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BNS Kites reports $3,134 profit from indoor Kite Fest; committee questions room-night accounting
Summary
Organizer Bill Doan told the panel the indoor Kite Fest produced a $3,134.93 surplus and drew roughly 577 attendees Monday and 600 Tuesday. Board members raised concerns about how the event’s claimed 530 room nights were audited and whether long-stay visitors were being credited correctly.
Bill Doan, organizer of the BNS Kites indoor Kite Festival, told the board the event ended with a profit of $3,134.93 and drew strong attendance, with about 577 people on Monday and 600 on Tuesday. Doan said room-night data were collected via a survey printed on the back of tickets.
Why it matters: The board and staff weigh room-night counts and media impressions when deciding future marketing support or legacy-event status, which can affect future funding and promotion decisions.
Doan summarized the event’s marketing and coverage and said that the festival was featured in kiting magazine and on multiple local outlets. “We ended up with a profit of $3,134.93,” Doan said, and described outreach that included local pages and television interviews.
Board members pressed staff and event organizers on the post-event room-night accounting. One board member noted the application listed roughly 530 room nights and questioned whether that number was verifiable against attendance. Doan and staff said they track room nights by a combination of ticket-back surveys and an internal audit. “We did go through them… I think we were close to like 700, 800. So we did go through them and audit them and pull out the ones that are at the county, the ones that stay over the 30 days,” a staff member said, adding that the team gives credits for stays that appear unrelated to the event.
Board members discussed whether Kite Fest should be considered a “legacy” or signature event despite uncertainties in room-night attribution. A member argued that some events—Kite Fest and sandcastle contests among them—are difficult to assign a specific number of room nights because attendees often participate in multiple island activities during a stay. “When we have three events on the same weekend, it’s really hard to know what event they came for,” a board member said.
No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational and the board asked staff to review the room-night documentation for future funding cycles. Several members praised the festival for drawing weekday attendees in winter months and for the economic benefit of keeping visitors on-island overnight.
Looking ahead, staff said they will verify room-night reporting and meet with the organizer at reapplication to agree on a verifiable method for counting event-driven room nights.
