Exh 8EAGENDA ITEM #8E
JULY 8, 2002
June 18, 2002
Mr. Jim Hanson, City Manager
City of Atlantic Beach
800 Seminole Road
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
Deaz Jim:
Recently the Beaches hospitality communitymet to discuss the concerns of the projected
summer occupancy shortfall. After a lengthy deliberation, we decided to embark on a campaign
focusing on the local and two-to-five hour drive market.
Listed below are the action items of our campaign:
1. Sunday Florida Times-Union advertisement:
We propose aone-month campaign to be run every Sunday in the Florida Times-Union.
The total circulation of the paper is 265,000. The theme of the campaign will be
"The perfect family vacation package is closer than you think!" Hotel logos, websites,
and phone numbers will be listed in the ad. Projected cost is $10,000.
2. Metro Atlanta suburban newspaper campaign in the Marietta Daily Journal, East Cobb
and the John Creek Herald. The total circulation is over 159,000. The summer package
campaign will be advertised in various papers. Projected cost, $8,000.
3. E-Mail to travel agents promoting the summer package campaign. The e-mail blasf will
reach over 8,000 travel agents in the. Southeastern United States. This campaign will be
done 8 consecutive weeks. Projected cost $7,000.
We aze asking the respective cities for financial assistance with this mazketing effort. As you are
aware, hotel occupancies have a direct effect on area business here at the Beaches. We must take
a proactive approach to overcome the looming budget shortfall. The total request is $25,000 to
undertake this-emergency summer campaign. The allocation is based on the number of rooms in
each city.
1. Atlantic Beach $7,120.00
2. Neptune Beach $3,659.00
3. Jacksonville Beach $14,221.00
Collectively, the Beaches hotels generate over 30 million dollazs of taxable revenue for our three
communities annually. We must act now to protect our future together and be proactive in order
to keep our businesses at the Beaches successful.
AGENDA ITEM #8E
JULY 8, 2002
Mr. Jim Hanson
3une 18, 2002
Page 2
We will be contacting you on Thursday; June 20~' to discuss. this proposal and answer any
questions you may have. We have also spoken with Kathleen Ratcliffe, of the Jacksonville
Convention and Visitors Bureau, and she has agreed to have their advertising company produce
all materials for us at no chazge.
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Rene H. Melissa Gilreath Jeff Truhlar
C.H.A., C.E.C. General Manager General Manager
General Manager Comfort Inn -- Oceanfront Holiday Inn Sunspree
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Konrad Mefin Onen Kahn~`% t~~ Kelli Godfrey
General Manager General Manager General Manager
Days Inn -Neptune Beach Days Inn -- Oceanfront. Casa Mazina Hotel & Restaurant