Coraggio has been retained by the city to develop the strategic plan, “with a focus on responsible visitation and destination management,” as the city stated in a press release, while DVA was hired to develop the branding and advertising campaigns.
“Both agencies have collaborated on three surveys, including a survey to residents about their sentiments on tourism, a survey to in-market visitors about their travel experience in Sedona and a survey to nation-wide travelers about sentiments on Sedona as a vacation destination,” the city stated in a press release.
The Lodging Council meeting opened with a financial update; the council has $6,181 in the bank with about $9,000 in outstanding notices.
This was followed by a presentation by an Uptown resident Mark TenBroek, a former municipal wastewater specialist, on his views of Sedona lodging and his evaluation of the effect that competition from the short-term rental market is having on traditional lodging’s market share.
Mayor Scott Jablow, who was in attendance, urged the Lodging Council to lobby Sedona’s Arizona State legislative delegation to support a cap on short-term rentals in the upcoming legislative session.
“We’re also working on a few pieces of primary research and those include … a postcard that went out in the mail for a resident sentiment survey,” DVA Director of Client Services Mary Angelo said during the meeting. “So what we talk about [today], it will be for what your values are, as residents. We also have a broader survey out now, asking people what their thoughts are around tourism. That’s going to help us to provide a baseline for where we go in terms of resident education. As well as helping residents to understand that they’re being heard through this whole process.
“We also are doing a visitor intercept survey that actually should start this week. We are going to have folks based at places like Uptown … and shuttle stops, to talk to people who are here right now, during the winter. Typically what we think of as relatively valuable visitor, to also talk about what their impressions are of Sedona, why they’re here, where they came from, what are they doing, what’s important to them. And we have a research study that is about to go out. That is in 10 different target markets, including Phoenix, around the country, to talk to people about their awareness and perceptions.”
The city will hold another listening session on the proposed tourism plan on Monday, Jan. 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Sedona Public Library.
The Lodging Council’s marketing plan survey is available online at sedonalodgingcouncil.com.
