• 
  • Mission and Vision
  • Leadership
  • Staff Contacts
  • Why Join
  • Join WTIC Today
  • Pay Annual Dues
  • Contact Us
• 
  • Accomplishments
  • Current Issues
  • Legislative Updates
  • Government Positions
  • Legislative Website
  • Legislative Archives
  • Contact Us
• 
  • Newsletters
  • Industry News
  • News Archives
  • Links of Interest
  • Contact Us
• 
  • Lodging Tax Manual
  • Lodging Tax Board Contacts
  • New Lodging Property Information
  • Lodging Tax FAQ's
  • Sales/Use and Lodging Tax Rates
  • Election Samples
  • Webinar Presentation January 2010
  • Contact Us
• 
  • Conferences
  • Past Conferences
  • Contact Us
• 
  • Login
  • Pay Annual Dues
  • Board Members Only
  • Membership Directory
  • Forum
  • Contact Us

Reports

In the News...
New Dates Set for Public Input Meeting for SE Wyo Welcome Center

WTT needs your help - workshops on tourism Master Plan

Help Your Staff Help Your Customers

Wyo in the film spotlight

Governor Proclaims National Travel & Tourism Week May 8-16

The Lodging Tax-Unsung Hero of the Cheyenne Economy
Governor praises tourism industry, pushes wildlife trust fund
Update from Tourism Director
And here are the top 10 trends in tourism
Times are changing for tourism industry
New tourism ad campaign will draw on industry
Travel and Tourism Industry Helps Conserve Water
Media Exposure Reaches New Heights
Promoting Wyoming Communities

New Look for I-80 Summit Welcome Center

Governor praises tourism industry, pushes wildlife trust fund

CASPER – Gov. Dave Freudenthal knows that Wyoming’s hospitality and tourism industry benefits mightily from the state’s great scenery, unspoiled wide open spaces and great events. But he says two other factors contribute to the state’s lure for visitors – its people and its wildlife.

“As I get out and talk to visitors, they talk about the scenery, they talk about the facilities and the wonderful events, but what they really talk about is what remarkable people live in Wyoming,” the governor said during the 2004 Governor’s Hospitality and Tourism Conference in Casper.

“I would say there’s no place I’d rather be than in Wyoming,” he added. “This is a remarkable place. It’s not a place that’s going to be duplicated. It’s not a place we need to make like everyplace else on earth.”

Freudenthal also plugged his plan for a wildlife habitat trust fund, using a portion of existing mineral severance taxes to create a trust fund to support wildlife habitat acquisition, maintenance and protection.

“Why should it matter to this group?” he asked rhetorically. “This group, probably more than anybody else, understands the importance of wildlife, habitat, open spaces and the opportunity not to be just a drive-by tourist but an opportunity to participate – get out of the car, get on a horse, walk a trail, be on a lake.

“This is a remarkable experience,” he added. “This is a key not just to the state’s promotional activity, but it is key to the whole tourism economy in this state. This industry, like a lot of other industries, has a vested interest in making sure that the habitat, wildlife and open spaces are part of Wyoming.”

The governor noted that in the past year he has attended seven funerals for Wyoming servicemen killed in action and in every service, somebody talked about the soldier’s love for the outdoors of Wyoming.

“If this is something that we treasure so much … then we should set aside some money and preserve it,” particularly for the children of the fallen servicemen, he said. “I want to make sure those children have a chance to enjoy what it was their father was fighting for when he lost his life.”

Freudenthal said he is not proposing a new tax, but setting aside a portion of existing tax. For every thousand cubic feet of gas produced, the state would put one penny aside to protect that wildlife and habitat legacy. Had the state acted last year, it could have set aside $18 million, he said.

“We have an opportunity to preserve a legacy that to some degree is going to be adversely affected by this development that Wyoming is enjoying,”

In other comments, the governor praised the work of the new Tourism Advisory Board, which is being continued for another two years, and said he will reappoint all seven members if they are willing to serve. He also praised the work of State Tourism Director Diane Shober and her staff, and the state’s hospitality industry in general.

“We have enjoyed remarkable success with the tourism programs, and I credit the board and I credit Diane, but I also credit all of you,” he said. “Each of you in your communities and in your leadership roles and in your business has accepted the challenge to make sure tourism grows.”

The governor also thanked members of the hospitality industry for supporting his request to the Legislature to continue the Tourism Board for another two years.

“I intend to ask each of the members to accept reappointment to the board,” he said. “If it ain’t broke, the governor has no need to fix it.”

Guest Column
Report to the Industry
Diane Shober, Director Wyoming Travel and Tourism

It is so good to be back home sharing my love and enthusiasm for Wyoming and our tourism industry. I can’t believe a year has passed since I started. There is much to talk about and this forum will be my way of sharing our program with you. Here’s the latest:

Tourism Budget:
The Governor, state lawmakers, and the tourism industry all provided us with generous support for which we are eternally grateful. Our budget for the next biennium (two years) is now set at just over $11.7 million most of which will be devoted to ongoing marketing programs for tourism development. We’ve been authorized to spend about $250,000 for a Deputy Director position and to apply toward the Sundance Information Center. Additionally, one-time funding requests for $5.5 million that have been approved include: a comprehensive upgrade of our interactive foundation and interpretive signage; television advertising in Chicago & Dallas; special projects for cultural tourism development and media/public relations

Project Update:
We’ve made progress on a number of fronts. Our timetables are reliable and realistic:
- Applications for the Deputy Director position closed in mid-May. Our goal is to have the right person on board by July 1.
- A new Sundance Information Center, in partnership with WYDOT, will be in operation by the summer of 2005.
- A statewide task force has been formed with regard to the upgrade of our interactive foundation. A manager will be hired in June.
- Interactive kiosks, an extension our website redesign, will go out to RFP late this year and the kiosks are to be in place by the 2005 summer season.
- A point person is being assigned from our staff and that of WYDOT to enact strategic approaches for turnout construction, signage, and expanded highway advisory radio systems. After completion of a statewide inventory a survey will be sent to Chambers and CVBs regarding requests for signage and additional turnouts. Please be watching for the survey and respond accordingly.
- Our tourism board met in mid-May to hear presentations from four finalists seeking to provide creative and media buying services for the Chicago/Dallas market television penetration. Pure Brand was selected and production work begins in May-June. The new television ads start running next spring and will be supplemented by outdoor advertising (billboards) in the Chicago and Dallas markets.

There are more details available on each of the above projects. To stay in touch with our progress access: www.wyomingbusiness.org/tourism. You are encouraged to go to that industry website and make it a regular stop for information about deadlines, cooperative marketing opportunities, lead access, and research materials. It is also the site to navigate for staff listings, board meeting minutes and other valuable options.

I am really looking forward to the summer tourist season and strengthening all that we can do – together.

And here are the top 10 trends in tourism

Here are the top 10 trends Wyoming’s hospitality industry can look for in 2004, according to Judy Randall, head of Randall Travel and Marketing Inc. of Mooresville, N.C., one of the featured speakers at the 2004 Governor’s Hospitality and Tourism Conference in Casper.

The top 10 trends for 2004:

1. A modest 1 percent to 2 percent growth in total travel revenues. Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) estimates total spending at $568 billion, short of the high mark of $570.5 billion in 2000, and leisure travel is expected to increase to nearly 838 million person trips, compared to 727n million in 2000.

2. “Bargain-brained” consumers. Fear of paying a higher rate than other consumers is driving some travelers into obsession with bargains and prompting some hotels to offer “best rate” guarantees.

3. Continued last-minute trip planning and booking. Last year, 64 percent of leisure travelers said they planned at least one trip within two weeks of taking it, according to TIA. Last-minute trips tend to be of shorter duration and closer to home.

4. Cost-contained business travel. A survey by the Business Travel Coalition indicates that business travel spending, which dipped even before 9/11, is not likely to change. Surveys indicate that up to 90 percent of companies plan no increase in their business travel, even if the economy improves.

5. Intense growth in permission e-mail marketing. Allows e-businesses to e-mail marketing materials to people requesting them or giving materials, significantly cutting costs from mailing printed versions.

6. Increase in user-friendly technology for travel planning and purchases. One survey shows that business use of the Internet to purchase travel may increase from 29 percent to 67 percent in the coming near, while leisure travelers may increase their Internet travel purchases from 39 percent to 59 percent this year.

7. Safety, personal comfort, control and bargain buying are primary travel concerns for many travelers. That translates to a desire for less hassle and non-stress trips, according to Randall.

8. Changing customer demographics, “The Aging of America.” Americans are growing older, and by 2010 half of all Americans will be over 40. “We’ll still think of ourselves as young, skinny and healthy and able to do it all. The change will cause Wyoming’s hospitality industry to not only change its product but its marketing, Randall advised, but at the same time, Wyoming “better be grooming those Gen Xers” because the Baby Boomers are getting a little old for riding horses.

9. Growth in “high-end” leisure travel experiences. Especially by the 13 percent of households with annual incomes over $100,000. This segment of the leisure travel group becomes a prime market because it spends more (143 percent of average).

10. Growth in “theme” and “total emersion” leisure travel. Travel experiences that offer a total escape from everyday routines are growing in popularity. “Little girls don’t want to go to Disney World to SEE Cinderella, they want to go to Disney World and BE Cinderella.” This bodes will for Wyoming’s outdoor-recreation-based travel experiences, such as dude ranches or Indian communities, Randall said. “They want the total immersion experience, but they want it safe comfortable and convenient. How you offer all that can be quite tricky, but that’s the game.”

Times are changing for tourism industry

The times they are a changin’ for Wyoming’s tourism industry – and for everybody else, too, a national tourism consultant says.How Wyoming adapts to the changing world will have a big impact on the future of the hospitality industry hear, Judy Randall, advised participants in the 2004 Governor’s Hospitality and Tourism Conference.

“Whatever you thought prior to 2000, it’s gone,” Randall said. “We’re in a new era. People behave differently. What motivates them is different. How they access information is different. What they choose to do when they get there is different. Everything about it is different.”

We as an industry have to really watch what we’re doing. Back to the year 2000, we were allowed to be lazy. We were able to just sit back and wait for them to call us. That’s no more. If you’re going to survive and thrive in this new economy, you’re going to learn to do things differently.”

While Wyoming is poised to take advantage of many of the trends in tourism, including the continued growth of leisure travel (See separate story), the state cannot be complacent and obviously isn’t taking anything for granted, Randall added.

“All the trends are going your way,” she said. “You’ve got a governor that genuinely supports you and a state legislature that obviously does. You’ve got one kick-butt person at the head of the team in Diane Shober, and you’ve got all kind of resources at your disposal, but you’ve got to get on top of this game. You can’t sit there and watch the world go by. If you do, people are going to go to Oklahoma or wherever else.”

Randall, head of Randall Travel Marketing Inc. of Mooresville, N.C., Wyoming is “just plain lucky” to be “in the right place at the right time.”

“All the trends are coming your way. So now is the time, if you have never cashed in, now is the time to do it in travel and tourism,” she said. However, she emphasized that while Wyoming is doing an excellent job marketing the Wyoming travel experience, the state must do a better job making it easier for visitors to get here and enjoy that experience.

Randall noted that one of the few segments of the tourism industry that has grown steadily is the cruise line portion, and one of the reasons for that is the convenience of the complete travel package.

“They have learned a powerful secret -- if you make it easy for the customer, they will say yes,” she said. “Let’s compare that to what I have to do to come to Wyoming.”

“Does the term scavenger hunt come to mind,” interjected her speaking partner, Berkeley Young.
Randall continued: “Basically you have to become a cruise ship on land, make them easy for them to go and make it easy for them to have a good time and stay longer. Basically, you’re going to give them an offer they can’t refuse in terms of value.”

She noted there are plenty of competitors out there, including other Western states offering similar attractions as well as suddenly affordable alternatives such as cruises or trips to Paris.
Young said the travel industry needs to be more aggressive if following up leads.

“How many times do we mail the brochure and then just forget about them and never follow up, never follow through, never check back?” he asked. “We’ve done our job, we’ve mailed them a brochure, right? Wrong.”

“This stuff is not rocket science,” Randall added. “You’re going to be OK. Just be sharp, be on your game. It can be done.”

New tourism ad campaign will draw on industry

If you ever wanted to have a hand in crafting a state tourism promotional advertisement, now’s your chance. You’re invited to send the state Division of Travel and Tourism a memento or keepsake from your area that will help evoke images that can draw visitors to Wyoming.

The Tourism Division’s proposed 2005 advertising campaign starts with a picture of a “shadow box” on a wall, with a scenic photo and filled with valued mementoes of a family’s Wyoming vacation.

But it’s a work in progress, and state travel leaders are asking for help from tourism businesses and the people of Wyoming to help supply the artifacts and tourism mementoes that will resonate with would-be travelers to Wyoming.

The new 2005 ad campaign is being developed by Barnhart CMI of Denver, Santa Fe and Cheyenne, the Tourism Division’s advertising firm, and was unveiled at the 2004 Governor’s Hospitality and Tourism Conference in April in Casper.

“We want you to participate with us and be involved in the campaign and each year add new elements,” State Tourism Director Diane Shober said in a video unveiling the new campaign to travel industry leaders. “So think about your own experiences in Wyoming and what your treasures are, and please send them to us and participate in this campaign and help us build the best advertising campaign that the Wyoming Division of Tourism has done to date.”

Shober said the state’s popular five-year “retro” ad campaign, based on the style of old railroad posters from the 1920s and 30s, has been a huge hit with visitors and tourism promoters alike. But state travel leaders felt it was time to consider a change “to really take Wyoming into that next generation campaign.”

The result is Barnhart/CMI’s new “shadow box” campaign, which is designed to use nostalgic images and artifacts of Wyoming to lure visitors to see the real thing and find their own keepsakes and memories.

“A vacation to Wyoming is really more than simply a trip or a destination, it’s an experience,” said Paul Ulrich of Barnhart/CMI’s Cheyenne office. “We thought the shadow box idea captured the total experience of a trip to Wyoming.”

A sample shadow box ad shows a family posing for a photo with the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in the background and asks: “Remember when the best part of your vacation could fit in the palm of your hand?”

Inside the smaller brackets in the shadow box are places for mementoes, souvenirs and keepsakes that help visitors always remember that Wyoming experience.

“You’re invited to be a participant in the new Wyoming Travel and Tourism print campaign,” the proposition to state residents reads. “If you have a keepsake that represents your region of Wyoming, please mail it to Diane Shober, Wyoming Travel and Tourism, I-25 at College Drive, Cheyenne WY 82002.”

The new campaign does not yet have a slogan and obviously has not yet collected the keepsakes to fill the shadow boxes, but Shober is optimistic that people will respond and help craft the final 2005 campaign, which will kick off next spring.

Meanwhile, the division is completely rehabilitating its interactive response to tourist inquiries with a new Web site and developing a new program to place interactive visitor kiosks in each county.

Travel and Tourism Industry Helps Conserve Water

As you know, Wyoming is in the middle of a drought. Restaurants, lodging facilities and other tourism related businesses can help conserve water by offering guests the option to lower their water usage by serving drinking water only on demand and by offering the guests the option of laundering linens every other day. For more information, go the Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association web site at www.wlra.org.

Media Exposure Reaches New Heights

More than two years of media relations work readying for the centennial season of Old Faithful Inn this summer has netted millions of dollars of publicity across the country.

“Our tourism board wanted to re-focus on Wyoming’s icons and the program to publicize the Inn and the greater Yellowstone area was a part of that effort,” notes Diane Shober, state tourism director.

The prestigious Smithsonian Magazine produced a special section called “Destination America” for its May issue. Yellowstone National Park was the lead story and the opening page featured an interior color photograph of Old Faithful Inn.

Writer Tony Perrottet worked with the Travel & Tourism Division during his month-long trek in the American West last summer. Perrottet, an Australian living in New York City, is also responsible for major newspaper articles on Cheyenne Frontier Days in The London Sunday Times and the Sydney Times-Herald in recent months. His Yellowstone story recounts the early day tourist history of the park as well as Perrottet’s backcountry adventure in Yellowstone that proved to him “that the park remained seriously wild.”

Smithsonian reaches a circulation in excess of two million people and the equivalent advertising value of the feature article rings in at about $500 thousand.

Sunset Magazine also featured Old Faithful Inn in a two-page color spread worth more than one hundred thousand dollars had it been purchased as ad space. Editor Lora Finnegan is a long-time collaborator with the Travel & Tourism Division and her coverage (May 2004) provided contact information for Yellowstone National Park Lodges by phone and website listings. According to Jeff Phillips, Rocky Mountain editor at Sunset “It was an easy decision (to include coverage of the 100th anniversary). It's the centennial of a Western architectural icon and Sunset is the Magazine of Life in the West."

Travel & Tourism, May 7-8, conducted a television satellite live broadcast from Old Faithful Inn, in cooperation with Xanterra and the National Park Service. Interviews were arranged with television news and morning shows in Phoenix, Cleveland, Denver, Boise, Billings, Columbus OH and many others. CNN and its “Weekend Edition” used the service May 8 providing national coverage of the Inn’s 100th anniversary.

Clear Channel Communications, via its Wyoming flagship operation (KTWO Radio in Casper), brought a morning talk show to the Inn, May 7. A few weeks before the event the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, using information provided them by Travel & Tourism, ran a travel section feature highlighting the Inns’ centennial as the lead item. “The entire program covered many facets of print and broadcast media and gave us a really strong kick-off to the summer season,” Shober said.

Promoting Wyoming Communities

The tourism industry is unique because there are so many players in the game---from community organizations, to individual businesses to the state of Wyoming’s Division of Tourism. In order to compete nationally and promote effectively, all the players need to act together, row in the same direction, get the most bang for the buck, plan for the future, be creative, on the cutting edge etc.

A new feature in Tourism Talk, Promoting Wyoming Communities, will allow local communities to share success stories and new ideas with each other. Each issue, several communities will be asked to provide a short report on their creative and new ideas for attracting visitors and building the tourism industry.

Albany County...

A great way to promote your destination or property in the Denver market without the cost of Denver TV advertising is to donate travel packages or specialty items to the Rocky Mountain PBS Wild Wild Auction. The opportunity reoccurs every April with the PBS viewing public getting some great bargains and the promoter getting a great advertising deal. Not only is the item listed on the PBS web site for the month of April, beginning April 1st, it is auctioned live on TV. This year the auction will run from April 20th to April 28th. If you check out https://www.wildwildauction.com/sponsor/sponsor_main.html you will be able to learn more. During the 2004 Auction, Albany County Tourism Board will be donating at least five travel packages, one each from the Old Corral, Snowy Mt. Lodge, Vee Bar, Albany Lodge and Home Ranch Bed and Breakfast.

Along with these items there are two donations from Bethany Zill and Rattlesnake Jake, western musicians and video producers for a kids party and one pair of customized leather chaps and cuffs. Vi Moats of Aphrodites Emporium/Junction Tobacco - Antiques, Too! has been trying to figure out how to tell the region that she has a collection of hand blown Murano Glass. When I approached her about the Wild Wild Auction she was delighted to have a chance to participate and donated one Murano Millifiare Bowl. Also donated were a box of items from Historic Downtown Laramie including mugs, tee shirts, posters, water bottles and a liquor canister. The University of Wyoming Art Museum framed one of their collector posters, Embracing the Future. It was the poster produced for their 1998 installation of Native American Art and Culture and is included along with a paragraph on their this year’s exhibit of Kachinas. Mark your calendar for February/March, 2005 to gather items from your destination, properties or businesses to be included in this great promotional opportunity. It can’t hurt!

Thanks to Jo Ann Davis, Albany County Tourism Board

Cody...

I will never forget the day in 1989 when a prominent Cody tourism businessman held up a scenic drive brochure that I had just designed, and proclaimed, “Whoever put this brochure together, should be run out of town!” This “shocker” took place during one of the Cody Chamber of Commerce weekly membership luncheons – in front of 50 plus Cody business people. Naturally, I did not immediately admit to being its designer, but asked, “Why?” His response was that one of the scenic drives in the brochure crossed the Wyoming state line into Montana (Red Lodge) “our competition!” My response, “Well Mr. __, times are changing.”

I have never been one to get hung up on geographic boundaries, and fortunately, none of my lodging tax boards, past or present, have either. We have always had the philosophy that partnering with other destinations, attractions or communities along a specific travel route makes sense. Partnering with like- branded communities makes sense too. Our goal is to entice and provide information that will ensure a quality experience for our visitors. The more there is to see, do and learn, the longer they will stay in our area. If we make travel information easily accessible, understandable and even packaged for convenience, geographic boundaries exist only in our minds and mean nothing to our guests.

We have long partnered in a billboard program with several Wyoming communities that lie within specific travel routes used to get to Yellowstone National Park’s east entrance. These co-op billboards provide directional information at critical points along these routes and act to entice visitors as well.

For the fourth year, we will engage in an on-line media co-op campaign with the State of South Dakota and Xanterra Parks and Resorts. This partnership is a website portal that links to our website, as well as to those of the state of South Dakota and Xanterra Parks and Resorts. This is an opt-in e-mail campaign where ad space is purchased on six travel sites. Traffic is directed to our portal page captioned, “where the wild meets the west,” which naturally promotes the route from South Dakota, across northern Wyoming, into Cody and then on to Yellowstone.

No other organization knows that geographic boundaries can stifle promotion more than Rocky Mountain International. Old-school rules were broken when Chuck Box suggested that four states work together, ignore state boundaries and concentrate instead on the Rocky Mountain region. Yes, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming are like-branded and offer a myriad of destinations, attractions and experiences.

By working with other communities, attractions and regions the quality of experiences that we are selling will greatly improve, and our guests will enjoy, learn and return.

Thanks to Claudia Wade, Park County Visitors Council

Gillette...

The Gillette Convention and Visitors Bureau has created a series of four Gillette posters. The posters identify with the uniqueness of the community and all feature pronghorn antelope. The first poster was released in 2003 with an antelope on the golf course and a summertime emphasis. The second poster will be released in 2004 and feature a mother and baby antelope with a Spring rainbow in the background. Each poster will be bordered similarly but in a different color but each will feature the words “Gillette, Wyoming”, the year and the name of the painting. The first poster was named “The Executives”. The second poster will be named “A Fresh Beginning” and will be released during National Tourism Week in May 2004.

In addition to the full-size posters, postcards were also made of the same painting and have been very popular with visitors and residents. Promotional plans also include offering each poster as greeting cards and mailing labels. The posters were advertised during the recent holiday period and sold well as gifts for college students, former residents and family members in other parts of the country. The first poster hangs in Terminal B of the Denver International Airport. All paintings were contracted with artist Sue Lang of Hill City, SD (formerly of Gillette) who has signed and numbered a limited amount. Having a poster of Gillette has been a very positive marketing strategy giving the area a “look” and a souvenir specifically just for the community.

To order a signed or unsigned poster or for more information, please contact the Gillette Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-544-6136 or visit www.visitgillette.net.

Thanks to Mary Kelly, Gillette CVB

Buffalo...

Johnson County billboard marketing strategy comes full circle.

Johnson County has used a number of advertising campaigns including “Bed Down Beneath the Bighorns,” “Buffalo—Your Adventure Destination”, “Buffalo Area Has It” and “Buffalo, Wyoming—Everything for the Traveler.

But the message that works the best is one they used 20 years ago “Highway 16 to Yellowstone—Least Grade—Fastest—Most Scenic” This message has had the greatest impact in pulling the traveler off the interstate and into the community.

Nadine Gross, Chamber Director, said, “While we wanted Buffalo to be the travel destination, or even a stop over destination, we had to face reality. Our great museum, free swimming pool and historic business district didn’t draw travelers into the Buffalo area. They were on their way to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and we were along the way.

Johnson County Tourism Association President, Mike Johnson observed that “The billboards are essential to get tourists on Highway 16 and into Buffalo. Then you promote Buffalo from within.”

“With this strategy visitor counts, lodging tax and sales tax revenues increased,” said Gross. “The wisdom from twenty year old billboards is what we are using today.”

Thanks to Nadine Gross, Buffalo Chamber of Commerce for the information

Thermopolis...

Thermopolis Hot Spot Shootout brings thousands every May

Now in its eleventh year, the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce hosts the Hot Spot Shootout on the streets of downtown Thermopolis the first weekend in May. The event has grown from 472 players and 118 teams with 2360 spectators in 1994 to 1818 players and 404 teams with 4850 spectators in 2003. The event has grown by 385% in ten years and fills lodging facilities in Thermopolis, Worland and Shoshoni with some people going to Meeteetse and Riverton.

The two-day tournament begins Friday evening with a tip-off party. Teams then play basketball Saturday and Sunday. 200 volunteers help and sponsors help pay for the event.

Tournament success is credited to an active Chamber of Commerce which works each year to attract new players to the tournament. Players are recruited from Wyoming and parts of Montana, Colorado and South Dakota. This year Utah will be added.

Chamber Executive Director Toddi Darlington said, “We work hard to attract young players. Our players know they can come, play ball and enjoy our hot mineral pools. They spread the word for us. We have seen players from our early years return as coaches for their own children’s teams.”

The Chamber contracts with Momentum Sports to organize the event. For more information contact the Chamber at 800-SUN-NSPA or go to www.thermopolis.com.

Sweetwater...

SWEETWATER COUNTY Tourism Promotion Overview

In 1991 the Sweetwater County Joint Travel and Tourism Board was formed to administer a then voter approved 2% lodging tax. The money generated from this tax was to be used for the purpose of promoting local travel and tourism as a means of enhancing the economy of Sweetwater County and its municipalities. To this purpose funding has been provided for a variety of promotional items, community events which attract out of area visitors, marketing for conventions, travel shows and the placement of advertisements in various media formats. The Board has also worked with a diverse group of public and private entities including the State Division of Tourism in order to accomplish its goals.

The 2 percent lodging tax for Sweetwater County, as reported by the State Department of Revenue, generated approximately $324,824 for the budget year ending June 30, 2003. This reflects a .27% increase over the previous year’s revenues. With cash reserves and previous projects carried forward the Travel and Tourism Board’s budget for the 2002/2003 fiscal year was set at $489,814.

This past year the Board in whole or in part funded:

$ Advertisements in regional and national publications with circulation of more than 6.7 million
$ Development and reprinting of 195,000 regional brochures
$ Placement and restocking of brochure racks in more than fifty-five local businesses
$ Toll-free telephone service for information on area attractions and events
$ Postage for mailing of travel brochures
$ Radio advertisements and billboards in adjoining drive markets
$ Booth rental for travel shows with more than 102,000 visitors
$ Development and maintenance of the Sweetwater web site tourwyoming.com with approximately 200,000 annual hits
$ Development and promotion of the Wyoming’s High Desert Country logo as a regional marketing tool for Sweetwater County and its municipalities

Additional, through a system of community grants, the Board has worked with local groups for the marketing of more than forty regional events and conventions resulting in the increased hotel and motel occupancy and higher revenues of ancillary businesses. Finally, funding has been provided for the hosting of two national travel writers who conducted familiarization tours highlighting wild horses and natural recreational sites within our area.

Tourism has become an important component to our area’s economic strategy. Tourism dollars help local businesses to thrive and expand, provides opportunities for new businesses to develop, sustains a diverse employment base, provides new employment opportunities for our citizens, and increases the flow of sales tax revenues into the community for the funding of services and improvements.

In the current year the Board will continue with its marketing strategy of regional advertising, development of a new visitor guide, continued enhancement of our electronic marketing efforts and providing seed money for newly developing community events. The Board has also taken a more aggressive approach to marketing our area by setting aside funding for co-operative advertising efforts of our local municipalities. The Board believes that by creating and encouraging partnerships a greater marketing impact will be achieved.

Thanks to Larry Lloyd, Chairman, Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism Board

Teton County...

Successful Regional Marketing Means Partnerships

by Paula McCormick, McCormick Marketing, Inc.
Marketing agent for the Wind River Visitors Council

The Wind River Visitors Council (WRVC) of Fremont County is having success at regional marketing because of excellent partners who understand the big picture…that Wyoming's competition for the tourist dollar are beaches, cruises and Disney World, not other Wyoming locations.

Over the past two years, the WRVC has produced two cooperative marketing programs, and is developing a third program now to be launched in spring of 2004.

The first successful regional program, marketed as the "Circle the Continental Divide Driving Tour" was launched in the spring of 2002 with partners such as Xanterra, Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, and the Park County Travel Council. In 2003, the Grand Teton Lodge Company joined the partnership. Over 80,000 brochures have been mailed and distributed each year through the partners and with help from the Wyoming Travel and Tourism Division. The "Circle the Continental Divide Driving Tour" brochure is supported by a web page and an aggressive publicity campaign.

In 2003, the WRVC implemented a second cooperative program focusing on the Historic Trails of Wyoming. According to Paula McCormick, marketing agent for the WRVC, "The state had not produced a historic trails brochure since the Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial. With the opening of Casper's National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, we saw a great opportunity to form a partnership from Ogallala to Wind River Country, following the westward trails." The Wind River Visitors Council garnered financial support from the Nebraska Highway 26 Association, the Casper CVB and the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites, and Wyoming Travel and Tourism. 75,000 brochures are being distributed, with support from a website and a publicity plan.

Building on these successes, the WRVC is developing its third coop program, focusing on the nostalgia of Highway 26, and marketed as the "Old Yellowstone Highway." According to Dave McIlrath, president of the WRVC, "We believe marketing Highway 26 like California did Route 66 will pay off for our partners. Nostalgia is in, and we hope to capitalize on the traveler interested in an experience off of the Interstates."

For more information, contact Paula McCormick, McCormick Marketing, Inc. 307-332-5546 or the WRVC, 800-645-6233.

Casper...

Every year the Natrona County Travel and Tourism Council hosts the Natrona County Visitor Industry Summit (NCVIS), a meeting to which 200 industry representatives are invited. The purpose of the Summit is to review the marketing strategy for the coming year, including how that strategy has utilized information gathered from the local tourism related businesses. Guest speakers on marketing or the tourism industry are included in the Summit.

Prior to the Summit, five pre-meetings are scheduled with individual segments of the industry. Those meetings are smaller and allow the various interests to focus on their needs and ideas for increasing the number of visitors to the area. The individual groups are: Outdoor Recreation and Resource Managers, Competitions and Special Events, Attractions and Cultural Events and Convention Facilities/Convention and Group Services and Retail. A fifth group, “Other Partners of the Lodging Tax Board” includes government representatives, the economic development and chamber of commerce representatives.

The information gathered at the pre-meetings is used to develop the final marketing strategy for the next year. The meetings also allow the attendees to build a network that can be of assistance to them in enhancing their own marketing or in creating travel packages. Ideas for customer service, including visitor information needs have also come from the Summit and have been implemented locally.

For more information contact Marlyn Black, mblack@casperwyoming.info or 800-852-1889.

Sheridan...

In June, Sheridanites successfully launched the first-ever BUFFALO BILL’S WILD WEST DAYS, in coordination with the Historic Sheridan Inn’s 110th anniversary! The Buffalo Bill Days history was always present in Sheridan with Buffalo Bill auditioning talented cowboys and Indians for parts in his Wild West Show on the veranda of the Historic Sheridan Inn over 100 years ago. Plans were developed in 1993 when the City of Sheridan Convention and Visitors Bureau (newly named Sheridan Travel and Tourism) wrote a formal marketing plan to include an event celebrating local history. It all became a reality when our own local Buffalo Bill (Wayne Baumann) championed the first-ever event June 20-22, 2003.

The rollicking western extravaganza featuring the authentic Great American Wild West Show, Westernaires precision mounted drills, auditions (winners selected to travel with the Show across the US and Europe), a historically accurate kick-off parade and Pony Express Ride, Look-Alike contests, Head-to-Toe Craft and Food Market and the Buffalo Bill Polo Cup.

The Buffalo Bill Days kicked-off with the 110th birthday celebration of the Historic Inn where numerous fables are behind and beneath the “House of 69 Gables”, as labeled by “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”, i.e., scandals and mysteries including tales of murder, suicide, infidelity, and a number of ghosts. The Inn was once considered the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco, and served such notables as Teddy Roosevelt, Will Rogers and Ernest Hemingway. Visitors toured the halls where these notables once stayed in the Victorian splendor at this grand old inn in Sheridan, WY – the West at its Best!

This event caused a great deal of excitement within our community and gained national notoriety, via articles in Sunset Magazine, American Cowboy Magazine, and on Starz Encore Western Channel TV, to name a few. Individuals attending this year were from across the US, Canada, Poland and Germany, many of who are planning to again participate June 18-20, 2004.

In the meantime, local characters Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane were invited to travel the US and European circuit with the Wild West Show! For further details, please visit www.sheridaninn.com or call Penny Becker at the Sheridan Travel and Tourism, 307-673-7120.

Cheyenne...

Future Thinking from Cheyenne Frontier Days

Cheyenne Frontier Days assesses the celebration on a yearly basis to identify areas for modification and or improvement. General Committee members focus on the company’s mission statement which centers on preservation of Western heritage, but also identifies continual improvement to provide an unforgettable and unique experience to its guests as a major emphasis. A few of the ways that the General Committee has recently implemented this vision are as follows:

• Continued expansion of a newly created Wild Horse Gulch western town to include more buildings, characters and crafts. Wild Horse Gulch maintains the feel of the old west and some vendors even feature living history displays.

• Keeping the Daddy of ‘em All at the top of its rodeo game. With a purse of $1 million in cash and prizes, cowboys don’t want to miss competition at this rodeo. Audiences in Cheyenne see non-stop action in the rodeo arena with top notch stock, announcers, clowns and track entertainment.

• The Committee also now bears diverse audience needs in mind when booking night show entertainment. The General Committee realizes that by diversifying night show entertainment, Cheyenne Frontier Days will appeal to past and future rodeo fans alike.

The Cheyenne Frontier Days Committee puts planning and thinking about the future on their agenda every single year. Making planning a regular event helps the organization think about change on a regular basis.

Evanston...

Evanston has involved the entire community in promoting tourism. Their projects are aimed at keeping visitors in town by providing opportunities to learn more about this unique community that has a history encompassing energy, ranching and transportation.

The Evanston Chamber of Commerce Retail & Service Committee is currently distributing a quarterly calendar of events with the Top 10 Things to do In Evanston on the backside. The form fits onto table tents (which are supplied by vendors) and are given to restaurants, bars and motels. The remaining calendar of events are distributed to as many convenience, retail ,service stores and gas stations as possible. Funding for this project came from the Evanston Lodging Tax Board. Evanston plans to change the top 10 things to do in Evanston by season to coincide with the calendar of events.

The Top Things to do list on a postcard was started by Rawlins, expanded by Cheyenne, and has been shared with all Wyoming communities and implemented by many.

Also in Evanston, they had to find creative ways to offer tours when there is no full time staff to provide them. Sign have been posted at the Joss House and the restored Railway Depot (in the center of town) for those visiting the area and wanting tours. Currently, there is no staff at either facility, but the Chamber of Commerce staff is happy to take visitors around to see the Depot Square since their office is in the Depot area.