Montana Tourism & Recreation Strategic Plan 2013-2017

Statewide Plan for More Success

Welcome to the Montana Tourism & Recreation Strategic Plan home page.  

After nine months of good, constructive discussion, comments, review and refinement, the next statewide Montana Tourism & Recreation Strategic Plan has been completed. The final plan is currently going through proof reading and layout for both its hard copy and on-line form. We expect the on-line access to be complete and up on this page in July 2013.

While we get the plan into its final layout and look, click here to access the un-proofed final plan for you to download.

Below is a quick summary of the Montana Tourism and Recreation Strategic Plan 2013-2017:

The statewide plan sets three high-level goals shared by Montana’s tourism industry:

Goal 1: Improved economic benefits
Goal 2: Preservation of assets and quality of life
Goal 3: Improved visitor experience

To achieve these goals, five high-level strategies are presented to guide the actions of stakeholders.  Under each of the five strategies are more specific strategic actions – based on current research and benchmarking - that stakeholders can use to develop specific activities and implementation.  Below is the outline of the high-level and more specific strategic actions:

Montana Tourism & Recreation Strategic Plan, 2013-2017

Strategy 1:  Make Montana’s Spectacular Unspoiled Nature Real, Tangible, and Accessible to the Visitor

1.1. Establish icons of “spectacular unspoiled nature” throughout Montana
1.2. Integrate public lands more fully and functionally into tourism information
1.3. Present natural assets in an experiential manner
1.4. Participate in planning processes for public lands management

Strategy 2:  Highlight and Help Develop Vibrant and Charming Small Towns throughout Montana

2.1.Highlight Montana’s vibrant and charming small towns
2.2.Highlight the most charming and desirable elements of each community
2.3.Evaluate and pursue essential local wayfinding solutions
2.4.Improve the curb appeal of towns
2.5.Support local and Montana products and businesses to build economically vibrant towns
2.6.Develop and sustain special events that tie in with local tourism assets
2.7.Expand tourism seasons through local coordination
2.8.Address the short- to long-term effects of the Bakken oil boom for tourism

Strategy 3:  Integrate nature and towns to offer and deliver a balance of “breathtaking experiences” and “relaxing hospitality”

3.1. Present each town in the context of its surroundings
3.2. Present a balanced and cohesive visitor experience throughout all marketing and visitor information
3.3. Present a seamless and borderless visitor experience in all visitor information
3.4. Build excitement about Montana among niche market enthusiasts
3.5. Build and expand photo and video libraries

Strategy 4: Meet the information and infrastructure needs of Montana’s visitors

4.1. Conduct ongoing research and analysis of evolving best practices for delivering visitor information
4.2. Design online and mobile communication tools to meet the evolving needs of visitors
4.3. Stay current with social media tools to ensure effective interaction and relationship building with visitors
4.4. Provide printed materials that are useful to the visitor and cost effective for the marketing organization
4.5. Offer itinerary ideas and traveler tips to help visitors structure their plans
4.6. Support efforts to increase air service to Montana
4.7. Address infrastructure needs to support tourism and recreation

Strategy 5: Provide support for Montana’s tourism industry

5.1. Strengthen strategic guidance, communication, and coordination of the Montana tourism industry
5.2. Improve skills, knowledge, and professionalism of tourism stakeholders
5.3. Expand distribution and use of key insights from research and analysis
5.4. Make Montana tourism seamless and borderless
5.5. Manage and leverage electronic word-of-mouth
5.6. Make the Montana tourism industry a leader in online community marketing and use of customer advocates
5.7. Continue to carry out consumer marketing and media relations to attract non-resident visitors
5.8. Evaluate and target group and international markets
5.9. Continue to promote Montana as a competitive, creative, and viable filming location
5.10. Carry out public relations and media relations to build respect for the tourism industry
5.11. Continue to provide financial and technical support for tourism projects.

The statewide strategic plan was facilitated and produced by Julie & Jim Cerenzia of Open Window Consulting. Over the course of the plan development they held more than 30 public meetings involving over 300 Montanans as well as receiving on-line comments throughout the process from hundreds more.

The new strategic plan is a fifth in a series of statewide plans developed since 1991 that have provided the framework for the Montana Tourism Industry’s success over the years.