$118,000 tourism data line would fund university surveys; no cost split shown

Visit Jackson Hole's fiscal 2027-28 Destination Development Program application proposes $118,000 for "data collection, maintenance, and communication." That is one of six lines in a $600,000 request (funding application financials). Under this line, the University of Wyoming would run a visitor sentiment survey and a resident sentiment survey every other year, publish the results, and review the resident survey's written comments between survey years. The same $118,000 also covers existing vendor Datafy, which would keep the data dashboard updated. It also pays for time from a Visit Jackson Hole communications manager and a graduate student from the university's tourism research group (the WORTH Initiative) to improve how the dashboard presents data (application). The packet does not say how much goes to the university and how much goes to Datafy or staff. Staff first presented the recommendation to the Travel and Tourism Board on Sept. 10 as a discussion item, with no vote (Sept. 10 minutes).

The university has done this work before. Its 2024 scope of work budgeted $263,129 over two phases running through June 2025, including a resident survey every two years. That figure excluded the cost of the data platform (2024 scope of work). A March 2025 voucher showed $108,269.08 left in that year's $173,000 university grant line (voucher summary). The new line would buy the same surveys for less than half the 2024 total, but nothing in the packet shows what the dashboard alone will cost.