impact is primarily derived from two sources: the 2019/20 Fort Collins CVB Visitor Study, and 2019 IMPLAN data for zip codes encompassing the City of Fort Collins. Additionally, the analysis has been informed and corroborated by a variety of other tourism research sources and governmental revenue sources, as discussed later in this section. The study estimates the following types of economic impacts resulting from tourism in the City of Fort Collins: • Volume of visitation (as measured in visitor-days) • Direct visitor expenditures • Direct and “secondary” (indirect and induced; aka “multiplier”) economic output • Direct and “secondary” employment • Direct and “secondary” labor income Visitor Study The 2019/20 Fort Collins CVB Visitor Study provided a detailed analysis of visitors to Fort Collins, including their demographics, geographic origin, length of stay, reason for visit, activities and events participated in during the trip, and expenditure amounts. This last piece of information – direct visitor expenditures – is one of the critical primary inputs to the Economic Impact study. The visitor research program for the Fort Collins CVB utilized a hybrid approach to data collection, which included three different methodologies: 1) Stationary survey kiosks placed at various locations. o Survey kiosks were placed at various times of the year in the Fort Collins visitor center, the Museum of Discovery, various hotel lobbies, and other locations 2) Short interviewer intercept surveys, administered in selected places around Fort Collins. o Intercept surveys were completed in and around music festivals, CSU events, business and retail stores, downtown pedestrians, and other locations in the city. 3) An online survey delivered via email to those who had requested the Fort Collins visitors guide. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 4 The total survey sample size for the 2019/20 Visitor Study included 1,113 intercept and follow- up surveys. The sample size, from a purely statistical calculation, provides a 95 percent confidence level of +/-2.94 percent about any given percentage expressed in the overall results. In other words, for a results that shows 50 percent of visitors participated in a particular activity, the true percentage is somewhere between 47 and 53 percent. The primary inputs from the 2019/20 Fort Collins CVB Visitor Study used in this Economic Impact Study were the visitor mix (day visitor, overnight visitor staying with fam ily/friends, overnight visitor staying in commercial lodging), and aggregate level of expenditures in Fort Collins per person per trip. It is important to note that the visitor expenditure results are from a primary survey research effort, and not from a secondary source. Therefore, the visitor expenditure figures are largely accurate, representative, and specific to Fort Collins. IMPLAN Using input-output analysis in combination with regional specific Social Accounting Matrices and Multiplier Models, IMPLAN provides a highly accurate and adaptable model for its users. The IMPLAN database contains county, state, zip code, and federal economic statistics which are specialized by region, not estimated from national averages and can be used to measure the effect on a regional or local economy of a given change or event in the economy's activity.1 For purposes of this analysis, an IMPLAN economic impact model was developed based on the geographic area encompassing zip codes to which the US Postal Service has assigned the location name “Fort Collins.” Other Sources As noted previously, a variety of other data sources have been used to inform the analysis, as outlined below: • “Colorado Travel Impacts 1996 – 2019” by Dean Runyan Associates was utilized to inform/confirm estimates of visitor expenditures by industry sector and visitor group, particularly in reference to that study’s estimates of the economic impacts of overnight travelers to Larimer County in 2019. • “Colorado Travel Year 2019” by Longwoods International was utilized to inform/confirm estimates of visitor volumes, visitor types (day or overnight) and visitor expenditures by visitor group. • A variety of other data was referenced as well, including: o City of Fort Collins accommodations and sales tax collections by sector, as reported by the City of Fort Collins. 1 IMPLAN website, www.implan.com DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 5 o State taxable sales for the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County, as reported by the Colorado Department of Revenue. o A variety of hotel lodging metrics, as reported by Rocky Mountain Lodging Report for the City of Fort Collins (room inventories, lodging occupancy rates, average daily rates, etc.). DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 6 REPORT FINDINGS Visitor Study Findings This section presents the information from the 2019/20 Visitor Study that is most relevant to the Economic Impact study. Table 2 2019/20 Visitor Type Visitor Type Percent of Visitor-Days Overnight Visitor in Fort Collins commercial/paid lodging 33.8% Other Overnight Visitor (non-Fort Collins locations, RV, dorm room, etc.) 18.9% Overnight Visitor staying with family/friends 6.9% Day Visitor 40.5% Total 100.0% Source: Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Visitor Study • Visitor Type. Information from the 2019/20 Visitor Study was used to create a customized visitor type distribution, as presented in Table 2 above. As shown, overnight visitors staying in commercial/paid lodging in the City of Fort Collins (hotel, motel, Airbnb, etc.) accounted for approximately 34 percent of visitor-days. Those staying in overnight accommodations outside Fort Collins (primarily Loveland) and visitors in other accommodations (camping, RV, dorm room, etc.) represented 19 percent. Those staying overnight with family or friends were the third major segment of visitors (7 percent of visitor nights). Finally, day visitors were 40.5 percent of all visitors. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 7 Table 3 Average Daily Expenditures per Person, by Visitor Type Visitor Type Average Daily Expenditures per Person Overnight Visitor staying in commercial lodging $146 Overnight Visitor staying with family/friends $123 Other Overnight Visitor $106 Day Visitor $106 Overall (weighted average by segment size) $121 Source: Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Visitor Study • Per Person Daily Expenditures. Information from the 2019/20 Visitor Study also provided information on per person daily expenditures while in the City of Fort Collins, as shown above in Table 3. Overnight visitors staying in commercial lodging ($146) spend slightly more per person per day than overnight visitors staying with family/friends ($123 per person per day on average). Overnighters in other lodging and day visitors spend somewhat less ($106 each). Although overnight visitors spend considerably more than day visitors, on average, it is worth noting that day visitors tend to be repeat guests who regularly contribute to the Fort Collins economy. Hotel Statistics Hotel statistics are provided by Rocky Mountain Lodging Report. For the 12-month period that corresponded to the Visitor Study survey research (April 2019 to March 2020), the supply of available hotel rooms in the City of Fort Collins only (not including hotels in unincorporated areas close to the City or other parts of Larimer County) was 696,150 available rooms, a substantial increase of 29 percent from 3 years ago. During that same period, a total of 452,425 of those hotel rooms were occupied (a 24 percent increase from 2016/17). The increase in the number of available and occupied hotel rooms is a significant contributor to the increase in the total economic impact of tourism in the City of Fort Collins. The annual occupancy rate was 65 percent, down slightly from 67.4 percent over the 2016/17 study period. Additionally, the average room rate (ADR) in Fort Collins in 2019/20 was $125.19, up from $114.88. The average revenue per available room (RevPAR) was $81.36, up from DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 8 $76.90. (The information in this paragraph is not specifically used to calculate the economic impact below but is provided for general informational and context purposes.) Given an average of 1.65 persons per occupied room (calculated based on the actual per person spent on hotels divided by the average room rate), the estimate of the total number of visitor- nights in hotels in the City of Fort Collins only was 746,501. From the Visitors Survey, it is known that the average length of stay for overnight visitors is 3.5 nights. Dividing 746,501 hotel room-nights by 3.5 nights per stay results in a total of 211,846 unique individuals staying in Fort Collins hotels in 2019/20. Number of Visitor-Days in Fort Collins in 2019/20 Table 4 Total Direct Visitors Spending in City of Fort Collins, 2019/20 Visitor Type Number of visitor-days Per person daily spend Total Visitor Expenditures (Millions) Overnight Visitor staying in commercial lodging 746,501 $146 $109.0 Other Overnight Visitor (camping, dorm room, etc.) 416,746 $106 $44.0 Overnight Visitor staying with family/friends 152,643 $123 $18.7 Day Visitor 894,350 $106 $94.9 Overall 2,210,240 $121 $266.6 Sources: Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Visitor Study Combining the information from the Visitor Study with hotel operating statistics results in estimates of the visitor-days in Fort Collins in 2019/20. (A visitor-day is one person staying one day in Fort Collins. Day visitors spend one day in Fort Collins, and overnight visitors spend multiple days in Fort Collins. A party of three overnight visitors staying two nights would be six visitor-days.) Overnight visitors staying in commercial lodging accounted for approximately 746,501 visitor- days. Thus, the remaining visitor segments, as profiled in Table 4 above, are other overnight DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 9 (146,746 visitor-days), overnight with family/friends (152,643 visitor-days), and day visitors (894,350 visitor-days). Total visitor-days in Fort Collins in 2019/20 amounted to 2.21 million. The total direct spending by visitors in the City of Fort Collins in 2019/20 was $266.6 million, up from $211.4 million in 2016/17. Return on Investment Table 5 Return on Investment, Direct Expenditures Only Measure Number Marketable trips a 66% Non-marketable trips 34% Marketable trips influenced by Visit Fort Collins b 26% Total influenced trips c=a x b 17.2% Total annual visitor days in Fort Collins d 2,210,240 Influenced days e=c x d 379,277 Spending per person per day on influenced trips f $120.63 Total influenced trip spending g=e x f $45,753,885 Visit FC 2019 Total Budget h $1,294,000 ROI i=g / h 35.4 Longwoods International, a tourism research firm that profiles the Colorado state tourism industry, defines “marketable” leisure trips as non-business (including combined business- pleasure) and non-visiting friends/family trips. Influenced trips are those marketable leisure trips to Fort Collins that would not likely otherwise happen without some advertising or promotion to influence that visitation. In Fort Collins, 66 percent of trips were marketable, while 34 percent were not marketable. Among the marketable trips, 26 percent were influenced by the Visit Fort Collins CVB. Thus, 17.2 percent of total visitor trips to Fort Collins were influenced by the CVB. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 10 Among the visitors on influenced trips, the average spending for the visit was $121 per person per day. These influenced trips generated an estimated $45.85 million in direct spending in Fort Collins. Given the Visit Fort Collins 2019 total budget of $1.294 million, the return on that investment, in terms of influenced visits to Fort Collins, is 35.4 times. In other words, for every dollar that Visit Fort Collins spends, the return is 35 times in terms of direct expenditures from visitors who were influenced by Visit Fort Collins. Employment Impact Table 6 Jobs Impact of Tourism, City of Fort Collins Jobs Impact Direct Indirect Induced Total Accommodations 682 136 117 936 Food Service 1,188 94 148 1,430 Food Stores 71 7 13 91 Local transportation & gas 150 28 29 207 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation 830 224 68 1,122 Retail sales 338 33 41 412 Total Jobs 3,259 522 416 4,197 Source: 2019/20 Visitors Study, IMPLAN 2019 City of Fort Collins An important output of the IMPLAN database is estimated multipliers of the number of jobs created as a result of the industry in question (in this case, tourism). The jobs calculation includes people directly employed by tourism-related businesses (such as the desk clerk and housekeeper in a hotel) as well as people working in businesses that have an indirect connection to tourism (retail stores, restaurants, food stores, gas stations, and many other jobs). The proportion of the job that is related to tourism is estimated by the IMPLAN employment multipliers for the City of Fort Collins. The estimated number of jobs in the City of Fort Collins attributable to tourism is 4,197, including 3,259 jobs directly tied to the tourism industry. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 11 Labor Income Impact Table 7 Labor Income Impact of Tourism, City of Fort Collins Labor income impact Direct Indirect Induced Total Accommodations $20,710,360 $6,114,473 $4,765,631 $31,590,464 Food Service $29,403,104 $4,407,365 $6,010,258 $39,820,727 Food Stores $2,649,802 $319,560 $527,952 $3,497,314 Local transportation & gas $5,308,154 $1,398,040 $1,184,873 $7,891,067 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation $10,487,148 $5,238,516 $2,776,060 $18,501,724 Retail sales $7,873,587 $1,413,322 $1,647,108 $10,934,017 Total labor income $76,432,155 $18,891,276 $16,911,882 $112,235,313 Source: 2019/20 Visitors Study, IMPLAN 2019 City of Fort Collins Another output of the IMPLAN database is labor income impact, or the payroll and wages paid to employees as a result of tourism in the City of Fort Collins. These labor income dollars include wages paid to individuals employed in tourism related business, and indirect and induced businesses as well. The total labor income attributable to tourism in the City of Fort Collins is $112.2 million. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 12 SALES TAX COLLECTIONS ATTRIBUTABLE TO VISITORS Table 8 City of Fort Collins Sales Tax Generated by Tourism Estimated City of Fort Collins Sales Tax Generated Accommodations $5,378,079 Food Service $2,560,914 Food Stores $426,426 Local transportation & gas $94,755 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation $35,808 Retail sales $1,553,911 Totals $10,049,893 Source: 2019/20 Visitors Study, IMPLAN 2019 City of Fort Collins Tourism in Fort Collins generates sales tax – from retail purchases, lodging, restaurants, and admissions taxes. The estimated amount of tax (sales, lodging, food service, and admissions) that visitors contribute to the City of Fort Collins is $10 million, as presented in Table 8 below. The tax revenue from tourism in the City of Fort Collins generated approximately $160 per household in the City (62,796 households in the City of Fort Collins in 2019, per the U.S. Census). CONCLUSION Tourism is an important industry in the City of Fort Collins, with a significant economic impact in terms of direct visitor spending, secondary impacts, and employment impacts. The overall health of the industry should be a priority of those involved in decisions and policy related to tourism in the City of Fort Collins. DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 13 Appendix: Expenditures, Direct Economic Impact and Total Economic Impact Summary of Results Table 9 Total Economic Impact in Fort Collins by Sector Total Economic Impact of Tourism Direct Economic Impact Secondary Impact (Indirect and Induced) Total Economic Impact Accommodations $70.8 $36.0 $106.7 Food Service $72.5 $37.2 $109.8 Food Stores $5.8 $3.1 $8.8 Local transportation & gas $13.5 $8.2 $21.6 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation $40.4 $28.9 $69.3 Retail sales $19.1 $11.0 $30.1 Total Economic Impact of Tourism $222.0 $124.3 $346.3 The total economic impact of tourism in the City of Fort Collins in 2019/20 is estimated to have been $346.3 million. This number accounts for the direct and secondary impacts associated with non-resident visitors and their immediate travel parties. Terminology In order to evaluate the economic scope and impacts of tourism annually in Fort Collins, several economic measures have been calculated: “Direct Economic Impact,” “Secondary Economic Impact,” and “Total Economic Impact.” • “Direct Visitor Expenditures” shows the estimated dollar amounts spent by all visitors to Fort Collins, as collected on visitor surveys and discussed above. • “Direct Economic Impact” is a measure of economic activity associated with visitors to the City of Fort Collins. Economic activities associated with tourism from those who reside within Larimer County are excluded, since it is assumed that they would have spent their discretionary/entertainment dollars on other goods/services/activities in the DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 14 local area anyway. “Economic impact” is thus a slightly narrower measure than “economic significance,” and it tabulates the incremental “new money” brought into the City of Fort Collins by outside visitors attracted to the area as a result of tourism. Again, the term “direct” further specifies that the economic impact evaluation has been limited to first-order economic effects. Secondary/multiplier impacts are included later in this analysis and are in addition to the direct effects. Note as well that the direct economic significance/impact measures described above differ from raw expenditures, insofar as the economic significance/impact measures both incorporate an adjustment to retail purchases to include retailer margins only, and thus more accurately reflect local economic activity. This methodological step is described in more detail in the “detailed calculations” section to follow. • “Secondary Economic Impact” represents the additional economic activity stimulated in the local economy as a result of the direct impacts, and is sometimes referred to as the “multiplier effect.” This includes “indirect” effects associated with the supply chain (e.g. the linen provider which services a hotel) and “induced” effects associated with employees in directly or indirectly affected industries spending their wages in the local economy; plus related follow-on rounds of economic activity from these indirect and induced effects. This analysis uses output multipliers calculated by the Minnesota IMPLAN Group for applicable industry sectors for the City of Fort Collins as of 2019, to estimate secondary economic impacts. • “Total Economic Impact” represents the sum of direct and secondary economic impacts. Detailed Calculations The worksheets that follow present a detailed outline of the methodology employed in developing the estimates for direct economic impact and significance and total economic impact and significance. The total per person daily visitor expenditure figure was broken into spending categories using a proportionate allocation based on research from Dean Runyan’s 1996-2016 study of Colorado Travel Impacts. The share of visitor spending in Larimer County documented in that report was used to allocate the daily per person spending from the Visitors Study. The results of the spending allocation into the various categories can be seen in Table 7 below. Other considerations in the calculations include the following: DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 15 • Identify Larimer County residents and non-residents by the zip code provided in the survey. Residents are excluded from the economic impact totals. • Use visitor-nights (days) by visitor type as presented in Table 2 above. • Use the per capita per day expenditure figures noted above in DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 16 • Table 3 to create spending estimates for visitors. • Adjust retail sales to reflect local capture of economic value. Much of the price of retail items reflects manufacturers’ costs of creating goods (cost of goods sold), as well as the costs charged by transporters and wholesalers. Insofar as such manufacturers, transporters and wholesalers are located outside of the Larimer County region, it is important to exclude those portions of economic value creation from the local economic evaluation, and only include that proportion of economic value represented by the retailer’s margin. This step is applied in this analysis to grocery purchases, shopping purchases, transportation/gas expenditures, and other expenditures. Based on data reported for the City of Fort Collins in 2019 by the IMPLAN economic modeling system, a grocery retail margin of 30.4 percent, a blended retail margin of 47.3 percent, and a local transportation/gas margin of 75.2 percent, have been applied to expenditures in these categories. These adjustments are presented in Error! Reference source not found. below. These adjustments are applied to the raw retail expenditure figures to derive direct economic impacts and direct economic significance associated with retail purchases. • Calculate the secondary economic effects of spending in various industry categories using multipliers from the IMPLAN economic modeling system for City of Fort Collins in 2019. The shopping multiplier is calculated as the average of multipliers for the following retail industry categories: clothing, sporting goods, general merchandise, and miscellaneous retail. Table 10 Aggregate Direct Visitor Spending Visitor Type Overnight in Commercial Lodging Overnight with Family/ Friends Overnight in Other Accommo- dations Day Visitor Total Total Visitor-Nights in City of Fort Collins 746,501 152,643 416,746 894,350 2,210,240 Per Person per Night Expenditures Accommodations $87.30 $0.00 $32.01 $0.00 $36.55 Food Service $23.02 $48.03 $28.85 $41.56 $32.94 Food Stores $5.92 $12.35 $7.42 $10.69 $8.47 Local transportation & gas $5.59 $11.66 $7.01 $10.09 $8.00 DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 17 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation $11.62 $24.24 $14.56 $20.98 $16.63 Retail sales $12.61 $26.30 $15.80 $22.76 $18.04 Total expenditures per Visitor Night $146.06 $122.59 $105.64 $106.07 $120.63 Total Direct Visitor Expenditures Accommodations $65,172,800 $0 $13,339,305 $0 $78,512,105 Food Service $17,183,157 $7,331,255 $12,022,550 $37,166,349 $73,703,310 Food Stores $4,418,526 $1,885,180 $3,091,513 $9,557,061 $18,952,280 Local transportation & gas $4,173,052 $1,780,448 $2,919,762 $9,026,113 $17,899,375 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation $8,673,403 $3,700,538 $6,068,525 $18,760,157 $37,202,623 Retail sales $9,409,824 $4,014,735 $6,583,777 $20,353,000 $40,361,337 Total Direct Visitor Expenditures $109,030,763 $18,712,156 $44,025,431 $94,862,680 $266,631,030 Source: 2019/20 Visit Fort Collins Visitors Study DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3 Visit Fort Collins CVB 2019/20 Economic Impact of Tourism RRC Associates P a g e | 18 Multipliers Table 11 Economic Impact Multipliers Economic Impact Multipliers Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Accommodations 1.000 0.276 0.232 Food Service 1.000 0.227 0.286 Food Stores 1.000 0.214 0.316 Local transportation & gas 1.000 0.303 0.304 Arts, Entertainment, Recreation 1.000 0.480 0.237 Retail sales 1.000 0.279 0.297 Source: IMPLAN, 2019 City of Fort Collins DocuSign Envelope ID: 69729C60-1E5A-4157-954A-C0DF63A1A9F3