| Formal Name: | Nebraska Tourism Commission |
| Contact Person: | Heather Hogue |
| Purpose: | The purpose of the Nebraska Tourism Commission is to promote Nebraska as a tourism destination, to administer programs to attract an increasing number of visitors to Nebraska, and to further the use of travel and tourism facilities in Nebraska. |
| How Many Affectable: | NA |
| How Many Served: | NA |
| Year Created: | 2012 |
| Year Active: | 2012 |
| Sunset Date: | None |
| Authorization Citation: | Nebraska Revised Statute Section 81-3710 |
| Parent Agency: | None |
| Number Of Members: | 11 Commissioners |
| Who Appoints: | Governor |
| Legislative Approval: | Yes |
| Qualifications Of Members: | The members shall consist of eleven residents of the State of Nebraska. Four of the members shall have professional, volunteer, or public service experience that contributes to the fiduciary and governance duties of the commission. Seven of the members shall be affiliated with the tourism industry. One member shall be appointed from each of the eleven districts designated as follows:(i) District No. 1. Douglas County; (ii) District No. 2. Lancaster County; (iii) District No. 3. The counties of Richardson, Pawnee, Nemaha, Johnson, Otoe, Gage, Saline, and Jefferson; (iv) District No. 4. The counties of Cass and Sarpy; (v) District No. 5. The counties of Saunders, Washington, Dodge, Colfax, Stanton, Cuming, Burt, Thurston, Wayne, Cedar, Dixon, and Dakota; (vi) District No. 6. The counties of Butler, Polk, Platte, Merrick, Nance, Boone, Madison, Pierce, Antelope, Knox, Holt, and Boyd; (vii) District No. 7. The counties of Thayer, Nuckolls, Webster, Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Seward, York, Hamilton, Franklin, and Harlan; (viii) District No. 8. The counties of Kearney, Phelps, Hall, Howard, Greeley, Wheeler, Buffalo, Sherman, Valley, and Garfield; (ix) District No. 9. The counties of Lincoln, Keya Paha, Rock, Brown, Loup, Blaine, Custer, Logan, McPherson, Arthur, Grant, Hooker, Thomas, and Cherry; (x) District No. 10. The counties of Furnas, Red Willow, Hitchcock, Dundy, Chase, Hayes, Frontier, Gosper, Dawson, Perkins, and Keith; and (xi) District No. 11. The counties of Deuel, Garden, Sheridan, Cheyenne, Morrill, Box Butte, Dawes, Sioux, Scotts Bluff, Banner, and Kimball. |
| Per Diem: | None |
| Expense Reimbursement: | Commissioners are reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses |
| Term Length: | 4 Years |
| Terms Rotate or Expire At Once: | Terms Rotate |
| Required FY 17-18: | 0 |
| Held FY 17-18: | 5 |
| Required FY 18-19: | 0 |
| Held FY 18-19: | 5 |
| Required FY 19-20: | 0 |
| Held FY 19-20: | 5 |
| Support Staff: | 11 |
| Shared or Separate: | Separate and DAS Shared Services for HRPayrollAccounting Asst |
| FY 17-18 Budget: | $6.6 Million |
| FY 18-19 Budget: | $6.6 Million |
| FY 19-20 Budget: | $7.2 Million |
| Other Funding Sources: | None |
| Spending Authority: | $7.38 Million |
| Since July 1, 2016: | Three words best describe the Nebraska Tourism Commission from 2016-2017 transition, change and discovery. Legislation to broaden the industry representation on the Commission was passed, transitioning the agency from a 9-member Commission to an 11-member body, representing different geographic regions across the state. The Tourism Commission introduced three new marketing partners to the industry at the 2017 Tourism Conference including Vladimir Jones, Miles Partnership and Turner PR. The Commissions marketing team worked with the partners to create the best possible campaign to invite visitors from out-of-state to take their time and enjoy a seemingly endless number of unique experiences that are truly natural and authentic. In 2018, the introduction of our new ad campaign at the Tourism Conference immediately went viral and Nebraska. Honestly, its not for everyone was in the news coast-to-coast. In fact, media coverage reached an estimated 884,301,401 people with a publicity value worth over $7.1 million, a number larger than the Commissions entire annual budget and more than three times our paid media budget. Nebraska was top-of-mind in cities and towns across the country. Visitor expenditures in Nebraska in 2018 totaled $3.4 billion and grew at 5.4%, the highest percentage growth rate in years. Visitor counts increased to 6.4 million in 2018, up from 6.2 million in 2017. The 200,000 visitor count increase in 2018 was impressive because an increase that large previously took an accumulated 5 years to accomplish. In 2019, our agency ended the fiscal year with another record-setting lodging tax collection of $5,922,077, a 4.09% increase from the previous fiscal year. The Nebraska Passport program celebrated its 10th anniversary and saw another record number of participants, with over 900 people visiting all 70 stops. The Nebraska. Honestly, its not for everyone campaign continues to be a success across the board. In August 2019, the Tourism Commission took home the 2019 Mercury Award for best Branding and Integrated Marketing Campaign at the Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO). We also broke into the world of merchandise sales with the release of our campaign collection. The industry created more than $240 million in state and local taxes and employed more than 40,000 Nebraskans. |