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Work session held to discuss Nevada tourism
The Nevada City Council (with the exception of Mayor Knox, who was absent) met for a work session Monday evening to discuss Nevada tourism.
In attendance and giving a presentation of proposals for a Tourism Advisory Board were Vernon County Economic Developer Ben Vickers and Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheree Gayman.
Vickers started the discussion by going over the exisiting city code for tourism. This can be found in the city's code under Section 24-2 "Tourism Fund Established." This code states, "There is hereby established a convention and tourism fund in the city. All taxes levied and collected and appropriated pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited to the credit of such fund as herein after provided. Such fund shall be used and expended by the city only for the purpose of promoting tourism in the city."
Vickers' first proposal was for the City of Nevada to reinstate the Tourism Advisory Board. This proposal would require the City of Nevada and the City Council to create a tourism board for the "planning of and advisory to the city council regarding the tourism fund. The tourism funds shall be used only for the purpose of promoting tourism."
Vickers noted that the main goal of the Tourism Board would be to "attract visitors year-round from outside Vernon County, generating return on civic revenue through sales tax and tourism tax." Another goal of the board would be to "improve the overall perception of Nevada and what we offer as a town."
In this proposal, the Tourism Board would develop and fund ideas to draw people into town, prioritizing local business districts on a consistent basis. Initially, the focus would be on the sustainability of projects and leveraging tourism dollars efficiently.
Other steps to accomplish the goals of a Tourism Board included:
• Having pre-determined grant amounts/tiers based on percentage of available funds, areas of application and accounting system to track applications and awarding of grants.
• Outline guidelines for approving grant funding.
• Marketing of the City of Nevada.
• In-depth written features of local restaurants, events, and "weekend" amenities.
The second proposal brought forth in the work session was by Gayman. She discussed creating a "tourism partnership." Specifically, Gayman gave the example of a tourism partnership with the Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce. Gayman explained the positive aspects of such a partnership, noting that "tourism must be run as a business."
Gayman added that the 13-member Chamber board is structured to have two seats retire each year. As two members retire in 2021, it is suggested that two members be added as tourism specific seats.
Furthering her point of the advantage of a partership with the Chamber of Commerce, Gayman noted that "in a community this size, the general public see no separation between tourism and the Chamber. The Chamber is called upon to answer economic development questions, city and county information, when the next Bushwhacker Days will be held, and tourism requests."
It was also mentioned by Gayman that when visiting the Missouri Division of Tourism website, it lists the Historic Carnegie building as the location for "Tourism/Visitor" information. "We are proud to serve as the face of Nevada for outside visitors," stated Gayman.
A tourism "partnership" would include, but not be limited to, the following:
• Annual plan that details the tourism goals for the year submitted to the council during budgeting.
• Quarterly reports to the city council (or more frequent, should the council wish).
• Develop a simplified and professional process for accepting grant request for tourism with parameters approved by council. An example given was an online application process.
• Marketing the City of Nevada.
• Staffing for tourism
• Feature events and local amenities (in-depth written features of local amenities and Shop Local campaign).
Both proposals had a simplified plan as to how tourism funds would be used, with the figures being as follows: Fifty percent of funds go towards events which draw outside visitors; 20 percent of funds go towards promoting long-term beautification and culture; 20 percent of funds go towards initial development of promotional material; and 10 percent of funds would go to "other."
The Nevada City Council expect to discuss the proposals further at its Tuesday, March 8, council meeting.