Travel and Tourism reports another record breaking deposit

At the June Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism board meeting held at the County Historical Museum, Treasurer Audra Dominguez gave the financial report. Their most recent lodging tax revenue deposit of $17,792.08 was another record-breaking amount. This particular amount is from February, three months earlier.

This year’s lodging tax revenue is $1,532.35 more than the previous year at this time and is a 9% positive change.

The current total lodging tax revenue for 2022-2023 is $209,267.83. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the financial report.

Tourism Director Jackie Dorothy gave her report and said, “Our Facebook presence, with 16,322 followers, is most popular with women ages 35 to 54—which is our target audience. ” 

Dorothy continued and said, “Our website visits have been growing each month. March—1.5K visitors. April—3.8K Visitors. May—4.5K Visitors. Over 60% have found us through organic searches and 67% are on their phones. Hot Springs State Park is our most popular page.” 

Dorothy also gave a tour after their board meeting to nearly 40 people of Hot Springs County who were on a special visit with author Margaret Cole. Their agenda included Legend Rock, the historical museum, the bathhouse and One Eye Buffalo. 

In old business, the board discussed the cap campaign they named “Forward Thermopolis.” The board proposed to local businesses and other boards to have all their staff and members wear the caps on the same day on Saturdays. They want to create a unifying presence for tourists and residents alike and promote the county’s features. 

In new business, Dorothy reported that their Proposed Budget for 2023-2024 was accepted by the State. The next step will be to have a Budget Hearing for public comments which will be on July 19 at 1 p.m. at the County’s Historical Museum.

Also, the board held a lengthy discussion about their billboard design and their various locations. There were questions from the board members about if there was a way to measure how effective the billboards were.

Chairman Carl Leyba said they rely on WYDOT data. The board plans to make a subcommittee to workshop their designs of the new billboards and to include their new logo.