Banff’s politicians have turned down a sales pitch by Town of Banff staff for a sales and marketing position to bring in business and revenue for Banff’s new multi-million dollar recreation centre.
Staff had hoped a $64,800 full-time position would bring in more weddings, trade shows and other non-ice events to the Fenlands Centre, although some councillors seemed to want to see a focus on renting ice at this time.
But after lengthy discussion, including an in-camera session to talk about a contract with an outside agency, council voted against funding the position, with only Councillor Brian Standish indicating support.
“It’s not as simple as ‘build it and they will come’. We have to go out and market this beautiful facility we have,” said Standish.
“If we want to see a return on our investment, we need sales and marketing.”
Town staff said a dedicated employee is needed to promote and sell any underutilized and new spaces in order to bring in more revenue and keep the net operating cost of the facility to taxpayers at $350,000.
Mary Brewster, the Town of Banff’s Community Services manager, said current staffing levels lack both the skill sets and capacity to build business and awareness of the facility.
“The number of inquiries has tripled, but turning those inquiries into bookings is another matter,” she said.
“We need to turn those inquiries into bookings and revenue. The position needs to essentially start out as a jack of all trades, but the goal is to get revenue.”
Council was told the sales and marketing co-ordinator would likely be a three-year contact position, given talk around the management table on being more cost effective with wages.
Coun. Stavros Karlos said he did not believe the business plan was complete and doubted the Town of Banff’s ability to attract the type of business it wanted to.
“I am not convinced dry ice and floor space is different so much from what the current market offering is that it will be an attractant,” he said.
“I believe our opportunities lie in sports, tourism and tournaments.”
Robert Earl, Banff’s town manager, said the position would also market ice time had it been approved.
“If we discover we’re better placed to focus our efforts on ice, that’s where we’ll drive it,” he said. “We’ll explore all markets to find out which are most profitable for us.”
Targets for the rec centre include growing business by current tournament organizers by 12 per cent, increasing meeting room and dry floor space by five per cent and increasing non-local curling revenues by 10 per cent.
They also want to increase the number of community and drop-in participants by 15 per cent in 2011-2012 and they want to convert inquiries into confirmed bookings.
