Park City Chamber looks back on 2022

The Chamber's year doesn't end until June, but as the year comes to a close, it celebrates its accomplishments thus far for 2022. Photo: TownLift // Rayne Moynahan.

PARK CITY, Utah — Although the Park City Chamber of Commerce | Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (PCCVB) year doesn’t technically end until June, it’s taking the opportunity to look back on the steps forward and successes of 2022.

In September this year, the PCCVB launched its overarching Sustainable Tourism Plan to find balance in the community for locals, business owners, and visitors while respecting and upholding the city’s aim for stewardship of Park City’s environment.

The Sustainable Tourism Plan is the nucleus of the Chamber, its decision-making, and actions. The PCCVB mapped out its Legislative Policy Agenda, clearly stating its policies and stances.

“The Policy Agenda is a tool for us to publicly state what we support in terms of laws and regulations,” said PCCVB President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff. “It’s an incredible tool to create awareness around policies related to transportation, housing, infrastructure, and business regulations. It includes arts and culture and economic diversification. All of these tools and resources reinforce the objectives of the Sustainable Tourism plan.”

“Tourism provides many of the amenities we get to enjoy as residents, including our robust free public transit system, world-class restaurants, shops, galleries, and resorts” Wesselhoff said. “When we look at the positive impacts of tourism, I think most people will say they greatly outweigh the negative impacts. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention and work to minimize pinch points.”

Park City received a 70 out of 100 on the Municipality Equality Index score, the second-highest score for Utah after Salt Lake City’s 100/100.

“Park City’s LGBTQ+ Task Force has worked to raise community awareness and visibility by hosting multiple events and organizing two DEI trainings for city staff and local stakeholders,” said Wesselhoff. “For its part, the Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau received an award from Equality Utah for providing one of the most inclusive workspaces in the state,” said PCCVB in a press release.

Currently, the PCCVB has 930 members and a member retention rate three percentage points above the national average of 84%. The Chamber continued its efforts to support local businesses through its new Business University program, adapted from Lunch and Learn events.

Business University is open for Chamber members as well as non-members.

“Business University is a more structured program; it’s a six-month curriculum, where the first Wednesday of every month is a broad overview of the topic. They’re topics that, over that six-month course, hit the key foundational items to start a business and operate a business,” Wesselhoff said. “We always encourage people to join the Chamber because of the skill-building programs like this and other events. But we also want to be very generous in sharing information for all business owners.”

2022 also saw a return of events like the Kimball Arts Festival, Savor the Summit, Park City Song Summit, Autumn Aloft, and many others. The Chamber also saw sustainable growth through Sustainable Tourism initiatives for group meetings, skier days, and Transient revenue Tax collections.

Wesselhoff said she was also proud of the recently released Seasonal Worker Resources site.

“We have over 14,000 employees in the tourism industry,” she said. “We want to ensure that we’re helping our businesses in a meaningful way that translates to their employees. That’s why you see legislative policy statements around housing, childcare, and infrastructure that ultimately helps make it a little bit easier to live, work, and play in Park City.”

Looking ahead, into the calendar year that is, the Chamber will focus on a strong winter season for businesses and support a thriving economy. Wesselhoff said the PCCVB will keep its forward momentum in swing and continue to position Park City as “winter’s favorite town.”