WCVB reports most tourists from Calgary, Washington

Downtown Whitefish covered in snow and a skier in waist-deep powder on Big Mountain or autumn foliage with a bright blue sky. These are the images the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau likes to leave in the minds of potential visitors.

“They have to hear about us — we plant that seed” WCVB director Jan Metzmaker said. “We want people to recognize us and take the next step to commit to coming here.”

The work of the WCVB, the tourism promotion committee of the city of Whitefish, seems to have blossomed in 2012. The bureau saw a 10 percent increase in collections from the 1 percent tourism promotion assessment on lodging, rental cars and restaurant purchases. A flat fee is collected from retail members.

“In the last couple of years the economy in the country has been down, but Whitefish has continued to see growth,” Metzmaker said.

“We put a lot of emphasis on the shoulder seasons. If we can get people to come in September and October, it really helps out local businesses. We’re seeing good growth in the fall.”

Metzmaker credits these increases to the success of the various areas where the bureau works to promote Whitefish. The bureau partners with the Montana Office of Tourism to purchase advertising in national magazines, to get stories published about Whitefish and attend ski shows, among other things.

The partnership with the state has been valuable, Metzmaker noted. It resulted in Whitefish being used for their winter campaign and images of the town wrapped around busses and on three-story-tall banners.

“We know people are seeing that campaign,” Metzmaker said. “The state tests the market and they are finding that people recognize the campaign and it really increased awareness of people wanting to come. What the state is doing is great and luckily we’re in on a lot of it. The way the state promotes itself — we fit the Montana brand.”

The top places visitors come from is Washington and Calgary. The bureau continues to put emphasis on its marketing to draw visitors from Portland and Minneapolis.

Among the highlights of the year, the bureau had 175,000 unique visitors to their website, more than 45,000 travel guides and visitor maps distributed and 4.9 million people reached through advertising.

“We know people are coming to our website and staying longer and getting more information,” she said. “A lot of people are using the mobile app and the people we market to are tech savvy.”

The Montana Office of Tourism in partnership with the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau helped bring ABC’s “The Bachelor” in October to tape a portion of the reality TV show. Native Eyewear came to town for its Locals Only Project and used the area as the backdrop for its catalog featuring photos and stories from here.

“We do our best and it’s been a great year,” she said. “We’re pretty proud of all the things we’ve been doing.”

Metzmaker said the work WCVB does isn’t always obvious locally.

“Most of the things we do people don’t see because it’s out of the area,” Metzmaker said. “When we go out of state, people recognize us.”