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SPRING 2011 E-NEWSLETTER
Dear Tourism Partners:
With what looks to be a successful winter behind us (total information not yet in), we are all looking forward to resting up a bit and preparing for a propserous spring and summer. We hope you find our first 2011 E-newsletter informative and educational.
Each April we welcome several new members to our Board of Directors and thank those going off the board. Special thanks to Marshal Taylor, Cathie Elliott and Dave Wiens for their volunteer service and congratulations to Kat Hassebroek, Frank Kugel and Stu Ferguson as they join the board for 3 year terms.
Please be sure to let us know how we can support your marketing and public relations efforts or if you have ideas and suggestions for us! Contact Jane at JChaney@GunnisonCounty.org.
IN THIS ISSUE
- 2010 Snapshot
- Visitor Use Survey Meeting Notice
- Travel Trend Tidbits
- Public & Media Relations
- Technology Strategy
- Paid Advertising
- Upcoming Spring Events
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| 2010 TOURISM ASSOCIATION SNAPSHOT |
Here is a glimpse of a few of our 2010 accomplishments. Look for our electronic Annual Report in mid May.
- 122 family reunion/group leads and 90 Wedding leads were sent to lodging and local group/event organizers
- 75,000 Tourism Association Vacation Planners were distributed to individuals as a result of print/web/radio/direct mail/web site advertising, e-blasts, state and local visitor centers and consumer travel shows
- 2,000+ CD’s were mailed to international visitors
- 41 Group Tour Packets were fulfilled to bus/group travel planners
- Web site unique visitor traffic was up 48%
- Consumer phone call volume was up 9%
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| VISITOR USE SURVEY RESULS MEETING |
The Tourism Association, in partnership with the National Park Service, would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss the results of the 2010 Visitor Study. The public is invited to learn about highlights of the survey results for visitor studies that were conducted at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area last Summer. Data includes the sources of information that visitors used to plan their trips, their activities during their visit, lenght of stay, demographics, opinions about services, etc. The presentation will be on Tuesday, May 3 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at the Fred R. Field Heritage Center in Gunnison. |
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| TRAVEL TREND TIDBITS |
Recently, Arnie Weissman, editor in chief of Travel Weekly Magazine, interviewed the editors of Travel+Leisure, Budget Travel, Conde Nast Traveler, USA Today Travel and National Geographic Traveler. Here are some bullet points from their exchange…
- Complimentary WiFi is expected at lodging properties and social gathering places
- Being asked to pay resort fees is getting pushback from consumers
- Consumers are choosing airlines with no/least expensive bag fees where possible
- Personalization is more desired by consumers (sighted Wanderfly.com and Amazon.com of those doing it best); this is recognition that needs differ from person to person
- People who use travel agents don’t want a trip from A to Z with a single price (they want to know how much things cost)
- Consumers want transparency in pricing and customized travel experiences offering meaning and lasting memories
- 60% of Budget Travel readers used Travel Agents in the past year (survey by Forrester Research)
- Social network planning sites (Facebook, Twitter) are popping up; people are using their “community” to get recommendations for specific interests
- Apps for everything…it’s like the Wild West right now! Don’t know how it will evolve, what the demand will be and how well it’s working (question about apps…call Erica: 641.7992)
- Mixed thoughts about consumption of online video and if people have to have it
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| PUBLIC & MEDIA RELATIONS |
MEDIA VISITS
The Tourism Association co-hosted several media familiarization trips this winter with Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
- Colorado Tourism Office United Kingdom media trip (two CTO representatives and 5 journalists) to Crested Butte & Telluride, Jan. 15 – 18
- Amber Johnson, MileHighMamas.com, Jan. 20 – 23
- Irwin Curtin, freelance for LA Times/Boston Globe/others, Jan. 20 – 23
- Eric Peterson, Frommer’s, Jan. 23 – 25
- Jim Fagan, Snowshoe Magazine, Feb. 22 – 25
- Becca Hensley, Texas-based freelancer, Feb. 25 – 28
- Kristen Miller, Denver Life Magazine, Feb. 22 – 27
- Randy Weissman, Chicago Tribune, March 2 – 7
- Jacob Harkins & photographer, Denver Magazine, March 4 – 6
- Dan Leeth, Denver freelancer, March 4 – 7
- Bernard Germain, French Alpine Club, March 24 – 28
PRESS RELEASES
Press releases distributed during the first quarter included Alley Loop, Romance in the Rockies, Progressive Bonfire Dinner, March Mania in Downtown Crested Butte, Grand Traverse, Spring Events & Deals, and Flauschink.
All of our press releases can be viewed at www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com/media Most summer press releases have been loaded. Writing of summer/fall press releases continue, so be sure to let us know about any events of interest to tourists. We’ll also add them to our calendar of events and please post them on www.gcbcalendar.com Contact PR Director Beth Buehler at 349-1168 or bethbuehler@qwestoffice.net.
MEDIA HITS
This is just a sampling of media coverage. For a full listing, go to the board packets posted on www.gcbta.com.
- Crested Butte Destination/New Acura TSX Sport Wagon – 8-page feature story for Acura Style magazine
- CB Winter Destination - Ventanas Magazine
- Grand Traverse – cover story for Colorado Country Life and many other media mentions pre- and post-race
- Traveler’s Ski Report on Crested Butte – Frommers.com
- 11 Places Worldwide for Wildflower Walks (included CB) – Bing.com
- Crested Butte Destination – MileHighMamas.com (a Denver Post website)
- 48 Hours in Crested Butte – Ski.net (Skiing, Ski)
- Colorado Ski Destinations (Crested Butte, Aspen, Telluride, Silverton) – Snow magazine (Germany)
- Where the Wildflowers Are (including CB Wildflower Festival) – story by PeterGreenberg.com on Oprah.com
- Family Travel Vacations to Love for Valentine’s Day (CB 1 of 5 destinations featured) – Lynn O’Rourke Hayes’ travel column appeared in 20+ media outlets including Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, Kansas City Star, Sacramento Bee
- CB Biking Destination (and mentions of ski season and autumn) – Sunset Travel Guide
- 101 Best of the West (including Cattlemen’s Days) – American Cowboy
- Alley Loop & CB Nordic Ski Destination – Nordic Ski Colorado
- Winter Activities in Black Canyon of the Gunnison – Denver Post Outdoor Extremes
UK Media FAM participants with Alison Gannett.
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| TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY |
Target Marketing: As we head into spring, our online advertising and e-blasts will continue to be targeted to certain geographic regions and/or vertical interest groups in order to stretch our marketing dollar further. For example, we recently sent an e-blast out to over 150,000 regional fisherman to promote spring lodging and outfitter specials…and fantastic fishing! Our spring geographic targets are primarily Colorado and Texas. We also target vertical interests in fishing, biking, Western heritage, rafting, events and arts and culinary, while promoting our partners' packages. We also are excited to be unveiling a new e-newsletter template this month.
Online Vacation Planner: Have you seen our new 2011 vacation planner yet? If not, it’s on our website here. We also have an iPad/mobile version on our website here. You will see more photos and a totally new look.
Social Media: Our Facebook page has continued to see lots of activity. This winter, our "Best Reason" social media campaign attained 34,000 Facebook impressions in just two weeks! To encourage sales via our social media platform, we will soon launch our online reservation booking solution on our Facebook page. |
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| PAID ADVERTISING BRIEF |
Direct Mail – 20,000+ consumers who have requested vacation information about spring and summer will receive a mailing in mid-April to include events and vacation ideas
Print Advertising – More than 25 state and regional publications covering specific topic such as culinary, the arts, Western heritage, groups, fishing, children, biking, weddings, lifestyle and a broader destination message will be utilized this spring and summer.
Radio – Front Range radio messages will begin in late May and pick up again in late summer for the fall season.
To see the entire 2011 media plan, please visit www.gcbta.com |
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| EVENTS |
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OTHER USEFUL INFO |
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There is a lot going on this spring and summer! Visit our event calendar to learn about upcoming events.
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