Overview

Visit Arvada was approved to participate in the Reimagine Destinations Program by the Colorado Tourism Office in July 2022. Program objectives included: 

• convene local stakeholders to align on opportunities for advancing tourism
• implement strategies that build local awareness of the value of tourism
• identify opportunities to diversify and retain tourism-related funding
• establish a community-based approach for tourism activities in Arvada

Located in Denver and the Cities of the Rockies, City of Arvada (Arvada) is the ideal basecamp for exploring Colorado’s Front Range and the Rockies Playground. Arvada is known for its pedestrian-friendly Olde Town city center that offers a diversity of local restaurants and shops. A 9-mile light rail ride to Denver, visitors can stay in Arvada to enjoy an urban lifestyle or jump on I-70 to access the Rocky Mountains with ease.

Visit Arvada is the destination marketing and management organization for the City of Arvada. Overseen by a board of directors, Arvada City Council appropriates the organization $150,000 annually from the Arvada general fund for the purpose of driving economic development by increasing visitation to Arvada.

Visit Arvada 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 Arvada.

Visit Arvada also convened a core team of local tourism stakeholders to provide input throughout the design and delivery of the program. Visit Arvada 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 Arvada 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 31 tourism stakeholders on December 1, 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 Arvada, City of Arvada, Olde Town Business Improvement District, economic development partners, and private businesses owners.

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 Arvada. Overlapping themes from these discussions included enhanced marketing for brand awareness, development of visitor experiences, and championing the value of tourism.

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:

• Champion the value of tourism
• Promote local businesses and experiences
• Advance off-peak tourism opportunities
• Develop and enhance visitor experience

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 develop strategies to increase off-peak visitation and champion the value of tourism. 

Project objectives included:

• develop the content marketing campaign for Visit Arvada to highlight early summer liquid arts and outdoor recreation opportunities 
• develop a champion value of tourism plan to increase stakeholder engagement and understanding of the tourism opportunity in Arvada

Visit Arvada achieved the following results through the Reimagine Destinations Mentor project:

• “Arvada Summer Playlist” marketing campaign that includes a marketing plan, draft digital content, and campaign ads 
• resources and talking points to champion the value of tourism that includes slide deck, presenter notes, draft messaging, and outreach calendar

About Reimagine Destinations Program

The Reimagine Destinations Program supports Colorado tourism destinations to foster long-term industry resilience. Awarded destinations receive a destination assessment, a full-day workshop, 100 hours of consulting, and a $20,000 creative asset production shoot from the Colorado Tourism Office. This program was made possible by a CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.