Wyoming Tourism Board gets a look at Thermopolis

This week saw members of the Wyoming Tourism Board on a familiarization tour of Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, as well as having their board meeting here.

During the tour, board members were taken to various businesses in the county as well as Hot Springs State Park and the Wyoming Dinosaur Center prior to a working dinner with local representatives of business, government, the Travel and Tourism Board, County Commission and Town of Thermopolis.

Tourism Board District 4 Representative Larry Lloyd said he’s been through Thermopolis and the county on a regular basis, but certainly got an eyeful on the tour. At Large Board Member Mike Keller said there is so much more to see here than one might glimpse driving through, and we’re in a great location for local as well as regional activities.

Lloyd added what he saw today certainly sparked an interest in returning, and he did not realize just how much of the town was state park.

Both Lloyd and Keller agreed we have a hidden treasure here, and while people might often expect to pay a lot when vacationing there is plenty here that is fairly inexpensive.

Lloyd pointed out tourism is Wyoming’s second-largest industry, and coming out here and to other communities allows the tourism board opportunities to hear issues and learn how to better engage people. He said the Wyoming Office of Tourism is an asset for communities in Wyoming to utilize.

Diane Shober, executive director of the Office of Tourism, said people can read about or see videos of communities all they want, but until they’ve gone out to see, hear, feel and smell them they don’t get the full experience.

The Tourism Board, Shober said, now has a deeper understanding of what assets we have in Hot Springs County. Visitors, she added, want multiple experiences when they travel and because of the collaborations here, we can provide that.