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Explore Utah Valley briefs commission on marketing, airport and Epic Sports Park impact
Summary
Explore Utah Valley updated the Utah County Commission on 2024 marketing gains and a proposed 2025 budget request, citing roughly $15–16 million in group-sales economic impact year to date and plans for expanded marketing, visitor kiosks and agritourism research.
Lee Adamson, executive director of Explore Utah Valley, and his staff briefed the Utah County Commission on Dec. 18 about 2024 marketing results and priorities for 2025.
Charlene Christiansen, director of services and marketing, said website sessions were up year over year and the organization’s social accounts have about 74,000 followers. “We are topping records,” she said, noting follower growth outpaced other Utah destinations. Explore Utah Valley described recent digital campaigns, partnerships with online travel agencies and local TV buys and said it is acting as a marketing partner for Provo Airport after county funding supported airport promotion.
Erin Scott, director of sales, said group-sales efforts have generated roughly $15–16 million in economic impact year to date using an industry-standard destination economic-impact calculator. Scott highlighted tournaments held at the new Epic Sports Park and said two major events created thousands of peak room nights, in some cases filling most available county hotel rooms and producing overflow into Salt Lake County.
Adamson and staff laid out proposed 2025 increases: marketing (reported as just under $400,000), sales (about $100,000) and staffing (about $100,000), including one additional position estimated at roughly $75,000 after salary and benefits. Charlene described planned investments in a website chatbot, guest blog contributors, agritourism research in 2025, touchscreen visitor kiosks at high-traffic locations and targeted campaigns to feeder markets such as Dallas–Fort Worth and Phoenix.
Commissioners asked about transportation and event coordination; staff noted limited Sunday public transit and the need to coordinate event dates around BYU/UVU schedules. Presenters said hotels are excited to host returning events and that capturing more in-county room nights is a priority as Epic grows.
Next steps: Explore Utah Valley offered to share itemized costs and quarterly reports with commissioners and invited further questions on the proposed 2025 budget and initiatives.
