2022 Annual Report

ANN UAL REPORT 20 22

Message from the President & Board Chair

We entered 2022 with great promise for the recovery of our industry and with the hopeful expectation that we would be putting the pandemic behind us. Not only did we have hopes that we would transition into a COVID-19 Endemic posture, but we thought that we had maximized our infrastructure challenges. To say the least, neither were true thought-positions. However, the Visit Jackson TEAM continued to pivot and adjust our goals, key performance indicators, programming, and alliances to ensure that your Destination Leadership Organization (DLO) continued to be impactful, resulting in a maximized return on investment.

No matter the external factors that faced us, our commitment to our tourism and community stakeholders is to continue to execute strategies that position our Capital City as a viable tourism destination. Additionally, we remain committed to providing tactics that address the fluidity of ever-changing destination challenges. Jacksonians are strong and proud; we are dedicated to ensuring that our actions and activities are reflective of that community pride.

We would like to thank our political stakeholders at the Mississippi State Capital for affirming our work with the reauthorization of our enabling legislation for four additional years. I also want to thank these leaders, especially the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker, our Hinds County Legislative Delegation, and the Legislative Tourism Committees for their unwavering support of tourism by providing American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding to the Destination Organization community statewide. This funding will provide a boost to our tourism communities in the recovery efforts associated with the impact of the Global Pandemic.

We must recognize and thank our committed Board of Directors and our small - yet mighty team here at Visit Jackson for their dedication and willingness to remain passionate and go the extra mile to ensure success.

Visit Jackson was again recognized as Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) of the Year for budgets over $1,000,000 during the Fiscal Year. The accolade recognized in part Visit Jackson’s work for the city’s Bicentennial, advocacy for LGBTQ organizations and events, increased public relations efforts, and cooperation and participation with city, county, state, and national leaders and organizations. Visit Jackson also earned the Best Overall Digital Media Award after submitting its newly

built website for category consideration. The robust, interactive site – built by Tempestis filled with stories, listings, photos, and maps. I am extremely proud of our team for being recognized by the US Travel Association as the People’s Choice winner for Best of Show, lauding the www.visitjackson.com website.

Since the pandemic began in 2020, we have learned that when we come together as an industry, we can get through anything #COLLECTIVE AMBITION! Thank you all for your resiliency, perseverance, and continued support. Together, we will continue to transform our Capital City (MY CITY) into the destination that all of us dream of.

Within the next few pages, you will find the return on investment of the passion, dedication, and collective ambition articulated in this letter. OPPORTUNITY awaits us!

RickeyL.Thigpen

Rickey L. Thigpen, PhD President & CEO

Visit Jackson

Carol

Burger

Carol Burger Board Chair

Visit Jackson

The Mission of Visit Jackson is to connect, engage and inspire the Jackson community to be a welcoming destination for conventions, meetings, sporting events, and special events, resulting in rich, cultural, and memorable experiences with a rewarding sense-of-place for visitors and an economically beneficial and an enhanced quality-of-life for residents.

Vision Goal

The overall goal of Visit Jackson is to cause major economic impact for Jackson through programs designed to identify, attract and service conventions and meetings, trade shows, group tours, sporting events, and consumer travelers, while cultivating relationships with stakeholders, the value of citizen contributions, and the collective quality of life of the destination.

To be recognized and respected as an innovative destination marketing organization that sustainably achieves economic vitality and success through the constant, complete, and fully committed practice of our shared values in the promotion of Jackson, Mississippi, as a world-class destination city.

Mission Values

Integrity We are fair, honest and transparent, inspiring trust in others.

Collaboration We respect, nurture, support and empower one another.

Passion We uphold the spirit of our community; the goal of our organization, and we are committed to making our jobs and the jobs of our co-workers’ fun on a consistent basis.

Respect We respect and understand the importance of our bureau’s mission, take pride in being an integral part of its success, and are committed to aggressively upholding the principles of diversity, inclusion and hospitality.

Diversity Inclusion Statement

Visit Jackson is fiercely committed to reflecting and upholding the value of diversity of thought, culture, and lifestyles that is inherent in the Jackson community. We are dedicated to practicing radical inclusion and believe that a plurality of ideas and experiences shaped around civil dialogue and equitable outreach is the driving and consistent force that makes Jackson a great destination and a great city.

About Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau dba Visit Jackson

The Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau dba Visit Jackson is the official destination leadership organization for the City of Jackson. It serves the Jackson Community by positively impacting the city’s economy through recruitment and securing meetings and tourism activities. Visit Jackson is a quasi-independent governmental agency created by the Mississippi State Legislature.

Pillar Alignment & Strategic Direction

Education

Educate Stakeholders regarding the purpose of a Destination Leadership Organization

Advocacy/ Community Awareness & Involvement

Build proponents of the Visit Jackson Community

Tourism Partnerships

Execute programming to strengthen Tourism Partnerships

Tourism Development Create additional strategies to increase/ develop/ encourage tourism for the destination

Destination

Demand

Heighten

Demand for the Destination

Financial Overview

As projected by economists, tourism revenues began to rebound in 2021. This rebound continued in 2022, resulting in the strongest tax collection year in Visit Jackson’s 39-year history. Historically, approximately 85% of tax receipts are attributed to restaurant collections; however, COVID-19 continued to cause hotel collections to come in lower than normal at 13% (12% in 2021).

Additionally, in 2021, Visit Jackson was awarded funding through the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program (SBA PPP). This loan ($276K), including accrued interest, was fully forgiven in 2022 and subsequently recorded as grant revenue on the audited Statement of Activities.

The combination of rebounding revenues and alternative funding sources allowed the Bureau to spend approximately 30% of its total program budget on Sales and Marketing efforts compared to 28% in 2021.

Excluding the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi pension liability, personnel expenses increased by 3% ($218K) from fiscal year 2021. This increase was due to the Bureau’s payments to the Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi, which occurred in May 2021; thus, 2022 was the first full year of PERS participation. Pension liability increased by $829K.

Total Revenues

Total Expenses $3,894,402 $4,988,675

Sponsorship and Grant Revenue Partners

Occupancy Tax

Restaurant Tax

Operating Grants/Other

TOTAL $3,894,007

Tax Return on Total DMO Public Funding 439% (433% in FY 2021)

Net total tax produced by visitor spend / Visit Jackson Occupancy Collections = $15.8M ($19.4M - $3.6M)/$3.6M x 100

Personnel Services*

Pension Liability

Sales & Marketing

Funding Support

General Operational

TOTAL $4,988,675

Return on Operating Cost 1,495% (1,348% in FY 2021)

Net Direct Visitor Spend generated by Visit Jackson efforts/Total Operating Cost = $62.8M ($67M - $4.2M) /$4.2M x 100

Strategic Accomplishments

Education

Educate Stakeholders regarding the purpose of a Destination Leadership Organization

• Conducted comprehensive orientation sessions for newly elected city leaders and Visit Jackson board members

• Produced one-on-one meetings with Jackson City Council members

• Established monthly updates for the Hinds County legislative leadership, Lieutenant Governor’s office, Governor’s office, and Tourism Committee chairs relating to expenditures for the Tourism Recovery Fund

• Distributed quarterly e-newsletter

• Shared tourism’s impact, locally and nationally, during National Travel & Tourism Week

ADVOCACY/ COMMUNITY AWARENESS & INVOLVEMENT

Build proponents of the Visit Jackson Community

Advocacy Activity

Tourism advocacy work at the local, state, and federal levels has become a critical aspect of destination development work. As relationships between political leaders and tourism industry professionals are strengthened, the ability to keep our political electorate abreast of tourism trends, its impact, and the fluidity of resources needed to enhance the destination, thereby maximizing the economic contributions of the Jackson tourism industry.

During FY 2022, Visit Jackson was intricately involved in tourism advocacy activity at all levels, including employing its independent legislative liaison firm, The Clay Group. Visit Jackson also collaborated with member organizations to impact collective ambition and positive results, including:

• Mississippi Tourism Association

• MS DMO Association

• Southeast Tourism Society

• MS Economic Council

• Capital City Convention Center Commission

• Downtown Jackson Partners

• Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership

• Great City Foundation

• U.S. Travel Association.

• Assisted restaurants/hotel/and other tourism partners affected by the water crisis in August & September 2022, Visit Jackson established a Tourism Water Crisis Sustainability Grant. This grant provided $27,000 in funding assistance to 28 restaurants in the City of Jackson. To further assist our partners, Visit Jackson utilized dedicated funding to execute a “We Are Open” advertising campaign strategy

• Supported the Restaurant Political Influencer Program

• Mississippi Lt. Governor, Delbert Hosemann

• Mississippi Secretary of State, Mike Watson

• Secured Visit Jackson’s Reauthorization

• Secured $2.9M in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Funding (received in FY 2023)

• Provided support for the Mayor’s Golf Tournament and the Legislative Black Caucus Golf Tournament

• Supported LeFleur’s Bluff Park funding requests (state and federal)

• Supported Jackson State University Stadium Project

• Supported lobby efforts for Thalia Mara Hall and Russell C Davis Planetarium (state and federal)

Community Engagement & Participation

• Expanded presence at local My City initiative events

• Bright Light Belhaven Nights

• South Jackson Proud Parade and Festival

• Capital City Pride Festival

• Mississippi Makers FEST

• Mississippi Book Festival

• Juneteenth Celebration

• Hal’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade & Festival

• Enhanced support for Jackson State University’s Football Season

• Established a shuttle service program for ESPN College GameDay and the 2022 SWAC Football Championship game

• ESPN College GameDay

• 2022 SWAC Football Championship Game

• Mistletoe Marketplace

• JSU "Sonic Boom of the South" Battle of the Bands

Community Leadership

• ADA Advisory Council (City of Jackson)

• Alpha Foundation of Jackson, Inc.

• Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc (Local Chapters)

• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc (National Office, Regional Office & Local Chapters)

• Capital City Pride

• Covid-19 Task Force (City of Jackson)

• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (Local Chapters)

• Downtown Jackson Partners Homelessness Committee

• Dress for Success

• Junior League of Jackson

• Keep Jackson Beautiful

• Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities

• Mississippi Families for Kids

• Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants

• Mississippi Women for Progress

• Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (State Organization)

• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (Local and State Organization)

Signature

Events

• Hometown Hero Awards Program

• Capital Area Tourism Summit Special Projects

• Miss Jackson Hospitality/Mississippi Miss Hospitality

• Young MY CITY Ambassador

• Atlanta Food & Wine Festival Safety & Security

• Tourism Policing Strategies (TOPS)

• Conducted monthly security meetings to discuss security needs for upcoming meetings and events

• Jackson Police Department

• Hinds County Sheriff’s Department

• Capital Police Department

• Jackson State University Police Department

• Downtown Partners

• Enhanced and supported security components for meetings and events.

TOURISM PARTNERSHIPS

Execute programming to strengthen Tourism Partnerships

• Continued to work with the Capital Area Tourism Association (CATA) which is a collaborative initiative between Visit Ridgeland, Canton Tourism, Visit Vicksburg and Visit Jackson to increase visitor numbers, build recognition of local attractions and amenities, and offer educational programs to build the local hospitality industry workforce.

• Continued to partner with the newly established Mississippi Destination Marketing Organization Association.

• Developed strategic initiatives with the Mississippi Tourism Association related to Visit Mississippi’s dedicated funding expenditures.

• Coordinated and executed Visit Jackson’s activation at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival with three local Jackson chefs.

• Partnered with the Metro Jackson Attractions Association to produce the Metro Jackson Passport program.

• Assisted the City of Jackson in planning and executing the Jackson’s Bicentennial celebration.

• Continued to offer a co-op advertising program for Jackson attractions.

• Continued to support the "Capital City Lights” program.

• Partnered with the Capital City Convention Center Commission/Jackson Convention Center on marketing & management strategies.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Create additional strategies to increase/develop/ encourage tourism for the destination

DESTINATION DEMAND

Heighten demand for the destination

Visitor Intelligence Data

The leading indicator for future visitation among American domestic travelers is past visitation, and Jackson performs strongly on the repeat visitation metric. Over half (55%) of Jackson’s overnight visitors have already visited on an overnight trip during the past 12 months. This is up 6 points from 2020.

Much of that repeat visitation is tied to the high satisfaction with their trip, with three-fourths (74%) of Jackson’s overnight travelers satisfied with their overall trip experience. Similar satisfaction levels were reported across focused aspects of visiting Jackson.

Please note that these are slightly down from 2020, but this is following a national pattern in 2021, due to labor shortages in the travel and hospitality industry as well as supply chain issues impacting services such as restaurants.

Overnight Visitors

State of Origin

Age

Dining Types on Trips

*Longwoods Travel USA® 2021 Jackson data

Visit Jackson Travel Industry Impact

In 2022, Visit Jackson’s support of events & meetings prompted:

• $67 million in direct traveler spend

• Generated a total of $115 million in economic output

• Supported over 48K jobs & $33.7 million in Tourism Payroll

• Jackson Tourism generated $19.4 M in total tax revenue for federal, state & local taxes

• Equivalent to $313 in tax savings per Jackson household

Tourism offset local property tax by $2.8 million

International Tour Visitation

Over 2,500 visitors in 2022 vs. 3,300 in 2019

Convention, Meeting, & Event Comparison

In 2022, Visit Jackson launched the new and improved destination website. The new website showcases a vast collection of Jackson's people, restaurants, lodging, museums, music, arts, civil rights, literature, and sports through robust listings, articles, and a calendar of events.

Remarkably, organic search traffic grew 359% YoY. The site has become a resource for locals and visitors alike.

In addition to comparing the site’s performance to previous years, now Visit Jackson has the ability to look at web engagement metrics across the DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) universe. Thanks to the US (United States) Travel Association, destinations can compare session duration and pages/session.

For social, Visit Jackson continued its monumental rise in providing consistent and detailed content across platforms. Audiences increased, posts increased, and most importantly, link clinks grew almost 190% YoY. Visit Jackson continues to reach top markets with a media mix of digital and print. In 2022, Visit Jackson’s targeted advertising budget was $315K. Vendor partners that can measure marketing impact in destination are being utilized more often to showcase the value of strategic advertising.

Website Metrics

Users

• 311K

• Up 47% YoY

Sessions

• 384K

• Up 54% YoY

Pageviews

• 630K

• Down 16% YoY

Top Metro Markets (58% of all traffic)

• Jackson (22%)

• Atlanta (10%)

• Dallas (9%)

• New Orleans (6%)

• Chicago (6%)

• Memphis (5%)

NEW ORLEANS, LA

CHICAGO, IL

ATLANTA, GA

MEMPHIS, TN

DALLAS, TX

Web Engagement Metrics*

(Compared To Destination Websites)

Session Duration

• Visit Jackson - 2:03

• National Average - 1:52

• Southeastern USA Average - 1:39

Session Duration

• Visit Jackson - 1.7

• National Average - 1.9

• Southeastern USA Average - 1.8

*Powered by Simpleview/US Travel Association

Campaign Metrics*

$742K Measured Visitor Spend

1.3 million Unique Visitors Reached

5.4K Total Visitors

11.9K Total Transactions

• Dining: 20% of total visitor spend

• Hotel: 10% of total visitor spend

• Recreation & Attractions: 4% of total visitor spend

*Epsilon Data (In-Market Measurables)

Social Metrics –Cross Platform*

Impressions

• 2.7 million

• Down 63% YoY

Engagements

• 159K

• Down 61% YoY

Link Clicks

• 50K

• Up 188% YoY

Audience

• 30K

• Up 9.4% YoY

Posts

• 1,092

• Up 21% YoY

Video Views

• 149K

• Down 55% YoY

*Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (Visit Jackson/City With Soul accounts)

Commitment to Diversity, Equity

& Inclusion

• Staff are actively engaged with the local LGBTIQA+ group, Capital City Pride, including assisting in planning of the Capital City Pride Weekend which takes place the first week of October.

• President/CEO, Rickey Thigpen, PhD, serves as Co-Chair of the Destination International’s EDI CEO Sub-Committee.

• Human Rights Campaign

Municipal Equality Index

The City of Jackson, with support from Visit Jackson, has the highest Municipal Equality Index score in the state of Mississippi, and is above the national average, with a score of 71.

Data & Research Partners

• Arrivalist

• Conversant/Epsilon

• Destinations International

• Development Counsellors International (DCI)

• Expedia

• Longwoods International

• Southeast Tourism Society

• Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company

• TripAdvisor

• Tempest, Inc.

• Visit Mississippi (Mississippi Development Authority)

• United States Travel Association (USTA)

Strategic Partners

• Belhaven University

• Capital Area Tourism Association

• Capital City Convention Center Commission/ Jackson Convention Complex

• City of Jackson

• Destinations International

• Downtown Jackson Partners

• Great City Foundation

• Greater Jackson Arts Council

• Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership

• Jackson Convention Complex

• Jackson Municipal Airport Authority

• Jackson Redevelopment Authority

• Jackson State University,

• Longwoods International

• Metro Jackson Attraction Association

• Millsaps College

• Mississippi College School of Law

• Mississippi Arts Commission

• Mississippi Blues Society

• Mississippi Destination Marketing Organization Association

• Mississippi Economic Council

• Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association

• Mississippi Tourism Association

• Mississippi Raiders

• Mississippi Restaurant Association

• Natchez Trace Compact

• Rotary Club of Jackson

• Rotary Club International

• Southeast Tourism Society

• Tempest Inc.

• Tougaloo College

• Tourism Economics

• Travel & Tourisms Research Association

• University of Mississippi Medical Center

• U.S (United States) Travel Association

• Visit Mississippi Sanderson Farms

• Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership

• Mississippi Economic Council

• Maris West & Baker

• Rankin First

• Mississippi Development Authority

Industry Engagement & Leadership

U.S. Travel Association

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Board of Directors

• Jonathan Pettus, Destinations Council Board of Advisors

Destination International

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Executive Board/ Vice President

• Jennifer Chance, CPA, CDME (CERTIFIED DESTINATION MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE), Governance Committee, Professional Development Committee Business/ Operations Committee, Co-Chair

Mississippi Tourism Association

• Jonathan Pettus, Board of Directors

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Executive Board/ Vice President

• Shun Hatten, Education Committee

Southeast Tourism Association

• Shun Hatten, Convention Planning Committee

Capital Area Tourism Association

• Kim Lewis, Programming Committee

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Executive Board/ Secretary/Treasurer

• Jonathan Pettus, Marketing Committee

Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Board of Directors

Downtown Jackson Partners

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Advisory Board

Capital City Convention Center Commision

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Commisioner

Speaker’s Bureau

• Paul Wolf, Destination International, Marketing Forum

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD , Destination International

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Travel Unity Conference

• Jennifer Chance, CDME, CPA, Destination International

• Jonathan Pettus, Leadership Mississippi

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Leadership Mississippi

• Reshonda Perryman, Youth Leadership Jackson

• Kim Lewis, Youth Leadership Jackson

• Jonathan Pettus, Youth Leadership Jackson

• Rickey Thigpen, PhD, Youth & Leadership Jackson

Visit Jackson Awards/ Accolades Educational Accomplishments

2022 Mississippi Tourism Associations:

Governor’s Conference on Tourism

• Destination Marketing Organization of the Year ($1,000,000+ budget)

• Best Overall Social Media Strategy

• Research in Action Award

Connect Travel

• Reshonda Perryman Named Emerging Tourism Star

US Travel Association

• People’s Choice Award –Visit Jackson Website

Jennifer Chance, CPA, CDME - The Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) is the tourism industry’s highest individual educational achievement.

Staff Recognition (15+ Year Employees)

Rickey Thigpen, PhD President/CEO – 34 years

Floyd Williams, Jr., Director of Sports Marketing – 33 years

Christine Blackmon, Services Director – 29 years

Sherri Ratliff, Sales Manager – 23 years

Shun Hatten, VP Sales – 19 years

Jennifer R Chance, CPA, VP Finance & Operations – 17 years