Tourism and Hospitality Marketing for the Wyoming Small Business

Tourism is big business in Wyoming.  According to Wyoming Travel and Tourism 2006 Impact Report, in the year 2006 there were 7.3 million overnight stays and $2.5 billion in direct expenditures. In addition, visitors contributed $103 million in state and local tax revenues.  Overall, if not for the contribution of the tourism industry, every household in Wyoming would pay an additional $510 in taxes.

As a business owner, targeting a portion of your marketing budget to Wyoming tourism may be a solid, and profitable, business decision.

What is marketing?  Some people have a misconception that marketing is just selling and advertising.  But these are just components of marketing and are actually types of promotion. Marketing includes developing new, or expanding existing, products/services; location and distribution, and pricing.  It requires information about people – your market – where they buy and how much they spend.  The ultimate goal: match the right product or service with the right market or audience. Marketing is both an art
and a science. 

Marketing is a way of doing business.  In tourism and related industries it is helpful to understand this process.  The concept is that businesses and organizations should include the following in their overall business planning:

• Design products/services to meet customer needs and wants
• Focus on those people most likely to buy their product rather than the entire mass market
• Develop marketing efforts that fit into their overall business objectives

As an industry, tourism has many components that create the overall ‘travel experience."  These include accommodations, food and beverage services, shops, entertainment, aesthetics and special events. It is rare for one business to provide the variety of activities or facilities tourists need or desire. To overcome this hurdle, tourism related businesses, agencies, and organizations need to work together to package and promote tourism opportunities in their areas and align their efforts to assure consistency in product quality. Wyoming Travel and Tourism and the communities in Wyoming do a good job with this component – now it is up to local business owners to work together, or individually, to bring those visitors into their place of business.

The Marketing Plan

One of the most important steps a business or community can take to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing efforts is to develop a written marketing plan. This plan will guide their marketing decisions and assist them in allocating marketing resources such as money and personnel time.

The plan should include: 

• The overall business objectives - what you want to accomplish
• An assessment of the market environment - what factors may affect your marketing efforts
• A business/community profile--what resources are available – and who may be potential partners or collaborators for marketing efforts
• Market identification (segmentation)--the specific groups or clientele most interested in your product
• The marketing objectives for each segment
• The marketing strategies (or mixes) for different markets you target--the best combination of the 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion) for each segment
• An implementation plan--how to "Make It Work"
• The marketing budget-how much you have to spend
• A method for evaluation and change – how do you know if it’s working?

To take advantage of this FREE service, contact:

Anya Petersen-Frey

Region 4 Director, Wyoming Small Business Development Center
143 South Bent Street, Suite A
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
307-632-6141 or 800-348-5208

Email Anya Petersen-Frey