Staff Reports
The Jefferson Convention Center and Visitors Board (CVVB) needs all the lodging facilities to update their information with Avenu Insights as soon as possible, according to Board President Colleen Taylor.
A letter is being sent by Avenu to all registered lodging facilities. Lodging facilities also need to register with the City of Jefferson and receive their Operating Certificate.
Revenue is up almost 20% for October-December over the same time last year and spending came in at 20% of the budget according to Taylor.
Official reports from the City are still not available due to ongoing training for the new City Secretary.
Taylor said she hopes those will be available at the next meeting.
The VisitJeffersonTexas.com website saw 6,000 unique visitors in December, up 80% as compared to 2020, according to CVVB Vice President Pam Thomas.
Thomas indicated the city is seeing a lot of traffic from the Houston area, which the city just started advertising in. She also indicated the top keywords were “Places to Go in Texas” and “Texas Tourist Attractions.”
There are four possible events for the board to attend for their Meeting Planners International membership coming up according to board member BW Brooks. “The January and February events are probably too quick to attend,” said Brooks. “But there is a March 24th Experience, April 28 recognition breakfast, and the June 16 Excellence Gala we should look at if anyone is able to attend.”
He said both are networking events instead of a regular trade show where the city could hand out brochures, but the board needed to identify who could possibly attend. “The big trade show is in August, but MPI has not finalized the date yet.”
The board is developing a new Rack Card for the trade show. The card would focus on “Why Come to Jefferson” and “Why Hold a Meeting Here” and the board is in need of additional information to place on the card.
Taylor is working on revising the existing event application form to create a “Form for Financial Help for New Events.”
“I took what we had, which was 7 pages, and tried to condense it,” said Taylor. “This is for new events – not to help sustain existing events.” Thomas added that “we need an event in January as we lost two…”
“This is a rough draft, so I don’t want to see it on the streets of Jefferson,” said Taylor as she asked the board to review the form over the next week and get back to her.
The North East Texas Tourism Commission will hold their monthly meeting in Jefferson next week at 1852 on Austin. Taylor said the NETTC officers will meet at 10 and then there will be a general meeting at 11 followed by lunch.
“It’s an opportunity to discuss what we’re doing and participating in so we can share ideas,” said Taylor.
The City’s participation in some upcoming trade shows may be on hold due to COVID concerns said Taylor. The Fort Worth Home and Garden Show, scheduled for February, may not happen, but Taylor is waiting on more information.
The next meeting is at 5:30 p.m. February 14 at the Visitors Center.