Travel and tourism receives grant

During the regular meeting of Hot Springs Travel and Tourism on Tuesday afternoon, Director Amanda Moeller informed the board of the receipt of a technical assistance grant for $5,000, which will be utilized to help reduce costs to the board for a conference with Young Strategies Inc. (YSI) representative Berkley Young.

Moeller noted once she received confirmation they received the grant she signed a contract with YSI and has been working with their staff to determine when to have the conference. Signing the contract was contingent upon receipt of the grant, and the conference will still cost the board just over $10,000. It’s expected the YSI conference would happen at the Governor’s Conference in Cheyenne Feb. 25-27.

In other action, the board approved the use of pictures and other material from the thermopolis.com website, with the caveat that proper credit is given to Hot Springs Travel and Tourism. Moeller noted a private company wants to use photos from the site for its own promotion, and allowing people to use the pictures gets more pictures out there.

The board also approved entering into a contract for a storage unit. Moeller explained she has a lot of stuff, including visitor guides, key chains for the Keys to the City campaign and records, in her personal possession. She requested the board consider getting a storage unit for the material, though no small units are currently available. Moeller also feels personably liable for the material right now.

Regarding Keys to the City, the key chains are finally in after several delays. The key chains are distributed to travelers during the campaign that will run through mid-March, and grant those travelers discounts at the 44 participating businesses. Moeller noted the online, television and billboard ads for the campaign are up.

A recently ordered printing of visitor guides has been received, Moeller reported, though they were shorted 2,300 on the run. The bill to the board was adjusted to reflect the error. The thermopolis.com website has also been updated, and the look reflects the visitors guides as well as the mobile Thermopolis app.

Also in the realm of online sites, Moeller said Travel and Tourism has traditionally given advertising money for special events. She suggested this year they could also provide help and updates with sites for the events, which would then be covered by a portion of the advertising money.

In terms of financials, Moeller reported it was another banner month for lodging tax receipts, being up $8,337.58, or 45 percent, for the month, and up eight percent for the year. Moeller further noted they again received over $3,000 in lodging from East Thermopolis, and speculated someone is collecting the tax on a quarterly basis rather than a monthly — which would explain and large increase in June as well — but she did not know who that is.

During open discussion, Carl Leyba said he has been visiting with Kevin Skates and Bruce Webster about hosting bands in the park, and are currently looking at bands and pricing along with where to get funding. Leyba noted everyone is booking now, so they’ve started on it to get things ready to go for next spring and summer.

The current push is to have two bands per month playing in the park in May, June, July and August, and Leyba said the ball is rolling. By January, he plans to have a list of dates and bands secured.