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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 130-06City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Repor 7 TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: City Manager FEBRUARY 6, 2006 CMR: 130:06 AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO APPOINT A COMMITTEE OF STAKEHOLDERS TO EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE PALO ALTO’S ECONOMY BY IMPROVING VISITOR OUTREACH AND BENEFIT FROM LOCAL TOURISM, INCLUDING DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATIONS AND A PRIORITIZED ACTION PLAN RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council direct the City Manager to appoint a committee of stakeholders to explore opportunities to benefit from local tourism. The committee will develop recommendations and an action plan for future Palo Alto tourism efforts and present these to the City Manager. The City Manager will review the recommendations and action plan and present outcomes to the City Council. BACKGROUND On October 17, 2005 then Vice Mayor Kleinberg and Council Members Beecham and Mossar presented a colleagues memo requesting the support of their Council colleagues to direct staff to agendize a Council discussion that would explore enhancing Palo Alto’s economy by improving visitor outreach. The motion was approved unanimously. DISCUSSION Staff has conducted discussions with representatives of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, Palo Alto Downtown Business and Professional Association, and other business ~oups. Staff recommends that a committee of stakeholders be appointed by the City Manager to explore opportunities to benefit from local tourism. The committee would include participants from the CMR: 130:06 Page 1 of 3 business, hospitality, entertainment, educational, residential and non-profit sectors of the City who would benefit from increased visibility of Palo Alto as a visitor, meeting and tourism destination. The committee, appointed by the City Manager, would be charged with the development of recommendations and an action plan to present to the City Manager. The City Manager would then review the recommendations and action plan and return to City Council to present his findings. This ~oup would explore private as well as public resources to fund and leverage resources. The committee would meet no longer than twelve months. The committee would be comprised of the following representatives by category.: Chamber representative(s) Marketing representative(s) Hospitality (hote!) representative(s) Town and Country Center representative California Avenue Area Development Association (CAADA) representative Residential representative(s) Entertainment representative(s) (e.g., performing arts, etc.) County representative Media representative(s) Legislative representative Stanford Shopping Center representative Stanford University representative City staffwil! work with the committee including representative(s) of the City Manager’s Office, the Community Services Department and other department representatives, as needed Goals of the committee would include: 1. Development of a vision, mission and actions to market Palo Alto as a tourism and visitor destination 2. Exploration of opportunities for public/private partnerships 3. Exploration and identification of possible sources of private as well as public funding 4. Exploration of the expansion of existing local Palo Alto websites to build on "Shop Palo Alto" principles in partnership and with linkages to business, educational, hospitality and other groups 5. Coordination of University and other events with local businesses to maximize local economic benefit 6. Identification of promotional events to market Palo Alto 7. Provide targeted outreach to: visitors, meeting planners, the travel trade and media 8. Identify possible sources of funding to support visitor services and outreach 9. Development of an entity to receive and allocate funding for "convention and visitor’s bureau type" services RESOURCE IMPACT The primary staff to support this effort will be Economic Development staff from the City Manager’s Office. Other departments that may contribute to this effort will include: Community CMR: 130:06 Page 2 of 3 Services Department, Administrative Services Department, and other departments, as appropriate. Following the development of an action plan, staff resources will be identified for specific tasks related to the plan. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This action by the City Council is not considered a project under the California Environment Quality Act. ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1 Colleagues’ Memo October 13, 2006, presented October 17, 2006 Subject: Enhancing Palo Alto’s Economy by Improving Visitor Outreach PREPARED BY: S~san BarnesiArpan, Economic De’gelopment Manager CITY MANAGER APPROVAL Emily ~qarr~son, Assistant City Manager CMR: 130:06 Page 3 of 3 Attachment 1 Office of the City Clerk NENORANDUN October 13, 2005 TO:Palo Alto City Council Members FROM :Vice Mayor Kleinberg and Council Members Beecham and Mossar SUBJECT: Enhancing Palo Alto’s Economy by Improving Visitor Outreach Palo Alto is a destination community for many visitors each year. Additionally, our community has many hotels, restaurants, museums, arts programs, recreational opportunities, personal services and great places to shop.. To date, no organized effort has been made to access the numbers of annual visitors, their destination, interests or the possibility of enhancing Palo Alto’s economy by marketing services and products to these individuals. Therefore, we ask our colleagues to direct staff to agendize a Council discussion of these issues and the possible formation of an ad hoc committee to explore opportunities to benefit from local "tourism." This committee could include stakeholders from the business, residential and non-profit communities. This committee could: Identify and prioritize opportunities for enhancing Palo Alto’s economy by improving visitor outreach and marketing. These opportunities might include publications, maps, information kiosks, website access, and/or a visitor’s bureau. Explore public/private partnerships to organize, develop and operate identified visitor services. Identify possible sources of funding to support visitor services and outreach. These sources might include City-approved fees, such as the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) or other sources from the City or other organizations.