Destination Missoula/Missoula Tourism Business Improvement District, UM Announce New Partnership

MISSOULA—The University of Montana and Destination Missoula/Missoula Tourism Business Improvement District have agreed to a new marketing partnership to encourage tourism-related economic activity in Missoula through university events.

Through the partnership, the University, Destination Missoula and Missoula TBID will collaborate on awareness campaigns to promote university events, as well as content and digital ad partnerships — all with the goal of increasing hotel room nights and driving visitor spending in Missoula. 

As part of the partnership, Dan Monahan, general manager of the Edgewater Missoula, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and president of the Missoula TBID, announced that the Missoula TBID will invest $100,000 over the next year on collaborative efforts with the university to promote events that bring students, alumni and nonresidents into the city.

“We’re essentially putting on paper what we’ve long known: that working together to bring more visitors to events in Missoula means more hotel room stays, which means more dinners at local restaurants, more demand for the goods and wares at our local shops, and more desire for direct flights to get here,” said Barb Neilan, executive director of Destination Missoula/Missoula TBID. “Those are all things that visitors enjoy, but also residents like us benefit from, too.” 

University events bring nonresident visitors to Missoula and contribute significantly to the Missoula economy. One University of Montana home game football weekend brings in $5.2 million in nonresident visitor spending to Missoula County, including almost $1.6 million in lodging and accommodations and more than $1.3 million in restaurants and bars, according to the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at UM.

Also as part of the partnership, the University of Montana will report to Destination Missoula/Missoula TBID on ticket sales for major concerts held at the Adams Center and Washington Grizzly Stadium, as well as football and men’s and women’s basketball to track the impact of the collaborative promotion efforts. 

“Ensuring the Griz are competitive in the changing landscape of college athletics will create more opportunities that bring visitors and fans to our community,” said Kent Haslam, UM Athletics Director. “When the Griz win, ultimately, Missoula businesses win, too. We’re grateful to the Missoula TBID for this partnership to promote games and other events at UM to fill our stadium, arenas and theaters.”

The partnership also includes a schedule for regular meetings to ensure ongoing communication and opportunities for innovation between the organizations. Additional updates will be shared as they become available.

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