Visit Stillwater is the official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for Stillwater. As the DMO, and primary storyteller for the community, the Visit Stillwater team lives, eats, and breathes America’s Friendliest College Town!
The efforts of the Visit Stillwater team ties together and enhances an industry that is critical to the economic health of our community. Our organization has evolved and grown as the sole-source provider of destination marketing and management and as an integral community and economic development engine for Stillwater spanning over three and a half decades.
We are responsible for promoting our community as an attractive travel destination while enhancing our public image as a dynamic place to live and work. Through the impact of travel, we strengthen the economic position and provide opportunities for people in our community.
Visit Stillwater promotes the long-term development of our community, focusing on meeting sales, tourism marketing, and service. We are the masterminds behind campaigns marketing our entire community to meeting professionals, business travelers, and individual visitors.
The visitor tax is utilized by Visit Stillwater to promote over two hundred local businesses and over two thousand events to visitors and residents throughout the year. We represent the hotels, restaurants, meeting facilities, event venues, museums, attractions, retailers, and other hospitality professionals serving the traveling public.
Visit Stillwater is the trusted partner for visitors and meeting professionals – the heart, soul, and energy of our community. The Visit Stillwater team is engrained into the fabric of our destination which enables us to better assist meeting and event planners and leisure travelers while generating wealth for our local business partners. As a result, Visit Stillwater drives economic success and enhances the quality of life for our residents.
On July 1, 1985, Visit Stillwater was created as a result of a 4% visitor tax that was passed by a vote of the citizens of Stillwater. The Ordinance states the funds collected “shall be set aside and used exclusively for the purpose of encouraging, promoting, and fostering conventions, conferences, and tourism development in the City of Stillwater.”
Community visionaries put in motion the evolution of a dynamic and progressive destination marketing organization. Stillwater leaders saw a need, passed a funding source, created the organization, and our community has benefited as a result.
On Tuesday, February 8 the registered voters in Stillwater will have the opportunity to increase the visitor tax for the first time since its inception, from 4% to 7% to expand Visit Stillwater efforts and develop the quality of life amenities that will attract visitors, such as athletics facilities, expanded cultural districts, and attractions.
The visitor tax is a reciprocal tax that we likely don’t pay in our communities. However, we do when we travel to other destinations. The DMO in each destination ensures those dollars are invested to provide the best possible visitor experience that will motivate return visits.
For the most current and up-to-date information regarding the Stillwater hospitality industry, go to VisitStillwater.org, “Like” Visit Stillwater on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @VisitStillwater. Cristy Morrison, Visit Stillwater President and CEO, can be reached at Cristy@VisitStillwater.org or by calling 405-743-3697.
