Travel and Tourism board meeting

At the November Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting, Treasurer Audra Dominguez reported that their October 31, 2024 lodging tax distribution was $36,546.19. In the previous year, October 2023, their lodging tax distribution was $38,506.60. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the financial report.

Tourism Director Angie Guyon also presented a new budget that was reformatted to become more readable, with different categories being identified. There was no change to the total of the budget and therefore does not require an official amendment. The board expressed that the budget was easier to look at and made a request for percentages to be added to each category. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the reformatted budget.

In old business, Guyon said that their board insurance is “up and going” where they have all board members covered through insurance with a surety bond when signing checks.

Regarding Tourism Director Guyon’s contract for her work with the board, her contract is still pending completion. Chairman Will Robinson said, “It’s in the process. We’ve given you the preliminary or the interim one and then working on the final draft. We’re working with the attorney on it and getting it just right. We don’t want to leave out anything. We should have that shortly, hopefully within the next couple weeks.” 

Guyon was originally hired as the new Tourism Director on August 20, 2024.

Board member Quinton Blair of Cody held a discussion about Rocky Mountain International (RMI) and International Round Up (IRU). Both of these are organizations that help international tourists from Europe make plans and reservations for tourist opportunities in the United States, particularly the greater Rocky Mountain regions. 

Blair said that working with them “is something we should aspire to,” however he added that he believes the hotels businesses in Thermopolis are not ready to work in this market. The reason for this is that the hotels and RMI and IRU have to have multiple buy-ins to be in agreements through a chain of relationships going from the local hotels, to RMI or IRO, to the travel agents in Europe. Blair added that European tourists value dude ranches or guest ranches with experiential travel features. 

If the tourism board were to attend the RMI or IRU conference, they could begin networking with the various agents or entities. The cost for attendance is about $2,500 and Blair said it would take about three different times to attend to begin to see progress. The next event is in May 2025.

In new business, Guyon and the board discussed their exploration with Widget, who creates an app for tourism and a corresponding website design and maintenance service. The first cost is $25,000 for setup and building the app and website, and then $10,000 thereafter for annual fees for the website hosting and maintenance. 

The board discussed the idea of having the website and app be seasonal. There were also questions if the app would be beneficial and visible to potential interested tourists. They also discussed the value of the app to create itineraries for tourists based upon their interests. 

The board concluded to return to Widget and ask for revised pricing and research as Thermopolis and Hot Springs County are small and have fewer attractions than other larger markets.

Guyon presented the board with a contract from Schenck Photography for the purchase or license of some previously made tourism videos that feature Hot Springs County. Jeb Schenck was present and discussed the videos and a possible retainer of photography for year round images for the board to use and build a library. 

Guyon said the contract shows that the two 60-second videos would also have 30 second and 15 second versions as well, with a total time of about six to eight minutes. Schenck discussed with the board the understanding of intellectual property rights and that he is licensing the content.

Schenck also presented a single page flow chart where he outlined a potential strategic plan for the use of the content. In the flowchart, he asked, “Where do tourists see the videos and stills? What is the best return of investment?” Schenck suggested that the board create campaigns using posts, paid online ads and use the Visitors Guide. To do this, Schenck said that the board would need additional resources to have successful campaigns to reach new audiences. The end goal, according to Schenck, is “Heads in beds, new followers, increased revenue of lodging tax, and the growth of businesses and community.”

Chairman Robinson said that they would look over the contract and get back to Schenck.

Guyon discussed a photography contest idea where they may use Chamber Bucks to use as prizes. There was discussion about who will do the judging and that the contest could be held for each of the four seasons. Also, there could be a grand prize of the year from the individual season winners. The photographs collected from participants would be used as additional assets for the tourism board to use in marketing. The board decided to table the matter to flesh out the details.

During the election of officers, the board voted for Will Robinson to be Chairman, Mike Sinclair as Vice Chair, Audra Dominguez as Treasure, and Ryan Shaffer as Secretary.