Travel and Tourism board meets

At the February 16 Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism meeting, Audra Dominguez gave the financial report. For the month of January, they collected $9,823.57 in lodging tax revenue, which is above the historical average of $8,895, a 17% increase. Dominguez said, “Tourism continues to rise even in our slower season.” The board voted and approved to accept the financial report. 

Tourism director Jackie Dorothy said, “Our Winter Campaign has attracted the attention of the Wyoming Office of Tourism and got people talking about visiting Thermopolis during our slowest time of year. Our visitation has increased and we will continue promoting Thermopolis during the winter and early spring.”

Dorothy said, “The New Destination Development program has been launched with the Wyoming Office of Tourism. They provided us with quarterly reports and will be working on an inventory of our tourism assets.”

Dorothy reported that on February 8 over 100 people attended the Schenck Photography video production presentation at the Bill Malloy Auditorium. Schenck made a series of short films and commercial videos for the Travel and Tourism board that feature Hot Springs County to draw attention to potential tourism to come to visit.

In old business, the Travel and Tourism Board still has an opening for an At-Large member. This is for anyone who is a resident in Hot Springs County to participate in the board’s activities and decisions. If someone is interested in being appointed to become a board member, they need to contact the Town of East Thermopolis.

The board plans to attend the Wyoming Office of Tourism Governor’s Conference from February 27 through March 1 and then have the board’s retreat in Cody. The retreat’s date is still to be determined, however. At the retreat, they will go over their strategic plan and actionable items. 

Under new business, Dorothy brought up a training opportunity for lodging entities, such as hotels or Airbnbs, to learn how to interact with Tour Operators. Tour Operators are international representatives that bring tourism from other countries. They are called “Foreign Internation Travelers” or FIT. Dorothy gave the option of having the training in-person or virtual. The board said they desire an in-person meeting and Dorothy will work on getting a date set. 

Dorothy brought up 307 Signs who design and manufacture metal signs that promote the state. Some of their work can be seen along the highway between Casper and Shoshoni. Dorothy proposed that new signs could be made to be put up on the Wind River Canyon or elsewhere and could have graphical figure themes such as outlaw, dinosaurs, fishing, etc. Dorothy will work on getting some financial numbers and other details prior to their planning session for this possible project.