Claudia Wade
The 2020 impact is one of the reasons Claudia Wade, executive director of the Park County Travel Council, is retiring after nearly 35 years. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many industries and the travel industry has not been spared either.
Over three decades, Wade weathered multiple recessions and a series of game-changing changes caused by the internet, but COVID, Wade said, was like nothing else she has ever seen. She and her husband Tim lost a brother-in-law to the illness, and Wade decided it was time to retire.
“You just don’t know how long you have,” said Wade.
On St. Patrick’s Day in April 1987, Wade interviewed the position of director of tourism at the Cody Chamber of Commerce. The Cody Chamber paid the salary through a subsidy from the lodging tax.
Joe Bush, President of the Cody Chamber of Commerce Board, and Bob Coe, Chairman of the Tourism Committee, conducted the interview.
Wade had a background in graphic design. She knew the organization was on a tight budget – the 1989 budget was $ 160,000 with a 2% lodging tax – but she thought her skills could be valuable to the position. She had worked with a production company that did ad design and magazine layout.
“I thought I could act like an in-house advertising agency,” said Wade.
At the time, Wade said, Cody was a town that people passed through on their way to Yellowstone National Park. Travelers did not treat Cody as a travel destination.
“We just wanted people to stop,” recalls Wade.
Your efforts to promote Cody have been noticed. Around 1990 the Park County Travel Council reached out to the Cody Chamber of Commerce to ask Wade to do for the county what she was doing for Cody. They would pay them – which would save the Cody Chamber the hassle of applying for a grant each year – and the two bodies would work together to promote Park County tourism.
Back then, the industry was completely different. Most people went through travel agents to book their flights, accommodations, and rental cars, and all of the advertising came through print media. Though a rarity today, they regularly attended tour operator shows across the country to promote Park County’s attractions.
Wade’s background in print advertising was also helpful. In the first 10 years in this position, she did a lot herself – from designing advertisements to placing them.
“It was all printed. There was no social media. There was no website, and when it did, not many people used it as a resource for trip planning, ”Wade said.
Travel magazines have been the main source for travelers looking to find out about travel destinations. The publications had writers on the staff who did nothing but write about their travel experiences. For example, the council often invited writers from these magazines to come to Park County and write about them. The council now supports authors from a wide variety of publications.
Park County had coaches like it does today, but Wade said there were many more small companies operating the bus trips while there are now few companies left.
Cody had many attractions to sell to the travel agents, but in the early days selling Powell was more of a challenge. It had the Homesteader Museum as an attraction, and eventually, Wade said, Powell began marketing agricultural tours and the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center was established.
Today, travel agents have fallen by the wayside in favor of Travelocity and Expedia, and people are learning about travel destinations through websites.
Wade said the changes make a lot more demands on employees with broader skills. You have to manage social media, design websites, produce display advertising and work on content with magazines. What Wade used to do herself, she now does through vendors she oversees to ensure that the content is relevant and graphically appealing.
“You do a lot with all kinds of media,” said Wade.
Wade is also working on a much larger budget than when he started. In a good year, the Travel Council has a budget of $ 3 million, split between a marketing plan, a scholarship program, and administrative expenses.
With the state’s mineral industry no longer having the revenue generating power it once had, tourism has grown in importance. In January, Wyoming began levying a 5% tax on overnight stays in hotels, motels, RV parks, campsites, guest anches, Airbnbs, and other accommodations across the state.
However, 2020 was not a good year for tourism.
“We saw that lodging tax collection has decreased dramatically,” said Wade.
The executive director said it would have been nice to go out on a high grade after a record breaking year, but she said the organization was in good hands. Last month, Travel Council leaders elected Ryan Hauck of Murray, Utah to fill the position of Executive Director. The Wyoming native has a background in travel marketing.
“I like to think of it as a shiny car that is clean and ready to drive, and I just give the keys to someone. And you hope they don’t destroy it. I don’t think he will, ”said Wade.
Wade pointed out that Hauck is young and that his experience in the industry lies exclusively in the Internet age. She believes he will bring new energy and ideas to Park County travel marketing.
“He’s more familiar with today’s marketing. No doubt there will be some changes, but that’s not bad, ”said Wade.
She said the Travel Council’s strategy for the transition is very smart. It works with the collections from the previous year. Although much smaller than in most years, Hauck will already have this year’s budget and a marketing plan drawn up by Wade and her employees with many years of experience. In the course of the next year, Hauck will get to know the community and network with stakeholders before taking over the operation completely.
“This time next year he’ll be writing his own marketing plan. He will work with his own budget and have a year to himself in which he will experience the community and build these relationships with partners and interest groups, ”said Wade about Hauck. “So it could look very different at this time of year next year.”
And although Wade is retiring, she said she will continue to provide her expertise to the travel council so that Hauck will have it as a resource.
The recovery from the pandemic year is gradual, but Wade said that was good in some ways as this year’s budget will be smaller. If things returned to normal immediately, the resources for the best campaign would not be available to seize the opportunity.
International travel, for example, continues to be hindered. This allowed Wade to cut a lot of international advertising from the budget or invest in other areas where it would be more effective.
Retirement gives Wade more free time. While traveling is uncertain in her future, she said her main focus will be her family.
“I just want to spend time with my family, enjoy my granddaughter,” said Wade. “I am still healthy. Tims [her husband] still healthy. We’ll be able to be a little more spontaneous. “
Wade gets a little stifled as she looks back on what the Travel Council has accomplished in nearly 35 years in this position – achievements she said would not have been possible without the many people involved.
“I am so blessed to have such support from my board members. The relationship with the Cody Chamber has been great, ”she said. “I couldn’t have wished for a better 35 years.”
