Glacier Country Tourism Achievements and Strategies
for a Sustainable Future
Workforce Development, Film Promotion, Destination Stewardship Planning

The 2021 summer season started off strong with reports of record reservations across the region. We are excited to see Western Montana recover so quickly, however, many businesses and communities are struggling with adequate workforce to operate at full capacity. These challenges are not new in our industry, but, since COVID-19, they are much worse and are no longer limited to the hospitality sector. The workforce shortage has become a more complex issue, which now includes child-care shortages, affordable housing, and, according to a recent U.S. Travel Association webinar, Crisis to Opportunity: Building Back the Tourism Workforce, many employees changed careers and industries leaving behind hospitality and customer service. Glacier Country Tourism is following the local and national conversations on how our economy needs to build back the hospitality workforce across the U.S.

Glacier Country Tourism and the University of Montana are working to evaluate the workforce development needs of Montana’s tourism and hospitality sector. Together, we are developing a three-tiered training program to prepare the sector’s current and future workforce. Our first two trainings have launched—Customer Service Essentials and Conflict Management— and the Train the Trainer program is in development. Training participants are eligible to receive a GCT-branded Digital Skills Badge upon completion of the workshop issued by the University of Montana. This year-round workforce development program will continue to adapt and grow based on the needs of our communities and businesses. The 2021 Spring Glacier Country Tourism Summit was a great success with a broad slate of speakers. We are already planning our next Summit in November. Visit partners.glaciermt.com/training-workshops-education for our upcoming training and workshop schedule.

A long-awaited project to help promote Western Montana’s Glacier Country as a film destination launched in May. Film Glacier Country was created to complement the statewide efforts of the Montana Film Office and the film industry in the region by raising awareness of our region to commercial, film and television production, promote the incentives available to them and provide key information for each of our communities. We started with 13 communities and are building out all 75 in the coming years.

Our warm season campaign focused on encouraging our visitors to recreate responsibly, helping visitors and residents alike be good stewards of Montana’s people, culture and land. Our messaging has two audiences, visitors and Montana businesses. Montana businesses are encouraged to join the statewide Recreate Responsibly in Montana Initiative by integrating elements of Recreate Responsibly into their business practices, marketing and interactions. For those who would like to become an official Recreate Responsibly Business Partner, visit our Partner Center page at partners.glaciermt.com/recreate-responsibly.

The Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council approved our 2022 Marketing Plan and Budget. During Glacier Country Tourism’s January 2021 strategic planning session, our board of directors made the commitment to evolve even further into what is known as destination stewardship. The fundamental role of the DMO has always been to promote the destination. While this remains a primary focus, destination stewardship ensures that our destination retains and enhances the distinctive attributes that make it attractive to beneficial tourism. We look forward to working with our communities in the coming months as we begin this process.

Mark Your Calendar
Board Meetings


OCT

12

October 12, 2021
noon – 3 p.m.
In person, location TBD

DEC

14

December 14, 2021
noon – 3 p.m.
Virtual

MAR

8

March 8, 2022
noon – 3 p.m.
Virtual

Our board meetings are open to the public, and we welcome attendance. Meetings in the warmer months will be in person (May and October) and meetings in colder months will be virtual (December and March). Board meeting information will be posted on the Partner Center and Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission facebook page. 

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 2021 Through May 2021

Tablet-Friendly Guide Visits

77,137

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

191,771

Website Visits

1,615,602

Social Media Impressions

24,504,335

Paid Media Impressions

8,221,520

Earned Media Ad Value

$2,932,445

 

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

Public Relations and
Tourism Sales Update

This quarter has been busy in the sales department coordinating and helping to produce virtual FAM tours for meeting planners. Glacier Country Tourism invited meeting planners to attend our first virtual FAM in April focused on Missoula with our partners at Destination Missoula. The FAM highlighted the ease of access into Missoula Montana Airport and the multitude of conference and convention spaces and spotlighted three specific off-site venues to show the flavor of Missoula. In June, we held another virtual FAM focused on Kalispell with our partners at Discover Kalispell. Again, highlighting the growing accessibility at Glacier Park International Airport with the increase in direct flight markets and the diversity of meeting space venues. We had roughly 100 meeting planners in attendance. The planners who attended gave rave survey reviews on the depth of information provided on meeting in Western Montana. There has been a significant uptick in RFPs from meeting planners wanting to place meetings in Western Montana.

In April, May and June, Debbie Picard, our Tourism Sales Manager, attended a three-part trade show called Virtual ABA On Demand, where she met with tour operators each requesting more information on bringing clients to Montana via motorcoach. Remember that after each trade show leads are available on the Glacier Country Partner Center for follow-up by our partners. If you would like to promote your business specifically to the meetings and group tour markets via our B2B Blog, b2b.glaciermt.com, let us know at debbie@glaciermt.com.

Glacier Country Tourism’s Earned Media and Public Relations Manager, Lucy Beighle, has been focusing on working with media with the Recreate Responsibly and Leave No Trace messages. Although summer is typically busy in Western Montana, this summer has already proven to be attracting more visitors than ever as people feel more comfortable traveling. The public relations program is complementing Glacier Country Tourism’s consumer marketing program, so instead of just encouraging people to visit Western Montana, the message is more along the lines of “please come, but do so respectfully. And leave no trace. And consider visiting our rural corridors and lesser-known areas.” With that in mind, there will be numerous journalists and bloggers visiting this summer promoting that message.

Lucy will also be attending the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) Travel and Tourism conference, IPW (International PowWow), ESTO (Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations) and TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange) in the coming months.

Partners interested in hosting media or showcasing their business can reach out to Lucy at lucy@glaciermt.com for potential inclusion in a FAM or media trip.

5 Reasons to Renew
Renew Your Glacier Country Partnership Today

More than 1.8 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. Partner badge on your website for credibility/SEO benefits.
  2. Access to quality consumer leads and free trade-show leads.
  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 Tia Metzger at tia@windfallstudio.com.

Visit our Partner Center at partners.glaciermt.com.

partners.glaciermt.com

Disclaimer
© 2021 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-appointed 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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