FEBRUARY 2008 E-News ISSUE V
Greetings from the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association (TA), the official marketing organization of beautiful Gunnison County! Each month our goal is to bring you news about the TA and other useful information. Your feedback is invited and welcomed! Read on!
TOURISM ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTIONS are underway. As a matter of fact, you will receive an electronic nomination form tomorrow! We encourage you to consider making nominations to fill three very important seats on our board. Nominations will be open until 5PM, February 28 and ballots will be sent electronically on March 14. Voting will remain open until 5PM, March 27. We hope you will participate in this process! Our board guides the direction of tourism in Gunnison County!
PUBLIC RELATIONS NEWS
With both the TA and CBMR working hard to inform the media about our valley and to host visiting journalists, we are fortunate to be landing excellent coverage.
Magazines: AutoWeek, Cottage Living, Association News, Skywest Magazine, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, Los Angeles, Freeskiier, Ski, Skiing, Powder, Cross Country Skiing, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, Bicycling, Bike Magazine, 5280, travelgirl,Group Tour Magazine
Online: www.gocoloradotravel.com, www.OntheSnow.com, www.travelwithval.com, www.coloradowinterinfo.com
Newspapers: Boston Globe, Toronto Star, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Cherry Creek News, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Boulder Daily Camera, Sante Fe New Mexican, Arizona Republic, Grand Junction Daily Sentinal, Pueblo Chieftain, Dallas Morning News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Newsday, San Diego Union-Tribune, Tampa Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Colorado Springs Gazette, San Francisco Examiner, Baltimore Examiner, Washington, D.C. Examiner Alley Loop – Outside, Dallas Morning News
Local Awareness Committee - Using feedback from recent focus groups held at both ends of the valley, the committee is developing local awareness articles and a “Voices of Tourism” column to be submitted to local media.
Crisis Communications Plan - The TA has met with officials from both ends of the valley who respond to crises such as floods, forest fires, gas main leaks, etc. The TA has written a crisis communications plan to assist with the delivery of information to tourists, businesses and organizations that serve tourists, and the media when appropriate.
Summer/Spring 2008 PR - The Tourism Association’s summer/fall media kit CD will be mailed to key media contacts next week and most press releases are already loaded in the media room at www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com.
INTERNET NEWS
2007 Unique visitors to the TA's web site was more than 750,000. That's 56% more traffic than we saw in 2006! The factors driving this growth are paid print and online advertisements and links from e-mail broadcasts using the TA's lists and purchased consumer and travel agent lists.
We are building a new site! Please bear with us in the next few months as we work with Blue Tent Marketing to develop a new Content Management System (CMS). The goal of the site re-development is to continue to provide fast, convenient service for our partners and to provide an informative and attractive "face" to our destination for potential visitors. The Internet is where 80% of vacation planning takes place, and our site in particular is often the first impression guests have of our destination. So we intend to make that first impression memorable. While the look of the site will not change much it will meet modern demands with features like RSS feeds, Videos, and a Travel Blog. The site build-out will focus on Search Engine Optimization, our Partner listings and easy-to-find visitor information.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work is ongoing and helps keep us current on industry trends. This is just one part of the strategy to help our site be found organically in searches. Paid-for advertising (PPC) on major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc. are also used. These top search engines provide 35% of our site traffic. An emerging search term for our web site is "Gunnison Airport" where we link guests directly to United and American Airlines as well as provide a flight map and detailed schedule.
"Book now" functionality was remodeled this fall and there is live "check availability" capability for all partners on GunnisonCrestedButte.com. Email Rob to learn more about this. The TA encourages businesses to use a specific toll free number on the TA web site so the number of calls you are receiving can be tracked from your deals or business listings. We can recommend a telecommunications firm who charges $.07 per minute and toll free numbers are free! So you can have 1 or 100 numbers for just $.07 per minute and you only pay when a guest used the number! Call Rob at 970/641-7992 for more information.
GunnisonValleyRTA.org: The RTA web site home page has had a face lift to integrate the new logo design, and is currently featuring the FREE BUS schedules- front and center. Schedules, route maps and other RTA marketing materials are available for individual and business use to help promote the RTA's programs... Check it out! "www.GunnisonValleyRTA.org
Community Calendar Update: www.GCBcalendar.com. Special thanks to all who have participated and loaded events to date. And remember NOW is the time to load your spring, summer & fall events. Visitors are coming to the site looking for summer events and other locals are looking to plan their events so be sure to get your event loaded as soon as you have the dates- you can always go back an d add details as you learn them.
News Flash: CBTV is displaying GCBcalendar.com events ALL winter and into summer!!! Take advantage of this "FREE" marketing opportunity! A number of new functions have been added to the site including the ability to add and edit multiple events! KBUT and GCBcalendar.com will be sharing events after their Spring Pledge Drive. It's great to see so many valley-wide partners who have an interest in loading events to one central calendar. Rob is available to help or answer questions, 970/641-7992 or by email.
ADVERTISING NEWS
Recent Gunnison-Crested Butte advertising – Frontier Airlines inflight magazine and a .60 second winter video running on all Frontier Airlines flights, a 4 x 5 foot scrolling winter ad located in the Montrose Airport, banner ads on Colorado.com, DiscoverColorado.com, ColoradoInfo.com, KansasCity.com, Texas Monthly Magazine, Austin Monthly Magazine, Kansas City Spaces Magazine, Oklahoma Magazine, United Express SkyWest Airlines inflight magazines, High Country Anglers Magazine, American Cowboy & True West Magazines; Colorado Springs Gazette; E-broadcast communication to reach targeted winter travelers, five Internet travel web sites and more!
UPCOMING EVENTS
19 – 23 17th Annual U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships
19 Western State College Presents David Burgess on Guitar, Quigley Recital Hall, WSC
21 Damson Music Performance Competition, Quigley Recital Hall, Western State College
21 Full Moon Ski & Snowshoe Tour, Crested Butte Nordic Center & CBMR
22 – 23 “The Radio Plays,” Crested Butte Mountain Theatre, Mallardi Cabaret
24 The Cashore Marionettes Presented by Crested Butte Center for the Arts
28 ArtWalk Evening, Crested Butte Galleries & Studios
READER FEEDBACK
Please let us know what you think about our newsletter and if you'd like to be entered to win a great prize, email your recommendation for the "best winter photo spot" in Gunnison County and why it's your favorite. JChaney@GunnisonCounty.org
IN GUNNISON COUNTY, TOURISM PAYS FOR TOURISM! The Local Marketing District (LMD) 4% tax (paid only by overnight lodging visitors), and the Mt. CB Admissions tax (paid mostly by skiing visitors) funds tourism marketing via the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association.
WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE! Posters, brochures, bumper stickers, pins and bicycle tags are available! Just call 641-7992 and we'll get you fixed up for the rest of the winter!
AIR SERVICE and BUS TRANSPORTATION information can be found on GunnisonValleyRTA.org. We hope many of you have experienced the RTA's new winter bus service! There are 11 trips a day from Gunnison to Mt. Crested Butte. And it's FREE! The new bus schedule is posted on GunnisonValleyRTA.org. Check out the new web site!