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is an incredible burden on every hospital in the United States; and finally the Opiod crises. North Carolina has two of the top ten worst communities in the U.S. for Opiod addiction. UNC Health Care receives no funding from the State Government and has not for the last decade. Some research money comes through the University from the state, but very little. Most research is funded by grants. Jeff Strickler reminded the board that the consumers the hospital serves are not the ones bringing in tourism dollars as they are at a place in life where they are looking for the lowest cost. He feels our future is in group and association meetings, but that we need to make them aware of us. Guest Report Laurie Paolicelli introduced Sam Henry of MedStay, the hotel broker for hospital guests. MedStay is contracted with UNC Health Care to help patients, and their families, book hotels in Orange County. Their tagline is "health care begins before you enter a health care facility ". People travel from all over the country to UNC Hospitals. MedStay's first concern is safety and taking the stress off families and patients. Their service helps families /patients find the amenities they need such as breakfast and shuttle. As an example they have arranged a competitive price with the Sheraton that includes breakfast, which is not the standard at that hotel and they provide excellent shuttle service. They will bring in two UNC Schools of Business interns in Spring 2018 to help them better market Orange County. They will also add an interactive map to see resturants and attractions. The bulk of their business is two or three days. Sam would like to be more involved with the Visitors Bureau. Rosemary Waldorf said that the Bureau would like to work with him to keep these overnight stays in Orange County rather that moving to Durham County. Sam anticipates that the interactive map will help steer guests to our local hotels since they will be able to see where they are. They are also going to post videos of local hotels. Sales Report Marlene reported that she is working on blitzes on both NCCU and Duke campuses based on the success of the March Madness Event she held last spring at UNC. She is also setting up a Director of Sales meeting since many of those positions have new faces. She feels that if we want to have Duke planners book in Orange County we need to give them a reason to do that. She attended a small markets meeting in South Bend, IN and met with ten planners she has met before and feels this is especially helpful in building a reporte. She is following up on the RFPs she received in Indiana. Her sales trip to Miami was delayed until December due to the hurricane. The Bureau has purchased a Travel Click report that shows demand and trends year after year in Orange County and has also purchased one with a comp set for Durham County for comparison data. That is a weekly report. She will be sending these reports out to Hotel Managers. She has had the NATJA video edited down to use in ads promoting "y'all means everyone ". Executive Directors Report Laurie Paolicelli led off her report by offering the floor to Anthony Carey who had asked Commissioner Rich to look into health department regulations on AirBNB and she reported that they have none. When asked about tax collection she report that Dwane Brinson will soon attend one of our board meetings and speak about this. Ms. Paolicelli stated that AirBNBs are operating legally in NC. Orange County is tracking and collecting occupancy tax from AirBNB. We have contracted with a company named, Air DNA, to track Airbnb'supply in Orange County and AirDNA will be at our January' board meeting to update the hospitality; community on the growth and regulation of Airbnb.. She will distribute a monthly report, weekday vs. weekend and in the zip code. The STR forecast seems to be good news. We are looking for a slight hike in revenue due to new supply in 2018. The Visitors Center continues to be busy with the staffs focus on sales. We are still in contract negotiations with FleishmanHillard. Fleishman Hillard is contacting all board members and she has asked not to be copied on those emails. This is an opportunity for the board to share what they are looking for in the brands future. She sees a shortcoming in the fact that the Bureau offers no history tours and wonders if we 21 Page CHOCVB BOD Meeting October 18, 2017