Tourism is the second largest economic generator in the Cowboy State. Last year, visitors to Fremont County spent more than $138 million on accommodations, food, arts, entertainment, recreation, retail, and automobile and air transportation. This influx of tourist dollars generated $70 million in earnings, supported more than 1,500 jobs, and generated just shy of $9 million in state and local taxes.
The History of the Lodging Tax in Fremont County
Fremont was the first of Wyoming’s 23 counties to enact a lodging tax back in the 1980s, and it was adopted in recent years across the entire state. In 1989, a joint powers agreement was entered into by Fremont County, the cities of Lander and Riverton, and the towns of Dubois, Hudson, and Shoshoni. The agreement created a joint powers board, now called the Wind River Visitors Council (WRVC), with representation from each of the powers to “facilitate and bring about the wider promotion and marketing of the Fremont County area as a tourist destination and to oversee, manage, and implement a marketing plan and to administer the expenditure of lodging tax revenues.”
The TAD Grant Program: Unique to Wind River Country
A unique aspect of the WRVC’s annual plan, available in no other part of Wyoming, is its Tourism Asset Development (TAD) program. The TAD program gives a portion of the lodging tax back to the communities in the percentage that they contribute to it for the purpose of promoting and increasing their visitor and tourism economies. These funds can be used for promotional materials, television and radio advertising, printed advertising, digital content, social media, promotion of tours, staging of events, educational materials and other specific tourism-related objectives. They may not be spent on alcohol, lobbying efforts, capital construction, marketing for private businesses or staff hours (except for frontline staff at visitors’ centers and convention and visitor bureaus).
TAD Program Eligibility
Non-profit civic organizations with tourist/tourism-related events or programs are invited to apply for a TAD grant. All applications are reviewed by each participating community’s established promotion committee. For many years, the City of Lander has invested its authority in the Lander Chamber of Commerce to run Lander’s TAD grant program. The Chamber’s Destination Lander Committee serves as Lander’s promotion committee and is comprised of members of the community as well as at least one member each from the Chamber’s staff and board of directors.
Lander’s Many Events Supported by TAD Grants
On behalf of the City of Lander, and in partnership with the Wind River Visitors Council, the Lander Chamber allocates annually tens of thousands of dollars of lodging tax proceeds in the form of TAD grants to non-profit and civic organizations whose events and programs attract visitors to Lander. Through the years, there have been few events and programs hosted in Lander that have not been supported by a TAD grant. Examples of these include the Pioneer Days Rodeo and Parade, One Shot Antelope Hunt, International Climbers’ Festival, Lander Brewfest, Native American dances, Lander Presents summer concert series, Fremont Area Road Tour, Jurassic Classic mountain bike festival, RiverFest, Lander Valley Farmers Market, Challenge for Charities, Fremont Toyota Shootout, Lander Girls Softball League, Wyoming Outdoor Weekend & Expo, Fremont County Pioneer Museum, Sinks Canyon Trail Races, Lander Senior Babe Ruth Baseball, Museum of the American West, Lander Art District Street Fair, Garden Expo, Wings n’ Wheels Fly-In/Airshow/Car Show, and many more!
Funded organizations and events must provide recognition to the Wind River Visitors Council and the Lander Chamber of Commerce. This includes the use of the Wind River Country and Lander Chamber TAD logos on all marketing materials, verbal recognition if sponsors are announced, and recognition on social media posts. This is important for transparency purposes, as usage of the Wind River Country logo demonstrates to the community where the lodging tax is being spent.
For more information about Lander’s TAD grant program, contact Carol King at carol@landerchamber.org. For more information about the lodging tax or for general information about Wind River Country’s TAD program, email Helen Wilson at hwilson@windriver.org.
