If you had $30,000 to spend for marketing and advertising of the Palisade area, what would you do? Where would you advertise and what would you highlight about our town that you’d want potential visitors to know about?
These types of questions were debated by members of Palisade’s Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) at a special two-hour budget workshop held Tuesday noon, Nov. 10, in the Civic Center meeting room at 341 W. 7th Street in Palisade.
Board members, along with Mayor Roger Granat, Town Administrator Rich Sales, Treasurer Joe Vlach and Community Development Director Ron Quarles, discussed the successes and the not-so-great ideas of the 2015 budget year to evaluate how to allocate next year’s funds to promote the town. Paul Aieta and Laurie Hannam were also in attendance, representing Cobb & Associates, Palisade’s current marketing firm.
Paul Aieta, right, from Cobb & Associates, consults with Laurie Hannam, also from Cobb, on questions from TAB members regarding the proposed 2016 budget.
The eight-member Tourism Advisory Board was created by Ordinance 2007-14 and 2009-02, and is responsible for guiding the development of the local tourism industry and aiding in the implementation of the town’s Marketing and Development Plan. Their efforts are funded through revenues collected from the town’s lodging fee, implemented after the April 2008 election. Two dollars per day per occupied room is collected from the town’s motels, bed and breakfasts, guesthouses, short-term vacation rentals and RV or camp sites.
Recent years’ annual budgets have totaled between $25,000 and $30,000. TAB members allocate funds, mainly between online and offline advertising, and the management and creation of such advertising.
After about 90 minutes of discussion, Cobb representatives Aieta and Hannam had enough information to fine-tune the budget in time for review at the next TAB meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, December 15 at noon, also in the Civic Center meeting room at 341 W. 7th Street. All meetings are open to the public.
