Travel and tourism lodging tax revenue up slightly

At the July Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting held at the County Historical Museum Treasurer Audra Dominguez gave the financial report and said they closed out their fiscal year with a lodging tax revenue total of $223,165.09 which was $15,220.39 more than the previous year, a 1% change. For the most recent lodging tax report, they received $13,897.26 which was -$1,296.27 compared to the same month in the previous year, a -9% change. The board voted and passed approval to accept the financial report.

Jackie Dorothy gave the director’s report giving a run down of social media views.

Dorothy continued and said, “Our website visits continue growing each month. March—1,500 visitors. April—3,800 Visitors. May—4,500 Visitors. June—6,400 users, which is a 41% increase over May! 8,100 sessions, which is a 45.2% increase. The average session has increased by nearly 5% to 1:47. Over 60% have found us through organic searches and 67% are on their phones. Hot Springs State Park is our most popular page.”

Dorothy added, “The tour for Margaret Cole and her book fans was a great success. They went to Boysen State Park, the historical museum, and the bath house and ended with drinks at OEB. They stayed nearly two hours longer than they intended and said our day was the highlight of their tour, which covered the reservation and Fremont County. I based the tour on her book #20 about Butch Cassidy and included many stories of our local outlaws. They may do this as a yearly event.”

Also, Dorothy reported that the Hot Springs County Museum is now open on Sundays due to popular demand from 1-5:30 p.m. They have also ordered a banner stating “Historical Museum, Visitor Information” that will be hung on the east side of the museum. Their “open bar” event was also a huge success and a great partnership with the PRCA rodeo. The museum board is already making plans to make it an annual event. 

The board voted and passed the approval to accept the director’s report.

In old business, they discussed their Thermopolis cap campaign to kick it off by distributing the caps to business owners. The board is seeking businesses to have their employees wear the caps on Saturdays to show community unity for others to see and to promote tourism in Hot Springs County. The board ordered 500 caps for the campaign which were printed locally. 

Regarding their digital signage project, the board is working on language for a Hot Springs State Park agreement and also getting electric power set up for the display with Rocky Mountain Power.

In new business, the board held their 2023-2024 budget hearing. The only change was to reallocate $4,000 to sponsorships, but did not affect the overall amount in the budget. The board voted and passed the approval to officially adopt the budget.

The next Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting will be on August 15 at 1 p.m. at the County Historical Museum.