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Business Santa Rosa to finalize annual report, begins strategic planning and data-driven marketing efforts
Summary
Board heard that Business Santa Rosa completed a draft annual report for 2024 data and will launch a strategic planning process and new data initiatives including a phase-two Canapass and continued passport campaigns; stakeholder engagement and a vacant director of sales post were discussed.
Board members received a progress update on the tourism annual report, the associated work plan and Business Santa Rosa's strategic planning efforts. A representative for Business Santa Rosa said a draft of the annual report is nearly complete but still requires fiscal tables and additional metrics before it will be ready for board review.
Why it matters: the annual report and work plan consolidate prior-year data and inform destination-marketing priorities, including how limited tourism dollars are directed to campaigns that produce hotel stays and visitor spending.
What staff and board said: - Annual report and work plan: Board and staff said Business Santa Rosa took responsibility for drafting the annual report so it could include full 2024 data. Staff told the board the draft is "pretty solid" but missing some fiscal and financial tables; staff expects to bring the completed report back at the next meeting for review. - Strategic planning and data use: Business Santa Rosa described plans to launch a strategic planning process that aligns destination marketing with the city's economic development strategy and strengthens hotel and community stakeholder engagement. Staff highlighted an increased ability to use booking and credit-card-level data to link specific marketing campaigns to hotel bookings and local spending; a presenter said such data can show which campaigns produce the highest room bookings and total visitor spend. - Passport and Canapass campaigns: Staff reported the bureau passport campaign performed well year over year and that a phase-two Canapass (a cannabis-experience passport app) is being developed to track participation and generate tourism interest in legal cannabis businesses alongside existing beverage- and food-focused offerings. - Sales and stakeholder engagement: Visit Santa Rosa will begin monthly sales meetings with hotels to improve coordination; the next quarterly stakeholder meeting is scheduled for April 30 at noon (location to be announced). Business Santa Rosa also has an open director of sales position and is recruiting for expertise in tourism and hotel stakeholder relations.
No formal votes were taken. Staff said further work is needed to finalize the annual report's fiscal tables and to complete the strategic-planning timeline.
Reported specifics and next steps: Business Santa Rosa will add fiscal and performance metrics to the draft annual report before returning it to the board for review at a future meeting; staff will launch a strategic-planning process, continue passport campaigns and develop the Canapass phase two; Visit Santa Rosa will start monthly hotel sales meetings; stakeholder meeting April 30 at noon.
