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Committee approves six‑month $18,000 tourism marketing pilot from TOT using Placer AI data
Summary
Tracy told the committee she contracted Advanced Travel and Tourism for a six‑month marketing and analytics pilot costing $18,000 to be paid from the county’s TOT funds; the vendor will use Placer AI data to target weekend and overnight visitors, and the tourism team will report results to the committee.
Tracy (committee member) told the Madison County Economic Development Committee the tourism team has contracted with Advanced Travel and Tourism for a six‑month digital marketing and research pilot that includes Placer AI data. The payment—$18,000 for six months—will come from the county’s transient occupancy tax (TOT) budget.
Tracy said the vendor’s approach combines digital marketing, data‑driven targeting and creative content; they will identify origin markets and visitation patterns and run a campaign designed to increase overnight stays and weekend visitation. She cited Placer AI figures indicating strong regional visitation from the Washington area (430,000 visits last year) and other markets such as Richmond, Roanoke and New York and said the plan places emphasis on families and outdoor/adventure travel.
Molly and Judd supported the approach and noted existing county assets (maker classes, festivals, lodging) that could be packaged to extend stays. Tracy confirmed the purchase will come from TOT funds: “All coming out of TOT,” she said. The committee noted the contract was why they had requested additional TOT funding earlier and asked the tourism team to report performance metrics after the six‑month trial.
The tourism team also outlined ideas for a Madison‑centric online lodging/platform listing and shuttle services to help convert day trips into overnight stays; Molly said the county has roughly 427 beds available and that packaging could help capture more overnight business.
