TOURISM RICHMOND 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE

2017

8.0M2017

1.8B

2017

33,0522017

83.2%

VISITORS TO RICHMOND 1 VISITOR SPEND1

MEETING & EVENTS ROOM NIGHT LEADS 3 OCCUPANCY RATE 4

2015

7.4M 8.2%

2016

29,993 10.2%2016

81.1% 2.1%

2015

1.5B 22.7%2

Tourism Richmond is majority funded through the proceeds of a 3% Municipal Regional District Tax (MRDT) legislated by the Province of BC. Tourism Richmond receives 2% of the proceeds with the remaining 1% accruing to the City of Richmond and the Richmond Hotel Association. Tourism Richmond MRDT revenue has grown year over year since 2015.

MUNICIPAL REGIONAL DISTRICT TAX REVENUE

1 2015 and 2017 Visitor Volume Study conducted by Align Consulting2 The percentage differences are due to rounding. This percentage is based off actual numbers.3 Tourism Richmond 2016 Annual Report4 CBRE Hotels’ Trends in the Hotel Industry National Market Report with reproduction and use of information subject to CBRE Limited

Disclaimer/Terms of Use as detailed at http://www.cbre.ca/EN/services/valuationservices/hotels/Pages/hotels-vas-disclaimer.aspx

20162015

$3.3M $3.7M

2017

$4M

Establishing A New Destination BrandIn 2017, we underwent a multi-month journey to determine the new destination brand. Through in-depth research sessions with stakeholders, industry and visitors, a new destination brand emerged: PACIFIC. AUTHENTIC.

After 16 days of on-location scouting, and filming 33 authentic Richmond experiences, a two-minute brand anthem video was produced and revealed to industry stakeholders in November 2017. The video showcased the best parts of Richmond and was met with unbridled enthusiasm from stakeholders.

2 RESEARCH SESSIONS WITH 57 STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPANTS

10 INDUSTRY INTERVIEWS

16 DAYS OF LOCATION SCOUTING AND FILMING

33 AUTHENTIC RICHMOND EXPERIENCES

240 VISITOR INTERCEPTS

I really love the new branding and the new direction you are taking. I look forward to being a partner moving forward.

MATT PITCAIRNPRESIDENT & CEO, RICHMOND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

NOTABLE OUTLETS

Key Earned Media StoriesThe top themes for all earned media articles come as no surprise: food and leisure dominated the travel media stories published in 2017. Two key stories of note were the Dumpling Trail and Tourism Richmond’s partnership with Destination Canada to bring 1,000 Chinese visitors for Chinese New Year to Canada.

Earned media articles

2017

7262016

540 34%

Accelerating Experience Development2017 COOPERATIVE MARKETING INVESTMENT REPORT2017 was the inaugural year for the Cooperative Marketing Investment Fund. The investment fund underwrote six completed projects, ranging from creating collateral to developing new experiences.

$15,933TOTAL INVESTMENT

TOTAL INDUSTRY REFERRALS

2017

27,1982016

15,500*

*As reported on corporate scorecard.

Pivot to digitalWe’ve evolved and refined our existing digital marketing channels, ensuring they’re more effective and provide the end user with a better online experience.

TRAVELLER-CENTRIC

DATA-DRIVEN

ALWAYS-ON

FOCUS ON MEASUREMENT

AGILE

Launching data-driven capabilities such as audience-based remarketing and taking an always-on approach for digital marketing allows us to deliver the right message to the right person, at the right time.

Web VisitationExpected decline for web visitation attributed to shifting of 2017 marketing campaigns to 2018 to drive brand launch to consumers.

2017

677,7372016

769,283

PAGE VIEWS

12%

2017

1.512016

1.72

AVERAGE PAGE PER SESSION

12%

2017

342,7942016

348,321

UNIQUE VIEWERS

2%

Social Media

2017

52,5412016

48,817 8%

2017

9,8892016

9,428 5%

2017

3,5562016

2,296 55%

Growing the Business Travel Market

Improving Organizational EfficiencyWe’ve made remarkable progress on managing the costs of running Tourism Richmond. On average, DMOs of a similar size see general administration and operation costs consisting of 54 per cent of total budget, leaving 46 per cent for marketing programs.

At Tourism Richmond, we’ve managed our general administration and operation costs to 44 per cent in 2017, down from 52 per cent in 2015 and 48 per cent in 2016. This enables us to grow our marketing spend to 56 per cent in 2017, which translates to an addition of $1.4M from 2015-2017 to drive our business forward.

General Operations & Administrationmarketing

2015 2016 20170

20

40

60

80

100

48% 52% 56%

52% 48% 44%

MANAGING OUR BUSINESS

Source: Destination Marketing Association of Canada 2016 Benchmarking Study

54% average allocated to marketing by peer budget group ($2M to $5M)

2017

287

TOTAL APPOINTMENTS WITH QUALIFIED BUYERS

2017

1052016

101 4%

SALES LEADS

FAM AND SITE VISITS HOSTED

2017

12

2017 Corporate Scorecard

ACTION 2017 GOAL 2017 ACTUAL STATUS

Annual Visitation 8.8M 8.0M 91% of Target

VisitRichmondBC.com

Unique Visitors 321K 342.8K Goal exceeded

Pageviews 690K 677.8K 98% of target

Time on Site (Desktop) 2:08 2:06 98% of target

Time on Site (Mobile) 0:50 0:43 86% of target

Partner Revenue $125K $121.1K 97% of target

Industry Referrals 32K 27K 84% of target

Room Nights 27.5K 33K Goal exceeded

Sales Leads 80 105 Goal exceeded

Partner Investment in Co-Op Program $30,000 $15,900 53% of target

Administrative/General Operations Ratio <10% 9.15% Goal met

Enhance Richmond Tourism Experiences 3 Experiences 3 Experiences Goal met

Social Media Followers 70K 66K 94% of target