Visit North Platte reports $121 million tourism impact, forecasts $3.5 million in new sports event spending for 2025

Visit North Platte told Lincoln County commissioners that tourism continued to be an important local economic driver, citing a 2023 Dean Runyon study that estimated a $121 million annual tourism impact and presenting marketing and event developments expected to boost local spending in 2025.

Why it matters: Tourism‑driven spending supports local jobs, lodging tax receipts and funding for visitor facilities; the organization’s planning and promotional work drives hotel nights, events and visitor services that generate county sales and lodging tax revenue.

Key figures and findings presented by Visit North Platte executive director Lisa Burke and board chair Tom Wolfgang: - Economic impact: Dean Runyon’s 2023 analysis estimated a $121,000,000 annual tourism economic impact for Lincoln County and a 1.7% increase over 2022. - Employment and wages: About 1,530 jobs in Lincoln County are directly supported by tourism businesses; annual wages for those positions were reported at roughly $34.3 million. - Lodging and visitation: In 2023 an estimated 597,900 people spent the night in Lincoln County; lodging tax receipts for the county declined 1.89% year‑over‑year in the reported period, with several record months noted. - Web and marketing reach: The destination’s new website recorded about 66,000 unique users and roughly 214,000 sessions in 2024; total marketing impressions for 2024 were reported at ~1.012 billion with a cost per thousand impressions of $7.83. - Visitor services: Visit North Platte operates 13 kiosks, distributes brochures statewide and manages a calendar of events that staff said helps counter the perception that “there’s nothing to do” in the county. - Crane season and birding: Sandhill crane counts and related tours were highlighted as an important seasonal draw; Visit North Platte reported strong participation and encouraged local partners (museums and attractions) to remain open during crane season to capture visitor spending. - Sporting events pipeline (2025): The organization listed 11 new or expanded sporting events expected in 2025, with a combined projected economic impact of about $3.5 million. Notable items included youth baseball tournaments, US Bowling Congress events, youth tackle football, pickleball tournaments and college lacrosse events. Example projections presented: a multi‑state youth baseball tournament projected to bring $741,000 in visitor spending for one weekend; a separate youth baseball event projected at $664,000; and a set of pickleball and lacrosse events projected to add tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

Context and next steps: Visit North Platte said it has increased collaboration with county and city representatives and has added non‑voting and lodging‑industry board members to improve countywide representation. Board members asked for a larger meeting facility in the county to capture more conventions and meetings business; Visit North Platte said the county’s existing assets and the focus on sports tourism are the current strategy to grow room nights and visitor spending.

Quote: "We have about 11 new sporting events slated for 2025 and the projected sporting tourism spending comes to $3,500,000," Visit North Platte executive director Lisa Burke said during the presentation.

Ending: Visit North Platte asked stakeholders to continue coordinating facility availability, museum and attraction hours during peak seasons (crane season and event weekends) and to consider the county’s long‑term facility needs for meetings and conventions.