Overview
Visit Alamosa was approved to participate in the Reimagine Destinations Program by the Colorado Tourism Office in July 2022. Program objectives included:
- Increase utilization of the Alamosa Welcome Center
- Increase visitor engagement at the Alamosa Welcome Center
- Enhance volunteer engagement at the Alamosa Welcome Center
Located in the heart of the Mystic San Luis Valley travel region, Alamosa is the gateway to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The destination is also known for its waterfalls, hot springs, and mountain views. Increasingly, the area is being recognized as a food, beverage, and culture basecamp for recreation throughout the valley.
Visit Alamosa, also known as Alamosa Convention and Visitors Bureau, is the destination marketing and management organization for Alamosa County. The organization is funded by a 2% county lodging tax and a 4% countywide local marketing district, with the purpose of driving demand for visitation to Alamosa through marketing and destination development.
Visit Alamosa was paired with Dave Santucci, Principal Consultant for Mission2Market, a destination consultancy with 20 years of experience in destination management and marketing, to develop a destination assessment, facilitate a full-day community visioning and action planning workshop, and provide 100 hours of consulting to Visit Alamosa.
Visit Alamosa also convened a core team of local tourism stakeholders to provide input throughout the design and delivery of the program. Visit Alamosa hosted two core team meetings to identify priority barriers and opportunities for advancing tourism, discuss the findings from the destination assessment, and guide workshop design.
Destination Assessment and Workshop Results
Visit Alamosa supported the development of a destination assessment consisting of background research, a visitor profile study, a tourism stakeholder survey, and input from the core team. The findings from the assessment were compiled into a report that informed the design of the full-day workshop.
Visit Alamosa convened 16 tourism stakeholders on October 11, 2022 for a community visioning and action planning workshop to review the destination assessment and align on priority actions for fostering long-term industry resilience. Workshop participants represented a wide range of tourism stakeholders, including Visit Alamosa, state economic development, City of Alamosa, Alamosa County, San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, and private businesses.
Workshop participants engaged in a small group activity to align on the future changes they would like to see implemented that benefit the tourism industry in Alamosa in regard to the Welcome Center. Overlapping themes from these discussions included partner activation, visitor engagement, and improved visibility of the Alamosa Welcome Center.
As a result of the workshop discussions, participants aligned on key priorities and action items to inform the development of an action plan. Key priorities include:
- Increase visitor engagement
- Encourage responsible and respectful use
- Activate local stakeholders
- Build awareness of the Alamosa Welcome Center
CRAFT Mentor Results
Following the workshop, 100 hours of consulting were provided to conduct the activities listed below. The purpose of this CRAFT Mentor Project was to increase awareness of and visitation to the Alamosa Welcome Center.
Project objectives included:
- Develop strategies to improve the Alamosa Welcome Center’s online presence
- Draft recommendations to develop an Alamosa Welcome Center ambassador program
- Research best practices to drive awareness of and visitation to the Alamosa Welcome Center
- Draft short- and long-term recommendations for mobile welcome center solutions
Visit Alamosa achieved the following results through the Reimagine Destinations Mentor project:
- Strategies to improve the Alamosa Welcome Center’s digital presence that includes a set of recommendations based on a digital audit
- Successful application for the CTO Destination Learning Labs Pilot Program that will support the Alamosa Welcome Center ambassador program
- Recommendations to improve the Alamosa Welcome Center signage strategy
- Recommendations for a mobile welcome center that include short- and long-term action items
- Presentation for Visit Alamosa staff and board summarizing Mentor program outcomes, as well as target audiences, and key performance metrics
“We were able to bring stakeholders to the table that helped create a positive direction for our welcome center. This program helped those outside our entity realize the importance of tourism but also created a unified mindset that the welcome center is a community resource.” — Kale Mortenson, Visit Alamosa