The Montana Department of Commerce Office of Tourism (MTOT) is launching its inaugural tourism and brand workshop, entitled “Coming Together to Expand Montana’s Tourism Story,” in the Bitterroot Valley on Friday, February 3.
This free workshop is being hosted by MTOT in collaboration with the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce, Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission and the Ravalli County Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID). The workshop is an outreach effort to assist businesses in the Bitterroot Valley in bolstering their ability to attract and retain visitors to their area.
With tourism being one of Montana’s leading industries and a key economic driver for the state, MTOT views the workshop as an opportunity to help businesses attract some of the 10.5 million visitors that travel to Montana each year. These non-resident visitors bring new money into Montana’s economy spending $2.5 billion annually during their stay.
“In Ravalli County alone, non-resident visitors spent nearly $12 million in 2010 according to the Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research,” said Jeri Duran, Administrator for the Montana Office of Tourism. “We want to invite all our partners in the Bitterroot Valley to attend this workshop in an effort to help them capture even more tourism business moving forward.”
The workshop will be held at the Bitterroot River Inn Conference Center in Hamilton from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend, however, for planning purposes, interested participants are requested to pre-register for the workshop. RSVP to Carmen Levick at MTOT at (406) 841-2873 or at bit.ly/BitterrootRegistration.
The workshop will include an overview of MTOT’s efforts in supporting and promoting tourism both statewide and in the Bitterroot Valley, as well as a brainstorming session to discuss how the area can draw more visitors annually.
In addition, MTOT will be holding random drawings at the workshop. For every 20 attendees, the state will be giving away one complimentary registration to the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Recreation to be held April 11-13 in Great Falls (includes lodging). Also, one business in attendance will be randomly chosen to receive partnership marketing support valued at $500. Additional details will be shared at the workshop.
“The Chamber is delighted that the Bitterroot Valley has been chosen by the Montana Office of Tourism for the kickoff session of their statewide tourism and brand workshop,” said Richard O’Brien, Executive Director of the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce. “This is well deserved recognition for the work done by so many in raising awareness of the Bitterroot Valley and the importance of tourism and recreation to our valley, the Glacier Country region and our state. Such recognition will inspire our newly formed Tourist Business Improvement District and assist those who are involved in tourism throughout our valley. We hope that you will join with us for this exciting venue.”
Prior to the workshop, a social media team, comprised of a combination of individuals from MTOT, Glacier Country and MercuryCSC, will spend a few days traveling the valley, gathering information about attractions, activities, restaurants, and the like, to highlight on Montana’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/visitmontana) and Twitter (twitter.com/visitmontana) pages. Findings will be shared with participants during the brainstorming session of the workshop as well.