April lodging tax receipts up from last year

Tuesday at the regular meeting of Hot Springs Travel and Tourism, Director Amanda Moeller reported that the lodging tax receipts are up 76 percent for this month compared to April 2018, a welcome change as February’s receipts were down 14 percent and March’s were down 41 percent compared to last year.

Overall, receipts are still down by six percent for the year-to-date. Moeller pointed out the board received the deposit of receipts two months after it’s collected, meaning April’s deposit reflects the lodging tax collected in February and January, and Board Chair Carl Leyba noted there were several schools travelling to Thermopolis during that time.

Also during the meeting, Moeller reported on a recent meeting of the Visitor Guides Committee. At that meeting, she said, there was discussion about taking out eight of the 20 pages from the guide that Travel and Tourism puts out. Among those pages, it was suggested they get rid of those featuring dining, lodging and shopping, then condensing information in the remaining pages. It was also suggested the list of events be removed from the back page.

Moeller said they are trying to make the guide one they don’t have to do edits on every time they print it. She noted that, instead of the list of events, there would be the thermoplis.com website and advertisement for the mobile app, both of which provide additional information about town and events.

Leyba expressed concern about taking out the lodging pages from the guide and requested that decision be reconsidered when making final decisions.

Another suggestion for the guide is to switch to a more vintage look, and that a new look would be a good place to start with regard to the rebranding efforts. Later in the meeting it was explained they are looking to get away from the “opolis” brand of the past several years and get some fresh ideas such as the vintage look.

Board member Angie Guyon said instead of having all the information there for people to read before they come here and getting their expectations up, they will instead come here and realize we have much more than what they’ve read. Moeller added this goes to being authentic about who we are. She learned from the governor’s conference that people are looking for that different, authentic experience.

Moeller also reported on a meeting with the budget committee, noting one of the major differences is to put an additional $3,000 for staffing at the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, bringing it back to the $6,000 that it used to be. Moeller further added the chamber is the visitor center, and Travel and Tourism does have some responsibility to ensure someone is in there.

Other budget considerations include restoring a couple billboards and doing away with the contingency and placing that money in a miscellaneous line item.

Matt Hughes said he learned during the budget committee meeting the money designated for the fireworks show is just a donation Travel and Tourism makes. He objected to that being anything Travel and Tourism funds at all, as in his opinion it doesn’t fit the category of thing they’re allowed to spend money on. He said it didn’t seem they would attract more people if the show lasts longer based on the amount of money raised.

Moeller said according to the statute, Travel and Tourism promotion expenditures are limited to promotional materials, television and radio advertising, printed advertising, promotion of tours or other specific tourism related objectives. The discussion about donation to the fireworks comes from how the statute is interpreted.

Guyon was in support of Hughes’ idea, and Hughes clarified he would personally donate to the show but it’s not really something that brings people to town. Guyon said she speaks to visitors at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center on July 4 and they all say they aren’t staying for the show.

Moeller clarified this is not a matter of whether they want to support the fireworks, but whether providing funding for the show falls in their statutory guidelines. A motion passed to approve the budget committee’s recommendation of a draft, less the $500 for fireworks.

With regard to the board itself, Troy Dorman recently stepped down from his position and during Tuesday’s meeting Bob Roos was introduced as the new representative for East Thermopolis. As Dorman was also the treasurer for the board, Hughes was selected to fill that position.

Moeller also spoke to the recent effort to create collaboration between Travel and Tourism, the chamber of commerce, Economic Development Company and Thermopolis Main Street, to be unified under the same roof or an overarching board. She noted among the challenges with such a collaboration are the fact that Travel and Tourism funding can’t be co-mingled, and that they are a joint powers board that can’t be replaced by members of another board.

Moeller noted the chamber did a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, and encouraged Travel and Tourism board members to send her comments as to whether they want to do a SWOT analysis as well.