Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) 

WHAT:  RMGA MEMBERSHIP MEETING -- Colorado Tourism Office (CTO)


WHEN:  March 14, 2016, 6:30 – 7:00pm networking, 7:00 – 7:15pm – short business meeting, 7:15 – 8:30pm History/Purpose of the Colorado Tourism Office


WHERE:  Denver Energy Center Building, 1625 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202.  The office is on the 27th floor.


PROGRAM:  Amber Kollman and Laura Grey will present the History/Purpose of the CTO.

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Colorado Tourism Office


The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) was formed in 2000 as part of the Office of Economic Development.  Funding comes through gaming revenues – 2015 total budget is $19 million.  The State Legislature again promotes tourism – they discontinued funding for three years and lost 65% of our tourism dollars.  The CTO technically works for the Governor.  Their Board has 15 members – appointed by the Governor – and they represent various segments of tourism as well as two members each from the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives.

The Colorado Tourism Office’s focus is to increase visitor spending, generate higher tax revenue and maximize marketing return on investment (ROI) – this advertising is presented out of state to encourage people to come to Colorado.  There are only eight full-time employees.  Other states have many more staff members.  The CTO uses Miles Partnership to develop website and brochures.

Amber oversees Domestic Marketing.  Kelly Barbello oversees eleven Visitor Centers throughout the state – generally close to entry points on various highways.  These have a paid manager and are generally manned by volunteers.  CTO has found that visitors who stop at the Visitor Centers usually stay longer and spend more.  Your business can have a rack card on display at these centers – the busiest are on I-70.

The CTO has a Marketing Advisory Committee that works with venues all over the state.  Amber mentioned Cathy Ritter, who started on December 1st, (she replaces Al White as Director) who oversees strategy and brand.

CTO’s reason for being is to increase travel spending in Colorado – in 2014 it was $15.6 billion, a 7.4% increase over 2013.  There is an Economic Impact Study that tracks retail codes to get these figures.  2014’s budget was $19 million and they brought in $18 billion.  Tourism generated $1.1 billion, which is more than $535 per household of tax revenue.  There are 155,000 Colorado jobs related to tourism – payroll is $5.1 billion – making tourism the third largest employer in Colorado (after government/education and agriculture).  The 2014/2015 ad campaign generated 1.7 million trips and $2.6 billion in economic impact: every dollar invested returned $361 in travel spending.

The Public Relations/Social Media aspect of CTO wants to pitch writers to visit and write about Colorado so CTO hosts visiting journalists, writers, bloggers, and Instagram writers as well as sending out a monthly email “Hot Sheet”.  CTO realizes more ROI from Instagram photographers rather than bloggers (who tend to charge for their blogs).  They also do focused “city blitzes” – April 2016 will focus on Austin, Texas.  They hold a quarterly media reception and host freelance travel writers (25 locals) and industry partners (estimate 20).

The Social Media Campaign is not an expensive program and uses Facebook (others may need to pay to see your information – possibly only 9% of your followers may be able to see your information for free).  They also use YouTube, National Geographic, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram.  In 2015 there were more than 9 million site visits to Colorado.com.  This site has a responsive design and works on any phone or I-pad.  The official State Tourism Guide last year printed 650,000 copies – about 450,000 went to possible visitors.  The states of Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan make the most requests for the tourism guide.  The demographics are generally older and male requesting this guide.   A city might put together an ad page of “sponsored content” and have many venues listed on their page. There is a free business listing that allows you to have three tags (i.e., Denver tours, mountain tours, brewery tours).  Go to Industry.colorado.com to research information on how to get a business listing.  CTO also puts out “Alive” magazine twice a year – it’s free and they print 50,000 copies of each issue.

Any tourism company can list for free with CTO and you can buy special ads content.

CTO also is involved with Heritage and Agritourism tourists.  There are 670 farms and ranches listed – this represents only 2% of the farms and ranches in Colorado.  These farms and ranches generated of $33 million in agritourism.  Colorado is the only state to have dedicated funding for agritourism.  New farms and ranches wanted to enter the program are paired with current farms/ranches to help them avoid the pitfalls and learn how to successfully get into this business.  HB1280 limits the liability for the farms/ranches.  The legislature passed this bill so that farmers who participate are not liable for accidents.  This type of tourism is promoted internationally.

International tourism promotion is divided into three sections: American (Canada and Mexico), Europe/Middle East/Africa (France, UK, Belgium, Ireland, etc.) and Asia/Pacific.  This promotion is encouraged by direct flights to Iceland and Nordic countries, Tokyo and Japan and Korea.  It is important to have these flights stay in service so that people from these countries will visit Denver just as we are visiting their country. CTO is starting to work with airlines to encourage flights (cheap and direct) to have people visit Denver.

CTO is also working with Tour Colorado to develop relationships with Destination Management Organizations (DMO) to encourage tours to stay at least one night in Denver.  Tour Colorado exhibits and attends trade shows to encourage visitors to Colorado.  Visitor numbers from Nordic countries is increasing as are visitors from Japan, China, and South Korea (these are helped by direct flights to Tokyo).

The “Direct to Consumers” segment is growing with International visitors.  This connects visitors with outfitter for getting visitors outfitted to go to the mountains, or go fishing, etc.  This segment partners with other Western states to get visitors here for more days before they move on to other states.  CTO invests in international visitors because they stay longer and spend more. 

Additional resources:

    • Marketing matching grants – CTO may match up to $25,000, regionally and statewide.   Grants are posted in July and voted on in October.

    • Tourism Day at the Capitol in January.

    • Discover Colorado Rally – May 5, 2016.

    • Governor’s Tourism Conference – September 14-16, 2016 in Breckenridge.

The Colorado Travel Report – 2014 has information on who came to Colorado and how much did they spend (industry.colorado.com).  Demographics: generally 35-54 years of age, families with incomes over $100,000/year and older visitors without children and incomes over $100,000/year.  Spot markets include Minneapolis, Chicago and Atlanta.  Colorado is among the top five aspirational destinations (they want to come here). However, you must invite them if you want them to come. The perception of a destination is more important than facts in influencing a visitor’s decision to come to Colorado.

Amber concluded with a short Colorado ad video with photos with many great views of places to visit in Colorado.  A great presentation!

--- Nancy Brueggeman  

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