'Base Camp Kanab' campaign: marketing firm reports improved efficiency, $2M tourism-tax spending

KANAB, Utah — Boncom (Voncom) consultants presented findings from the county's tourism marketing campaign at the Oct. 14 commission meeting, describing audience segmentation, media channels and cost metrics for the "Base Camp Kanab" branding.

Brett Meldrum and colleagues said the campaign targets drive markets (Wasatch Front, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles) and emphasized packaging Kanab as a base camp for multi-day regional trips. Kenneth Bills (research) showed that data sources (credit-card, smartphone movement and social-listening tools) help identify high-value visitors; Matt Decker (media director) outlined a multi-touch strategy combining billboards and broadcast with highly targeted digital buys on Meta and Google.

Decker said the tourism tax funds roughly $2 million annually for promotion, noting much of that is targeted to Kanab but that some funds are spent countywide. On media economics he said cost per thousand impressions tends to be lowest for billboards ($1— per thousand), modest for Meta/Google (roughly $2— per thousand), and higher for television (about $10— per thousand), with YouTube and some video placements slightly more expensive.

Commissioners thanked the team for collaboration and staff confirmed these expenditures are state-mandated uses of the tourism tax (establishment and promotion). The commission asked staff to continue the partnership and to return on campaign performance periodically.

What's next: the marketing team plans creative refreshes and targeted campaigns for 2026 and will coordinate with county communications for event promotion and the county's email update distribution.