Together with the Billings Chamber of Commerce, Visit Billings is proud to celebrate the impact of travel during the 2024 National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW). This industry-focused, national event, spearheaded by the U.S. Travel Association, is an annual celebration that highlights travel’s essential role in growing the nation's economy. It also offers destinations a chance to cultivate relationships with industry leaders and forge new connections with business community members.

 

During the 2024 NTTW, May 19-24, we encourage tourism partners, the business community, and residents to learn more about how travel stimulates economic growth, creates quality jobs, inspires new businesses, and elevates the quality of life for Montanans.

 

More than ever, we must prioritize the focus on Billings’ tourism industry.

 

Looking within the destination, and to residents, Visit Billings works to offer a greater understanding of the relevance of tourism to the resident and the business owner which ultimately builds resiliency for the tourism industry, tourism partners, and the local economy.

 

With strategic and competitive investment of state lodging facility-use tax and tourism business improvement district funds, Visit Billings and the Billings Chamber of Commerce lead the destination in marketing and management efforts to foster visitor growth to the city, educate residents and city leaders about the power of tourism, and ensure the industry remains an influential tool in economic growth for the city for decades to come.

 

Every year, sales and marketing strategies, customer service priorities, and product development opportunities are integrated into the Visit Billings work plan and budget. Visit Billings leadership and staff define priorities and projects that aim to support the resiliency of the industry, continue to create an inclusive environment for visitors, and cultivate positive resident sentiment towards visitors which can help protect the industry for today and the future.

 

WHAT IS TOURISM?

In the tourism industry, many terms are often used interchangeably. However, there are distinct differences between keywords. The United Nations Tourism Organization offers a succinct definition that may help better explain some of the differences in destination leadership organization (DLO) conversations, including terms in this document. Visit Billings is a DLO.

 

Tourism is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.

 

What does tourism look like in Billings? On average, Billings hosts 2.6M visitors annually who travel to the city for business demands, medical needs, and leisure offerings. This can include vacations, weekend getaways, meetings, conferences, appointments, sports events, or tour stops. Those 2.6M visitors typically spend an average of $621M in Billings businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, retailers, attractions, campgrounds, outfitters, guides, etc. (Destination Analysts, 2018).

 

How can tourism grow and strengthen? Well currently, Billings is only playing host to 20.8% of travelers to Montana (ITRR, 2022). In 2022, 12.5M people visited Montana and spent $5.82B. Billings has the capacity to responsibly host more annual visitors. There are fifty-four hotels and motels (the most of any Montana city), hundreds of restaurants and retailers, and dozens of attractions open for business along with venues like MetraPark, Alberta Bair Theater, and the Pub Station hosting events weekly for locals and visitors alike.

What else is in it for residents?

Tourism’s impact on Billings' economy is often understated, but NTTW offers a chance for the community to acknowledge the work Visit Billings leadership, staff, stakeholders and partners contribute which increases the city’s competitive edge against other destinations, creates quality employment options, generally cultivates a vibrant community where people want to visit and live, and builds a tourism brand that can elevate community pride.

 

VISIT BILLINGS

Again, Visit Billings is a DLO and it is the brand that represents the Billings Tourism Business Improvement District and the Billings Convention and Visitors Bureau.

(BTBID) and the Billings Convention and Visitors Bureau (BCVB). Both organizations are managed by the Billings Chamber of Commerce. The Visit Billings team is committed to growing visitation at Montana’s Trailhead through sales and marketing initiatives.

 

The Visit Billings’ mission is to generate room nights for lodging facilities in the city of Billings by effectively marketing the region as a preferred travel destination. Visit Billings is the DLO for Billings, Montana.

 

WHAT IS A DLO?

As a destination leadership organization (DLO), Visit Billings is the backbone of the tourism industry for Billings. A DLO protects and fosters the local visitor economy through promotion, marketing, destination management, cautious strategies, and long-term initiatives like air service development. DLOs exist to promote destinations, increase visitation to a place, and are also responsible for attracting or supporting events, large and small, that increase visitation to a city. For Billings, the Visit Billings staff is considered an extension of its stakeholders (lodging partners) working to provide sales, services, and marketing support to the local hospitality industry and tourism partners.

 

Visit Billings works domestically and internationally to enhance tourism for the city in leisure, meetings, group tour, and sporting events markets. A DLO, like Visit Billings, does this by increasing awareness of the destination and by engaging with meeting and conference planners, sports events owners and promoters, the media, consumers in both the drive and flight markets, and tour operators. Under leadership of the BTBID and Chamber/CVB boards, as well as the State of Montana and the City of Billings, the Visit Billings team executes priorities with research-driven marketing and sales programs. Strategies highlight outdoor adventures, incredible landscapes, arts and culture, culinary and nightlife offerings, proximity to national points of interest like the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the Beartooth Scenic Byway, and Yellowstone National Park, as well as the community’s meeting and sports facilities which foster certain markets.

Additionally, 89% of non-Montana residents plan to return to the state in the next 24 months (ITRR, 2022). This repeat visitation component is key to continued economic growth, too. Repeat visitation is a priority for Visit Billings and is fostered by ensuring a positive visitor experience. Focusing on in-market customer service training efforts like the Certified Tourism Ambassador Program (CTA), championing Certified Autism Destination (CAD) and accessibility support, celebrating human differences, and elevating the power of tourism to residents, all assist with this priority.

 

FUNDING

Visit Billings is funded primarily through the Billings Tourism Business Improvement District (BTBID) and through a portion of the State Lodging Facility Use Tax. The BTBID assesses $2.00 per occupied room per night on all hotels and motels in the city of Billings with six (6) or more sleeping rooms. The BTBID funds stay local for the marketing and promotion of the city as a destination, to grow visitation, and support local businesses and stakeholders. In fall of 2023, the BTBID Board of Directors voted to increase the BTBID assessment by $2.00/occupied room/night for a total assessment amount of $4.00 per occupied room per night, effective July 1, 2024. This increased amount will be realized in the FY26 budget. A portion of the increased budget will help execute Visit Billings initiatives outlined in the 2024-2027 Visit Billings Strategic Plan. All funds help Billings remain a competitive destination.

 

Additionally, there are two Montana taxes imposed on users of an overnight lodging facility (such as a hotel, motel, campground, dude ranch, short-term rental, and/or guest ranch), which are collected by the facility and remitted to the Montana Department of Revenue. These two taxes are a 4% Lodging Facility Use Tax and a 4% Lodging Facility Sales Tax, for a combined 8% lodging tax.

 

As we embark on #NTTW24, let’s celebrate how travel connects people, creates quality job opportunities, and supports our communities. Travel is invaluable to our community.

 

Let’s celebrate NTTW together!