Kalispell to focus on marketing for winter
After spending several years bolstering shoulder-season tourism in the Flathead Valley, the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau plans to concentrate on how to best market winter months.
“Our focus has always been on September through May, and now we’re drawing that in even more to concentrate on the winter months,” said Diane Medler, director of the visitor bureau.
During the annual Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District meeting on Wednesday, Medler said the bureau will take 2015 to focus on selling all winter sports and outdoor activities in the Flathead Valley as part of the continued effort to draw people into the area year-round.
“We’ve done a good job selling our shoulder season with our signature events,” Medler said, referring to the annual Pond Hockey Classic, Spartan Race and Dragon Boat Festival. “Now we’re going to work on branding Kalispell as a winter destination as well.”
The bureau plans to use Kalispell’s location as the main selling point— a jumping-off point to two ski resorts, Glacier National Park and many lakes.
The bureau placed ads online and in publications across the continent that paint Flathead Valley as one of the greatest places for ice fishing, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking.
The newest market for tourists, Chicago, was opened after Glacier Park International Airport added a direct flight to and from the city this winter. The route will run until April, which allows the bureau to advertise Kalispell as a weekend winter destination to the Midwest.
Medler also asked businesses and hotels to create packages and deals that encourage winter travel for tourists around the country.
Several other changes will take place this year. The visitor bureau plans to expand and add on to several signature events to create a larger draw for visitors.
The Spartan Sprint Race, a rugged 5-kilometer race that takes runners through various obstacles, generated over $1 million in economic impact for the Flathead Valley last year. This year, the race will be a two-day event, with the Beast Race, a 13-mile obstacle race, on May 9 and the Sprint Race on May 10.
According to Medler, the Beast Race is more rare and is expected to draw as many as 8,500 fitness fanatics from outside the area.
In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival may have a new location. In December, the visitor bureau asked the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office for an administrative conditional-use permit to hold the festival in Lakeside to cut down on costs and parking problems.
The bureau hopes to move the two-day event to Volunteer Park and Lakeside Boulevard in Lakeside. Residents who live near the park can submit questions and comments to the bureau this month while the decision is still up in the air.
“You can probably assume the Dragon Boat will be in Lakeside this year,” Medler said during the meeting.
For the past three years, the Dragon Boat Festival has been staged at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork.
The bureau also will continue to grow the Pond Hockey Classic and work to complete the citywide wayfinding project.