Board Member Darlene Magner reported that her units were not sold out for Bluesapalooza but said that several guest had checked in early. Ms. Magner reported that she had been seeing less bookings but longer, more quality stays.
Chair Jeremy Goico reported that the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce (MLCC) had increased their visitation messaging in order to increase bookings and it had been effective.
Board Member Larry Crabb reported that his business for July was down 20% compared to last year, which had beat his expectation of a 25% decline.
Secretary John Mendel reported that his business in July was down about 22%, but said that that it was normal compared to pre-pandemic numbers and that his three month running average was up.
Treasurer John Morris said that he had attended the Reggae Fest, Village Fest, Kids Fishing Festival, a volleyball tournament, and a Bluegrass Festival in Tahoe. Mr. Morris spoke about a venue in Tahoe that he felt was very well laid out and said that he would like to see Canyon Lodge incorporate some of its features when they are ready. He said that he was excited about the Community Recreation Center (CRC) progress, and said he would like to see more lodging members report their occupancy, and have them wait until a little later in the week with their reporting to get more accurate numbers, and reported that lodging in Town was down overall, however, it had been more manageable with staffing, getting visitors in on time and shorter waits at local restaurants. He said that the Snowcreek Golf Course was now open daily from 8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Chair Jeremy Goico said that he was enjoying the rain and spoke about the low amount of wildfire activity at this point in the season. Chair Goico said that Chamber staff had been meeting more often with business owners and that they were receiving positive feedback. He said that coming out of COVID had presented some new challenges getting visitors into Town since more travel options had reopened.
Board Member Deb Radcliff said that she had seen an increase in traffic during the week, although July numbers were flat. Ms. Radcliff reported that Village events had worked well to bring in traffic and said that she had seen more locals in the Village recently for the events. She also reported that her business had to raise their prices 10% due to inflation.
Vice Chair Pat Foster reported that he had spoken with a local business owner this morning who reported that business had been down a bit but he was okay with that because it was more manageable. Mr. Foster said that he had explained to him that MLT's goal was to improve the visitor experience and that a little slower pace helped with that.
Board Member Bill Sauser said that he had spoken with a front line worker this week who told him that they felt the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) to MLT and Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) taxes should be reduced because the social media presence was big enough without MLT. Mr. Sauser said that he explained that MLT was driving the social media. He said that MLT needed to get the word out to the public about what they do. He said that frontline workers had told him they were hoping for tourism to slow down so the forests would be less crowded. He also said that he had had a report about the Trolley Service being sporadic and said to let him know if they heard of any other trolley issues so he can address them at the next ESTA meeting.
There was discussion between Executive Director John Urdi and members of the Board