The Colorado Tourism Office’s new fiscal year began on July 1, and our public relations staff and contractors have been busy measuring their successes from the past year and compiling their public relations plan for last fiscal year (July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020). Below outlines highlights as well as ways the industry can get involved.

Grand County was awarded a CRAFT Studio 101 program by the Colorado Tourism Office in winter 2019. Program objectives included:

Alamosa County was awarded a CRAFT Studio 101 program by the Colorado Tourism Office in winter 2019. Program objectives included:

History Colorado State Historical Fund awarded grant to support content development through a competitive process

Statewide Visitation Up 2%, With Discretionary Leisure Travel Up 7%, highlights from “Colorado Travel Year 2019,” Longwoods International, June 2020

In 2019, Colorado welcomed a combined total of 86.9 million overnight and day visitors, up 2 percent from 2018. These included a record 39.0 million overnight visitors, up 3 percent from 37.8 million in 2018.

Day travel to and within Colorado also increased in 2019 to 47.9 million trips, up 1 percent from 2018. About 60 percent of Colorado day-trippers are Coloradans.

Snowmass Tourism, in the Roaring Fork Valley and Rockies Playground travel region, was awarded a Colorado Rural Academy for Tourism (CRAFT) Recovery Mentor program by the Colorado Tourism Office in fall 2020.

Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology (CAVE) & Colorado Wine Fest in Palisade, in conjunction with the Palisade Chamber of Commerce, was awarded a CRAFT Recovery Mentor program by the Colorado Tourism Office in fall 2020 to advance recovery efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grand County was awarded a CRAFT Recovery Mentor program by the Colorado Tourism Office in fall 2020 to advance recovery efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 wildfire season.

The Jackson County Lodging Tax Panel was awarded a CRAFT Recovery Mentor program by the Colorado Tourism Office in fall 2020 to advance recovery efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fremont County Tourism Council (FCTC), in the Pikes Peak Wonders travel region, was awarded a CRAFT Recovery Mentor program by the Colorado Tourism Office in fall 2020 to advance recovery efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this CRAFT Recovery Mentor program was to engage with the Fremont County Tourism Council Advocacy Committee to develop an Advocacy and Community Engagement plan.