Council unanimously approves $300,000 public budget for Whitefish CVB; staff point to state review

Zach Anderson, executive director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau, asked the City Council on April 6 to approve the bureau’s FY27 public marketing budget of $300,000 and gave a short overview of how those dollars are used.

Anderson told council the CVB’s role is destination management and that the bureau focuses on promoting shoulder‑season visitation to support a more balanced, year‑round local economy. He said bed‑tax (lodging facility use tax) dollars distributed under Department of Commerce rules and the tourism advisory council form the backbone of the public budget and that the bureau augments those dollars with private contributions through a Community Support Fund. Over the past two years, Anderson said, the CVB has allocated more than $420,000 of those expanded funds toward workforce housing initiatives.

Anderson proposed the FY27 public budget and noted the local approval step is followed by submission to the tourism advisory council for preliminary review and then an in‑person presentation in Helena for final approval.

Councilor Rebecca Norton asked about Canadian visitation and flight markets; Anderson said Canadian travel remains down but that domestic travel has more than made up the difference and that the council packet contains market analysis and March figures. After brief follow‑up and positive remarks from councilors, a motion to approve the public portion of the CVB budget was made, seconded, and approved unanimously.

The CVB’s next procedural steps are local council approval (completed) and state review by the tourism advisory council and Department of Commerce before those public dollars take effect.

The council did not adopt changes to the CVB’s request; the action was purely budget approval for the public portion of the marketing plan.