Well, that was fast! In less than two weeks, 2023 will be in the books — a year of progress and collaboration that saw Park City and the chamber chalk up significant wins. In this year-end review, let’s take a brief journey through an eventful year.

  • Chamber & Visitors Bureau membership reached 1,000 for the first time in our 60-year history as we welcomed 136 new members in 2023. Our growth reflects Park City’s dynamism and a healthy local culture where we strive together to improve our economy, environment and lifestyle.

  • Our “Winter’s Favorite Town” campaign was tremendously successful last season (and admittedly, an epic record snowfall didn’t hurt!) This winter, we’ve added “Visit with Care” sustainability messages, plus a tool kit to help our lodging partners communicate tips and resources to guests, such as how to use public transit. We’ve upgraded our Visitor Information Center with new furnishings and technology, delivering “Visit with Care” messages along with that all-important first impression.  

  • We issued our first sustainability grants this summer, supporting groups involved with our history, culture, recreation, accessibility, housing issues and more. Ten organizations, such as PC Trails & Open Spaces, the Park City Museum, National Ability Center, Mountain Mediation Center and Summit Land Conservancy, among others, won support for their tourism and sustainability-oriented projects.

  • This fall, we expanded our WERIP (Workforce Employer Rental Incentive Program) partnership with Mountainlands to help ease the housing shortage for workers, incentivizing Parkites to rent units or spare rooms to employees of any chamber partners. We were able to incentivize 12 listings comprising 19 rooms and up to 34 beds!

  • Did you know Park City is hosting more than 1,400 seasonal exchange workers this season? They are among the thousands of employees we count on to keep our economy going each winter. In 2023, with many partners contributing information, our constantly improving Seasonal Workers Resource site quickly became invaluable, offering guidance on everything from finding housing and medical care to having fun in Park City. We’ve added Spanish language assistance, too.

  • In 2023, our partners had access to more business data, education, promotion and networking opportunities than ever. Our Wasatch Back Economic Summit, Tourism Fall Forum, and Annual Meeting were jam-packed as first-rate speakers addressed our local and regional economic picture.

We kept chamber members engaged on state-level issues, pursuing a board-approved legislative agenda and posting weekly email updates during the session. That’s happening again in 2024. I enjoyed sharing relevant economic and consumer sentiment data in this column; that will also continue. Thank you to the Park Record for allowing us to share this information bi-weekly in this Park City Pulse column.

Partners flocked to our new Business University classes in 2023. We organized 10 of these lunchtime events featuring practical, ready-to-use tips from expert presenters. 

Our Small Town Stories feature in each weekend’s Park Record shared colorful stories of the amazing people behind some of your favorite businesses. Look to meet 52 more in 2024. 

  • In October, I was surprised to be named a recipient of the Utah Tourism Industry Association Trailblazer Award, which I consider an acknowledgment of what we do together as a community to manage and market tourism, our most important economic asset. The award salutes collaboration and vision — no community deserves that recognition more!

  • We facilitated a successful board election in June, as members selected Adam Herrup-Morse, Jamie Johnson, Meisha Ross, Whitney Ryan and Deirdra Walsh to serve four-year terms.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude for our hardworking, creative staff and dedicated, all-volunteer Board. Their passion for serving our members and the community keeps me energized and excited for our the work ahead! We are all looking forward to accomplishing more beautiful things together in 2024.