CRAFT Impact Report: Delta County

Delta County was awarded a CRAFT Studio 201 program by the Colorado Tourism Office in 2016. The objective of this CRAFT Studio 201 program was to unify the county's six towns to create an organized and cohesive promotion plan that sends a more welcoming and unified message to the traveler. 

Located in the Mountains & Mesas region, Delta County sits at the base of Grand Mesa, the largest flat top mountain in the world, and is home to six communities: Cedaredge, Crawford, Delta, Hotchkiss, Orchard City, and Paonia. While much of the county's income has historically come from the mining industry, recent job losses have led community leaders to seek support from the CTO to help diversify the local economy through tourism.

Following Delta County's participation in CRAFT Studio 201, the City of Delta also successfully applied for and participated in a CRAFT Studio 201 program.

CRAFT Studio 201 Program Outcomes

One hundred hours of complimentary consulting support were delivered over nine months.

The Colorado Tourism Office matched Delta County with Dave Santucci, a CRAFT Mentor with experience providing strategic tourism marketing plans, community branding, destination marketing management, tourism advocacy, and public relations to achieve the following outcomes.

Results

A mountain in Crawford, Colorado, in Delta County

The following occurred as a direct result of the program:

  • The Mentor delivered a comprehensive report to summarize the program and recommend next steps.
  • Following the successful completion of CRAFT Studio 201, Delta County applied for and was awarded a CRAFT Studio 201 Implementation Grant of $7,500 to develop video, still photos, and other marketing content.

Changes

The following changes happened after the program took place:

  • A new Delta County tourism website (deltacountycolorado.com) was created. 
  • Weekly Facebook views grew from 2,500 to 8,000, with an increase of 500% engagement for paid advertisements.
  • Partnered with the CTO social media coop, which matches ad buys dollar-for-dollar, dramatically increasing social media engagement.
  • Lodging taxes increased by 17% at the end of 2017.
  • In November 2017, as a result of presenting a cohesive strategy and building on the momentum of their Blueprint 2.0 work, Delta County successfully applied for and received a CTO Marketing Matching Grant of $25,000, which will propel their efforts further.

“Getting the expertise of someone who was focused on us and not delivering a workshop aimed at larger groups [was valuable]. We really felt like our consultant really was passionate about our place and felt pride in working with us to uplift our marketing efforts without a lot of budget.” — Kelli Hepler, Project Lead

Get inspired to visit Delta County by exploring Colorado.com:
3 Days in Delta County
A Wine Tour of Delta
Fresh Mountain-Bike Trails in Delta & Paonia
The Rod & Clubs Tour in Delta
A Grand Tour of the Mountains and Mesas Region

CRAFT

About CRAFT Studio 201

CRAFT Studio 201 provides 100 hours of customized mentoring for tourism destinations wishing to advance a specific tourism-related goal or strategy. Participants receive $7,500 of implementation funding upon completion. 

Contact

Delta County
(970) 874-2108
tourism@deltacounty.com