Tourism board seeks more visitors

November 2014 marked a resident-voted change in Sweetwater County; the raise in Sweetwater County’s lodging tax.

With the raise in lodging tax from 2 percent to 3 percent, the travel and tourism board is able to implement a more extensive marketing plan to increase visitation to Sweetwater County.

“The board is very appreciative of the local voters and their support of the lodging tax increase,” Executive Director Jenissa Bartlett, said. “We make sure every effort is measurable and increasing visitation, or we will alter our strategy.”

State statute requires that the lodging tax be spent on destination marketing efforts. The 11 member Sweetwater County Lodging Tax Board, all appointed volunteers primarily from the hospitality industry, have been working to create a marketing plan to use the additional funds in the best way possible.

For the past two fiscal years, the lodging tax collected was approximately $625,000. With the increase to three percent, it is expected to reach approximately $937,500.

The plan to use the additional money includes more than 30 local event grants providing advertising and sponsorship dollars, board projects in line with the board mission, Rock Springs and Green River Chamber of Commerce contracts for visitor services, and a marketing block grant to the Sweetwater Events Complex.

The largest portion of the lodging tax budget goes toward a regional marketing plan. The board has put to use a measurable, wide-ranging, out-of-county marketing plan for the past seven years. The additional lodging tax funds will allow for expanded digital, print, billboard and television advertising in key markets throughout the region including the Denver and Salt Lake City to generate visitation.

“In this section of I-80, over 70 percent of travelers on leisure are on their way to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. We are on a key intersection to slow them down,” Bartlett said. “People come for the national parks and we want to slow them down and show them what Sweetwater County has to offer.”

An ad has been placed on http://www.yellowstonepark.com as well. When someone requests information for Yellowstone, they also see information about Sweetwater County. There is also a full page ad placed in the Wyoming Travel Guide. The increase in the tax has also allowed for a 30 second commercial to be produced for Salt Lake City, Denver, and possibly Pocatello. Bartlet states that Pocatello is close enough that they are interested, they are cheaper and will increase traffic.

“The board evaluated the effectiveness of each marketing effort to determine ways to continue to increase the ROI (rate of investment) by generating visitation to the area. Every ad we place we know how much we are paying for every lead,” she said.

A noted change in the administration of the lodging tax is event grants. Previously, the largest sum awarded for an event grant was $4,000.

That amount will be increased to $6,000 starting in September of 2015.

Any event that generates out-of-county attendance qualifies for event grant funding and grant hearings are hosted quarterly.

The board will partner with the chambers and cities to provide a mobile information center at local signature events throughout the year to extend visitor stays in the area.