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Galena Country Tourism reports record digital reach, outlines FY26 budget and marketing plan
Summary
Galena Country Tourism told the city council it recorded large digital reach and modest lodging tax growth in FY25, outlined a conservative FY26 budget, and proposed a marketing plan focused on digital channels, content creation and midweek/value travelers.
At the July 25 Galena City Council meeting, representatives of Galena Country Tourism presented their FY25 annual report, Q4 fiscal-year snapshot and a proposed FY26 budget and marketing plan, saying the organization saw record digital reach and is budgeting conservatively for lodging tax growth.
Terry, representing Galena Country Tourism, summarized a slate of performance metrics and strategic priorities: high search impressions and clicks, large increases in earned-media views, stronger YouTube engagement, and record visitor-center walk-ins since moving into the Depot Building. The organization’s FY26 budget, approved by its board, assumes modest lodging-tax growth (about 1.5%) and increases in marketing and content-creation spending.
Terry highlighted several FY25 figures for the council: roughly 29 million Google search impressions and about 500,000 Google clicks; an earned-media view count of about 20 million (compared with roughly 1 million the prior year); an increase in total marketing interactions the report lists at about 74 million; and YouTube views rising from about 19,000 to more than 1.5 million. The proposed FY26 marketing plan increases spending on digital content, photo/video production, and targeted advertising while reducing agency fees by negotiating more work in-house.
The plan targets primary markets such as the Chicago area, with secondary and tertiary outreach across nearby Midwestern markets, and emphasizes midweek and “value season” travel. Tactics include expanded SEO and SEM, streaming advertising, social platforms (Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube), and a lodging co‑op program in which the tourism office subsidizes a portion of partner participation.
Councilmembers asked for more detail on certain line items. Councilmember Weenan requested clearer breakdowns on the P&L for building maintenance (landscaping, snow removal, contracted work) and on the digital budget to separate pure media buys from subscription/platform fees. Terry said the office previously supplied a five‑page ledger of maintenance expenses and agreed to provide more granular breakdowns at the tourism board’s finance committee meeting.
Terry also said the organization is creating a grant program to quantify support for smaller events and noted activities that could help boost off‑peak visitation, including group tours, niche magazines, gamified walking tours and photography/video investments. He cited several special events and developments that he said supported visitation: return of Viking cruises, preparations for the bicentennial, filming activity, and 75 photo/video shoots producing new content.
The tourism presenter described the FY26 budget as balanced, with a projected 1.44% increase in net operating income and a roughly 9–10% increase in total marketing spend driven largely by content creation and trade-show participation. Councilmembers sought more detail on the tourism office’s capital and operating split and on how much of the digital‑line item represents platform/agency fees versus direct ad spend.
