Restart Industry Associations Success Story: Bicycle Colorado

Bicycle Colorado was approved to participate in the Restart Industry Associations Program by the Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) in September 2021.

For nearly 30 years, Bicycle Colorado has represented the Colorado outdoor recreation industry by advocating for cyclists and public transportation across the state. In addition to education and advocacy, Bicycle Colorado provides information about popular rides throughout Colorado. Bringing people to Colorado to ride bikes, and encouraging Coloradans to travel around the state and explore on two wheels, is integral to Bicycle Colorado’s mission. Bicycle Colorado represents individuals, bike shops, and organized bike rides, which in turn support the vitality of their local destinations.  
 
Bicycle Colorado was paired with Amy Cassidy, a CRAFT Mentor with experience in tourism and outdoor recreation development, strategic planning, and marketing and communications in emerging and established destinations throughout Colorado, to deliver 75 hours of free consulting to conduct the activities listed below.

The purpose of this project was to assist Bicycle Colorado in enhancing the Mountains & Mesas microsite by researching available bike routes and related services, compiling images, and curating travel content in preparation for a public microsite launch. 

Project objectives included:

  • curate and validate ride descriptions, travel tips, images, route embeds, and additional copy when appropriate for bike experiences in the Mountains & Mesas travel region
  • research, identify, and link to key relevant business services within destinations featured on the microsite
  • recommend additional rides or details to existing rides 
  • develop inspirational content for the microsite landing page

Bicycle Colorado achieved the following results with its Restart Industry Associations Mentor: 

  • microsite descriptions, travel tips, relevant business services, and resources with approval from Destination Organizations (DOs) and local experts when appropriate
  • database of bike experience type, skill level, and recommended rides for microsite content development 
  • images and required photo credits obtained from DOs and local cyclists to support presentation of the content developed 

“Bicycle Colorado has been partnering with the Colorado Tourism Office on a website project to encourage bicycle tourism to lesser-known areas in Western Colorado. The Restart Industry Associations program and especially our mentor, Amy Cassidy, helped us create much-needed capacity to improve the information we can provide to potential visitors through thoughtful and thorough research and information-gathering.” -Aishwarya Krishnamoorthy, Communications and Marketing Manager, Bicycle Colorado 

CRAFT Recovery assistance for Tourism

About Restart Industry Associations Program

The Restart Industry Associations Program supports Colorado tourism industry associations to drive faster recovery as they emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Awarded industry associations receive 75 hours of free consulting and $10,000 in direct marketing support from the Colorado Tourism Office. This program was made possible by a CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.