New Explore Whitefish executive director looks for balance

Whitefish’s longtime struggle with balancing tourism with a peaceful way of life ramped up when the pandemic triggered extremely rapid population growth. The new executive director of Explore Whitefish stepped into that dynamic situation just four months ago.

Julie Mullins took the helm of Explore Whitefish, also known as the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau (WCVB) in April. Since then, Mullins says she has spent a lot of time meeting the organization’s members and other community leaders to help develop a plan for the future.

Over 30 years of hotel and destination management experience coupled with a love of Whitefish makes Mullins well-suited to the job. She worked for a number of large hotel companies before spending 15 years with Choose Chicago, the Chicago CVB.

For years, she and her husband would travel to Helena, Montana, for his work in the aerospace industry and they would often tack on a ski trip. They wanted to live in the mountains and after looking around the state, they found themselves returning to Whitefish.

“We fell in love with the fact that it's an unpretentious, authentic, small mountain community,” Mullins said. “I loved the fact when we first started coming people would say hello to us and we would make friends on chairlifts.”

Although she came to the position with a wealth of experience, she has found that the role of director of tourism is different in Whitefish. She says her first four months on the job have been made more difficult by the anti-visitation sentiment of some members of the community and the organization’s funding model.

“I’ve been here now for four months… and it's been a bumpy start,” Mullins said. “Some members of the community have organized against the fund and it’s causing members to withdraw their participation.”

The fund is the Community Sustainability Fund (CSF) which was initially started in 2007, the same year WCVB started. The 1% fee is added to lodging, food and transportation receipts of participating business members. The organization said in a recent letter to the Whitefish Pilot, that the “1% fee is a voluntary contribution to support our programs that balance economic and community sustainability in Whitefish while maintaining the integrity of our town and the quality of life for our residents.”

The fee was originally called the Tourism Promotion Assessment (TPA) but changed to the CSF after Explore Whitefish shifted its mission toward more sustainable tourism.

The original intent of the fee when it was created was that businesses would help one another, so hotels, restaurants and retailers came together to promote Whitefish.

The plan for the fund was that the businesses would add 1% to the customer’s overall bill and they made it voluntary. Mullins said it has always been voluntary for the consumer. Hotels, restaurants and other businesses that wish to be members of Explore Whitefish, however, must agree to add the 1%.

Explore Whitefish recently took a survey and with 60 of its 123 members responding, Mullins learned that less than 1% of customers ask about the CSF or ask it to be removed from their bill.

Still, the charge causes disruption in places of business, in part because of community members who are opposed to the fund, the workings of the point of sales machines in businesses and, in other cases, lack of training could be the cause.

“What I've discovered is that due to staffing issues and turnover, not always the front of house staff are well-informed or well-trained on how to discuss the CSF. They sometimes aren’t even aware that it is voluntary,” Mullins said. “So it really has put some onus back on Explore Whitefish to train better.”

She added that training is made more difficult by the fact that staff in restaurants can often change from month to month and sometimes, week to week. Explore Whitefish understands the concern about the CSF and is looking for options.

“That is just how we are structured right now. We haven't had a reiteration of this program since ‘07,” Mullins said. “So, we really do need to look at how we can do this better.”

WHILE SOME people think the WCVB’s sole purpose is to attract visitors, the mission of Explore Whitefish is to provide a year-round vibrant economy for its members with a major focus on stewardship, livability and authenticity while protecting the environment.

“A very small portion [of the Explore Whitefish budget] is used for advertising and media. We are not an organization that is solely based in marketing and advertising. That is not where we’re goaled and that changed years ago,” Mullins said. “We have not advertised or promoted the summer in any way for decades.”

She added that with Glacier National Park nearby, advertising in the summer would be like throwing money away. Instead, the organization puts the money into more sustainable projects.

“Over the last three to four years, Explore Whitefish has spent about $850,000 dollars from the CSF to help various projects around town,” Mullins said, adding that over a three-year period, the WCVB will invest over $208,000 into Housing Whitefish, a nonprofit working on creating more affordable housing in town.

She said the WCVB gives between $20,000 to $30,000 each year in sustainability grants to its business members. Those funds have gone to Whitefish Legacy Partners for trails, Whitefish Shines for holiday lights and the Glacier Nordic Center. They also helped The Lodge at Whitefish Lake put animal-resistant garbage bins on its property.

“I’ve talked to quite a few of my fellow tourism directors in western mountain towns that have either a park or a ski resort and they've experienced the same thing,” she said. “Their focus has shifted to stewardship and livability and how do we manage the economic benefits but not necessarily allow the disruption to change the way we live.”

LAST WEEK, Explore Whitefish released a survey for all residents and employees of Whitefish. The Sustainable Tourism Management Committee was formed in 2018 in partnership with Explore Whitefish. They are asking residents and stakeholders to take a five-minute survey to help them update the plan.

“I want to hear from the residents to understand what are the real pain points and then really throw our focus,” Mullins said. “If it is affordable housing then how do we work as a community to provide more affordable housing which then can help us with our mission.”

To take the resident survey, visit sustainablewhitefish.com. Links to the survey will also be sent in city water bills. Paper surveys can be picked up at City Hall.

The current tourism plan was approved by the Whitefish City Council in 2020 and the conversations that helped create it were the source of the ongoing Friend of the Fish campaign.

Mullins said the Friend of the Fish campaign is not intended to bring visitors but is aimed at the visitors who are here. It is an education program to help visitors slow down, recreate responsibly and behave in ways that will cause less of a disruption to the lives of residents.

“I feel a rather large responsibility in a short period of time because visitation is the economic driver here and… so many people’s lives depend on tourism but yet we have to make sure it’s beneficial tourism,” she said.

Mullins is settling into her new town, learning about the nuances of her job and balancing tourism with Whitefish’s quality of life. She said we are in a very pivotal stage.

“We want to hold on to our authenticity, we want to hold on to our livability, and we want to hold on to our business community where they can stay open so we’re not a Park City or we’re not a Vail… that literally have workers staying in dormitories, because that’s not a real community,” she said.