Issue: Visit Jacksonville Contract Extension
Update:
We are pleased to announce that our request to City Council for a 2-year contract extension has been approved, passing with a unanimous 16-0 vote at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting. The extension will go through Sept. 30, 2012, allowing Visit Jacksonville to show a return on investment for the $875,000 grant, awarded by the Tourist Development Council last year, over a three-year period.
Visit Jacksonville would like to thank our Board of Directors and Partnership for your support.
Background:
Visit Jacksonville is in the final year of its four-year contract which ends on Sept. 30, 2010. In lieu of going through a lengthy RFP process, the Duval County Tourist Development Council (TDC) has voted to extend the contract by two years to prove the return on investment for granting the organization $875,000 over a three-year period. Visit Jacksonville received the funds in August 2009, so the terms of the investment run through August 2012.
In addition, Richard Clark, then-TDC Chair, stated that a contract extension would make the job of president and CEO, vacated by John Reyes in March 2010, more attractive to qualified candidates.
There is a precedence set for a Visit Jacksonville contract extension in that the TDC voted to extend the contract by two years in both 2002 and 2004. However, the ordinance (Bill 2010-435) would go through three city committees (Finance, Rules and Recreation & Community Development) and then to full City Council vote for final approval.
In order to obtain the votes for an extended contract, City Council needs to hear why this is needed from our Partners.
Talking Points:
- Visit Jacksonville was awarded $875,000 from the TDC grant fund in August 2009 to market the destination during a time of economic slowdown and greater competition from other vacation and meetings destinations.
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When awarding Visit Jacksonville the additional funding, the TDC required a three-year return on investment for the dollars granted:
- Short-term goal was to utilize funds to book immediate business for 2010 and 2011
- This has been achieved to date with occupancy at approximately 60 percent level since February
- Long-term goal of providing a 1.37 percent increase in bed tax collections per year for three years
- With that financial commitment, the TDC does not want to slow down the progress made by Visit Jacksonville, nor risk their investment.
- At a time when our industry is recovering from the recession, staff response to a financially costly and labor-intensive RFP process would delay the progress Visit Jacksonville is achieving in growing visitor demand.
- In addition, former TDC Chair Richard Clark, upon introducing this proposal, stated that with John Reyes’ departure, a two-year extension would attract quality candidates to the Visit Jacksonville president and CEO position with a clearer sense of job security.
Action Plan:
- E-mail, call or meet with council members to educate them on why an extension makes good business sense for our industry and Jacksonville during this difficult time.
- Attend committee and city council meetings to show your support.
- Complete a speaker card at committee and council meetings for presentation or for questions only for Bill 2010-435.