Dear TPID Participants:
I am pleased to share with you this quarterly newsletter that allows us to take a look at the impact of the program in 2019 and the goals and strategies for success that will define the coming months.
As a Board, we hope this information is valuable for you. As always, we welcome your insight and input as we work to implement the most effective game plan to position San Antonio as a destination of choice for more group and leisure business.
You’ll note in this update some information from Visit San Antonio that stands out, including the success of its Individual Hotel Incentive and Hosting Obligations programs, as well as the numbers associated with its marketing outreach across a diversity of media platforms, personas and other tactics.
Most importantly, you’ll find the SATPID service plan and budget for FY2020 that details the investment of TPID dollars toward a variety of marketing and sales programs and initiatives. We’re grateful to the City Council for approving the service plan in December 2019.
If you need more information or have thoughts on the content of future newsletters, please reach out to me or Visit San Antonio staff.
Sincerely,
Henry Feldman
Chair
TPID Board of Directors
Administration & Finance
FY 2020 Service Plan
The San Antonio Tourism Public Improvement District Corporation Board and the City of San Antonio City Council both approved the FY 2020 Service Plan in September 2019 and December 2019 respectively. The Service Plan outlines the major budget parameters of the sales and marketing programming expected in FY 2020.
SATPID FY 2020 – Service Plan/Budget (Oct 01, 2019 – Sept 30, 2020)
| Service | % | $ |
| Marketing | 49.5% | $5.42 mil |
| Sales | 40.5% | $4.43 mil |
| Industry Partnerships | 5% | $547K |
| Research and Administration | 3% | $328K |
| Contingency Marketing/Sales Funds | 2% | $219K |
| TOTAL | 100% | $ 10.95 mil |
The SATPIDC Board of Directors are eligible to redirect up to 10% of program funds between the Service Categories on an annual basis. This strategy was exercised by the SATPIDC Board in FY 2020 to help better influence growth in leisure demand over the summer of 2020.
Industry Data
Below is YTD industry data through December 2019. In summary, San Antonio has experienced some occupancy and demand growth that has assisted in helping to offset a slight decrease in ADR. Additionally, you can see San Antonio’s performance in context with other Texas and National Comp set destinations.
Industry Data — Comp Cities Summary
Calendar-Year-to-Date (Jan – December 2019)
| Occ | % Ch Occ |
% Ch ADR |
% Ch RVPR |
% Ch Rev |
% Ch Rm Sup |
% Ch RNS |
Census # of Hotels |
Census # of Rooms |
|
| Phoenix, AZ | 70.7 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 494 | 67,867 |
| San Diego, CA | 76.7 | -2.3 | 0.2 | -2.1 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 497 | 63,905 |
| Denver, CO | 73.9 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 11.6 | 7.0 | 8.4 | 371 | 52,391 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 64.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 301 | 33,392 |
| Orlando, FL | 76.1 | -2.1 | 1.1 | -1.1 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 526 | 129,731 |
| Atlanta, GA | 69.5 | -0.8 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 5.9 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 860 | 101,600 |
| New Orleans, LA | 69.4 | -0.3 | -1.0 | -1.4 | -0.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 307 | 37,565 |
| Charlotte, NC | 68.5 | -1.9 | 1.0 | -0.9 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 344 | 38,774 |
| Austin | 72.1 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 5.0 | 10.1 | 4.9 | 7.5 | 364 | 42,456 |
| Dallas | 67.6 | -0.7 | 0.5 | -0.3 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 761 | 93,622 |
| Fort Worth | 69.7 | -1.0 | 1.0 | -0.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 351 | 35,449 |
| Houston | 63.0 | -0.2 | -3.2 | -3.4 | 0.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 981 | 94,391 |
| San Antonio | 66.4 | 0.6 | -2.2 | -1.6 | -0.2 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 442 | 47,836 |
DESTINATION SALES
The priority of the SATPID as it pertains to sales, continues to be driving groups to hold meetings, conventions and trade shows in San Antonio while strategically managing and simplifying the sales process for our meeting planners and partners. For fiscal year 2020, $4.4M was allotted for the funding of Sales initiatives to bolster the existing efforts of Visit San Antonio and our hotel partners, with the Board approving ten initiatives for immediate implementation, of which seven are a continuation of strategies and tactics from last fiscal year. With a focus on business development and attendance building, Visit San Antonio continued the following initiatives beginning October 1, 2019: Individual Hotel Incentive Program, Additional Citywide Hosting Obligations, Group Business Development Program, Addition of a National Sales Manager, In-Market Customer Events, Secondary Trade Show Events, New Tradeshow Booth Development. In addition, the SATPID Board approved the following: Hiring of Director of Market Strategy, Major Industry Event Hosting Escrow and Attendance Building Programs & Tools.
We are delighted to share some year to date highlights from our SATPID initiatives thus far. The Individual Hotel Incentive Program continues to be a huge success, generating a total of 17 applications, driving an additional 14K group room nights/$2.3M in room revenue for fiscal year 2020, while delivering an 18:1 ROI on room revenue. The additional $2.1M allotted for Hosting Obligations has afforded our destination the opportunity to bid on two large and well respected industry events in 2022 (Experient EnVision) and 2024 (PCMA EduCon), which will also provide ancillary room nights if awarded. Attending secondary trade events, with a focus on groups of 1000 rooms on peak or less continues to be a focus of our team, with a total of eight (8) Connect and Smart Meetings shows attended in fiscal year 2019, while engaging upwards of 56 new customers representing 27K group room nights.
Lastly, we are currently in the midst of an executive search for our two open positions of a National Sales Manager handling the mid-market for the Midwest and West Coast as well as our Director of Market Strategy.
MARKETING
2019 Results
TPID marketing funding will continue to increase awareness and demand for San Antonio as a destination. As a brief recap of 2019, TPID funded actions (April-September) generated over 200 million impressions (eyeballs) for Visit San Antonio messaging. These impressions resulted in nearly 800,000 clicks to our website for a click-through rate of .39%, well over the industry benchmark. Media was a mix of paid social media; digital advertising; streaming, OTT and cable TV; search engine marketing and digital out of home. A total of 535,799 unique devices that were served San Antonio ads April-September were tracked to San Antonio, resulting in $70 spent in San Antonio for every marketing dollar invested.
2020 PLAN HIGHLIGHTS
With TPID funding, the 2020 media plan has expanded reach and frequency of messaging across multiple media partners within the highly competitive travel category. Efforts are reaching all four personas—Urban Traveling Family, History/Arts/Culture Traveler, Foodies, and High Energy Educated Urbanites—with appropriate weight based on seasonality. Share of investment for the TPID plan is as follows:
- Persona Focus–41% UTF, 31% HAC, 15% HEEU and 13% Foodies
- Geographic targeting–60% Texas; 30% Non-Texas and 10% International
- Media mix–54% digital/online, 30% TV/cable/streaming, 12% radio/audio and 4% Outdoor
- Seasonal distribution–34% Spring, 49% Summer, 5% Fall, 12% Holidays
The plan utilizes a combination of media platforms, including digital display, paid social media, native advertising, influencers, audio, video/TV and out-of-home. Messaging in October focused on Day of the Dead and reinforcing San Antonio as a cultural destination. November and December messaging promoted San Antonio as a holiday destination.
International
In Mexico, outreach includes paid search, Spotify audio streaming, cross-platform display and video platforms along with ad rotation in elnorte.com, reforma.com and mural.com.
In Canada, outreach includes paid search, Spotify audio streaming, cross-platform display and video platforms. We are also running targeted placement across one of the most heavily visited websites in Canada—The Weather Network— along with digital ad rotation on the ZoomerMedia website reaching the 45+ Canadian traveler.
Meeting Attendees
Marketing is also collaborating with Destination Experience and Sales on a marketing campaign to increase the number of conference attendees. Through geo-targeting, Visit San Antonio is tracking individuals attending key target conferences that will be held in San Antonio next year and retargeting them with a San Antonio message.