Sweetwater County tourism board reports rising visitation, $86 million in visitor spending

Janessa Meredith, chief executive officer of the Sweetwater County Bridal and Tourism Board, told the Rock Springs City Council on Feb. 4 that the board’s 2024 marketing work helped increase visitation and generated an estimated $86 million in visitor spending.

Meredith said the county’s 4% lodging tax (2% statewide, 2% local) is legally limited to marketing and visitor-generation activities. She told council members that 79% of the board’s budget went to marketing in 2024, with 7% allocated to event grants, 3% to chamber block grants, 3% to the events complex and 8% for administration.

The board reported steadier visitor traffic at the Elk Street visitor center, a 23% year-over-year rise in visitation in 2023 and an 11% increase the following year. Meredith said the board’s recruitment of events — including state soccer tournaments in 2023 and 2024 — produced roughly $6 million in economic impact from those tournaments alone, with about 800 competitors and their families attending.

Meredith outlined capital-eligible destination development funding the board received from the Wyoming Office of Tourism: $300,000 every two years. The board used the most recent award for a city wayfinding plan; phase 1 installed 30 of 86 planned signs. Meredith also said the board secured $100,000 from the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation to build out a petroglyph site at Henry’s Fork on the Wyoming side of the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway and is seeking additional funding from the National Scenic Byways office. She said the Ashley National Forest will lead build-out on federal land.

Meredith described a commissioned feasibility study for an indoor sports facility, with completion expected in April 2025. She said local industry contributors helped fund the study and that discussions with private partners have taken place, but she told the council there are no formal private commitments at this stage.

The board also noted a first-time resident mailer aimed at encouraging local residents to explore county offerings, continued Flaming Gorge bus tours, sandboard rentals and expanded public-relations outreach that led to multiple published travel pieces in 2024. Meredith said the board won a 2024 HSMAI bronze Adrian award for a digital video promoting Flaming Gorge Country.

Council members and staff asked several procedural and funding questions. When a councilor asked whether private investment had emerged around the indoor sports facility, Meredith said local industry had participated in funding the feasibility study and that conversations with potential private partners have occurred but are not formalized.

The board’s members, Meredith said, are volunteers: 11 members total, with six appointed by the City of Rock Springs, two from Green River, and one each from Wamsutter, Superior and the county commissioners. Mark Lyon is the board chair.

Meredith said she will share the completed feasibility study with the council when it is finished in April.