New director of WCVB keeps focus on geotraveler

With a background in marketing geotourism and a love for the outdoors, Dylan Boyle was a natural fit to take over leadership of the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau.

Boyle, 31, was named executive director earlier this year after Jan Metzmaker announced her retirement.

A native of Denver, Colo., some of Boyle’s earliest childhood memories include skiing, camping, fishing and family trips to Yellowstone National Park.

“I was exposed to the outdoors at an early age,” Boyle said. “That instilled a passion.”

He would go on to attend the University of Colorado where he earned a marketing degree and studied sustainable tourism, and later the University of Montana where he earned a master’s in recreation management.

While at UM, he worked for the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research where he generated an economic analysis of Montana’s geotraveler market.

“Montana deems the geotraveler their target market,” Boyle said. “The study showed geotravelers spent more money and stayed longer than the average traveler.”

The geotourist also happens to be WCVB’s target traveler, a market Boyle hopes to foster and grow.

“Jan built a strong foundation,” he said. “My role is to keep moving that forward.”

“Whitefish understands the value of tourism. Our role is to promote Whitefish as an authentic, premiere mountain destination and make sure it stays that way.”

Retaining Whitefish’s character as a “real town” is one of the WCVB’s missions, and one Boyle takes seriously.

“Historically in tourism, that is always a challenge,” he said. “But we are really well suited. I feel like we have a good foundation. I believe we can achieve our goal of remaining an authentic place both to live and visit. But of course that is the challenge.”

He cited the WCVB’s recent success with promoting the off-season. In the first quarter of 2013, Whitefish’s bed tax revenue was up 30 percent. From April to the end of June, it was up 20 percent.

“That speaks to our use of marketing dollars to increase those seasons,” he said. “I’m looking to move that forward and increase that.”

Promoting Whitefish as a cycling destination could be one avenue.

 “The expansion and knowledge of the Whitefish Trail has been a catalyst of the shoulder season,” he said. “I find so much to do in those seasons and I know our visitors can too.”

In 2011, Boyle founded Geotravel Consulting, specializing in community education on responsible and authentic travel, based in the Crown of the Continent. Most recently he led the National Geographic Co-Branded Crown of the Continent Geotourism Project

Boyle is also one of the authors of the upcoming book “Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies” featuring photographer Steven Gnam along with local authors Michael Jamison and Douglas Chadwick.