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Mr. Carey gave a brief overview of the Bureau's proposed budget for the 1999-2000 <br /> fiscal year, which had been submitted to the Orange County Board of Commissioners. <br /> The floor was opened for questions and discussion. <br /> Marketing Committee <br /> Mr. Creston Woods, Marketing Committee Chair, thanked the marketing committee for <br /> their work with staff to prepare the 1999-2000 Marketing Plan for the Visitors Bureau. <br /> An overview of new projects was given including improvements to the website, <br /> completion of visitor profile analysis and roll-out of holiday promotion campaign focused <br /> on increasing visitation during the lowest demand period from November through January. <br /> Mr. Woods recommended adoption of the marketing plan by the board. The board will <br /> act on the recommendation of the marketing committee at the next scheduled board <br /> meeting. <br /> DIRECTORS REPORT <br /> Mr. Blake reported to Board Members the schedule for the US Open Familiarization Tour <br /> (FAM Tour) June 17th—June 21st, 1999. The FAM tour is being sponsored by the North <br /> Carolina Travel and Tourism, Film and Sports Development in conjunction with the <br /> Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau and the Durham Convention & Visitors <br /> Bureau, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. <br /> The CEO of the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Joe Freddoso, attended <br /> the Triangle Area Hotel/Motel Association meeting on Tuesday, June 15th, 1999, to <br /> address concerns by the hotel community about room pickups for the event. Mr. <br /> Freddoso announced that booking expectations for family hotel accommodations had been <br /> surpassed. However, pickup numbers for honored guest and sponsor hotels had not met <br /> expectations, due primarily to over-estimation of needs. Additionally, the Games staff <br /> segmented participating hotels by type of need, i.e. sponsor hotels, family hotels, honored <br /> guest hotels, against the advice of the three Triangle CVBs, which recommended non- <br /> segmented assignments on a first-come, first-served basis. Freddoso thanked the three <br /> CVBs for running the event's first-ever housing bureau. <br /> Mr. Blake reported that the Chapel Hill/Orange County video filming had been completed <br /> and the script had been written. Mr. Blake advised Board Members that a copy of the <br /> video script would be mailed for their review. He requested feedback be sent to the <br /> Bureau prior to July 30th. <br /> Mr. Blake reported that average hotel occupancy for the Triangle area was down <br /> approximately 10% due largely to the continuing addition of new rooms available in the <br /> area. He also stated that the new Hampton Inn (Durham County) at Hwy. 54 and <br /> Farrington Rd. was scheduled to open in August, which could impact the occupancy of <br /> 2 <br />