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Tourism staff: hotel occupancy lagging, TRT up; international visitors down
Summary
Tourism staff presented county metrics showing hotel occupancy slipping toward 2020 levels while vacation rentals and average daily rates have shifted; TRT revenue is up roughly 5% year‑to‑date, and an OHV safety campaign ($42,000 total, $32,000 grant) is underway.
Jeanette Petras (speaker labeled S1), introduced by the chair, presented the tourism office's latest data and marketing plans, citing mixed indicators across lodging types and geographic markets.
Petras pointed to falling hotel occupancy (a blue line on her slides trending toward 2020 levels) while noting vacation rental activity has increased: "vacation rentals were up to 56% ... it was up from even last year," she said, describing the July 4 pattern. She said the office tracks international visitation using Visa data and observed international demand is down versus the prior two years. Petras added that TRT reporting to the county treasurer shows year‑to‑date receipts up about 5% and emphasized that timing and remittance patterns can make annual forecasting uncertain.
Petras also described recent marketing work and grants: "It was a $42,000 total campaign, but we only had to pay $10,000. We got a grant for $32,000," she said, referring to an OHV outreach campaign that includes social posts and landing pages on trail best practices. She said the office is running a "3 hours from Vegas" campaign, adjusting creative seasonally, and coordinating with state marketing on a Southern Utah "Mighty 5" emphasis to ensure the county is included in broader promotions.
The presentation included requests to keep the commission informed of project recommendations (including the Stellar Vista Observatory request) and offered to circulate the slide packet to board members on request; board members asked for the data to be emailed and discussed possible expansion of drive markets, including Denver.
