Scotts Bluff tourism advisory committee presents updated strategic plan; commissioners call for joint work session

The Scottsbluff Area Visitors Bureau and its tourism advisory subcommittee presented updates to the bureau’s strategic plan during the Scotts Bluff County Board of Commissioners meeting, and commissioners agreed to pursue a joint work session to develop a new, shared strategic planning process.

Chuck Heeman, a member of the tourism advisory committee and an owner-operator of a local small business, told the board the document shows changes made since the plan’s 2017 inception and an update in 2022. "I am a member of the tourism advisory committee and I run a small business in town," Heeman said when he introduced the packet. He described the yellow highlights in the document as items added or addressed in 2022 and said some highlighted items are ongoing while others are complete.

Nut graf — why it matters: Commissioners and tourism leaders said the county’s lodging-tax revenue is intended to boost overnight stays and local spending; both sides said they want clearer priorities and shared metrics before committing funds to events and marketing. Commissioners emphasized that tourism is an advisory function of the tourism committee but that final spending decisions rest with the elected board.

Discussion and key points: Heeman listed areas of emphasis — including leisure-group travel, ecotourism (noting birding and Wildcat Hills), agritourism and astrotourism — at the suggestion of state tourism staff. Multiple commissioners asked for clearer, itemized outcomes and for documentation of previous data collection, including the summer surveys the tourism committee said had been completed by interns and by rural-fellows projects for the monument, Legacy of the Plains and the fair.

Commissioner remarks repeatedly returned to two themes: (1) the county’s lodging-tax revenue should be allocated with an eye toward return on investment measured primarily by additional paid overnight stays, and (2) any new strategic plan should be developed jointly so commissioners and the tourism committee align on priorities, timelines and measurable outcomes. One commissioner proposed a "pre-plan" exercise in which stakeholders submit individual priorities so a facilitator can synthesize them into a work-session agenda.

Public input: Several members of the public spoke in favor of expanding ecotourism and astrotourism. Campground host Eleanor Schimick said visitors often praise local stargazing opportunities; she told the board that travelers who "get away from street lights" are frequently surprised by the night sky. Legacy of the Plains Museum executive director Dave Wolf described existing visitor counts at museum events and asked how Placer AI and other analytics would be used with existing door-count methods.

Board response and next steps: Commissioners and tourism staff agreed there is not an immediate request to approve the packet as written; instead, the board offered consensus to move forward with a staged process: compile the tourism committee’s prior planning documents and data, gather hotel and event calendars and occupancy patterns, and convene a jointly facilitated strategic-planning work session that includes city partners, hotels and other stakeholders. Commissioners said they expect a facilitator to synthesize feedback and return a draft strategic plan for review.

Ending: The board indicated general support for a joint strategic-plan work session rather than immediate formal approval of the packet; staff and committee members said they will prepare baseline data and convene stakeholders for a facilitated planning session.