The Wind River Visitors Council hopes that you had a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying the first few days of 2025. Here at the office, we’re looking forward to a very busy year. Following are some updates.
Wind River Visitors Council Strategic Plan
The Wind River Visitors Council Board of Directors and Executive Director worked with Young Strategies and Rudloff Solutions to create initiatives for its new five-year strategic plan, which kicked off on January 1, 2025.
Destination International’s Advocacy Committee
Executive Director, Helen Wilson, was recently selected to be on Destination International’s Advocacy Committee. This committee recommends partnerships, best practices and resources to communicate the value and impact of destination organizations. Working with Destination International’s staff, the committee assists in the prioritization and development of advocacy-related content and resources for Destination International’s members.
Resident Sentiment Survey
The Wind River Visitors Council is working in partnership with the University of Wyoming to put together a resident sentiment survey for Wind River Country. This survey will examine public perceptions of tourism, including the positives and negatives of economic development, environmental impacts, over-tourism, quality of life and other areas. The survey will launch during National Travel and Tourism Week, which takes place from May 4 to 10.
Podcast
Have you listened to the Wind River Visitors Council’s podcast, Wyoming’s Wind River Country: Yellowstone’s Unique Neighbor? The most recent episode takes the listener to Dubois for its Dubois Cowboy Christmas event. New episodes air on the fourth Thursday of every month. January’s episode celebrates winter at the Boysen Ice Fishing Derby.
Powwow Video
The Wind River Visitors Council is creating a video about powwows. This informative and fun video dives into the powwow circuit, focusing specifically on the powwows and the people of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The video is titled “Celebration: Powwow on the Wind River Indian Reservation.” The final video will be released soon.
Wayfinding Signage in Dubois, Lander and Riverton
This Destination Development Program project puts attractive signage throughout Dubois, Lander and Riverton. A committee of 10 people, with representation from each community, worked with a contractor to create a strategic plan for this signage. The signage will have a unified look, while also representing each community’s unique personality. The project will be completed in the summer of 2025.
An Expansion of the Art Banner Project in Hudson and Riverton
This is another Destination Development Program project. Several new art banners are now on display in Hudson and Riverton. Keep an eye out as additional banners are put up.
Discover Dubois
This TravelStorys audio tour consists of 10 locations, most of which can be walked to from the downtown Dubois area. Each site has a three-minute recording. The tour currently features nine of the 10 tour locations. The final location will be added soon. Check out the tour HERE.
Conferences
Helen Wilson and two new Board Members, Dave Furman and Maralyne Middour, will be at the Governor’s Hospitality & Tourism Convention from January 26 to 28. Then Helen, Chair, Owen Sweeney, and Board Member, Krista Lobera, will attend the Board Leadership Symposium from January 29 to 31. In addition, Helen will be at International Roundup (IRU) from May 6 to 9.
Events
Do you have events that you’d like posted to the Wind River Visitors Council’s website, which automatically posts to the Wyoming Office of Tourism website? Please send any events or packages to community@windriver.org. We can also get you Wind River Visitors Council publications (the Vacation Guide; 7 Self-Guided Driving Tours; the Self-Guided Map of the Wind River Indian Reservation; and the Wind River Indian Reservation and Discover Dubois self-guided mobile audio tour rack cards), as well as provide you with the Wind River Visitors Council’s calendar of events for distribution in your newsletter, publication, news source, etc.
Board Meeting
The next Wind River Visitors Council Board Meeting is Thursday, January 23 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Lander Library, 200 Amoretti Street, Lander. Wind River Visitors Council meetings are open to the public.
About the Wind River Visitors Council
The Wind River Visitors Council, a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), is charged with the responsibility of investing lodging tax revenues to facilitate wider promotion and marketing of Fremont County and the Wind River Indian Reservation (branded as Wind River Country) as a tourist and visitor destination.
Tourism Asset Development (TAD) Program
The TAD program is a voluntary program that is unique to Wind River Country. The Wind River Visitors Council gives 25% of the local lodging tax back to the communities in the percentage that they contribute to the lodging tax. Depending on occupancy rates, these numbers are constantly changing. These funds are distributed by the Lander Chamber of Commerce; the City of Riverton; and the Towns of Dubois, Hudson and Shoshoni to market the communities. Marketing efforts may include events, grants, educational programs and more.
The Wind River Visitors Council’s mission is to stimulate tourism by increasing awareness of, and encouraging visitation to, the unique destinations, activities and events in Wind River Country.