County Tourism Master Plan nears completion, finds lack of year-long amenities
May 8—CHEYENNE — Last fall, Visit Cheyenne kicked off a $60,000 tourism campaign that ended up attracting close to 8,000 visitors who spent $1.3 million locally between September and February. The success during a time where tourism struggled elsewhere due to COVID-19 reflected what the county's economic development agencies already know: tourism plays an important role in the local economy.
To further promote the industry in a more cohesive way, the Cheyenne Downtown Development Authority, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and Cheyenne LEADS have come together and are close to finalizing a Laramie County Tourism Master Plan.
"Phase 1 was the research phase, where we looked at everything happening in the Laramie County travel industry," said Darren Rudloff, former Visit Cheyenne CEO and lead consultant on the plan. "Phase 2 is then what do we do with that information — how do we work together to make a better learning county travel industry over the next 10 years?"
During a steering committee update Friday, Rudloff laid out the six strategic tourism opportunities identified during research and surveying, which was completed with the help of UW tourism students Hailey Moss and Levi Kaiser.
These objectives will help guide the economic development agencies when it comes to furthering the tourism industry: destination development and visitor experiences; downtown development and experiences; outdoor experiences and amenities; community branding; tourism industry framework, collaboration and coordination; and advocacy for industry with elected officials and residents.
In the surveys of 500 residents and 79 out-of-town visitors, one of the major themes was that Cheyenne lacked a major, year-long attraction that could help drive tourism. A total of 90% of survey respondents said they'd support the city and county pursuing new attractions and events, though Rudloff mentioned they didn't ask about costs.
"Many people love Cheyenne Frontier Days; it's a very memorable experience, but a lot of people want to build off of it and have some other year-round attractions, not just a couple of weeks in the summer," Moss said.
About the same percentage of respondents said they support improvements to the downtown area, and the majority of the visitors said they'd want to explore downtown on a trip. Those principles can guide local development agencies, including the DDA, in funding improvements, promoting redevelopment or attracting new events.
To use that survey information in an actionable way, Rudloff said, "What we'd like to do is kind of think of what are the big strategic priorities that this community, the steering committee can get behind, so that we all aren't scattered in efforts that are working for the final goal?"
He pointed to the example of a popular concert at the Civic Center ending, but no businesses downtown being open afterward. Those circumstances affect the experiences of both visitors and residents, but can potentially be avoided with more collaboration.
Beyond downtown, the majority of residents in the survey supported the city and county developing recreation opportunities in the area, like what is currently being done with the Belvoir Ranch. With that priority highlighted by respondents, Rudloff said the agencies could look at promoting Laramie County, as well as all the outdoor opportunities in a two-hour radius.
"I know many of us in Wyoming, we're not afraid to travel one to two hours to go recreate outdoors," UW's Moss said.
With those considerations from the surveying and plan reviews, the steering committee and Rudloff Solutions will work to finalize the plan, with completion set for next month. The plan is expected to be approved by the Cheyenne City Council and Laramie County Board of Commissioners, reflecting the county-wide dedication to promoting tourism and its economic benefits.
Margaret Austin is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government reporter. She can be reached at maustin@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3152. Follow her on Twitter at @MargaretMAustin.
