Montana Sunshine: Campaign and Year-End Updates
Warm Season Campaign Promotes Glacier Country

Springtime is officially wrapped up and summer has arrived in Western Montana. Our spring warm season campaign launched on March 1 and ran through May 30. The digital advanced targeting campaign delivered more than 7.4 million impressions with a click through rate (CTR) of 0.14%, twice the standard CTR of 0.06%. The warm season campaign included some national targeting, but most was focused on Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Houston, Alberta, Chicago, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco and Dallas. We have annual placements running through September and will present our year-end reports at our October board meeting.

Looking back on FY 2019, we’d like to share a few noteworthy achievements with you. These statistics are FY 2019 through April, compared to the same period in FY 2018. The Glacier Country consumer blog is up 57% in total visits, and the B2B blog is doing equally well with an increase of 35%. Glacier Country Tourism social media channels continue to grow. Facebook has reached 319,830 likes, instagram has 40,647 followers and overall impressions increased by 46%. The digital version of our travel guide provides value to many visitors wanting immediate information, and has been downloaded 60,227 times in FY 2019. Our database of potential visitors continues to grow; the monthly consumer newsletter now goes out to more than 200,000 readers.

In other news, the FY 2020 marketing plan was approved by the Tourism Advisory Council the first week of June, and the Glacier Country Tourism team is already hard at work planning and preparing for FY 2020 marketing initiatives. To provide high-value educational trainings to local businesses, Glacier Country sponsored, in partnership with Flathead Valley Community College, customer service trainings in nine Western Montana communities. The trainings were focused on hosting Montana’s visitors, and were free and open to the public.

Lastly, we are now accepting applications for the Glacier Country Tourism Cooperative Grant. Tourism-related non-profits interested in developing or expanding a marketing project can apply on Submittable. Funds are granted for qualifying projects on a first-come, first-served basis.

TOURISM FAST FACTS

40%
of nonresident visitors came to Montana for vacation in 2018. 19% came to visit relatives or friends living here. (Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research, ITRR)

Tourism supported more than 59,290 Montana jobs in
2018, and
$230 million
in state and local taxes. (ITRR)

 

In 2018, 3% of all travelers to Montana were overseas visitors, who spent an average of
$218 a day.
(ITRR)

Mark Your Calendar
Board Meetings


OCT

15

October 15, 2019
noon – 3 p.m.
C’mon Inn, Missoula

DEC

10

December 10, 2019
noon – 3 p.m.
Museum at Central School, Kalispell

MAR

10

March 10, 2020
noon – 3 p.m.
TBD

Our board meetings are open to the public, and we welcome attendance. Board training is from noon – 12:50 p.m., and the business meeting starts at 1 p.m.

To learn more, please call the Glacier Country Tourism office at 800.956.6537 or 406.532.3234. Or drop us a note at glaciercountry@glaciermt.com.

MILESTONES FY 2019

Tablet-Friendly Guide Visits

67,939

Call Center Inquiries (phone, email, live chat and travel guide distribution)

168,680

Website Visits

1,413,841

Social Media Engagement

23,189,736

 

Need travel guides? Call Kristi McNeal, Glacier Country Tourism's office manager, at 406.532.3234.

 

Public Relations and
Tourism Sales Update

Glacier Country Tourism’s Public Relations and Earned Media Manager, Lucy Guthrie Beighle, has hosted and planned trips for numerous influencers and journalists this quarter. She also assisted the Whitefish and Kalispell CVB with a media trip to promote the new American Airlines flight between Dallas (DFW) and FCA. Three journalists arrived on the inaugural flight, Staci Salazar, Liz Foster and Jaime Scilingo. They spent five days visiting Whitefish and Kalispell, enjoying locally-sourced dining, beer and wine, and epic adventures with our local guides. Tanya Foster also visited Whitefish; her previous visit in the fall to Missoula and the surrounding area generated more than $10k in earned media value and featured more than 30 partners in her blog or on social media. Preparations continue for an eight-journalist Glacier Country FAM trip in September following the Travel Blogger Exchange (TBEX) conference to be held in Billings.

The business-to-business trade show season just wrapped up and our tourism sales manager, Debbie Picard, successfully promoted Western Montana’s Glacier Country around the U.S. She attended International Roundup at the end of April and met with international tour operators interested in itineraries for the Great American West—a region that includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota. The first week in June she joined other state tourism partners in a Montana booth at IPW, the largest international travel trade show in the U.S. and met with 38 international tour operators and domestic-based international inbound receptive tour operators. Also in June, Debbie hosted—in conjunction with Destination Missoula, Discover Kalispell and Explore Whitefish—a meeting planner FAM to introduce Rob Cohen, Pamela Kenworthy, Carole Machol-Alter and Mat MacDonell to our great convention hotels, offsite venues and attractions for their clients’ next meetings or conventions. After every show, Debbie’s trade show leads are available on the Partner Center for follow-up by Glacier Country partners.

For more information about our PR and earned media or tourism sales departments, email Lucy or Debbie at lucy@glaciermt.com
or debbie@glaciermt.com.

5 Reasons to Renew
Renew Your Glacier Country Partnership Today

More than 1.5 million unique visitors a year utilize glaciermt.com to assist in planning their vacations, and your membership guarantees excellent visibility throughout our site.

Here are five reasons to renew:

  1. Featured listings on glaciermt.com reaching a massive online audience.
  2. Brand new online Partner Center for insider info.
  3. Access to qualified and quality consumer leads and free trade show leads.
  4. Cooperative premium advertising opportunities on glaciermt.com.
  5. Listing and advertising opportunities in the Glacier Country Travel Guide.

To renew your partnership or advertise with us, email Glacier Country’s Contract Agent for Media and Partnership Services, Scott Woodall, at scott@windfallstudio.com.

 

partners.glaciermt.com

Disclaimer
© 2019 Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of any material must be with the consent of the Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission. Produced with Accommodations Tax Funds.

Glacier Country Tourism is operated by a Board of Directors (made up of two members from each county in Glacier Country: Flathead, Glacier, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli and Sanders, up to eight at-large representatives and up to six ex-officio) and the executive director. The board operates under strict rules and regulations set by the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) and the Montana legislature. The Glacier Country Tourism marketing plan and projects are approved by the board and then submitted to the TAC for final approval.

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