JSDC Approves $125,000 for Jamestown Digital Tourism Campaign

The Jamestown Stutsman Development Corporation board on Nov. 10 approved a $125,000 request from Jamestown Tourism to continue a digital marketing program intended to drive visitation to area attractions and events. The approved funding is split with the city providing $100,000 and Stutsman County providing $25,000. Board members heard an update on campaign partners and results as part of the decision.

Marketing manager Warren Abrahamson described a multi partner approach using agencies and analytics firms, including Noble Studios and Arrivalist, to run remarketing campaigns targeted at nearby metropolitan areas and travel corridors. Campaigns focused on Minneapolis, Fargo and Chicago as primary source markets and produced millions of impressions and tens of thousands of clicks. Those metrics formed the basis for the JSDC vote to continue funding the program for the coming period.

Jamestown Tourism presented metrics intended to move awareness into actual visits. The presentation highlighted visitation numbers for Frontier Village and noted hospitality tax trends as part of the performance picture. While digital impressions and click totals demonstrate reach and interest, the stated objective is to convert that online engagement into longer stays and a higher share of overnight visitors, which has a direct effect on lodging tax collections and local business revenue.

The economic logic for the investment centers on capture of travel demand within reachable drive markets. Increased overnight stays typically generate more spending on lodging, dining and retail, boosting hospitality tax receipts and supporting jobs in the hospitality sector. For a small community like Jamestown, modest increases in average length of stay can have outsized effects on revenue for hotels, attractions and event organizers.

Local operators will be watching conversion signals as the campaign continues. Arrivalist style location data and remarketing performance metrics can indicate whether campaign clicks translate to actual travel into Jamestown, but measuring the share of clicks that become overnight stays remains the key challenge. The JSDC approval ties future spending to ongoing evaluation of those results, and officials emphasized the need to demonstrate return on investment through changes in visitation patterns and hospitality tax receipts.

The renewed funding ensures Jamestown Tourism can maintain coordinated promotion of events and attractions this travel season. The community will monitor whether sustained digital outreach from targeted metros and travel corridors produces the intended uplift in overnight visits and broader economic benefits for the county.