NVTID Yountville Board plans, strategizes, discusses collaborative ideas
The Napa Valley Tourism Improvement District’s (NVTID) Yountville Board convened its quarterly meeting on Nov. 13, bringing together local hoteliers, Chamber of Commerce, Napa County marketing representatives, and town leadership to discuss current tourism trends, marketing priorities, and long-range planning with some exciting new ideas.
The NVTID is tasked with using the collected Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), which is charged to each hotel room in Yountville as a 14% added fee. From that accumulation of funds, 24% stays in town to be spent by the NVTID Yountville board members, specifically for the marketing of Yountville to potential visitors, with the balance being sent to Napa County for county wide marketing efforts.
The current Yountville TID board includes:
- Town Councilmember and Vice Mayor Robin McKee
- Town Manager Brad Raulston
- Arik Housley, Ranch Market Too
- Max Campagnon, Napa Valley Lodge
- Alain Negueloua, Bardessono and Hotel Yountville
- Robert Bondanza, The Estate Yountville
- Stephanie Burdette, Hotel Yountville
The board reaffirmed that boosting hotel occupancy, or “heads in beds,” remains the core objective of their TID fund use. This November session served as a strategic planning discussion, allowing the members to look at current trends, discuss obstacles and bring forward new ideas.
Key data points obtained for Yountville:
- Yountville has 11 hotels and inns, with a total of 453 rooms.
- Annual 2024/25 average occupancy is at 58% with a range of 43% to 72% depending on the month of the year.
- Annual 2024/2025 average daily room rate of $710, with a range of $457 to $958 again depending on the month of the year.
- Roughly 30% of occupancy comes from convention-related travel despite the absence of a major convention center.
Building on that last statement, noting the lack of large hotels or a convention center, Beverly Wilmore, deputy director of marketing and economic development for Yountville directed an interesting discussion with the board members.
Wilmore presented a developing idea aimed at closer collaboration among Yountville’s hotels to attract larger group events to town. The proposal is to connect the sales teams from the hotels with the goal of packaging rooms and town event spaces together for large group requests that currently exceed the capacity of any single property. Instead of having to turn down these large event requests, Wilmore suggests that together they build a cohesive “resort portfolio” that encompasses all the available spaces in town. The board was very positive in their support for this idea. The next step will be to develop consistent branding, a logo, and promotional materials to support the collective effort.
Also presented was a list of upcoming events that are being planned.
Last but not at all least, The Wine Marathon – Napa Edition is in the final planning stages, and though details are coming soon it will be modeled after The Marathon du Medoc which is a unique marathon held in France, known for its festive atmosphere and wine tasting along the course!
Napa Valley Standard will be a multi-day food and wine festival launching next November that will direct its marketing to attract new visitors to Napa Valley.
Wellness driven marketing campaigns and partnerships with Bay Area host communities tied to upcoming major events such as FIFA and the Super Bowl.
The 12 Days of Yountville Cheer will compliment the annual gift guide and encourage seasonal visits and shopping.
