One of our projects led us to become the most Google photo toured community in the world!

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1 For year the en ding March 31 st, 2014 Message from the President: Chris Bowman, Flyin g Steamshovel The past year presented many opportunities for the organization, and we continue to work in a collaborative and strategic manner. Some of our highlights include: This year also marks our 7 th year of the organization and allowed us the opportunity to partake in a strategic planning session in association with Tourism BC/Destination BC to ensure that the organization continues to meet the needs of its stakeholders. We received the Kootenay Rockies Tourism Award for best Community Initiative in association with Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism Our winter in town Shuttle Bus was our most successful project ever! We transported 19,000 people and had a direct impact on the economy of Rossland. The shuttle service also meant that we had group bookings from group tour operators for the first time ever. One of our projects led us to become the most Google photo toured community in the world! Rossland has almost doubled accommodation revenue in the 7 years of our existence. Successfully doubled the RMI Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding for future years by ensuring that accommodators registered for the Destination BC listing program. Executive Summary Last year was our strongest year ever! We said that last year and we can say it again! We have now been tracking the Hotel Revenue since 2006 which allows us to have a good base of data to work with. The opening of Grey Mountain, establishment of an in town shuttle service and great events were some of the largest contributing factors to our continued success.

2 Accommodation Revenue 2014 Annual Report Tourism Rossland is still one of the smallest Destination Management Organizations in the province, and successfully leverages the core funding to a budget of over $340,000. By successfully partnering and collaborating with stakeholders we are able to really spread the marketing reach for the entire community. Tourism Indicators Based on the Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) statistics Rossland had its best year ever! $600, Rossland Accommodation Revenue 2013 & Average based on the MRDT Tax $500, $400, $300, $200, $100, Average 2013 $- Month 2

3 $4,000,000 $3,500,000 $3,000,000 $2,500,000 $1,914,703 $2,000,000 $1,500,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $- Rossland Accommodation revenue $2,540,837 $2,692,135 $2,210,399 $3,532,428 $2,947,101 $2,615,721 $2,520, Financials *Please see the full statements for more in-depth information. Income $400,000 $350,000 $340,078 $300,000 $250,000 $200,000 $150,000 $100,000 $50,000 $- $108,679 $74,178 $88,900 $86,657 $67,043 $63,500 $49,697 $61,197 $23,804 $38,500 $27,000 $10,126 $15,188 $2,647 $7,064 Municipal and Regional District Tax Grants Pay to Play Projects Red Resort Association Other Income $220,894 $163,208 Total 2011/ / /2014 3

4 One of the biggest increases in funding for this year was the Municipal and Regional District Tax (previously called the Additional Hotel Room Tax) which due to the increase in hotel stays increaseted by over $7,000. Pay to Play increased substantially as we created more opportunities for partnering with local stakeholders to create cooperative projects. The Red Mountain Resort Association continues to be a large contributor at $63,500. This long term funding is a critical aspect of the organizations overall income. The funding is made up of contributions from Red Mountain Resort ($10,000) and the remaining from all property owners (condo owners, town home owners, single family residential owners and lot owners) who contribute if their property is located within the RRA s designated boundary. This funding was up considerably this year as many outstanding accounts from previous years were paid. It is expected that this funding will be at about $45,000 per year in the future. Tourism Rossland took over the administration of the Resort Association and this has meant a significant increase in the amount that is available for Tourism Rossland. By putting together a cohesive system for managing the association and reporting to members, the administrative work is now much simpler. Additionally by handling the resort association Tourism Rossland has saved the 10% admin fee previously paid to a contractor which for this year would have been $6,350. Additionally, the essential funding from the City of Rossland provided a grant of $28,500 towards the operation of the organization. With funding from our three key partners (City of Rossland, MRDT, and the Red Resort Association) we are able to leverage additional funding from other stakeholders and granting organizations including the Columbia Basin Trust, Kootenay Rockies Tourism and Tourism BC. Grants were also up considerably this year in large part because of the work that was done on the Resort Municipality Initiative projects which were completed this year, including the in-town shuttle bus. 4

5 Expense Breakdown 2013/2014 Other RMI projects, $12,874, 4% HR, $72,769, 22% In town Shuttle, $86,341, 26% Office, $9,540, 3% Operational, $8,010, 2% Marketing, $143,486, 43% Other RMI Expense Breakdown 2012/2013 projects, $24,148, 11% In town Shuttle, $14,239, 7% HR, $69,278, 33% Marketing, $85,956, 40% Office, $10,380, 5% Operational, $8,227, 4% This year the Marketing portion of the budget has increased substantially due to partnering opportunities as well as an increase in grants. More details on these projects can be found below. The ability to leverage core funding was really maximized this year. As in previous years, the HR component was matched by grants received by the organization. also be noted that a significant proportion of the HR budget is actually marketing as the Executive Director does most of the marketing herself including: media hosting, social media, press releases, website updates etc. It should 5

6 2013/2014 Project Summary 1. BC Mountain Bike Tourism Groupannual membership with this organization. Listing on website and inclusion in their marketing campaigns. Cost shared with Destination BC who pays half the real value of the membership. Value of Membership is $3,180 Actual cost to TR= $1, Resort Municipality Initiative a. Internal Shuttle $86,341 - this project was an overwhelming success! We transported over 19,000 people over the course of the winter. Provided transportation from 7:30 am to 10:30pm for 117 days. Full report available separately. b. Signage $7,183- Completion of the Kiosk in Harry Lefevre Square, and the creation of kiosk maps for several locations in Rossland c. Spokane Shuttle $4,729- Continue to work with Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism, and Whitewater Ski Resort to support the Queen City Shuttle to Spokane Airport. Doubled the number of users and increased the service by one day per week to 5 days per week. d. Evaluation $500- We hired a surveyor to interview 100 in town shuttle bus users to create an in-depth report on the shuttle bus. Additionally we tracked every user of the bus to ensure that we had accurate tracking of all users *full reports are available separately. 3. Coast Mountain Culture Ad $1,578 Promotion of Mountain Biking in this publication - ad on right 4. Grey Marketing- $41,556 less grants($14,122) and pay to play ($22,932). Projects inclue: 6

7 a. New ski show pull ups which included Red, Big Red Cats and Tourism Rossland content b. Billboards in Colville and Spokane promoting Rossland Winter products c. Escape Guide- this was a great project for promtion of Rossland outside of this area and for distribution at ski shows. This publication replaced the multiple brochures which we used to hand out. 7

8 5. Photobank- $1,465- addition of photos from photographers including Shelley Peachell for use in our publications. 6. Branding $9,157 Less Grants ($4, and pay to play ($726) a. Completed the re-brand of the community including creation of new logos in association with The Rossland Chamber of Commerce, City of Rossland, and the Rossland Library. b. Creation of new Tourism Rossland website 8

9 c. Creation of new Splash Page in collaboration with the City of Rossland, and the Rossland Chamber of Commerce. 7. Heritage Walking Tour $2,242- Updated Heritage Walking Tour brochure and graphics to ensure that it has the same overall branding as the rest of the new materials. 8. Google Photo Tours $12, less pay to play ($5,833) In association with Kootenay Rockies Tourism, Rossland became the most Google photo toured community in the world. Additionally all participants had updated 9

10 google pages with photos. We also managed to update all roads on Google Annual Report 9. Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Shows $3,219- promoting and distributing our bike maps, in Vancouver and Spokane. Total cost including travel, and booth and graphics in association with Kootenay Rockies Tourism 10. Road Bike Guide- $2,673 in association with Kootenay Rockies Tourism. Created a new guide to Road biking in and around Rossland. Distribution of guides at bike events, and on go brochures. 11. Ski shows- $31,444 Less pay to play($13,227) exhibited at more ski shows than ever before in association with Big Red Cats and Red Mountain Resort including: Toronto, Seattle, Spokane, Calgary, Warren Miller and TGR shows. 12. Teton Gravity Research $10,071 Less pay to play ($6,591) Sponsorship of this film in order to have Rossland included in this film. 10

11 13. Summer Bike Map $3,979- reprint (10,000 copies) and redo of our popular hiking and biking map. New map also has our new graphics standards. 14. Weather Station $1,416 less pay to play ($250)- purchase and installation of a weather station for accurate reporting in the Red Mountain Neighbourhood. 15. Winter Trails Map $7,041 Less Pay to Play ($1,000) and Grants ($3,296)- recreated our Nordic map in association with Black Jack, Paulson and Friends of the Rossland Range. Also incorporated the new graphics standards. 16. Hosting $6,519 we host two different types of guests: Tour Operators and Visiting Media. Again we were overwhelmed with requests and I was busy showing many people around town and telling them all the wonderful things about us. Some of the highlighted guests include: a. Ski.com b. Gendron c. Mountain magazine d. Royal Auto Magazine e. Mountain Advisor f. Bike Pirate g. Destination BC- bloggers h. Rocky Mountain Bikes- bloggers and content creators i. Kari Medig- photographers j. En Route Magazine k. Ben Clatworthy- UK Journalist l. Joan Peypoch- Mexican tour operator m. Descouvertes Magazine- Quebec magazine n. Cat Weakley UK Telegraph o. Colin Nicholson- Journalist - 11

12 2013/2014 Projects 1. Hiring of a Summer Student for creation of a series of short videos highlighting Rossland s lesser known summer activities 2. RMI Projects : a. Internal Shuttle- RMI project, cost shared with local stakeholders to provide a frequent daily transportation solution for Rossland b. Spokane Shuttle-RMI Project- increase shuttle to 7 days a week and decrease price to $125 one way or $198 return c. RMI Evaluation- RMI Project for evaluating the internal shuttle bus. 3. Bike Shows- exhibit at bike shows in Spokane, Seattle and Vancouver 4. CMC Ad- advertise in Coast Mountain Culture- focusing on biking 5. Co-op Marketing Program- create a co-op marketing program for stakeholders 6. Escape Guide- update and distribute the 2014/2015 Escape Guide 7. Golf Shows- exhibit at golf shows in association with Redstone Golf Resort 8. Heritage Plaques on Red- creation of a series of plaques for installation on the Red Mountain chair towers for promotion of the Rossland Museum. 9. Photobank- enhancing photobank with a focus on Spring and Fall. 10. Ski Shows- partner with Big Red Cats and Red Mountain Resorts to exhibit at ski shows. 11. Trail Maps- reprint of Summer trails map 12. CTO (Community Tourism Opportunities Program with Kootenay Rockies Tourism) a. Social Media Coordinator -in association with Red Mountain hiring a contractor to manage our social media content b. CTO- Distribution of Escape Guide- mail escape guide to selected addresses c. CTO- Foreign Language Pages- Translation of a winter lure page on the website into Norwegian, Swedish, French and German 12

13 d. CTO- Regional Golf Marketing- Regional golf marketing which would position Rossland as a great place to stay and visit at a variety of different local golf courses. Cost shared with Kootenay Rockies Tourism e. CTO- creation of an ad in Ski Cross Country magazine in association with Black Jack f. CTO- Search Engine Optimization and online ads g. CTO-creation of a map of the Red Mountain neighbourhood. 13. BC Mountain Bike Tourism Group- Cost share project with Destination BC and other BC Mountain Bike Communities BC Nordic- participation in the BC Nordic Marketing group. 13