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Time to Celebrate!

By all accounts, 2019 is off to a great start both in terms of bookings for meetings and conventions as well as at our Ski City resorts (and resorts throughout the state and even country). The average base depths at Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude are all well over 100", setting up what should be a fantastic spring for local and out-of-state skiers and riders. And just two months into the year, VSL's sales team has booked 39 future events that will attract nearly 166,000 attendees occupying more than 117,800 hotel room nights and spend almost $155 million while in our community.

All this comes on the heels of an incredible 2018-yet another record year-something we plan on celebrating with you, our supportive membership, at our Annual Meeting & Dinner the evening of Thursday, March 21, at the Union Event Center. In addition to celebrating our community's 2018 success at the Annual Meeting, we'll present the recipients of this year's Dianne Nelson Binger Sales Leadership Award and Scholarship, and enjoy the dining delights of Culinary Crafts as well as one another's company. I'm sure you'll find the night informative as well as entertaining.

I look forward to seeing you and some of your team joining the VSL staff and membership in celebrating the fruits of our collective labors while looking ahead at the bright future of Salt Lake's visitor economy. To RSVP for yourself and a guest, go here.

Scott Beck
President/CEO

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Visit Salt Lake has developed occupancy forecasting models by using STR Analytics daily hotel data. STR Analytics produces a ‘Daily Trend Report’ (DTR). The DTR is a report of hotels’ daily percentage occupancy, average daily rate, and resulting RevPAR. Visit Salt Lake has purchased a subscription to DTR for Salt Lake in two sets. One for total Salt Lake County (approx. 19,700 rooms), and the other for the Salt Lake County Convention District (“SLCD,” approx. 6,400 rooms). By simple interpolation, we derive the data set for Salt Lake hotels that are located outside the SLCD (approx. 13,300 rooms).

VSL has DTR information from January 1, 2012, to the present. Hotels in the SLCD are located in the downtown area, and 98% of their hotel reservation systems are directly linked to STR Analytics. This enables STR to produce its DTR with a high degree of accuracy and provides reliable insight into the effects of events in Salt Lake. Approximately 80% of the hotels inside Salt Lake County but outside of the SLCD link their reservation systems to STR Analytics. The other hotels participate in surveys conducted by STR.

The graph above shows hotel occupancy forecasts for May 2019. Occupancy forecasts are estimated by the number of convention attendees, day-of-week, seasonality, and location.

There are two graphs for each forecasted month:

• Hotel occupancy inside the SLCD
• Hotel occupancy outside the SLCD

The graphs also show historic year-over-year occupancy rates, convention dates, and claimed convention attendance.

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A Bird's Eye View of Salt Lake

Flying into the Salt Lake City International Airport gives you a rare bird’s eye view of Salt Lake, but we’re here to give you a unique view of our beautiful city. No U.S. state capital can boast the same kind of scenic views and backdrops that set the stage of Salt Lake. With the city sitting on the foothills of the iconic Wasatch Mountains, and epic sunsets glowing off the Great Salt Lake, it's hard to ignore the beauty of the Salt Lake Valley.

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Tip of the Month: Updating Contacts

When was the last time you audited your business' contact list with Visit Salt Lake? If it's been a while, or you know there are some personnel updates, you can easily review and manage your business' full contact list in the Member Portal. Managing contacts in your Member Portal is an easy way to assure we have the correct contacts on file. Simply select the PROFILE navigation option and select the Contacts subtab. The main contact types to remember when creating or updating a contact are:

• Primary: Traditionally your business' General Manager and/or Director of Sales. The primary contact is usually the main decision maker.
• Secondary: All other staff that should still be receiving our invitations and communications. (Shift managers, sales and marketing team members, etc.)
• Inactive: This person is no longer affiliated to your business and should be removed from all VSL distribution lists. We do NOT delete contacts but rather change outdated contacts to the inactive status.

Remember that all contacts, excluding inactive, will still receive Visit Salt Lake invitations and communications. If you find you are missing communications or need additional assistance reviewing your contacts please contact Miranda Maisto.

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Featured Member: 
Squatters Craft Beers

Salt Lake's original brewpub, Squatters Craft Beers, is celebrating its 30th anniversary! We are proud to say that Squatters has also been a committed Visit Salt Lake member since day one of their operation. The brewery and brewpub both have been phenomenally successful and supported by the community over the years, and in turn, Squatters has been a strong community supporter.

This year, Squatters is not just celebrating three successful decades but continuing the tradition of supporting the community by launching Throwback Giveback, a charitable draft beer initiative featuring the reintroduction of three retro beers to benefit local organizations. The first pale ale that Squatters offered when they opened their doors in 1989, City Creek Pale Ale, was the first to be reintroduced and every dollar from its sale ($8,000) has been donated to the Fourth Street Clinic, an organization which provides health care and support services to those experiencing homelessness. Squatters is also bringing back two more retro beers, Hop Head Red beginning April 1st to benefit Alliance House, and Beehive Lager as of June 1st, with contributions committed to the Utah Pride Center.

In addition, Squatters is planning a massive anniversary party on September 7th with a beer festival and celebration. Thank you, Squatters, for your support of the community these 30 years, and especially your commitment to Visit Salt Lake and the tourism industry!

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Meet Our New Members!

• Table X
• Sonoma Grill + Wine Bar
• Hampton Inn and Suites, Salt Lake City West Jordan

Upcoming Member Events:

• Visit Salt Lake Member Training
• Visit Salt Lake Annual Meeting & Dinner

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Upcoming Events

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You are subscribed to Visit Salt Lake's newsletters as: mmaisto@visitsaltlake.com