Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari City Commission last Tuesday approved hiring Gray Digital Media of Amarillo to be the city’s tourism marketing arm through June 2025.
The company, affiliated with News Channel 10 in Amarillo, will present its contract to the commission at a later date. It would be paid $58,582.50 for the nine-month duration of the contract.
Officials from Gray Digital Media earlier proposed the marketing plan to the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board, which recommended approval to the commission.
John Echols, media executive of the company, showed on the commission chambers’ large-screen television a one-minute “sizzle reel” he shot during the city’s recent Fired Up festival and edited by Gray’s creative team.
“We want to work with everybody in the city,” Echols said. “You’re going to see a lot of us.”
Gray Digital Media would present its tourism marketing efforts through broadcast and livestreamed television, social media, digital advertising and YouTube.
It also would take over the city’s tourism website, VisitTucumcariNM.com.
Echols said the company also is working with partners in Texas and Oklahoma regarding Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
Mayor Mike Cherry said the Gray Digital Media would take direction from the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on its tourism efforts.
Brent McClure, general manager and vice president, said the company encompasses more than 100 television markets nationwide and thousands of media companies.
Echols said its marketers can target specific locations and lifestyles.
“Anywhere you consume your media, we can reach,” he said.
McClure said he also understands the values of a smaller market such as Tucumcari, citing his hometown of Morton, Texas.
Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, wrote a letter recommending the hiring of Gray Digital Media, describing it as “an ideal choice to lead our marketing efforts.”
Commissioner Jonathan Brito asked whether the company can coordinate billboards or print media. McClure said it can if it is directed to do so.
McClure said his company will consult with city officials “monthly at minimum” with its tourism campaigns.
City Clerk Angelica Gray said when the company’s contract expires, the city might go to a request for proposals for future tourism efforts. Cherry also signaled that Gray’s contract might be renegotiated at that time.
Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Lopez, participating by phone, made the motion to approve, and Brito seconded. The measure passed unanimously.