Travel & Tourism Board holds meeting

At the March Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting held at the Copper Coo, Treasurer Audra Dominguez gave the financial report. The most recent lodging tax revenue deposit was $10,511.92, which was $1754.88 more than the previous year, up to 20%. The 2023/24 fiscal thus far has already achieved three record-breaking months in lodging tax. So far as of February, the total lodging tax collected is $181,784.55. Since 2020 and until 2023, the amount of lodging tax collected increased by 25%, whereas in all previous years, there was a flatline in lodging tax revenue.

According to Dominguez and Director Jackie Dorothy, they credit this increase to the COVID time when people wanted to leave bigger cities and also from their marketing campaigns. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the financial report.

The lodging tax resolution is on the ballot again which would keep the tax at 7%. The statewide lodging tax is 5% and Hot Springs County can ask for an additional 2% local lodging tax. This tax is not paid by local residents of Hot Springs County. It is collected from tourists who book rooms at hotels, motels, Airbnb’s, Vrbo’s, or other short-term lodgings. The taxing revenue is then used for tourism marketing in Hot Springs County. Other municipalities in other states can sometimes collect lodging taxes up to 20%, this makes Wyoming’s tax much less in comparison.

In the Director’s report, Dorothy said, “The Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) has promoted Thermopolis once again and we received top billing in their latest media partnership.”

Dorothy continued and said, “House Bill 67 was signed into law. This is the bill that’s about how to distribute the money for trails, among other things. Our outdoor partners have been looking at ways to utilize this in our county. This would be Dusty Lewis, Wade Lippincott and Michael Kusiek of Pathways. I will be reaching out to them to see what their plans are to secure the BRC funds for Hot Springs County. This bill is the framework on how the funds will be distributed.”

Regarding the Governor’s Conference, Dorothy said, “The 2024 Wyoming Governor’s Tourism Conference was full of great information and networking. The highlight was Thermopolis and Hot Springs County. Our community was a featured part of the conference - especially during Director Diane Shober’s keynote speech on the second day.”

“We were able to meet with Berkeley Young of Young Strategists, Darren Rudloff, and the Wyoming Office of Tourism team and it was a very positive experience. They are excited about all the strides we have made in the past four years and would like to revisit our strategic plan.”

Also in Dorothy’s report, she said, “Director of Wyoming State Tourism, Diane Shober, spoke about how they are working to expand tourism in smaller destinations - and used Thermopolis and the Big Horn Basin as her success stories. Thermopolis and the hot springs were included in Wyoming’s major winter campaign. Local Fishing Guide Keith O’Brien was featured in a documentary on Outside TV. It was called “Wild Wyoming” and was a race in Bronco’s across the Cowboy State for charity. Future campaigns from the Wyoming Office of Tourism for 2024 include a video story on white water rafting in the Wind River Canyon. A Cowboy and Outlaw Tour is being planned for 2025. Amy Larsen, Industry Relations Manager at the Wyoming Office of Tourism, remarked that this will be as big as their Yellowstone tour and was inspired by the stories that we have shared as “Outlaw Country”. The BrandUSA video on Thermopolis that we assisted with last summer was featured at the GoWest Summit in California as an example of the new interest in small-town travel by international visitors.”

In old business, the board continued their discussions regarding the digital sign. The proposed location of the sign is to be on the south side of town near the WYDOT building. The board is currently exploring through negotiation for the price for the sign; there are three various quotes ranging from $100,000 to $170,000 that factor in different sizes and configurations. The board voted and passed the approval for board member Sherman Skelton to represent them in the negotiations. 

The board voted and passed the approval for Hermann Global for marketing. They also voted and passed the approval to sign with I-Heart for their marketing campaign, which includes geo-fencing. The board voted and passed the approval to hire London Jenks for the Thermopolis.com website management to perform updates.

 The FAM (Familiarization Trip) tour will be with the Wyoming Office of Tourism and Rocky Mountain International. It will occur on April 25-26 and host tour operators from over 10 countries including France, Belgium, Italy and England.

The group will have a Lodging Tax Board training in May. In April they will be having a budget meeting and in May they will have a public hearing on the budget.