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Visit Salt Lake
Member News
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February 2019

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A Time for Celebration!

When Outdoor Retailer announced its abrupt departure from Salt Lake a couple years ago we all thought our community would collectively suffer during their usual show dates, particularly in January. That, my friends, simply has not been the case! In fact, the first winter sans Outdoor Retailer (2018), we saw a very good month due in large part to our one-year “Ski Free In January” promotion and the increasing influence of the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake. I’m happy to report that January included 15 meetings and events that accounted for more than 23,000 room nights, a good start to our year. 

Along the lines of celebrating, mark your calendars for the evening of March 21, when we’re holding our Annual Meeting and celebrating yet another record year. Yes, 2018 is in the books - what a chapter it was! We’ll not only discuss our collective successes of last year but also shed light on the year ahead and the programs we’re undertaking to ensure our continued success. You will soon be getting an invitation but I encourage you to add March 21 to your calendar now.

Finally, I’m thrilled to celebrate a return to normal in terms of mid-winter skiing and riding conditions at our four world-class Ski City resorts (as well as at all Utah resorts). Each of the Cottonwood resorts are hovering around the 100-inch base total and offering unparalleled experiences for our visitors and locals alike. And those visitors staying in the valley are enjoying the slopes by day and “après ski redefined” by night, experiencing the urban amenities found only in Salt Lake, America’s Ski City.

Scott Beck
President/CEO

April YOY Hotel Occupancy Forecast

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Visit Salt Lake has developed occupancy forecasting models by using STR Analytics daily hotel data. STR Analytics produces a ‘Daily Trend Report’ (DTR). The DTR is a report of hotels’ daily percentage occupancy, average daily rate, and resulting RevPAR. Visit Salt Lake has purchased a subscription to DTR for Salt Lake in two sets. One for total Salt Lake County (approx. 19,700 rooms), and the other for the Salt Lake County Convention District (“SLCD,” approx. 6,400 rooms). By simple interpolation, we derive the data set for Salt Lake hotels that are located outside the SLCD (approx. 13,300 rooms).

VSL has DTR information from January 1, 2012, to the present. Hotels in the SLCD are located in the downtown area, and 98% of their hotel reservation systems are directly linked to STR Analytics. This enables STR to produce its DTR with a high degree of accuracy and provides reliable insight into the effects of events in Salt Lake. Approximately 80% of the hotels inside Salt Lake County but outside of the SLCD link their reservation systems to STR Analytics. The other hotels participate in surveys conducted by STR.

The graph above shows hotel occupancy forecasts for April 2019. Occupancy forecasts are estimated by the number of convention attendees, day-of-week, seasonality, and location.

There are two graphs for each forecasted month:

  • Hotel occupancy inside the SLCD
  • Hotel occupancy outside the SLCD

The graphs also show historic year-over-year occupancy rates, convention dates, and claimed convention attendance.

Bird's Eye View of Salt Lake

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A Bird's Eye View of Salt Lake

Flying into the Salt Lake City International Airport gives you a rare bird’s eye view of Salt Lake, but we’re here to give you a unique view of our beautiful city. No U.S. state capital can boast the same kind of scenic views and backdrops that set the stage of Salt Lake. With the city sitting on the foothills of the iconic Wasatch Mountains, and epic sunsets glowing off the Great Salt Lake, it's hard to ignore the beauty of the Salt Lake Valley.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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Tip of the Month: Keywords

Did you know that 40% of the views for listing pages come from organic searches and that traffic has almost doubled since the launch of our new site last May? This means you can use the same SEO strategies for your listing on Visit Salt Lake that you use to help your website show up in search results. Here are some quick tips:

  • Know the keywords for your market. For example, "Things to Do" is searched more often than "Activities" on Visit Salt Lake. Use creativity to work your keywords into natural sounding sentences that describe your business.
  • Embrace your niche. When you write a good description you will get more valuable views for your business because they will be from people that are looking for what you have to offer.

If you require immediate assistance on the resources available to your business, please do not hesitate to contact Miranda Maisto.

Salt Lake Running Company

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Featured Member: 
Salt Lake
Running Company

In the dead of winter, outdoor 5K, 10K or 15K runs may not normally be on a person’s radar; however, Salt Lake Running Company (SLRC), a Visit Salt Lake member, doesn’t pay attention to the temperature outside. They don’t take a break but plow on through the winter, planning and hosting races all over the state.

The Run SLC Race Series continues with the 10K on March 2nd and the 15K on April 6th. In support of our wonderful members, SLRC is offering all Visit Salt Lake members a discount on registration for both races. Go to runslcseries.com and enter the code “VisitSaltLake.”

For two decades SLRC has helped people go from couch to 5K, and now is giving our members a special incentive. So put on your running shoes and take advantage of this discount exclusively for VSL members. Thank you Salt Lake Running Company!

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Salt Flats Brewing Company

Meet Our New Members!

 

Upcoming Member Events:

 

STAY TUNED

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Upcoming Events

Now - Feb 09 Color Talks at Art at the Main
Feb 09 Utah Jazz vs San Antonio Spurs
Now - Feb 10 FIS World Championships
Now - Mar 03 Wicked presented by Broadway at the Eccles
Now - Feb 24 The Gallivan Center Ice Rink 2018/19 Season
Now - May 27 Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed at NHMU

SEE MORE

 

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