Visitors Bureau, Cda Chamber Merge Closure Of Dog Track Put Crimp In Bureau’s Marketing Budget

The Greater Coeur d’Alene Convention & Visitors Bureau will be absorbed into the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce at the end of November.

The board of directors for the convention and visitors bureau voted Wednesday to merge operations with the chamber, ending months of speculation about the bureau’s future.

The bureau spends about $150,000 advertising the area as a prime winter and summer recreation destination.

“Businesses are merging to be more competitive and governments are consolidating to stretch every dollar,” said Oscar Steinely, board chairman for the bureau. “Now it’s our turn to do the same.”

Much of the money for the bureau had come from the Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park in Post Falls, which gave a certain portion of its betting handle for marketing.

As the track struggled, the money for the bureau dwindled. Since the park announced it will cease live dog racing Dec. 17, the bureau had begun looking for new ways to pay for its advertising, said John Kozma, president of the bureau.

Pat McGaughey, president and general manager of the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement the chamber has already established tourism development as a priority.

Efforts to reach McGaughey were unsuccessful late Wednesday.

Kozma said that he and the two other employees at the bureau would lose their jobs in December. The bureau laid off another staffer in September.

Kozma said he did not know the chamber’s plans for tourism marketing or if he would be part of them.

The planning for winter marketing for Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai County is complete, Kozma said. But spring and summer plans need to be addressed, he said.

Tourism experts agree that marketing an area is directly related to tourism success. Tourism-based businesses are among Kootenai County’s largest employers.

Post Falls Tourism will remain a separate entity, promoting shopping and tourism activities there.

, DataTimes