About Us

The Wind River Visitors Council is the lodging tax board for Wind River Country, which includes Fremont County and the Wind River Indian Reservation. It uses the four percent lodging tax to stimulate tourism by increasing awareness of, and encouraging visitation to, the unique destinations, activities and events in Wind River Country.

The TAD program is a voluntary program that is unique to Wind River Country. The Wind River Visitors Council gives 25 percent of the local lodging tax back to the communities in the percentage that they contribute to the lodging tax. Depending on occupancy rates, these numbers are constantly changing.

TAD funds are measured by zip code, not by City/Town limits. Therefore, the dude ranches outside of Dubois, as well as the cabins on Togwotee Pass fall under Dubois. Lander has many surrounding campsites. Riverton has the most hotels, but the smallest amount of “County” properties, which are the lodging properties that fall outside of the City/Town limits.

In Lander and Riverton, you’d talk to City Hall. In Shoshoni, you’d talk to the Chamber of Commerce. In Hudson, you’d talk to Town Hall, and in Dubois, you’d talk to Destination Dubois.

Absolutely. The Wind River Visitors Council maintains an ongoing online calendar, which automatically posts to County 10 and the Wyoming Office of Tourism. In addition, the Wind River Visitors Council sends events to many of the Chamber newsletters. Subscribe to Wind River Country’s Community Calendar email list (for event organizers).

Funds may not be spent on alcohol, lobbying efforts or capital construction (building a building).

The Board of Directors has two representatives from Dubois (currently, Dave Furman and Suzanne Osegueda), Lander (currently, Anne Even and Krista Lobera) and Riverton (currently Hal Herron and Cindy Olson Roden); one representative from Hudson (currently empty) and Shoshoni (currently, Jay Merritt); and two representatives from the County (currently, Charene Herrera and Erika Yarber). Representatives are designated by the Mayor of each town/city, and in the case of the County, by the County Commissioners.

The Wind River Visitors Council has one full-time employee, Helen Wilson (CEO) and two part-time employees, Alex Watts (Administrative Technologist) and Rubie Ratliff (Visitor Experience Representative).

The Wind River Visitors Council works with many organizations in the towns, cities, County and State. This includes the Chamber of Commerces, economic development groups, colleges and universities and the Wyoming Office of Tourism.

The Wind River Visitors Council gets involved with projects focused on tourism. Some of the types of projects are listed below:

• Displays featuring Wind River Country
• Video production
• WY Responsibly campaigns (including BearSaver recycling/trash containers and bike racks)
• Continental Divide Trail recognition
• Audio tours
• Event production
• Destination optimization campaigns, which include Google Travel and business listings on Google, Yelp and TripAdvisor
• The production and distribution of brochures including Wind River Country Vacation Guides and the Wind River Indian Reservation Audio Tour
• Local, national and international marketing campaigns
• Social media marketing campaigns
• Digital signs
• Influencer campaigns
• Crisis communications
• Motorcoach tours
• Earned media

The Wyoming Office of Tourism divides the State into five sections, which are shown on the map below. Wind River Country falls into the “Rockies to Tetons” region. The State markets each of the regions individually and as a whole. In addition, the State offers co-ops, where designated marketing efforts are matched in funds.