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I have a few final numbers to share with you from 2015. We ended the year on quite the high note as the metrics illustrate. Please go here to see the chart of year over year as well as 2015 over 2009, our base year when all the communities became members of the Door County Tourism Zone (TZC). A great big shout out to everyone at the TZC and Kerber Rose, but especially Kim Roberts who pulled it all together.
- Room tax collections are up 39.1% or $1,159,815 since 2009 and occupied rooms have grown 27.9% or 116,261 rooms since 2009.
The Tourism Education Summit will be held on Wednesday, April 6 at Stone Harbor Conference Center in Sturgeon Bay. It will be an affordable day to learn more about specific components of marketing and PR that you should be utilizing in your business. More details will be coming in the next month. Hold the date however, so that you can attend.
The National Travel & Tourism Week Breakfast will be held Tuesday, May 3. We are just about ready to sign the contract with the property, so details will be out shortly.
Just a reminder that the DCVB is celebrating our 125th anniversary this year. We have been looking for fun and unique ways to celebrate this momentous anniversary. The DCVB is the third oldest Destination Marketing Organization in the country.
Jack Moneypenny, President/CEO
920-818-1131
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MARKETING & SALES
Michelle Rasmusson, Director
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Co-op Advertising Opportunities
July eNewsletter ad - only 1 spot left! ($250 - $850)
March Trip Advisor Ad - 3 spots left ($600)
March Social Media Posts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) - Inquire directly for more info
March Social Media Ads (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) - Inquire directly for more info
Season of Blossoms Promotion-Lodging Package Request
It may not seem like it but spring is just around the corner and we are gearing up for our county-wide seasonal promotion - Season of Blossoms. A big part of our spring media message will be the packages created by our members. This is your opportunity to partner with other businesses and promote your packages on DoorCounty.com
Lodging Package material is due no later than Friday, March 4th.
For complete details on package requirements, submission deadlines and info on the e-Postcard campaign Click HERE! Questions? Contact Laura Bradley.
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COMMUNICATIONS & PR
Jon Jarosh, Director
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Media
Media assistance has been provided to 7 journalists/media outlets thus far in February by providing images, information, on-air/on-camera interviews and/or support for Door County based articles and stories. A few highlights included Experience Wisconsin magazine, Wisconsin Public Television, Holiday Vacations and the Chicago Tribune.
Discover Wisconsin Visits Washington Island This Weekend (Feb 20-21)
 The popular television program Discover Wisconsin will visit Washington & Rock Islands this weekend in their latest installment of the long-running travel show. The show will air locally at 6:30 PM on Feb. 20 on WFRV Channel 5. The show will be available to watch online at DiscoverWisconsin.com after the weekend, and the episode will be rebroadcast throughout the Midwest two more times including later this year as well as in September of 2017. The episode, which was filmed last July, will reach an estimated 500,000 viewers this weekend through the Discover Wisconsin broadcast network.
First 2016 Press Trip Going On Now
Our first press trip of 2016 in conjunction with Geiger & Associates Public Relations is going on now through Sunday. This is the first of seven scheduled press trips we are hosting this year as part of our ongoing public relations initiatives to generate positive editorial coverage about Door County. Check out more than 1,500 articles that have been written so far as a result of this program via our Google Drive folder.
Media Coverage Highlights
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a Door County sleigh ride story in their Sunday February 7, 2016 travel section. View the online version on JSOnline.com here.
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MEMBERSHIP
Phil Berndt, Director
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Do You Offer Employee Housing?
If you or your business offers employee housing options, here are two ways we can help!
- Post your available housing on the Door County Seasonal Housing Leads Facebook Page! (Making your house, apartment, extra room or trailer available for rent will make a difference.) We are constantly fielding calls from potential employees who have been offered multiple jobs but can't accept them until they have secured their housing for the season. Let's make sure we aren't forcing our best employees to find work outside of Door County.
- Add your Job Posting on www.JobsInDoorCounty.com to the Employee Housing Offered category. This is a new searchable category on the jobs website, so if you already have your job(s) posted on the site, make sure you update your listing category.
Post Your Job Openings - NOW - Especially Summer Jobs!
If you haven't posted your job openings yet - whether you offer housing or not - do it NOW! As a member of the Door County Visitor Bureau, you can post your job openings at no additional charge on JobsInDoorCounty.com (Members RAVE about the qualified employees they have hired from our job site - and often the most organized and qualified applicants are searching online NOW!
Employee Dorms Proposed
You may have recently heard about the employee housing proposed for the Village of Egg Harbor. If your town or village board isn't looking into this, you need to let them know how important it is to you and your community - because the push has to come from business owners like you within each municipality. Last summer, Jack made several presentations to our town and village boards about the successful design concept that is working to attract qualified workers to Wisconsin Dells - a concept that encourages a sense of pride and community to mitigate security concerns, and is easily adapted to the scale of each community. As we know from the high number of employee housing inquiries we receive at the Bureau, it's not so much a problem of attracting applicants as it is finding a safe affordable place to live so they can actually put away some money for the school year.
Strength in Numbers
It is our collective efforts to promote Door County that make us so effective, so as you make new friends in our business community, please let them know how important their support really is. You just never know what is going to tip the scales in our favor when someone is deciding where their next trip is going to take them - and it could be one little thing about that business that gets them up here - and into YOUR business while they are HERE!
For everyone's convenience, membership information and applications are available on our members site at: members.doorcounty.com or by giving us a call or sending an email.
Ideally, offer to have us reach out to them - and then let us know who we should contact.
Please know we will NEVER pounce on anyone or make them feel pressured - we're here to help.
* Yvonne Torres, Member Liaison & New Member Services: 920-818-1139
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CERTIFIED TOURISM AMBASSADOR PROGRAM 
Christine Salmon, Program Coordinator
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CTA OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINATIONS SOUGHT
TOURISM TRIVIA
~ What do these five photos have in common?
There are many answers to that question! They are all Door County Tourism Ambassadors, they take pride in their knowledge of Door County, they all make visitors smile... and each of them won the CTA of the Year Star Award! We have given out this award for 5 years, and it's time to seek nominations for 2016's CTA of the Year.
Nominations can be submitted by: Managers, Co-workers, Customers, even Self-Nominations (one of our winners was self-nominated). We all know at least one person who deserves to be recognized for the job that they do, serving us and serving others, and making Door County a great place to live. CTAs who are eligible for nomination can be found here (by first name), or here (by company)... and click here to a link to the nomination form and instructions. If you have any questions, please contact Christine at (920) 743-4456 or christine@doorcounty.com.
The deadline to submit the nomination form is Monday, April 4 and the winner will be announced at the National Travel & Tourism Week breakfast on Tuesday, May 3 in front of an enthusiastic crowd!
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT AWARD WINNER?
BECOME A CTA
If you haven't become a Certified Tourism Ambassador, yet, or know someone who should....  please visit www.CTANetwork.com to register for one of the 8 classes scheduled in 2016. -The $25 fee includes class materials, 4-hour class, Certificate, and gold CTA pin.
-The training is informative and interactive, teaching about Door County history, tourism, attractions, resources & customer service.
We look forward to seeing you in a class soon!
2016 Upcoming Classes
Tuesday, February 23, 8:30 am -1:00 pm
High Point Inn, Ephraim
Wednesday, March 9, 12:30 - 5:00 pm
Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center **REGISTRATION ENDS FEBRUARY 29**
Wednesday, April 6, time TBD
DCVB Educational Summit, Stone Harbor
Thursday, April 21, 8:30 am - 1:00 pm Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery, Fish Creek
Tuesday, May 24, 12:30 - 5:00 pm The Clearing, Ellison Bay
Monday, June 27, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm Trueblood Performing Arts Center, Washington Island
For more information on the CTA program and how it can benefit you and your business, please contact Christine at christine@doorcounty.com or (920) 818-1134.
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Ordering Guide Books or Niche Brochures
Member partners need to remember that in order to receive guide books or niche brochures for a weekend they need to place their order to us by Tuesday for delivery on Thursday. We can't guarantee any deliveries requested late in the week as they have to be scheduled with the drivers. Call or e-mail- Jennifer@doorcounty.com
Brochure or Rate Sheet Updates for 2016?
If you have new rate sheets, please remember to stop in to swap them out and, if you have updated brochures, bring them in - we can hold 500 or more! And, if you didn't drop off printed brochures for our Welcome Center last year, but intend to this year, please contact Mary Beth to let her know so she allocates a space in our racks for your materials. Marybeth@doorcounty.com
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