Visit Carson City reports marketing gains, Casa Grande film brings hotel nights; turf-field timeline still uncertain

At the March 10, 2025 Visit Carson City board meeting, executive director Dave Peterson and staff reported stronger digital marketing performance, new film production activity that has driven hotel stays in Carson City, a cluster of incoming events and tours, and continued uncertainty about the schedule for the Centennial Park synthetic turf project.

Lydia, a Visit Carson City staff member who presented the marketing and public relations update, said paid ads were “up nearly 300%” and attributed much of the growth to the winter campaign. She told the board the organization saw about 250 lodging referrals from ads in February, “up 5% from January,” and that video clips from the board’s short film were performing well as advertising creative.

The nut graf: those marketing gains and the local hosting of a feature film are driving near-term lodging demand and publicity for the destination, while the board and staff pressed event and sports organizers to plan around lingering uncertainty about the city’s turf-field construction schedule.

Visit Carson City metrics and film activity Visit Carson City staff presented a summary of 2024 visitor data from the Datafy platform showing about 1.35 million trips to the region in calendar year 2024, an average length of stay of 2.6 days, and that nearly 90% of visitors were from out of state. The largest source markets (DMAs) were Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with Los Angeles growing year over year, staff said.

Lydia reported that a feature film production, Casa Grande, is filming in and around Carson City and that the production has generated roughly 600 room nights for local hotels so far. She said the production is using downtown locations including the Bank Saloon and that one of the film’s principal cast is Lou Diamond Phillips. The board viewed a short video clip of location scouting and a media segment about the production during the meeting; executive director Dave Peterson thanked city staff for changes to film permitting that helped attract the project.

Film partnerships and workforce opportunities The board heard that the production company has discussed a media day in Carson City and that the Cordillera International Film Festival and Film Northern Nevada are coordinating a student mentorship and behind-the-scenes training opportunity. Emily Skyle Golden, identified in meeting video excerpts as executive director of the Cordillera International Film Festival, described the region’s location variety and welcoming residents as factors that appealed to location scouts.

Events, MegaFam and group business Stu Wexler (Biz of Carson City) and other staff outlined several upcoming group and sports events: a multi-territory MegaFam dubbed the Jackpot Jamboree (a joint effort with Reno and Las Vegas territories) aiming to bring roughly 25 tour operators; a Highway 50 “Loneliest Highway” motorcoach itinerary in June organized by Sports Leisure Vacations; youth and adult sports tournaments; and a planned locksmithing convention (Sparrows Lock Picks) at the state prison expected to bring about 80 attendees.

Dave Peterson and staff said the MegaFam is funded in part by two $20,000 grants (one from the Reno Tahoe territory and one from Las Vegas), for a combined $40,000 in support. Peterson described the MegaFam as a pilot collaboration designed to showcase the region to operators and said staff hope the program will reduce direct cost to Carson City depending on transportation arrangements.

Sports-tourism and tournament scheduling Board members and staff discussed several sports events that drive midweek and shoulder-season hotel demand. Stew (presented as Stu Wexler) reported a youth shooting tournament with about 120 shooters and other sport events that attract out-of-area teams. Organizers estimated attendance for the Stetanus Pay Dirt race at roughly 300–500 registered riders; another board member said turnout could approach 500–600 depending on scheduling and attrition.

Centennial Park synthetic turf project: procurement and timing Board members pressed for clarity on the new Centennial Park fields. Stacy Giome said the board approved the concept of the infill material (an encapsulated crumb-rubber product) and that the city must now put the roughly $5,000,000 contract out to bid. Giome said a typical bidding window would be “about three weeks” and that she would be “shocked” if the contract were let before the first week in May. She cautioned that meeting earlier public expectations for a September completion would be “a big ask.”

Dave Peterson said he spoke with Parks staff (Jen Budge) who indicated site work could begin around Oct. 1 and that the new fields could be available for play by May 2026 if the procurement and construction schedule proceeds as hoped. Both Peterson and Giome stressed the dates were estimates and dependent on the bid and contracting process.

Administrative notes and next steps Peterson told the board he needed to table agenda item 9C for the meeting and would bring it back to the board at next month’s meeting. Staff announced the next Visit Carson City board meeting will be Monday, April 14 at 4 p.m. in the same room.

Ending: The board asked staff to continue coordinating with Parks and Recreation and with event organizers to capture tournament business where possible while the turf project schedule remains in flux. Visit Carson City staff said they will continue outreach to tour operators and media to leverage the Casa Grande production and other PR placements to attract visitors and group business to Carson City.