Lodgers' Tax Advisory Board Meeting - March 17, 2026

The Lodgers' Tax Advisory Board (LTAB) met on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at 12:00 PM in Council Chambers at 1000 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM. Chair Jennifer Olsen, Vice Chair Conner Tharp, and Member Dana Even were present; Members Sonia Ruiz and Brandi Engeman were absent. The board approved the agenda and the January 13, 2026 meeting minutes, received reports from DestinationiQ and Discover Los Alamos, discussed the Year 7 Tourism Strategic Plan progress, and approved the FY27 budget recommendation.

Consent Calendar

• Approved today's agenda (3-0).
• Approved the January 13, 2026 LTAB meeting minutes (3-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were made for items not on the agenda.

Reports

• DestinationiQ Report (presented by Lindsay, filling in for Kirsten):
  • February 2026 website user traffic was up 141.24% year-over-year (8,347 total users vs. 3,460), with direct traffic up 142.13% (1,908 vs. 788) and organic search up 10.03% (1,788 vs. 1,625).
  • Paid search (2,100 vs. 0) and paid social (948 vs. 0) drove growth; organic social rose 1,119.05% (768 vs. 63) partly due to an influencer post.
  • Meta ads spent $1,000.06, generating 409 landing page views at $2.45 cost per view, a 27% efficiency decline from January's $1.93; the campaign received 1,544 link clicks at an average cost of $0.65 per link click. Tracking issues between Meta and Google were noted.
  • Google search ads: Bandelier National Monument was the top keyword with 456 clicks and a 6.39% CTR; "visit los alamos" had a 27.39% CTR. Seasonal shift from winter to spring/summer interests was observed, and winter ads were turned off.
  • Completed tasks include the Tourism Marketing Data Plan, Interim Marketing Plan, Initial Market Assessment, and NM True updates; the annual marketing plan is in development using a stakeholder survey that received 87 responses.
• Discover Los Alamos Report (presented by staff in Melanie Peña's absence):
  • 2025 visitor center totals: Los Alamos Visitor Center 20,657 (-16% from 24,681), White Rock Visitor Center 9,583 (-70% from 32,403), combined 30,240 (-47% from 57,084).
  • The White Rock decline was attributed to Bandelier National Monument's mandatory summer shuttle no longer operating from the White Rock Visitor Center.
  • 663 iPad kiosk survey entries were collected in 2025; 83% of Los Alamos Visitor Center respondents rated their experience very positive, and 95% of White Rock Visitor Center respondents did so.
• FY26 LTAB Work Plan:
  • The work plan was approved by County Council on March 3, 2026, and was provided for reference.

Discussion Items

• Year 7 Progress Report Tourism Strategic Plan Discussion:
  • Staff presented the 2018 Tourism Strategic Plan Implementation Action Plan status review and recommended the board identify 3-5 immediate items for Council and 3-5 "Phase II" items.
  • Board members discussed barriers to overnight visitation, including limited hotel supply, high occupancy (Dana Even noted hotels commonly run at 80-85% occupancy), low federal per diem rates ($110 in Los Alamos vs. $167 in Santa Fe), lack of weekend dining and evening options, workforce/labor shortages, and transportation limitations.
  • Board members expressed support for exploring RV park development as a workforce and visitor accommodation strategy, noting existing county code limits stays and that feasibility studies for locations on NM 502 and Camp May have been challenging.
  • They also discussed vacant commercial properties and downtown blight, with staff noting a prior council review of vacancy fees was complicated and not implemented.
  • The board agreed on three immediate items for Council, deferring Phase II to a future meeting.

Key Outcomes

• Motion (Vice Chair Tharp, seconded by Member Even) to recommend the following three items from the 2018 Tourism Strategic Plan for Council focus: Item 2.1 (identifying parcels for an RV park), Item 3.2 (reducing downtown blight), and Item 4.3 (conducting visitor intercept surveys to measure performance and guide marketing). The motion passed unanimously 3-0.
• Motion (Chair Olsen, seconded by Member Even) to approve the proposed FY27 LTAB budget at the FY26 adopted level ($511,357 total) rather than the originally proposed 10% reduction, with the understanding the amount may stay the same as FY26. The motion passed 3-0. The recommendation will be forwarded to County Council for FY27 budget consideration.
• Next meeting scheduled for May 2026; no specific agenda items were requested.