QUARTERLY REPORT // 2020 OCTOBER • NOVEMBER • DECEMBER A LETTER FROM THE CEO
SAVE THE DATES
Welcome to 2021! Over the past nine or so months so many of us have experienced unprecedented hardships and challenges. The hospitality industry has borne the brunt of the negative economic impacts from the public health mandates, and yet more challenges lie ahead. While there is an end in sight, with the current stay-at-home order our hotels, restaurants and attractions continue to directly feel the financial impacts every day. Our team continues to work daily to support our industry and work with local businesses as we navigate this pandemic together. While our hotel partners, especially upscale and upper midscale, struggle with the lack of business and group travel, our region has fared better than many. We have seen some moderate year over year rate growth through November (up about 2%), and occupancy year to date is down less than 11%. We continue to develop leads for future group business and are hopeful summer will bring some moderate recovery as we look to relaunch our statewide marketing efforts. Our current efforts include: • Stockton Healthy Pledge – Launched in May, the voluntary pledge is now 300 businesses strong and growing. We have provided window clings, PPE, floor decals, and significant marketing support to these businesses committed to the health and safety of our community. Learn more at StocktonHealthyPledge.com • City of Stockton Small Business Relief Grant Program – As mentioned last quarter, Visit Stockton has partnered with the City’s Economic Development Department to administer this program by providing assistance in reviewing grant applications, processing grant payments to the local business recipients, and completing the future tax reporting. To date, we have processed nearly $2.3 million in grant dollars directly to the Stockton small business community. This program is funded by the City through the state and federal CARES Act dollars allocated for COVID-19 relief. • Stockton Restaurant Week – Now in our 12th year, this year’s event is focused on supporting local restaurants by encouraging take-out and delivery. This year we have launched a new mobile dining pass to better engage local residents with information and giveaways. Learn more at StocktonRestaurantWeek.com. Our team is here for you. If there is an effort, project, idea or cause that you believe Visit Stockton should focus on, please do not hesitate to share. While we cannot take on every project, knowing the needs in our community may allow us to pass the idea on to another great community organization. Recovery is a team effort, and we are all in this together. Stay well and continue to be #StocktonTrue
Wes Rhea, CTA, CDME Chief Executive Office
UPCOMING DATES
CURRENT EFFORTS
RESOURCES
Stockton Healthy Pledge Launched in May 2020, the Stockton Healthy Pledge program has grown to over 300 participating Stockton businesses. This past quarter we distributed much needed PPE to our businesses purchased with financial support from the City of Stockton’s Small Business Relief Grant Program (see below). To make it easier on our businesses we hosted two drivethru pick up days on December 2nd and 3rd. The grant also allowed our team to continue to promote the participating Stockton Healthy Pledge businesses through paid advertising generating over two million impressions for the program this past quarter combining search, display, and Connected TV
STOCKTONHEALTHYPLEDGE.COM Stockton's local business commitment to creating a clean, safe, and healthy environment for their guests following COVID-19 restrictions.
and highlighting our “We Took the Pledge” video series. We encourage you to support the local businesses that have taken the pledge. You can learn more about the program and find the directory of businesses at StocktonHealthyPledge.com
City of Stockton Small Business Relief Grant Program Update Visit Stockton team members are continuing their efforts on administering the Small Business Relief Grant program. The team has been providing assistance in reviewing grant applications and processing grant payments to the local business recipients. Starting in January, the team will be completing the tax and program reporting requirements for this Grant. To date, our team has processed over two million dollars in grant funds directly to the Stockton small business community. This program is funded by the City through the state and federal CARES Act dollars allocated for COVID-19 relief.
DINESTOCKTON.COM
Stay up to date on who is open and offering delivery and take out options.
Dine Stockton We recognized that with new take-out/delivery only madates our Dine Stockton page would be an important resource for the community. Over the last quarter we have continued our efforts to regularly update the page with new menus, family packages, deals, and hours of operation. In addition, we have made a push to add new restaurants to the list daily to further promote as many local mom and pop businesses possible. The page now has over 150 restaurants with regularly updated hours and other
STOCKTONSAVINGSPASS.COM
A free mobile coupon book containing hundreds in savings at local businesses across the city.
important information on how you can still support our local eateries. Learn more and make some great dinner plans at dinestockton.org
CTA CTA renewal season has come to a close, but we are so thankful that as of 12/31/2020 a whopping 63% of our CTA's have decided to renew their certification for 2021. In total we have certified 714 Certified Tourism Ambassadors. Please reach out to christa@visitstockton.org if you have any questions reguarding the CTA program.
VISITSTOCKTON.US/ CORONAVIRUSINFO A hub for information, updates, and resources relating to COVID-19.
LATEST BLOGS ON VISITSTOCKTON.ORG
SPORTS AND EVENTS
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19 MAJOR EVENTS IMPACTED IN 2021: • CIF Sac Joaquin Section Wrestling Championships (February) Est. Room Nights Lost: 150 | Economic Impact (Lost): $185,000 • USA Water Polo OPD Boys Championships (March) Est. Room Nights Lost: 800 | Economic Impact (Lost): $620,000 • West Coast Conference Baseball Championships (May) Est. Room Nights Lost: 500 | Economic Impact (Lost): $450,000
TOTAL LOST ECONOMIC IMPACT:
$1.25 MILLION
TOP 3 DISC GOLF COURSES IN STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA Get outdoors and have some fun! Learn about Stockton's three largest disc golf courses.
WEBSITE STATS | VISITSTOCKTON.ORG
OCT.
SESSIONS: 54,086 Down 38.45% from 87,869 in October 2019
PAGEVIEWS: 78,015 Down 41.11% from 132,473 in October 2019
NOV.
SESSIONS: 44,180 Down 37.61% from 70,818 in November 2019
PAGEVIEWS: 67,611 Down 32.29% from 99,857 in November 2019
DEC.
SESSIONS: 50,243 Down 39.16% from 82,588 in December 2019
PAGEVIEWS: 71,708 Down 37.03% from 113,871 in December 2019
TOTAL
SESSIONS: 148,509 Down 38.54% from 241,275 in October-December 2019
PAGEVIEWS: 217,334 Down 37.22% from 346,201 in October-December 2019
WHERE TO GO FOR PHO IN STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA Who doesn't enjoy a bowl of delicious, warm soup on a cold day? We asked and instagram shared the best places to enjoy Pho in Stockton!
SOCIAL MEDIA
VISIT STOCKTON
@STOCKTON_CA
@VISITSTOCKTON
57,540 likes as of 12/31/2020
9,866 followers as of 12/31/2020
20,393 followers as of 12/31/2020
Up 108 from 9/30/2020
Up 2 from 9/30/2020
QUARTERLY REPORT // 2020
OCTOBER • NOVEMBER • DECEMBER
TOP 8 STOPS FOR TACOS IN STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA We asked social media for their recommendations on the best taco spots in Stockton. Check out the list, tried and tested by us for accuracy, of course!
Up 151 from 9/30/2020
TOP 10 VISIT STOCKTON BLOGS OF 2020 Check out our official ranked list of our most popular blogs in 2020!
MEET THE TEAM
IN REVIEW Community Support Fund Grants Visit Stockton was the recipient of a City of Stockton Community Support Fund Grant which allocated CARES Act funds to local community based organizations for COVID-19 relief and recovery projects. Our grant of $62,500 was split between two efforts. The first was additional marketing and PPE for the Stockton Healthy Pledge program. 15,000 pairs of gloves, 10,000 masks, 1,000 face shields and nearly 500 bottles of hand sanitizer were distributed to Stockton Healthy Pledge participants. Additionally, targeted video marketing campaigns promoted the participating businesses and their efforts to keep the community safe. The second portion of the grant allowed Visit Stockton to invest in a Strategic Recovery Plan and additional geolocation and credit card spending research to analyze the impact of the pandemic on the local economy and to develop data-driven tourism recovery strategies. All of these projects were completed by December 30, 2020 as required by the grant funding. Efforts with Emergency Food Bank Stockton / San Joaquin In partnership with Stockton Sports Unite, we held our final Food Drive of the year on October 2nd at Lincoln Center. The community donated a whopping 6,912lbs of food this year at the 5 Stockton Sports Unite Food
Wes Rhea, CTA CDME, Chief Executive Officer wes@visitstockton.org | 209.938.1555 Christa Griffith, CTA Office Manager & CTA Program Manager christa@visitstockton.org | 209.938.1555 Special Events Rebecca Scharmann, CTA Events & Community Engagement Manager rebecca@visitstockton.org | 209-851-3096 Sports & Tourism Tim Pasisz, CTA CMP, CSEE, & Director of Sports & Tourism tim@visitstockton.org | 209.938.1556 Courtney Phelps, CTA Events Administrative Coordinator courtney@visitstockton.org | 209.938.1552 Marketing Kalena Fields, CTA Graphic Designer & Brand Manager kalena@visitstockton.org | 209.938.1557 Jesse Salazar, CTA Video Production Manager jesse@visitstockton.org | 209.938.1553
Drives. This equates to 58,752 meals for those who are in need of food support. Thank you to everyone involved for making these food drives a success. Additionally, The Visit Stockton team held true to our annual tradition of volunteering at the Emergency Food Bank's Holiday Food Distriution Events which took place on November 23rd and December 22nd.
Our offices in Downtown Stockton are currently closed. Our team is working remotely to best serve you. Messages will be returned during business hours: M-F 8am to 4pm.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Stockton Savings Pass Rebrand Stockton Savings Pass got a facelift this fall! In early November our free mobile coupon book, the Stockton Savings Pass, got a rebrand. Our goal was to create an SSP brand that is better representative of what the pass is all about. With a colorful, vibrant, and modern look, we hope the new branding will stand out and provide a little more
George Kaplanis, CTA President Omega Hospitality
Rhona Miles, CTA University Plaza Waterfront Hotel
Wes Yourth, CTA Vice President University of the Pacific
Isadora Harness, CTA Marriott Properties
Susan Obert, CTA Treasurer, Haggin Museum
understanding of the Savings Pass. Signing up for the pass is easy: visit StocktonSavingsPass.com and check out the
Alex Munro, CTA General Manager Hilton Stockton
hundreds of businesses offering deals across the city. New Team Member To end the year, Visit Stockton welcomed our newest member to the team: Video Production Manager Jesse Salazar. Although Jesse has been creating video for Visit Stockton for some time now, we are lucky to have him as a full time member of our team. You may have seen some of his previous work such as our 2019
Jai Patel Red Roof Inn Christina Fugazi Council Appointee Councilmember, District 5, City of Stockton
VISIT STOCKTON BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS
The next meeting is scheduled to take place on February 18, 2021. Email wes@visitstockton.org for a link to join the zoom meeting.
Stockton Song Contest Music Video! Please give Jesse a warm welcome to the Visit Stockton Team.
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QUARTERLY REPORT // 2020
OCTOBER • NOVEMBER • DECEMBER
StocktonCA
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Photo from our holiday photo and video shoot on Meadow Ave.