Strategic Roadmap Overview

MONTEREY COUNTY STRATEGIC ROADMAP

STRATEGIC ROADMAP OVERVIEW

There’s never been a more exciting time for tourism in Monterey County, where stunning views, a vibrant culinary scene, world-class attractions, outdoor recreation and more surprise and captivate visitors. Now more than ever, Monterey County is poised to welcome visitors and drive a strong economic recovery through tourism in a responsible and sustainable way, growing community prosperity and quality of life for Monterey County residents. We must seize this momentum and the opportunities that exist now, so the next generation continues to benefit from the economic impact of our visitor economy.

To ensure that Monterey County continues to provide visitors with unparalleled opportunities that positively impact our residents and communities, the Monterey County Convention Visitors Bureau has developed a roadmap for tourism that looks out over the next five years and beyond. In the past year, hundreds of community and hospitality industry members engaged in this work through surveys, listening sessions, interviews, working groups and more. The process included discussions about Monterey County’s destination vision, how to boost the profile of tourism in the County and, ultimately, how to increase community prosperity through a thriving and sustainable tourism economy.

As an industry, we now have a guiding document to help prioritize and align our efforts around these goals. The following imperatives and initiatives will serve as a north star to remind the tourism industry and community of our purpose and keep us on course to benefit all that live, work, and play in Monterey County.

VISION

A thriving tourism economy that enriches Monterey County’s economic vitality and quality of life.

MISSION

To generate community prosperity for Monterey County through the responsible promotion and growth of the tourism economy.

A COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY INPUT AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

This Strategic Roadmap is a summary of the stakeholder outreach conducted by Coraggio Group on behalf of MCCVB. The purpose of this outreach was to gather insights from stakeholders for the development of the roadmap.

Over 300 stakeholder touchpoints were gathered via an online survey, one-on-one interviews, input sessions, and stakeholder roundtables. Stakeholders gave feedback on the following topics:

Challenges and opportunities

COVID-19 Impacts

Marketing role importance and effectiveness

Mission, Vision, and Values

Organizational health

Reputation

Tourism drivers, assets, and experiences

Tourism support and enablers

GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND VALUES

Promotion of Monterey County as a destination and MCCVB’s efforts to strengthen the tourism and hospitality community must:

Promote an inspiring, memorable, and life-enriching visitor experience. Enhance the community’s quality of life by increasing economic vitality throughout the County.

Consistently engage the community to grow awareness and appreciation of tourism, gain resident input, and maintain productive collaboration with local governments.

Encourage collaboration with community partners to create a shared vision for sustainable growth in the region.

Educate and inform locals and visitors to ensure that our natural resources and environment are used responsibly.

Support an environment that is welcoming to all and respects our unique history, land and culture.

Ensure fiscal responsibility in driving results for investing members and partners.

VALUES Connectivity

We are leaders committed to the greater good. We value a relational not a transactional approach and ensure that our work positively impacts our community.

Collaboration

We believe that working together results in better outcomes. We seek opportunities to build effective coalitions with our partners. We value each individual’s contribution to ensure our high standards of professionalism.

Agility

We are creative, nimble, and embrace change. We invite new ideas and innovation to ensure that our work is effective and focused on the future.

Accountability

We are dependable experts in our field and reliable stewards of the resources entrusted to us. We are committed to listening, learning, and pushing ourselves to improve.

Inclusivity

We are committed to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusivity – as an organization and in terms of how we promote the destination.

Sustainability

We embrace responsible and respectful travel as a necessity to protect the destination which ensures the long-term vitality of the tourism economy for accommodations, other hospitality businesses and the greater community.

STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES

CONTRIBUTE TO THE LONG-TERM VIABILITY OF THE TOURISM ECONOMY

Be a: Contributor Collaborator Catalyst

GENERATE THE IDEAL VISITATION FOR MONTEREY COUNTY

Focus on: Off Season Longer Stay Balanced Mix

Rebranded Experience

ENHANCE COMMUNITY & MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

Work to: Enrich Partnerships Engage Residents Educate the Community

ENSURE LONG-TERM ORGANIZATIONAL FINANCIAL STABILITY

Focus on: Renewed Tourism Improvement District Enhanced Jurisdiction Investment Elevated Accountability

STRATEGIC FOCUS AND ACTION

The Strategic Roadmap is flexible, allowing for adaptations in a changing environment. The Key Initiatives and Success Indicators listed here are just a few examples of the programs being put into place to support the Strategic Imperatives. Over time, through collaboration and community input, more will be added to support the destination, residents and visitors long term.

STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES

1. Contribute to the long-term viability of the tourism economy

2. Generate the ideal visitation for our destination

3. Enhance community & member engagement

4. Ensure long-term organizational financial sustainability

5. Cultivate MCCVB’s strong organizational culture (team and board)

KEY INITIATIVES SUCCESS INDICATORS

• Partner with local governments, transportation providers, hotel developers and others on tourism related financial and development planning

• Secure destination marketing partnerships countywide

• “Spread the love” and benefits of tourism countywide

• Revisit, refine and relaunch the Monterey County brand

• Expand research capabilities to measure visitation patterns, better target key audiences and evaluate tourism impact

• Partner with Monterey Regional Airport to enhance air service development program

• Launch a campaign to better communicate the positive impact of tourism and TOT investment for residents and decision makers

• Communicate the organization’s programs that promote sustainable/responsible travel

• Launch Community Relations Committee composed of a broad mix of community influencers

• Develop and foster promotional partnerships that assist in traffic mitigation

• Renew Monterey County Tourism Improvement District at higher level

• Explore financial crisis management, including alternative revenue streams and a healthy reserve

• Explore strategic partnerships that allow for greater investment in destination marketing

• “Evolutionize” leadership culture and team performance and development approach

• Integrate Destinations International’s DEI organizational best practices as aligned with MCCVB

• Ensure talent investment that prioritizes recruitment and retention of top talent that reflects diverse thought leadership

• Visitor Spend

• Product Development

• Visitor Dispersion Geographically

• Length of Stay

• Fly-in, Group and International Visitation

• Market Share

• Resident Sentiment

• Engagement with MCCVB Programs

• Member Representation

• MCTID Investment

• TOT Investment

• Annual Financial Audit

• Team Engagement

• Internal Retention

• DEI Scorecard