Colorado Tourism Board Meeting Minutes

November 8, 2023

Attendance:

CTO Board: Bob Stinchcomb, Laura Valdez, Sen. Dylan Roberts, Rep. Meghan Lukens, Rep. Matt Soper, Rachel Brown, Dan Pirrallo, Dana Rodriguez, Ken Murphy, Nick Ragain

CTO: Tim Wolfe, CTO Director; Andrea Blankenship, Deputy Director of International Tourism; Jill Corbin; Deputy Director of Destination Stewardship; Shelley Cooper, Deputy Director for Marketing; David Fishman, Senior Fiscal/Operations Manager; Taren Mulch, Director of Visitor Services; Elizabeth O’Rear, Director of Grants and Funding; Andrew Grossmann, Director of Destination Development; Natazshya Rodriguez, Senior Brand Manager; Jackson Feld, Destination Stewardship Specialist; Kaiti Jacobson, Senior Manager of Industry Partnerships & Education; Sami Wells, Grants and Funding Manager; Hilary Lewkowitz, Senior Manager Destination Development; Julie Dufault, International Promotions Manager; Hayes Norris, Communications Manager; Christina Tuchman, Marketing Manager; Michelle Wulfson, Marketing Copywriter; Will Anderson, Administrative Coordinator

Additional: Additional: Eve Lieberman, OEDIT; Carly Holbrook, Handlebar PR; Caitlin Johnson, Handlebar PR; Carrie Gill, MMGY; Jessica Hollenbach, MMGY; Mira Whang, MMGY; Kim Lenox, MMGY; Zoe Berry, MMGY; Liz Birdsall, CTO Contractor- Birdsall Marketing; Carrie Tomlinson, Miles Partnership; Joe Vollbracht, Karsh Hagan; Derek Schimmel, CTO Destination Development Contractor; Dave Santucci, CTO Contractor/Mission2Market;  Katy Costikyan, Chase Design, Ben Watkins, Chase, Jeff Pirro, Chase Design, Michael Hahn, CTO Contractor; Barb Bowman, CTO Contractor; Eric Smith Chase Design, Kelly Layton, Destination Colorado; Kendyl Vincent MMGY; Kathy Hagan, Karsh Hagan, Laura Libby, Miles Partnership

Meeting called to order at 12:04 PM

12:00 PM - Welcome & Introduction of New Board Members: Bob Stinchcomb, CTO Board Chair

• Intro to new board member, Dana Rodriguez, Executive Chef of Casa Bonita

12:10 PM -  Approval of Meeting Minutes

• Motioned by Nick Ragain
• Seconded by Dan Pirrallo
• Approved by Acclamation

12:15 PM - Director’s Report: Tim Wolfe, CTO Director

• Thanks to CTO staff for another successful Gov Con
• Laura Valdez- thanks for attendance and chance to see Museum of Discovery
• Travel numbers by county update, including inflation adjustment
• International numbers update

• Recovery at 95%, still bouncing back

• International arrivals by nation

• Hotel STAR Report

• Hotels only in this report
• 2019 still shows highest occupancy rates
• Some major areas down from last year (Aspen, Breckenridge, Castle Rock, and more)
• Some areas up, but inflation comes into play there

• Short Term Rental updates

• RevPar and occupancy running about even with last year
• Forecasted AirBnB occupancy rates a bit lower than this time last year

• State of American Travelers

• Significant sense of economic uncertainty still exists
• Excitement for travel at record levels
• 1 in 3 Americans planning to travel abroad in the next year

• Load factors at regional airports are strong indicators for travel forecasting
• Occupancy rates discussion

• Q: Are staffing levels impacting occupancy rates and capability to have full occupancy

• D.P.- Hotels try not to take any inventory out of the market, even when short staffed and staffing not suspected to be impacting occupancy
• B.S.- You may see cutbacks on ancillary opportunities, will get creative
• M.S.- Q: Where are travelers going if numbers are dipping?

• Numbers CTO has only show domestic overnights in CO. Number of ski visits were up more in Utah last year vs CO. International visitation would help this majorly
• Do we think Utah will see more travel as major events come up

• not necessarily the case yet and it won't necessarily “steal” from CO

12:30 PM - Welcome Center Update: Taren Mulch, CTO Director of Visitor Services, ChaseDesign

• SLFRF financing for the state (recovery $)

• WCs are 30 years old and needed upgrades
• Board agreed to use this money for advertising to get travel back on pace, then put some aside for refreshments
• Working with CDOT to accomplish this aside from some which have different ownership

• Elevating Come to life through unique and intentional process with the visitors needs top of mind
• Approach timeline review

• nearly at activation stage

• Background on visitor research on-site

• key insights breakdown

• Strategic Vision: This is our chance to turn today’s functional facilities into tomorrow's extraordinary experiences
• Design Concept and Visitor Experience

• Exterior vision

• Integrating Welcome to Colorado signage, native landscaping, dog parks, ADA accessibility, local touches, playgrounds

• Interior vision

• Refreshment stations, office space, photo experiences, cohesive signage, quality restrooms, informational communication (ex Do Colorado Right), engaging activities
• Communications Hierarchy

• Natural Wonders, Memorable Adventures, A Taste of Culture

• Departure efforts to include signage, leaving with messaging, etc. to encourage re-visiting

• CTO next steps

• Continued partner discussions
• Stakeholder input/feedback
• Execution Phase- CDOT project planning

• OEDIT not delegated to do construction work, so working with CDOT is necessary step

• Feedback

• Once completed, are we confident it won't be a financial drain?

• Only ongoing expense prioritized is technology- will decrease paper usage

• Any revenue opportunities?

• Did explore co-op opportunities and still looking into options

• Staffing- how does staffing work and will it remain the same

• No change anticipated due to reliance on volunteers

• WCs open 24/7?

• Not all are 24/7, but CDOT buildings are for restroom access
• Wasn’t explored to make all 24/7 due to crime or transient concerns
• CDOT has final say on 24/7 accessibility

• Inclusivity in travel perspective- any discussion for including this aspect?

• In the design, highly discussed accessibility
• Nice thing about design concept is the ability to adapt and modify throughout the year
• Opening the design concept to public input

• First refreshed center on par to start July construction pending no delays

1:15 PM - Music Shines Brighter Campaign Update, Winter Travel Trends & Top Line Media Plan: Shelley Cooper, CTO Deputy Director of Domestic Marketing, MMGY

• Music Shines Brighter case study

• Opportunity- Colorado’s live music scene is one-of-a-kind but never actively promoted
• 2% decline in visitors attending concerts/traveling to music venues compared to 2022
• CTO audience has high affinity for music
• April-July 2023
• Sponsored activations in Chicago and Dallas
• iHeart/AEG sweepstakes
• Collaboration with Colorado-based band Tennis
• 24M media impressions via iHeart partnership
• ROI highlights
• Samples of creative concepts

• Comments-

• Great campaign and great to work with local talent

• Partnership with AEG is amazing way to reach wide audiences

• Possible future partnerships being thought about with Music Hall of Fame

• Test & learn for winter is all about food

• bringing food to the forefront of marketing efforts

1:45PM - Wrap Up and Q&A

• D.P. Question:

• Given fact large share of inventory in mountain destinations are STRs, what will impact be if we change the residential property tax structure

• Wanting to provide all with stats on how tax changes would impact those residents
• Hard to find a one size fits all concept

• If legislatiures considering this- why aren’t they asking the economic impact questions? Causes great concern for communities that rely on tourism.
• D.R.- committee that is moving some of this forward is in early convos and has a long way to go to passing
• M.S.- GA needs accurate info and data provided to them

• May see a government shutdown still, but administration is committed to working to avoid major impacts and communicate effectively what the impacts are around the state

MEETING ADJOURNED 1:58PM

• Motioned by Nick Ragain
• Seconded by Ken Murphy
• Meeting adjourned by acclamation