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Happy 2021: Success On the Road to Recovery!

First, Happy New Year to you and the teams with which you work from both of us! Yes, this missive will now be a joint “Letter from the Leadership,” as Chris Redgrave excitedly and just took over as Board Chair, bringing her infectious energy to the role. As Chris steps in, we’d like to offer an incredibly genuine “Thanks!” to Taylor Vriens for guiding our Board and organization through a most memorable year, from onboarding a new president/CEO to helping steer Visit Salt Lake through the pandemic that impacted us all.

We don’t believe there are many in the hospitality industry unhappy to see 2020 come to an end but we must remain vigilant through the next months and years to ensure the full recovery of our industry and that of our community. As we usher in a new year that will most assuredly bring new opportunities, we’d like to reflect a bit about some of the promising programs and efforts we were able to accomplish during what may be the most difficult year we will ever face.

Though it wasn’t quite a record year in terms of room nights booked, the VSL Sales team was able to have one of its top three despite the crushing impact of COVID-19. In fact, the team achieved 88% of its pre-pandemic booking goal of more than 844,000 room nights, ending 2020 with an impressive 742,852 room nights booked. This was achieved through hard work, creative programs and the strategic use of incentives, including the Meet In Utah grant that provided $40 per room night for meetings booked in 2020 for 2021.

In addition, our Salt Lake Bound = FREEdom Found travel promotion, funded through CARES Act dollars, has generated 875 reservations, more than 2,000 room nights and nearly $200,000 in hotel revenue to date. The campaign incentivizes travelers to book two or more nights with a variety of value-added offers targeting both drive and fly markets, as well as offers for skiers and non-skiers alike.

Though 2020 was extremely difficult on all of us, please know we’re working hard to help in our community’s recovery, and these are but a couple of programs we’ve undertaken with more in the works.

To a healthy and prosperous 2021 for all!

Kaitlin Eskelson

President & CEO

Chris Redgrave

Board Chair

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2021 Top Winter Things to Do

It’s news to no one that winter 2020-21 looks a little different than usual. But fortunately, with a tiny bit of creativity, a helping of social-distancing and an occasional dash of digitization, there’s still plenty to do this winter in and around Salt Lake. With mountains so lovely, resorts so magnificent and a city so fun, the Wasatch won’t let people down even in the trickiest of times. While everything on this list is subject to updates over time, as of publishing, we feel pretty darn secure knowing that there’s fun on the horizon. Just make a plan, bundle up and get ready for adventure.

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Salt Lake City Int'l Celebrates a
Milestone Event

From airfield to airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, once known as Woodward Field, celebrated its centennial anniversary on December 21st. From its humble beginnings in a flat and sparsely vegetated field a few miles outside of downtown Salt Lake City, to the construction of the new, $4.1 billion state-of-the art facility that opened September 2020, Salt Lake City International has grown into a major air transportation hub over the past 100 years. Serving more than over 26 million travelers in 2019, it is estimated the new airport could see as many as 38 million travelers by 2037. Intended to meet Salt Lake City’s travel needs for decades to come, the new airport has been designed to be adaptable to the ever-changing aviation industry.

In honor of this milestone, SLC has released an airport history book called “From Air Mail Outpost to International Hub,” which captures the history of the airport. In addition, a 50 minute film has been produced that outlines the story of the airport’s first passengers and also documents the construction of the new airport. Both the book and the video are available at www.slcairport.com/100thanniversary.

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Featured Member:
The Leonardo Museum

The Leonardo Museum is not only a place to visit in person, it's also an educational hub that encourages visitors to keep learning wherever they are. So while many of the in-person programs at The Leonardo have not been available due to COVID, there are numerous on-line programs available for all age groups.

For those parents looking for a break from in-home learning, we recommend checking out “Study Hall,” – a program at the museum to provide learning support for students doing distance learning. This in-person program is limited to 10 students per group and provides learning support and homework help from Leonardo educators (following all appropriate safety protocols, of course). “Leo on Wheels” is a free exploratory science and engineering outreach program where 7th and 8th grade students explore the connection between motion and energy. And let’s not forget Leo@Home – a series of home learning videos and demos which include activities with local community partners and featuring videos about science, technology, art and engineering – designed to help parents keep students engaged while learning from home. For more information on these and many other fun, engaging and educational opportunities, visit theleonardo.org.

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COVID-19 Relief Package Overview

If you were not able to attend last week’s video conference with Senator Mitt Romney and Representative John Curtis, you can watch it here. This presentation shared a lot of important information regarding the COVID-19 relief omnibus bill.

WATCH NOW

What Small Businesses Need to Know

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has provided a Guide to Small Business COVID-19 Emergency Loans – What Small Businesses Need to Know about the new pandemic relief package – changes to PPP and more that you can access here.

LEARN MORE

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Meet Our New Members!

• Beehive Distilling
• Courtyard by Marriott Salt Lake City Cottonwood
• Redgrave & Assoc, LLC

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