September 5, 2024 |
Photo – North Platte River as seen from Bridge Avenue in Saratoga – Courtesy Discover Carbon County Wyoming
Saratoga’s town motto will remain as it is, at least for now.
Last month, Bigfoot99 reported that a member of the Carbon County Visitors Council, currently known as Discover Carbon County, asked the Saratoga town council if they would like to change the town’s 100-year-old motto: “Where the Trout Leap in Main Street.” The suggested change to the town’s slogan met heavy resistance from Saratoga residents.
During Tuesday’s Saratoga town council meeting, Carbon County Visitors Council Chief Executive Officer Leslie Jefferson introduced Destination Development Specialist Cindy Loose. Jefferson said Loose will work with towns to increase tourism. Jefferson said her example of how Loose can attract more visitors to the area was taken out of context, resulting in a mistaken call to change Saratoga’s motto.
Jefferson said Loose was brought on board as the Destination Development Specialist because each community in Carbon County has a unique idea for developing tourism.
Loose began her presentation to the Saratoga town council by saying that she would not ask the town to change its century-old slogan.
Loose said towns may voluntarily choose to work with her, in her role as Destination Development Specialist, to promote tourism in their communities. Loose said municipalities around Carbon County do not have a singular vison for how to promote tourism.
Loose said a place brand is how people feel about a location. The destination development specialist said her goal is to honor the unique character of each community while increasing its appeal to visitors.
By creating a place brand strategy, Loose said the town can clearly advertise the attractions and amenities available to tourists. The place brand strategy creation process is made up of three phases.
Loose said phase one is research. The destination development specialist said she will work to understand the town’s image, reputation, assets, and experiences as seen through the eyes of a tourist.
Loose said she will also analyze how the town compares to other communities in the area when it comes to attracting tourists.
Phase two is the creation of a town’s brand. Loose suggested creating a brand leadership committee, made up of community members, to decide how each town would like to be presented to potential tourists.
Loose said over the course of four in-person meetings, from this October to next May, the brand leadership committee will create a brand strategy to be presented to the town council.
Assuming the plan is approved, the final phase of the brand strategy creation process is finding funding for the improvements suggested by the brand leadership committee.
Councilman Jerry Fluty said they must be careful about changing the town to accommodate visitors. Fluty used Moab, Utah as an example of the consequence of unchecked tourism.
Loose said any suggestions to change Saratoga’s long standing town-motto made by the brand leadership committee must be approved by the town council before being implemented.
Loose asked anyone interested in serving on a brand leadership committee in their community to email her at cloose@vipmarketingwyo.com.
