Another record year for Idaho tourism

From showcasing area waterfalls and native mushrooms to invitations for rock climbing and snowshoeing adventures, area travel and tourism promotors have once again been rewarded for their work drawing visitors to North Idaho.

The Idaho Travel Council announced Wednesday it granted nearly $2 million to tourism nonprofits in North Idaho to market their cities, towns and regions as travel destinations.

"Idaho's tourism industry achieved another record year," Idaho Commerce Director Tom Kealey said in a news release. "The major increase in funds for new tourism marketing and regional grants will expand awareness of Idaho as a spectacular travel destination and positively impact our communities and businesses across our state."

Over $10.3 million total has been awarded across Idaho, compared with over $9.4 million awarded in 2022 and more than $7.3 million in 2021.

"We keep bringing people in and it keeps rising," Coeur d'Alene Convention and Visitor Bureau Executive Director Mark Robitaille said Thursday. "It's a good cycle."

The CVB received the most of any entity in Region 1, which includes the five northern counties: Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah.

Robitaille said although the region came in relatively flat overall, the CVB received an increase of 7.5%, which he said is outstanding for Coeur d'Alene.

"Through COVID we saw such extreme increases in 2020 and 2021, where Idaho stayed open, specifically our region," he said. "For us to continue to see flat and small increases, it's great."

The CVB will use much of the funds to promote North Idaho in the off-season of fall and spring with an emphasis on winter activities and events. Robitaille said digital advertising will also have a big push.

“We just really try to be good stewards of those funds and keep as many people coming here as visitors to hopefully make a solid economic impact for our region," he said. "We just keep plugging away and I think we're doing a good job. We try to be as innovative as possible."

The Idaho Travel Council consists of eight members appointed by Gov. Brad Little. Idaho Tourism activities are funded by a 2% tax paid by travelers and collected by Idaho's hotel, motel, vacation rental and private campground owners. Nearly half — 45% — of the collected funds are used for statewide programs aimed at domestic and international travelers, tour operators, travel agents, travel journalists and content creators. Another 45% is distributed to communities through the grant program. The remaining 10% is used for the administration of the Idaho Tourism Office.

The North Idaho Tourism Alliance received $250,000 in Idaho Travel Council grant funding. The alliance works to promote visitor experiences across the five northern counties. As a collaboration between visitor bureaus and chambers of commerce, the alliance publicizes and markets North Idaho as a travel and convention destination with a focus on promoting overnight trips to the area. Membership consists of 12 organizations including chambers representing the communities of Bonners Ferry, Coeur d’Alene, Harrison, Hayden, Post Falls, Priest Lake, Priest River, Sandpoint, Silver Valley, Spirit Lake, St. Maries and Wallace as well as regional nonprofit members in the International Selkirk Loop.

Ricia Lasso, executive director of the North Idaho Tourism Alliance, said her organization is thrilled to receive the funding.

"It really represents all the hard work our smaller communities are doing to help promote tourism," she said.

A new tagline the North Idaho Tourism Alliance just launched is, "50 miles wide with thousands of adventures," which acknowledges how the Idaho Panhandle is physically narrow with countless wonders to be discovered between state lines.

Another initiative the alliance is conducting is Travel with Care, which encourages guests to be respectful of Idaho's wilderness: "When visiting our beautiful state, we hope you recreate responsibly so you (and others!) can experience Idaho to its fullest — now and in the future."

“We’re constantly letting our visitors know to visit Travel with Care, learn how to best be in Idaho so we can preserve our beautiful wild places,” Lasso said. "That’s super important to all of us in North Idaho. We love our trails and we love our places. We want our visitors to keep North Idaho beautiful.”

Post Falls Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Christiana Petit said the $131,900 grant her chamber received is 9% more than it received last year. She said Post Falls was also recently recognized by the state of Idaho for being the fastest-growing tourism community in the Gem State.

"That helped with us getting a bigger award, and our partners almost doubled," she said. "Our local tourism businesses see the value in the marketing we’re doing and they want to be a part of it, and that’s exciting for me. I love Post Falls, it's just exciting to build our brand."

Also in Region 1, the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce received $248,051.46 in grant funding from the Idaho Travel Council.