Tourism subcommittee to look for revenue to continue Pahrump marketing

The Pahrump Tourism Advisory Committee is going to identify potential sources of revenue to continue the ongoing marketing efforts for the town.

A subcommittee will be formed and the findings could be later sent as recommendations to the Board of Nye County Commissioners.

Arlette Ledbetter, tourism director for the town of Pahrump, said no additional sources of revenue have been identified by the tourism committee at the meeting on Thursday.

“We do however need to acknowledge the properties and attractions marketing efforts and the amount of dollars being spent to promote Pahrump, in addition to the tourism budget and projects,” Ledbetter said.

The Pahrump Tourism Advisory Committee is currently nearing the end of its five-year budget plan.

The committee has been getting an average of $180,000 from room taxes from 2014 through 2017, but its expenses have been well above that. The documents show that the committee has been operating largely on an ending fund balance that continues to dwindle, from $465,815 in 2015 to $303,520 in 2016 to $192,098 in 2017.

Ledbetter said that her biggest concern is continuing the momentum in Pahrump tourism that has been created to date.

Last year, BrainTrust, a Las Vegas marketing and advertising agency that helps to market the town through the website visitpahrump.com, reported a 365-percent increase in website visitation for December year-over-year, and 25-to-65 percent in other months year over year. The Facebook page that promotes tourism in Pahrump has over 22,000 likes.

Ledbetter said the public relations effort has “exceeded” the goals in “getting the word out” about Pahrump.

“This doesn’t happen without strategic planning, marketing plans and cooperative efforts of the entire tourism team and partners,” she said.

In addition, room tax revenue has increased from fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015 to fiscal year 2016 by 35 percent, and was up 55 percent year to date as of September 2016, Ledbetter said.

“The increase in room tax revenue is proof the collaborative efforts have paid off handsomely,” she added.

The Pahrump Tourism Advisory Committee will hold a budget workshop on Feb. 2 at 8 a.m. at Bob Ruud Community Center to discuss the budget in detail. The current marketing projects will be evaluated at that time and any changes will be considered, Ledbetter said.

In the meantime, Ledbetter said the tourism committee is “committed” to continuing recommendations to the county commissioners.

“We will meet to select the most beneficial marketing programs within our budget guidelines as a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners,” she said. “We are doing something right. When you look at the revenue and statistics you can see the increase. Our goal is to continue doing that.”

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77