Tourism board discusses promotion

During the Tuesday meeting of Hot Springs Travel and Tourism, Mathias Jung, owner and CEO with Rocky Mountain International, was invited to speak with the board regarding promotion of Thermopolis.

Rocky Mountain International specializes in international tourism marketing and business development for the Rocky Mountain region, to increase incremental international visitation, spending and market share of the region to fuel the economies of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Headquartered in Cheyenne, the firm also has overseas operations in London, Munich, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Denmark and Sydney.

During his presentation, Jung explained booking a visit in the United States is different than overseas. Whereas here we are more likely to book with online travel sites, he said, abroad they still work largely with brick and mortar travel agencies.

He suggested to the board that they attend the International Roundup tourism tradeshow, as it provides an opportunity to meet those who operate such travel agencies and “sell” Thermopolis to them, with the hope that they would then sell it as a destination to their customers.

Thermopolis really is an “exotic” destination when it comes to international tourism, Jung said, and has what a lot of people travelling from overseas want. There appeared to be a general interest in going to the event from the board, but it was also noted they need to prepare well in advance so they can really “sell” the town to agencies and make it worth the time and money to attend.

Jung further added that it can take some time to introduce a town as a product, and it could be a few years from initial efforts to see a real increase in the number of visitors we see here.

Looking more specifically at what hoteliers can do to bring in guests and make for a positive Thermopolis experience, Jung suggested things like having staff who are knowledgeable about what is in town and the surrounding area helps as they can direct more easily. Providing a welcoming environment though simple things like having someone waiting to greet guests at the front desk is also important.

The presentation comes at a good time for Travel and Tourism, at the end of their fiscal year, as in the coming months they are going to be working on a re-branding, getting away from the “opolis” phrasing currently seen on billboards.

Also at the meeting, Director Amanda Moeller reported that, at the end of the fiscal year, they are down five percent, or $9,576.28, in lodging tax receipts compared to the previous year, which it not as bad as she was expecting. She noted there were four months during which receipts saw an increase — 24 percent in November, 103 percent in January, 76 percent in April and 35 percent in June.