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Margo Christensen

Prescott’s Destination Management Organization Striving to Keep Economy Strong

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Our small but mighty tourism team has done a phenomenal job since the pandemic began in balancing strategic marketing without over-promoting.

As board chair of Prescott’s Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC), I have the privilege to work almost daily with the team at the City of Prescott Tourism Office. This city department is structured as the official Destination Management Organization (DMO) for Prescott, and only one DMO is allowed to exist in a city or town.

The city staff that makes up our DMO includes Community Outreach Manager John Heiney; Tourism and Economic Initiatives Manager Ann Steward; Tourism and Economic Initiatives Coordinator Cristina Nicole Binkley; and Front Burner Media Marketing Agency’s Heather Hermen. Supporting the tourism office is a 10-member Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC), whose role is to advise, provide guidance and assist with strategic direction to the tourism office staff. Funding for this office comes from Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), commonly referred to as Bed Tax. The tax is paid by visitors who stay in hotels, bed and breakfasts and vacation rentals located inside the city limits. State statute and Prescott’s Bed Tax ballot language require that this tax revenue is invested in tourism promotion and recreational amenities and development.

In early March of 2022, the TAC and the tourism office staff completed a four-day strategic planning session facilitated by the Coraggio Group. The session resulted in clearly defining areas of focus for the tourism office, success measures and metrics, and initiatives moving forward over the next three years.

The primary responsibilities of a DMO are to promote an area as an attractive travel destination, develop long-term tourism strategies, and create marketing and public relations campaigns. The tourism office also works closely with the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT) on co-op marketing programs, trade shows, sales missions and familiarization tours (FAMs). The Prescott Tourism Office promotes the entire Prescott area as a whole and focuses on all segments of travel, including leisure, meeting and events, sports, outdoor recreation, culture and themes, such as Arizona’s Christmas City.

The revenue generated by the Bed Tax combined with a successful DMO not only supports sales and marketing functions, but also benefits local residents. A large percentage of Bed Tax collections is invested back into the community in the form of recreation service projects, the downtown parking garage, World’s Oldest Rodeo, Arizona’s Christmas City signature events and museum support.

In fiscal year 2023, 26 local non-profit organizations will benefit by receiving grant money for a variety of music, cultural and recreational events. Since the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, Prescott’s economy had only a minor slowdown. Tourism industry data and sales and lodging tax reports show healthy increases over and above 2019 levels, which was a record-breaking year. Our small but mighty tourism team has done a phenomenal job since the pandemic began in balancing strategic marketing without over-promoting. We know that tourism is a major economic driver for our community and there is a team of dedicated, experienced professionals focused on making sure this industry stays robust so all of our small businesses remain successful. QCBN

By Margo Christensen

For questions or additional information, please email me at
margo@ponderosahotels.com or call 928-925-6593.

Margo Christensen is the vice president of marketing and public relations for Ponderosa Hotel Management Services, LLC (SpringHill Suites and Residence Inn by Marriott).

SpringHill Suites by Marriott is located in downtown Prescott and Residence Inn by Marriott is located across from Trader Joe’s in Prescott.

The Sky’s the Limit for Helicopter Company

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skylimitHave you ever thought of proposing to someone or even getting married while zipping along on a helicopter flight? Or how about a helicopter flight to Sedona for a picnic in some remote area surrounded by red rocks, or to the Verde Valley wine country for an afternoon of wine tasting? Even for the average person, this is now possible, thanks to Guidance Aviation. Starting with just one helicopter 18 years ago, Guidance has become one of the most successful and reputable companies, not only in the country, but in the world. Service offerings include cattle herding, powerline and pipeline assessments and construction and utility work. In February of this year all that changed, for the better, when their air charter service was born.

“Visitors and community members kept calling and asking if we could give them a tour,” said Guidance Director of Communications Dave Roy. “We weren’t set up operationally to offer this, even though we were approved for air charter. Finally, we asked ourselves, ‘Why don’t we just do this?’”

The scenic tour service (also known as air charter) officially began on Feb. 26, with a local couple who did a one-hour sunset flight in and around Prescott. “They absolutely loved it. It was their anniversary,” said Roy.

Since then, they have provided a number of scenic flights over Sycamore Canyon northwest of Sedona, to Sedona and back, and they are eager to get a request to fly over Meteor Crater.

The air charter fleet consists of five Robinson R66 turbine powered helicopters. Each one can hold up to four passengers, plus the pilot. A group of up to 20 people could charter the entire fleet. The Robinson is one of the safest helicopters in the industry and is stylish, too. Plush, executive style seating and large windows provide comfort with unobstructed views ideal for film or photographs.

Pricing the air charter service isn’t an exact per-person formula because the service is intended to be very customized and creative. The website lists tour ideas and packages, but Roy is quick to point out that the company is not limited by the tours listed on the website. “We wanted to give people ideas about what we could do, but we absolutely want people to give us ideas and we will do everything we can to make their ideas and dreams come true,” explained Roy.

So, put on your thinking caps everyone and next time it’s your turn to plan date night, this could be it. Or, when friends or family members come for a visit, this new service would be a real treat. Reservations can be made online at www.guidanceairservices.com or by calling them directly at 844-359-4227. QCBN

By Margo Christensen

Margo Christensen is the vice president of marketing and public relations for Ponderosa Hotel Management Services, LLC.

Photo credit:

Photo by Bryan Matuskey, courtesy Guidance Aviation

Speed Bringing Competitive Advantage to Businesses

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Fiber OpticsGlass fibers transporting voice, data and Internet traffic from “near-net” businesses to CenturyLink’s backbone communications network carry at least one high-demand consumer benefit: SPEED.

“Near-net” refers to a specific distance from CenturyLink facilities and where the cost of direct Fiber-To-The-Premises (FTTP) for a customer location may be “absorbed” by the telecommunications company. That cost absorption is offered to businesses such as multi-tenant office buildings, mini-malls, large retail development and industrial locations in a win-win proposition.

The objective for CenturyLink is to optimally leverage its existing fiber optic infrastructure while providing one-gigabit-per-second connection to specific high density businesses. Signals of light from fiber optics maintain the fast and consistent connections demanded by power users of cellphones, tablets, laptops and other Internet-ready devices. Fiber optic networks move significantly more data at higher speeds and across greater distances than other technology options.

That is the message from Cherla Ramsey, CenturyLink’s market development manager for Northern Arizona, and Eric Noble, lead commercial accounts executive, who educate business prospects about the technology and its competitive advantages. One of those advantages is the backbone itself, which encompasses 58 global data centers, domestic and international fiber optics transmission, and a 2,000-person global development and operations team.

Noble’s job is working with new business customers to solve their technology challenges.

Internet access, for example, had become a bigger issue for two very different local businesses in the past several months. Turning to fiber optic connectivity are Ponderosa Hotel Management Services, managers of five hotels in Prescott and Flagstaff, and BloomTree Realty, a local brokerage that recently moved into the former National Bank building at the corner of Gurley and Cortez.

Both businesses sought answers to slow or sporadic Internet and related communications concerns for their customers and end users. The real estate firm wanted to boost support to its sales agents and their respective buyers and sellers. The hotels’ management team sought improved access for front desk personnel, operations staff, conference and seminar attendees, lobby and lounge visitors and overnight guests.

 

Importance to Guests

The change-over also accommodates a Marriott Hotels’ corporate requirement for high-speed Internet services at its properties, plus acknowledgement that Internet service is as important to guests as breakfast and a swimming pool, according to Margo Christensen, vice president of marketing and communications for Ponderosa Hotel Management Services.

 

The opportunity for the fiaber optics installation arose as Christensen was partnering with CenturyLink and Quad Cities Business News for a six-session business workshop launching July 15 at its Springhill Suites in Prescott. When the hotel offered the hosting venue and meeting space, Christensen said she felt compelled to disclose, “We have hardly any Internet in this building. We did not want to overpromise on what we deliver. The subject of fiber optics came up” and the hotels’ conversion was set in motion.

Contracts have been completed and installation begun at the company-managed Flagstaff properties, Sleep Inn by Choice Hotels and Comfort Inn Flagstaff. Contract discussions for its Prescott properties, including the Springhill Suites by Marriott, are underway. Currently being evaluated is how much fiber needs to be placed and those associated costs, Christensen said.

After the changeover is completed, “we expect our guest services scores, especially those related to Internet services, to go up quite a bit,” she said. “It has been the number one disappointing guest services aspect. [High-speed Internet] is something we have to deliver. There’s no choice. We have to fix it and make it the best high-speed Internet in our market. No matter what the cost is, people just expect it. We have to deliver on this.”

Concerted Effort

BloomTree Realty’s new communications configuration was up and running in mid-May, largely because of a concerted effort from both the Prescott real estate firm and CenturyLink.

The CenturyLink team has been “super terrific and responsive” in a project that was “pretty seamless,” said Chris Larson, operations manager for BloomTree Realty, noting that the setup provides 100 megabit upload and download speeds and four access points within the large, corner building.

A major goal for BloomTree’s management is uninterrupted service as agents move throughout the building, Larson explained. He expressed particular satisfaction with the CenturyLink option called Managed Office.

“We now have the fiber optic in and the phone and Internet through [CenturyLink],” he said. “It’s working wonderfully and we have not had an issue… They paid for the equipment. There [are] not a whole lot of upfront costs at all. That’s something we really, really liked… We can show [prospective] agents that we are not only a company with culture and a good business model, but we’re also going to take care of [them] on the technology side.”

Larson also said he appreciates a 1-2-3 dialing shortcut to access technical support from any phone on the network. “It’s very glamorous to not have to call an 800 number.”

Provision of next generation offerings such as video conferencing, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone systems, and cloud-based services is central to CenturyLink’s vision for fiber optic technology, according to Alex A. Juarez, who conducts market development and public relations for the company. With improved transmission over fiber optic facilities, he explained, multiple employees can access the Internet and/or upload/download large multimedia files at the same time with no compromise in speed.

“Improving Internet speeds for businesses is extremely important in order to reliably deliver next generation services that help businesses achieve their potential,” Juarez explained. “Migrating more workloads and software applications to the cloud is a major reason that businesses desire high-speed fiber connections.”

For CenturyLink’s business customers, “fast, symmetrical connection speed provides a tremendous economic advantage because it allows businesses to purchase their information technology (IT) infrastructure through the cloud and avoid costs associated with on-site servers and maintenance of on-premises equipment and hardware,” he continued.

Although declining to disclose the specific amount of investment in fiber optic “near-net” connections, Juarez noted that strong business interest and density usage define where CenturyLink invests “within the capital spending guidance provided to shareholders.”

The company, he stated, will continue to seek similar “economically viable” investments and continue to pass along economies of scale to business customers “in the form of specialized bundles with value-added services for a low monthly price.” QCBN

 

Photo:

Margo Christensen, vice president of marketing and communications for Ponderosa Hotel Management Services, sits at one of the workstations in the lobby of the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Prescott.

Photo by Sue Marceau