ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 1

ANNUAL REPORT 2014 / 2015

ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 3

F iscal year 2014-15 marked Visit Mesa’s second year of sales and marketing efforts applying the brand platform, City Limitless®. Our team positioned the brand and its lifestyle attributes into new marketing streams by expanding our digital media approach.

We reached tens of thousands of new consumers with targeted key messages about our destination. In this report, we detail the strategies applied in this year’s advertising campaigns and outline the incredible returns.

This fiscal year, we also conducted two key behavior studies and gleaned valuable insight about the Mesa visitor. First, we commissioned AirSage for a targeted mobile user study measuring year-over-year visitation from outside our market.

Second, Visit Mesa very recently concluded an in-depth conversion study that analyzed our captured consumer data on micro-levels. The results of both studies are shared in our report and represent just some of

the ways Visit Mesa continued to examine our feeder markets to better understand our

core customer set. I’m excited to share that our data mining is setting the stage for the beginnings of our custom Mesa Visitor Profile Study.

Visit Mesa encountered staffing challenges toward the second half of the year, but we are pleased to report that our established sales goals were exceeded in both our Sports and Travel Industry Sales

departments. At fiscal year-end, Visit Mesa tracked more than 44,000 total booked hotel room nights between our three sales departments and these outcomes show that our destination continues to be

in high-demand. Last fall’s showcase, Small Market Meetings Conference, was integral in connecting Mesa’s hospitality community with meeting planners in the small- to mid-size meetings industry.

The appointment-based show gave Visit Mesa access to pre-qualified clients while they were in-market to experience all we have to offer. After all, in the meetings industry seeing is believing.

Our Communications department re-fashioned our Mesa Life Visitors Guide this year into a larger format, allowing for a larger canvas to showcase our vivid imagery. The

new magazine-size guide allowed for stronger storytelling and was well received by our visitors. In addition, our team flew in nearly 80 travel media on assignment to cover our

destination in their news outlets, blogs, social media feeds, as well as in digital and print outlets.

With the support of our Board Executive Committee, Visit Mesa also spearheaded the development of the Mesa

Regional Sports & Cultural Foundation – an effort that will prove vital for future visitor developments and

educational programming in our city.

We have called out these and many more successes in the pages of this report and we know our positive returns are a result of

our solid relationships with Mesa’s dynamic hospitality community and the vested interest of our partners.

Marc Garcia, President and CEO Visit Mesa

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

VISIONMesa and its surrounding regional partners are globally recognized as the preeminent

visitor destination in Arizona.

MISSION \ To promote Mesa and its neighboring partner communities as a premier business and leisure travel destination on behalf of our stakeholders.

visitmesa.com

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEGary Levine, Chairperson Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa

Tom Thodes, Secretary Arque Capital, Ltd.

Dave Wier, Treasurer Wells Fargo Bank

Marc Garcia, President & CEO Visit Mesa

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD Rich Adams Southwest Business Credit Services

Scott Appleman Rainbow Ryders

Steve Chucri Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Macey Duncan Residence Inn

Rex Griswold CPI – Commercial Properties Inc.

Carl Group DETOURS Arizona

Sally Harrison Mesa Chamber of Commerce

Marc Heirshberg City of Mesa

Debbie Johnson Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association

Jay Larscheid Longbow Golf Club

David Luna City of Mesa

Jaye O’Donnell City of Mesa Economic Development

Marnie Schubert Town of Queen Creek

Kevin Thorpe Sheraton Mesa

Randy Vogel Mesa Arts Center

Steve West Udall Shumway

Marty Whalen Gateway Bank

Mike Whalen Centurian Custom Security

© 2

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Vis

it M

esa

ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 5

Mesa + Gilbert + Queen Creek + Apache Trail + Tonto National Forest = [ ]

Lodging Performance

RISE UP: Visit Mesa Partnership Program Visit Mesa added valuable new, upscale hotel product with the addition of the 180-room Sheraton Hotel at Wrigleyville West in April and another 99 rooms will be added to the market in October with the Courtyard Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Our regional visitor attractions expanded this past year with marked growth in Downtown Gilbert which opened five new restaurants, and Queen Creek built its audience with record attendance gains at both of their signature attractions, Schnepf Farms and the Queen Creek Olive Mill – including a sold out rodeo. As the popularity of the region grows, Visit Mesa leaders anticipate even more hotel development announcements in the near future.

OVER THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS, lodging in Mesa hit many high notes and we began to see true gains in Mesa’s ADR (average daily rate). While previous years’ lodging performance was in recovery and maintenance mode, FY 14-15 performance allows Visit Mesa to set new benchmarks. Hoteliers were enthusiastic with the RevPAR spikes in January (+37.9%) and February (+19.9%), and that same momentum was carried well into March and April.

Super Bowl XLIX impacted the entire Valley with record-breaking hotel occupancy and revenue generation. In Mesa, Smith Travel Research reports showed that an

additional $2.5 Million in hotel revenue was achieved as a result of this mega-event, when comparing January 2014 collections to this year. The bed tax gains that month alone saw a 65% increase. When examining the impacts from Super Bowl Week, hotel data shows double-digit gains across all platforms, and on Super Bowl (Feb. 1, 2015) triple-digit gains in ADR (+155%) and RevPAR (+273%) were seen.

For every $1 invested in Visit Mesa by the City of Mesa (total is $2,052,688 in FY 15) there is a $17.83 return in economic impact derived from Visit Mesa directed/facilitated group bookings in National Sales, Sports and Travel Industry Sales. It is a conservative estimate and does not include fiscal impacts derived from visitors influenced to book Mesa products due to Visit Mesa’s consumer/leisure marketing and public relations efforts.

in paid partnership dues = $126,200

Occ: +46.4%SUPER BOWL WEEKEND

ADR: +155%RevPAR: +273%

V I S I T M E S A

VISIT MESA

$1= $17.83

Invested in Visit Mesa

in economic impact

VISITOR INDUSTRY Impacts

$36.6MILLION

185% increase

over FY 13-14+

VISIT MESAEconomic

Impact

visitmesa.com ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 7

Early on this year, Visit Mesa’s Board of Directors’ Strategic Development & Advocacy Committee, along with selected members of the Visit Mesa Staff, formed the Visit Mesa Strategic Planning Task Force. This task force became the lead agent in preparing our 2015-2017 Visit Mesa Strategic Plan. A detailed action plan complete with a monitoring process was established and implemented in January 2015 and this new document has quickly become Visit Mesa’s internal vehicle for driving the organization’s success.

The strategic planning effort carved out a new mission, vision and set of guiding principles and included full-board participation and approval prior to the plan’s formal adoption. The most notable outcome of this process was the identification of four key pillars that effect Visit Mesa’s daily operations (see graphic). Visit Mesa’s Board of Directors was instrumental in developing Visit Mesa strategies, deliverables, and priorities going forward. Digital copies of the 2015-2017 Visit Mesa Strategic Plan are available upon request.

A SHARED VISION: THREE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

11 1,387 3,294 $.7MBOOKINGS BOOKED ROOM

NIGHTS# OF VISITORS DIRECT VISITOR

SPEND

NATIONAL SALES

126 17,425 11,141 $6.4MBOOKINGS BOOKED ROOM

NIGHTS# OF VISITORS DIRECT VISITOR

SPEND

TRAVEL INDUSTRY SALES

78 25,613 64,434 $17.5MBOOKINGS BOOKED ROOM

NIGHTS# OF VISITORS DIRECT VISITOR

SPEND

SPORTS SALES

The following principles were established this fiscal year during our strategic planning process. Visit Mesa is proud of the outcomes shared during this forum and these have been adopted by our staff and stakeholders.

• We value and follow ethical organizational and sales/marketing practices. Honesty and respect will govern our conduct in dealings with customers, partners and staff members.

• We reflect a commitment to excellence by delivering the highest quality sales, marketing and services programs to our clients and partners. We value high performance standards, therefore, we hold ourselves accountable through measured analysis and we reward exceptional employee performance.

• We strive to be recognized as the standard among destination marketing organizations for leading the Arizona visitor industry with the very best practices and innovative technology. We believe in making smart investments into innovative ideas, products and programs.

• We value our public and private sector partners by providing business opportunities and services that are meaningful, lucrative, informed and relevant. We believe in operating transparently at all levels on behalf of our stakeholders.

• We support staff and partners working together to build an in demand destination; to drive visitor spending and subsequent tax revenues while improving our community. We will listen to the ideas of others and encourage open dialogue.

• We celebrate the joy and satisfaction the Mesa regional destination brings to both visitors and residents alike. We bring enthusiasm and passion to our work each day.

• We believe in the rich diversity of Mesa and its surrounding regional partner communities, and we will promote inclusiveness in the way we work. We maintain a positive, respectful team environment and we encourage sensitivity to various backgrounds, cultures and opinions. We take pride in hiring, maintaining, and developing an exceptional and positive team environment.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Adopted January 20, 2015

VISIT MESA TWO-YEAR

STRATEGIC PLAN

Maximize brand

awareness to increase visitationBR

AND

Increase revenue

streams for both the private

sector and governmental

entities, while enhancing internal financial

resources, through dynamic

regional partnership

REVE

NUE

Foster a positive, energetic culture that contributes to overall team motivation and

satisfaction, while achieving organizational

goals and objectives

TEAM

Increase regional support while developing

and strengthening our partnership

program

PART

NERS

HIP

ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 9

Saying Guten Tag to Germany. Visit Mesa conducted its first in-market mission to Germany. After two years of available product to the German visitor, Visit Mesa was joined by the Town of Queen Creek on a four-day mission to the German cities of Hannover, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich. The mission was designed to familiarize German Tour Operators with the diversity of cultural, outdoor and culinary opportunities in the region. Ten appointments were conducted with high-level tour operators throughout Germany, many of which committed to include and expand Mesa accommodations and Queen Creek activities in their upcoming tour operator programs and Arizona product offerings.

VISIT MESA PROPOSES MEGA SPORTS / SOCCER COMPLEX

Visit Mesa sponsored a feasibility study this year on a proposed 24-field, multi-purpose soccer/sports complex. Nations Group, a leading sports de-velopment and program management agency, conducted a three-part survey to determine the impact such a facility could have here in Mesa. More than 400 events rights holders throughout N. America were surveyed gauging their interest and feedback on the facility. Literally hundreds of events were identi-fied as being a probable fit for the proposed complex. There is a glaring void for this type of offering in the East Valley and the projected economic impacts from the addition would be significant for sports tourism in Mesa and through-out the state. Nations Group also conducted land surveys of three pre-selected locations in Mesa and recommended devel-opment in the eastern part of the city, adjacent to the Red Mountain Sports Complex. The location nearly ensures the majority of room night production would be retained within the city boundaries and available land could spur additional related developments from hotels, restaurants and more. Nations Group projected that 109,000 rooms nights could be directly attributed to tournaments held at the facility if 50% of the events identified were to confirm events in the city. The estimated impacts from the outdoor events would reach $90 million and the indoor events would reach $7.8 million in direct visitor spending.

Visit Mesa’s social media campaign in China, conducted on Weibo, proved to be an innovative and dynamic approach to entering the Chinese market. The impact could be felt on Chinese social media with hundreds of tracked posts featuring Mesa, Arizona’s contest. Visit Mesa’s Chinese marketing efforts were featured in The Arizona Republic, which highlighted the expanding horizons for Chinese travelers and noted their U.S. travel direct spending impact of $9 billion.

In September, the Mesa Visitor Industry came together to host the Small Market Meetings Conference. The three-day conference brought in 265 attendees from across the country. Major events were held at Mesa’s premium event venues and the conference incorporated three CSR (cor-porate social responsibility) activities to benefit select Mesa charities. Area attractions hosted attendees for pre- and post-tours. The closing reception was held at Fort McDowell Adventures including tethered hot air balloon rides, cowboy games and Native American hoop dancers – leaving the meeting planners with new Arizona experiences.

ON THE ROAD A LOOK AHEAD

GETTING SOCIAL: CONNECTING TO CHINA’S SOCIAL CONSUMER

SMALL MARKET MEETINGS CONFERENCE

visitmesa.com

FRANKFURT, GERMANY. PHOTO: TRIP ADVISOR

SPORTS COMPLEX FEATURES: • 24 Multi-Purpose Fields

• Duel Stadium Concept with Clubhouses, Seating for 4,000+ per stadium

• Indoor Fieldhouse (110,000 square feet)

• Operations Center

• Parking, Restrooms & Amenities

• Destination Driver and ‘Point of Pride’ for Mesa

• Scheduled City of Mesa use

Proposed Annual Economic

Impact: $98 Million

MARKETING MARKETING

ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 11visitmesa.com

MADDEN MEDIA CAMPAIGNVisit Mesa entered year two of our digital marketing strategy, again partnering with Madden Media and attracting consumers through Facebook, You Tube, Google, Hulu and various national television websites. This fiscal year, Visit Mesa keyed in on the importance of visual connections to our new brand, City Limitless®, and incorporated destination video into our digital ad placements. Destination videos have now become standard for would-be travelers that use online videos to impact their travel plan decisions. With Madden, Visit Mesa created 5 lifestyle-oriented marketing campaigns and linked the creative digital ad placements to a series of :15 second videos. Each video had a unique, tailored message (culinary travel, shopping, golf, Western heritage, etc.) and all were focused on creating emotional connections between the potential visitor and the destination. The digital ads, when clicked on, invited potential visitors to learn more about our destination offerings and enter our sweepstakes.

All captured consumer data that was gathered during our prospecting stage was then re-targeted throughout the five month campaign. Madden and Visit Mesa re-targeted these consumers with additional messages and storylines

that catered to their original interests in our destination. The combined efforts of prospecting and re-targeting allowed the

campaign to have the greatest reach. Metrics were tracked via impressions, total clicks, video views, email opt-in subscribers (leads) and postal leads. Click-thru rates were charted as high as 3.40%, well above the national industry average of 1.92%.

PROSPECT TARGETING CAMPAIGNVisit Mesa worked with Sojern to monitor Google search activity and identify where our consumer was coming from. Using top key search words related to Arizona+Travel, this campaign identified origination cities for consumers. This campaign was impactful because Visit Mesa ads were only delivered to those consumers with a pre-determined intent to travel to the area. The six-month advertising campaign reached nearly 3 million impressions.

15,592 TOTAL CLICKS

728,925 TOTAL IMPRESSIONS

64,372 VIDEO VIEWS

9,949 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

1,878 POSTAL REQUESTS

TOP 10 CONVERSION DMAs

1. Minneapolis2. Chicago3. Los Angeles4. Boston5. Denver6. Philadelphia7. San Francisco8. Seattle9. Dallas10. Milwaukee

CONSUMER ACCESS – MULTI PLATFORMVisit Mesa was able to track how consumers are seeing our message and mobile marketing is gaining traction. When combined, half of our consumers viewed Visit Mesa’s marketing campaigns on a mobile or tablet device.

50% 20%

30%

MESA VISITOR CONVERSION STUDY: COMING INTO FOCUSVisit Mesa participated in a data analysis conversion study conducted by the University of Florida|National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce. The collected consumer data from our Madden campaigns was analyzed with the goal of generating a demographic profile for the Mesa visitor. The study’s goal was to look at the estimated economic impact, traveler behaviors and traveler’s demographics. More than 300 qualified consumers responded to the survey and their answers were significant because this group was not incentivized to respond. Key highlights extracted from this analysis include:

• Mesa visitors were upper-class (80% have a household income of $50,000 or more)

• 27% of respondents took 2 or more trips to Mesa

• 57% said their purpose of visit was for a vacation/weekend getaway

• 42% visited Mesa as a result of seeing Visit Mesa marketing

• 15% increased their spending after seeing Visit Mesa ads

• 58% stayed 2 or more nights

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ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 13

MARKETING

AIRSAGE: TARGETING THE MOBILE VISITOR Visit Mesa hired AirSage to do a year-over-year analysis of Mesa’s in-market visitor. This unique approach targeted visitors that were in Mesa with mobile area codes from 50 or more miles outside our region. AirSage is a data leader in mobile marketing and has access to cell towers across the country. Visit Mesa identified 15 quadrants in the city as well as in Gilbert and Queen Creek. AirSage pulled historical mobile pings that occurred in-market during four timeframes: September, November, March and May, and looked at those pings year-over-year in 2013/14 and 2014/15. The data found that Mesa visitation increased year-over-year from Southern California, Illinois (Cook County), and Nevada (Clark County). When we zero in on the airport quadrants, we can see that out-of-market mobile users more than doubled at Phx-Mesa Gateway Airport in all three months: September ’14, November ’14, and May ’15.

LAUNCH: VISIT MESA TRAVEL APPVisit Mesa developed a travel app geared to visitors planning their trips to the destination and for those visitors already in market. The app was launched to the public during U.S. Travel’s National Tourism Week and the new tool has already been embraced by Mesa’s hospitality community and local residents. The app is available on both Google Play and Apple App Store. Key features of the app include our pre-planned itineraries, book now function, real-time events calendar, exclusive travel offers and packages and links to our social feeds, blog and guides.

GOING RESPONSIVEThis fiscal year, Visit Mesa invested in responsive web design allowing easy management on all platforms. This move combined our website and mobile site into one and was necessary to keep up with the habits of online consumers that access websites from tablets, smartphones and laptop computers. Simply put, the increased demand for mobile devices have changed the user experience online. Key advantages for Visit Mesa’s move to a responsive design and layout include increased flexibility for the user and content now flows in a more logical fashion and users can get the same result no matter the size of their screen. According to Google, responsive web design is recommended because it allows all content to live on one website and makes for better search results. Google has also recognized the effort to go responsive as an industry best practice.

BOOK NOW: VISIT MESA BOOKING ENGINEVisit Mesa implemented Regatta Travel Solutions’ patent-pending booking solution for hotels and attractions last October. By adding the booking engine to the Visit Mesa website, we were able to offer exclusive packages, discounts and offers that consumers could only get access to through Visit Mesa. Digital ad placements offered direct links back to the booking engine on our site, and the Mesa packages and rates could be compared against major booking engines including Expedia, Booking.com, and Travelocity. Visit Mesa tracked 691 booked room nights through June 30, 2015.

visitmesa.com

3,716BROCHURE

DOWNLOADS

420,806UNIQUE WEB

VISITS

1,288,005UNIQUE PAGE

VIEWS

1,049 New Likes

24,814 Lifetime Likes

2,006 Tweets

298,179 Lifetime Tweets

691 Rooms Booked

$68,451.09 Revenue Generated

WEB AND SOCIAL MEDIA

84,835 Views

142,857 Lifetime Views

28,583 Partner Referrals from VisitMesa.com

2015 Mesa LIFE Visitors Guide

35,000 printed copies

COMMUNICATIONS

ANNUAL REPORT \ 2014 2015 15

INTRODUCING MESA TO THE CHINESE MEDIA

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: VISIT MESA EARNS

ACCOLADES

Visit Mesa launched a three-month marketing and public relations campaign in the Chinese market. From August to October, Visit Mesa’s representation agency in China distributed four translated press releases and secured media coverage throughout core Chinese regions. Numerous lifestyle publications picked up the Mesa news announcements and they were featured in 40 travel articles reaching 1.6 billion readers.

In FY2014-15, Visit Mesa’s new brand and innovative marketing tactics were honored by industry leaders

and peers. In July 2014, at the Arizona Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Visit Mesa received the award for Most Innovative (Urban) Promotion. The award recognized our brand campaign, Mesa City Limitless®, and called out our compelling destination video. Shortly thereafter, Visit Mesa received the international and prestigious Adrian Award given out by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). This national distinction recognized our updated destination positioning as well as our portfolio of fresh marketing placements featuring inspired, new visitor experiences.

Huffington Post – Travel

Smart Meetings

Association News

USA Today

Examiner.com

Sports Travel

Sports Destination Management

The Calgary Herald

10Best.com

SF Gate / San Francisco Chronicle

Golf Today

American Cowboy

Vancouver Province

Toronto Sun

Zoomer Magazine

Matador Network

Group Tour Magazine

Sherman’s Travel

Yahoo! Travel

THE FOLLOWING IS A SAMPLE OF MEDIA OUTLETS THAT PUBLISHED TRAVEL STORIES GENERATED BY VISIT MESA

BLOGS, SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS FROM IN-BOUND MEDIA

visitmesa.com

486,564,548 Earned Media Impressions

335 79205MEDIA ASSISTED MEDIA HOSTEDARTICLES

GENERATED

$638,395 FY 14-15 Earned Media Value

16% increase

over FY 13-14+

+

All data presented reflects Visit Mesa activity from July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. Printed copies are available upon request. Supplies are limited.

120 North Center Street \ Mesa, AZ 85201 480.827.4700 \ visitmesa.com

FUTURE CASTING: VISITOR ASSESSMENT STUDYVisit Mesa hired the Radcliffe Company to conduct a Product Assessment that we will use to help further identify needs in and around our

destination. Conducted by Dave Radcliffe, a travel industry veteran with more than 35 years of proven success working with DMOs, the study analyzed current visitor products in Mesa, as well as the attractions and destination lures in the towns of Gilbert and Queen Creek

and beyond. Radcliffe interviewed more than 40 industry executives, stakeholders, city officials and Visit Mesa staff as part of the study. Visit Mesa’s regional integration of visitor product was recognized immediately as a best practice, allowing for extended cooperation

amongst the cities. Our brand platform – City Limitless® - gives Mesa a competitive advantage over other destinations. Copies of the study are available upon request for those that want to learn more about Visit Mesa’s strengths and opportunities, and other key

differentiators.

DMO CERTIFICATION Visit Mesa started the new fiscal year as a fully-accredited destination marketing organization, a result of being awarded

certification through Destination Marketing Association International, (DMAI). The Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) measures DMOs on a wide variety of topics including governance, finance,

management, human resources, technology, visitor services, group services, sales, communications, membership, brand management and stakeholder relationships.

This new distinction places Visit Mesa among an elite group of DMOs that strive for excellence and understand the value and impact such standards set forth by leaders of

our industry can have on an organization.

ARIZONA LEGISLATURE: FY 14 -15 YEAR IN REVIEW Arizona’s 52nd 1st Regular Session adjourned Sine Die on Friday, April 3, 2015 making it the shortest session

in over 45 years. We are happy to report that no legislation was passed that would have hurt or otherwise diminish the Arizona brand. With the support of Governor Ducey and House and Senate Leadership, the

Arizona Office of Tourism budget was ultimately sustained at the same $7.103m level as last year. The state budget further protected the Prop 302 and 202 funds, so important to Visit Mesa and other Maricopa

County destination marketing organizations. Bills were monitored this year that covered a variety of important issues. This includes consideration of bills that failed to pass such as changes in the sale

and storage of firearms; consideration of a mega events fund; modification of school start and end dates; a move to daylight savings time; and, an Arizona Office of Film and Media. Private sector

members of the film and media industry engaged in grassroots letter writing campaigns to the Governor’s Office and we understand that they are still entertaining the possibility of creating

such an office in the next year or two. Our industry also worked hard in helping to secure passage of legislation conforming Arizona to the federal government’s Real ID requirements.

We also continued the popular and successful Visit Mesa Advocacy Luncheons Series hosted at the Hilton Phoenix/Mesa. Executive Chef Ryan Staroszik has gone out of his way to create

culinary delights to treat our speakers. During the 2014 election cycle, we had several Mesa-area legislative candidates and incumbents join us including Jeff Weninger, Taylor

McArthur and Senator Bob Worsley. During the legislative session, Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri was our featured guest. The Advocacy Luncheons serve as a

great way to meet state and local officials in an intimate setting, learn more about them and educate them about the importance of the visitor industry to the state

and its economy.