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REACH Award Winners Recognized, National Travel and Tourism Week Celebrated
REACH (Rare and Exceptional Customer Service and Hospitality) awards were held in conjunction with National Travel and Tourism Week on May 9 in Evanston naming the top business and individuals for their contributions to the tourism industry.

REACH award winners included Katherine Stauduhar from the Holiday Inn Express-Gillette for Customer Service Employee of the Year; Hampton Inn-Buffalo for Customer Service Organization of the Year; Interactive Training Simulations in Jackson for Industry Partner of the Year; and The Rockpile Museum in Gillette for Destination/Attraction of the Year.

The 2nd Annual Statewide REACH Awardees represent the best of the best in Customer Service and Hospitality in Wyoming. Their rare and exceptional service is a primary reason Wyoming visitors have a positive experience and want to return to Wyoming. Recognizing this group help us set an even higher standard for service throughout Wyoming,” says Shannon Stanfill, Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) Visit Services Manager.

Travel and Tourism is the second leading industry in Wyoming helping the state provide 30,000 jobs and $730 million in employment earnings in 2011. Each year the Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) and the U.S. Travel Association recognize the first full week of May as National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW). Localized events are held in cities, states and travel businesses nationwide to champion the power of travel and highlight the importance of this industry to local economies.

This year, NTTW was recognized during the week of May 5-13. The week’s events kicked off in Cheyenne on Thursday, May 3 with a rally at the capitol with Governor Matt Mead signing the NTTW proclamation. Local industry workers gathered in the Rotunda of their capital to help demonstrate the power of travel. Similar events were held in Lusk, Gillette, Rawlins, Evanston and Jackson and included proclamation signings with local mayors and legislators and receptions to recognize all local frontline hospitality workers.

For more information on this year’s REACH Award recipients or to get involved next year, please visit the WOT industry website at www.wyomingofficeoftourism.gov, or contact Shannon Stanfill at Shannon.stanfill@wyo.gov. Additional resources can also be found through the U.S. Travel Association website at www.ustravel.org.

Tourism Week Proclaimed
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead yesterday proclaimed May 5-12 National Tourism Week at a ceremony in the State Capitol rotunda. Mead said his latest budget included extra money for tourism marketing because he knows there is a “great return on our investment.”  The Governor also noted the important role tourism plays in attracting new businesses to the state as many people he recruits first see Wyoming as tourists. “They get out and meet people and experience that warm Wyoming welcome and it draws them back.”

Diane Shober, state tourism director, called tourism “big business” for Wyoming and said 80 percent of the total tourism revenue comes from non-residents. “That is new money being pumped into cash registers of Wyoming businesses and helping to employ Wyoming people,” Shober said.
The cooperation among three tourism-focused entities – the private sector, government and local communities – was cited as a unique contributor to Wyoming’s success.

“You will not find that kind of relationship anywhere else in the country,” said Lynn Birleffi, executive director of the Wyoming Lodging & Restaurant Association. “In this state, people stick together. We train people together and share resources. Each sector pushes the other to do even better,” she added.
Tourism is Wyoming’s second-leading industry creating nearly 30,000 jobs and generating $2.8 billion in travel expenditures annually.

LA Impressed
Travel journalists were brought a bit of Wyoming during the largest annual international tourism conference that concluded April 25 in Los Angeles. The Wyoming Office of Tourism hosted a press reception that included both domestic and foreign press. More than 1,000 U.S. travel organizations were represented at the International Pow Wow gathering that was attended by1,200 international and domestic buyers representing 70 countries.
A downtown LA location was chosen for the media get-together because of its decidedly western ambience. Writers sat and mingled beneath four Jackalope mounts. The town of Douglas, WY – birthplace of the mythical critter – had supplied the state with Jackalope toys, pins and hunting licenses for distribution at the event.
Seven Grand reportedly sells more Maker’s Mark bourbon than any other restaurant/tavern in the country and owners were thrilled to have Steve Nally on hand for the reception. Nally and his wife, Donna, manage the new Wyoming Whiskey distillery in Kirby,Wyoming. Steve Nally was employed by Maker’s Mark in Kentucky for 32 years and was convinced to relocate to design a new recipe for Wyoming a few years ago. The first batch will go on sale – only in Wyoming – December 1. Travel press people took a keen interest in Nally as well. The distillery offers tours to the public.
“It was just the right size group,” said Diane Shober, state tourism director. “We definitely made a positive impression and gained several new, good media contacts,” she added.
Among those in attendance was Mark Bedor who is a freelance travel writer and photographer from suburban Los Angeles. He plans to visit Wyoming this summer. Bedor is published regularly in many western lifestyle magazines including Cowboys & Indians, Western Horseman and American Cowboy. His “day job” is writing television news copy for the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles. Bedor’s latest project is a coffee-table book entitled “Great Ranches of Today’s Wild West” just out nationally from Skyhorse Publishing in New York. Two Wyoming dudes ranches are profiled in the book – Paradise Guest Ranch west of Buffalo and Triangle C Ranch near Dubois.
Local tourism representatives from Cody, Yellowstone National Park and Buffalo attended the LA press reception. Buffalo is hosting a familiarization tour and international tourism roundup for many of the Pow Wow attendees beginning this weekend.

    

International Tourism Thriving
The 2012 summer tourism season got started early and in earnest in the town of Buffalo, Wyoming which was filled last week with Europeans who sell travel packages to America to their countrymen and women. More that 50 Wyoming businesses that offer tourism related activities attended:

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The Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) is expanding its international marketing to include television advertising in the UK this spring.
"We worked together to pool our resources to create a 30 second commercial and a great TV ad package with Travel Channel International to increase our effectiveness in Europe," said Rita Greene Bellardo, Manager of Travel Trade Marketing for WOT. "This is the first time we have done television for international marketing and I am excited about the exposure we will receive from it."
The commercial, which runs from March 30 to April 30, promotes the four states working cooperatively with Rocky Mountain International - Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Idaho, marketing this region as the "Real America" throughout Europe.

Beautiful imagery and logos of all four states appear in the commercial with the call to action directing interested British consumers to the UK office of RMI. The ad runs ten times daily, between 8 am and midnight, during a variety of programs.

The commercial also includes the Brand USA logo. Brand USA is a non-profit private-public partnership with the mission of promoting increased international travel to the United States.

"By including the Brand USA logo, we are able to help unlock marketing funds for further investment by Brand USA into international markets," Greene Bellardo added.

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