Your newsletter for things that are happening in the tourism and hospitality industry throughout the state.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BVK Summer Production.

The 2023 Summer Content Campaign production for the latest iteration of the "That's WY" campaign, called "Modern Explorers", took place in the latter half of June across central and southwest Wyoming. The first couple days were spent with the Thoman family near Kemmerer. The main focus was on Mickey Thoman (the first cowgirl inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame) and how she has influenced her granddaughter to continue their family's ranching tradition. The second segment focused on Tim Trites of Cowboy Distilling Company near Pinedale. Tim has developed an award-winning line of spirits and, despite having lived and worked around the world, says that Wyoming is the perfect place to run his business for many reasons, including the availability of the cleanest water, local grains, and ability to run a zero-waste operation. (Even spent mash becomes cattle-feed!)

The third and largest segment of the production was with Jimmy Chin and featured the Ford Bronco. Jimmy is a world-renowned director, climber, and outdoorsman who calls Wyoming his home. Filming for this segment took place around the "Wild Iris" climbing area near South Pass City in the Wind River Range. Production company, STEPT, had two crew members with climbing film experience and shot alongside Jimmy from above (one crewmember had just come off of filming "Yellowstone" in Montana and drove his personal "filming rig" with a camera mount off of the rear bumper that he volunteered use of to capture the Ford Bronco segments.) When it came time to capture Jimmy fly fishing, the crew, again, got very creative and brought a blow-up raft to use to capture close-footage of Jimmy without disturbing the water or Jimmy fishing. The final segment of the production was with the Oldham family at the Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary west of Lander. Jess Oldham kept the crew entertained as much as the horses. In a single day of filming on the property, the crew stayed from sunrise to sunset and even captured a herd stampeding near the end of the day. Keep an eye out for these campaign photo and video pieces for the 2023 Summer Campaign.
 
We're excited to share a behind-the-scenes recap video for a look at what's to come.
Please note that this video is meant for your enjoyment only and should not be shared on social media or any other consumer-facing channels.
 
 
 
 
HeresWY
 
Take a minute to check out three of our lenses above. Keep an eye out for the fourth lens, which puts you in the saddle of life out West.
Which one’s your favorite?
Modern Explorer campaign.

To bolster the Modern Explorer campaign in a first for the state, The Wyoming Office of Tourism put a modern twist on our majestic reality with four Snapchat Augmented Reality Lenses.
These AR lenses offer a playful, engaging way to interact with and share some of the most photogenic but lesser-visited locations across the state.
 
 
 
International Training

The Wyoming Office of Tourism had the pleasure of conducting five international tourism seminars in Saratoga, Thermopolis, Lovell, Sheridan and Casper. The seminars featured one of WY’s top receptive tour operators, Chris Pilley with Rocky Mountain Holiday Tours. The one-hour sessions focused educating partners about working with the international tourism industry. Some of the topics included Wyoming’s target markets, how to set international rates, best practices for working with international buyers and what to expect when entering the markets. If you are interested in joining a future training, please contact Jim Wollenburg.
 
 
 
IPW

After two years of COVID pandemic cancellations and adjusted layouts, U.S. Travel Association’s IPW took place in full fashion this past June. The 53rd edition of IPW, the industry’s leading inbound travel trade show, gathered in Orlando, Florida, more than 4,800 delegates from 60+ countries. During the four-day event, U.S. travel exhibitors connected with travel buyers and media to promote their products, negotiate future business and build long-term relationships. More than 500 international journalists also had the opportunity to connect with US travel industry officials, find out the upcoming strategies. As the leading inbound travel trade show, past IPWs have generated more than $5.5 billion in future travel.

The Wyoming Office of Tourism along with the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, Blair Hotels, Cheyenne CVB, Carbon County Tourism, Sheridan Travel and Tourism, and Park County Travel Council attended the conference and conducted one on one business/media appointments throughout the duration. In total, the Wyoming Office of Tourism had 80 travel trade appointments as well as 20 qualified media appointments during the one day media event.
 
 
 
International Roundup early registration opens September 21, 2022

Set your calendar reminders! Early registration opens September 21, 2022, for the 2023 International Roundup event in Boise, Idaho. We anticipate high demand for the show with travel coming back with a bang, so you'll want to reserve your spot at this discounted rate!
 
 
 
Percepture
 
Percepture Trip

In late June, WOT brought out two Account Directions from Percepture, WOT's PR Agency of Record, to experience the state first-hand. The PR Team explored the northwest corner of the state including Cody, Meeteetse, Thermopolis, Dubois and Jackson. WOT will host another group from Percepture on a trip in July to explore the southeast corner of the state. These trips are a great way to help our new vendors get a taste of what our great state has to offer and pitch future media stories.
 
 
 
 
MILES Partnership

WOT is excited to share an opportunity for DMO partners to get involved in a statewide initiative in collaboration with Miles Partnership’s Destination Optimization program. Destination Optimization is a foundational initiative for DMOs aimed at improving the quality of their market’s organic representation across the major travel search and planning products, including Google, Yelp and TripAdvisor.

Packages (link out to 22 program sheet PDF in folder) are available with matching funds from the WOT to create an educational opportunity for your community business partners. This program will include in-person training, digital tools, and one-on-one training sessions. Our tourism businesses will benefit from having the ability to manage their online reputation outside of their owned channels – managing the consumer’s experience from the planning phase through their visit.

There are limited packages available, and training will take place Fall 2022. Please reach out to Mitch Knothe with any questions or to inquire about participating in this program. Mitch can be reached at Mitch.Knothe@milespartnership.com or 208-869-5178.
 
 
 
Media & Press Summary: June 2022
 
 
 
Please note the ‘Top Media Placements’ and ‘Earned Media’ include coverage that is a direct result of the Wyoming Office of Tourism’s (WOT) efforts, while “Wyoming in the News” is coverage that cannot be directly tracked back to the PR program.
 
 
June 2022
*This includes domestic media coverage only
Reach: 1,377,866,582
Placements: 81
 
International Year-to-Date Coverage
Reach: 271,861,926
Total Placements: 68
 
 
Fiscal Year-to-Date
*Domestic media coverage through Month YYYY and international media coverage through Month YYYY
Reach: 5,123,169,078
Placements: 1,928
 
 
Top Media Placements

Summer news wouldn’t be complete without coverage of 4th of July happenings and Wyoming was featured in several Independence Day roundups. Cody made both Reader's Digest list of “35 Best Getaways for 4th of July Weekend,” and Fifty Grande’s “Where to Go this Fourth of July,” with each outlet giving special mention to the famed Cody Stampede Rodeo and its epic parade and fireworks.

Museums were a hot topic in June with Lonely Planet dedicating an entire story to the best of Wyoming’s museums in “From the Wild West to Dinosaur Fossils, Here are 7 Wild Museums in Wyoming.” From the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale and the Museum of the American West in Lander to The Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis and The National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, the piece highlighted the distinctive qualities of each institution and explained how Wyoming’s museums cater to the art, history, geology and folklore of the Wild West.

Finally, news about Yellowstone National Park’s reopening flooded the pages of various publications, as recovery efforts drew national attention. The Wyoming Office of Tourism and Percepture worked in response to the event, alerting media and providing continuous updates on the park’s reopening and alternative travel itineraries. Among the multitude of stories, Conde Nast Traveler featured a piece about “How Yellowstone’s Historic Flooding will Impact Summer Visitors,” while RV.com provided “8 Alternatives to Yellowstone National Park” and Fox News interviewed Diane Shober for the story “Wyoming Tourism Exec Urges Yellowstone Park Visitors ‘Don’t Cancel.’”
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
 
 
 
 
 
Industry Relations Manager
 
 
Amy Larsen
 
Industry Relation Manager
Phone: (307) 777-6706
 
 

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