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ACTION ITEM - Discussion of Visit Culver City Tourism Branding Efforts, Website Development and Business Inclusion Criteria.
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Meeting Date: April 11, 2025
Contact Person/Dept: Luis Gonzalez, Economic and Cultural Development
Phone Number: (310) 253-5767
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Public Notification: GovDelivery (4/8/2025), Downtown Culver City Business Association (4/8/2025), Culver City Arts District (4/8/2025), Chamber of Commerce (4/8/2025)
Department Approval: Jesse Mays, Assistant City Manager (04/07/2025)
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As part of the Fiscal Year 24-25 workplan, City staff is developing a Visit Culver City (VCC) brand and destination marketing campaign, that includes a stand-alone website. VCC is proposed as a collaboration between hotels, events, local businesses and community partners to highlight local shop, eat, play and stay opportunities to attract tourism to Culver City.
Brand Development
In January 2025, staff released a request for proposal (RFP) for the Visit Culver City Tourism Campaign Branding. The objective of the effort is to increase tourism awareness and visitation in anticipation of national and international sporting events coming to the region in the next few years.
In March 2025 staff selected MMGY Global to provide branding development services.
MMGY Global is an international marketing and communications firm with an office in Culver City. MMGY has experience working with destinations and has developed brands such as Visit Anaheim, Visit Santa Monica, Destination Vancouver (Canada), Visit Los Cabos (Mexico) and many other destinations. MMGY is committed to capturing Culver City’s identity to build a brand that connects City amenities from shopping, dining, hospitality, and recreation.
City staff will be conducting community engagement meetings in May 2025 with stakeholders from hospitality, restaurant/retail and creative industries to assist MMGY into their branding research and creation.
Website Development
In January 2025, the City engaged Granicus to provide a sub-site platform for the development of an independent tourism website. The primary function of the VCC website will be to market local businesses for hospitality, dining and shopping opportunities. As the City does not have a separate DMO to create the site, Visit Culver City will be developed/managed by the City directly.
Business Inclusion Criteria
As Culver City does not have a third-party Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) similar to neighboring cities like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, staff is seeking direction on the criteria that should be utilized for business inclusion on the website. Staff identified three cities in California that have and/or are directly developing tourism websites and assets without a DMO: Tehachapi, Windsor, and Arcadia.
• Tehachapi: Collaborates with the Chamber of Commerce and charges a nominal fee to be featured on the website.
• Windsor: Provides a landing relative to wineries and breweries and accommodation options.
• Arcadia: Currently in the process of rebranding the program and determining inclusion criteria.
In looking at neighboring cities, potential considerations for criteria for Visit Culver City could include:
• Hotels/motels with specific star ratings
• Restaurants, shopping, and day spas.
• Health and recreation assets such as City parks, The Plunge and Baldwin Scenic Overlook
• Brick and mortar businesses considered tourism specific or desired
Staff welcomes direction and recommendations, once criteria is established and approved, staff will begin working on content development for the website.