Keystone – MMG Worldwide’s goal is to grow Colorado’s tourism market to 30 million visitors annually, possibly by as early as 2008.
“The potential is definitely there,” said Clayton Reid, MMG’s president, noting that a record 25.9 million overnight visitors came to the state in 2005.
Kansas City, Mo.-based MMG announced its initial strategic marketing plans for the Colorado Tourism Office for spring/summer 2007 Thursday at the annual Governor’s Colorado Tourism Conference in Keystone.
MMG won the coveted account last month. The state legislature boosted the tourism office’s marketing budget to $19 million annually in July.
Some industry insiders have been grumbling that the account, which was required to be put up for public bid, was given to an out-of-state agency. But many responded positively to Reid’s presentation.
“I hated to see the money go out of state,” said Bonnie Frum, director of operations at the Garden of the Gods Visitors & Nature Center in Colorado Springs. “But (Reid’s) presentation was fabulous. He made a believer out of me.”
Four Colorado agencies had been in the running for the account, including Praco, the firm that had held it since 2000. MMG does have an eight-person office in Fort Collins.
Lynn Dyer, tourism director for Mesa Verde Country, said she was pleased MMG plans to focus more on promoting the state’s heritage tourism sites.
“For the more-remote Colorado communities that aren’t ski resorts, the (tourism office) hasn’t always been that big of a help to us,” she said. “I think MMG’s focus is going to be a lot wider. I’m really excited about their vision.”
MMG said driving visitors to www.colorado.com will be a major focus of its initial strategy. It plans to invest 35 percent of its resources into online marketing, up from roughly 11 percent currently. The working platform for the campaign, which will be unveiled in mid-February, is “Let’s Talk Colorado.”
One of MMG’s ideas is to create a retail tool of free T-shirts designed to increase brand awareness. Visitors could go online and design their own T-shirt – including choosing the color and Colorado slogan, like “54 14ers 4 U” for hikers. The catch is that to get their free shirt, visitors would have to visit one of the state’s nine welcome centers. “We know that people who stop by a visitors center will spend more time and money in the state,” said Reid.
The tourism office will continue to run the Praco-designed “Big Words” campaign through the winter. It is targeting new markets such as Miami and New York, including two 40-foot- high billboards in New York’s Times Square. Starting in November, the ads will feature a skier and snowboarder “literally leaping out of the urban environment,” said Kim McNulty, director of the tourism office.
More than 450 tourism leaders from across the state are attending the conference, which runs through today at the Keystone Resort & Conference Center.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
Industry honors
Several awards were presented at the Governor’s 2006 Colorado Tourism Conference in Keystone:
Colorado Tourism Office Board Chairman’s Award: Gov. Bill Owens
Outstanding Individual Contribution to Colorado Tourism: Tim Edgar, executive director of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce
Outstanding Community Tourism Initiative: 2006 Mesa Verde Centennial Celebration
Outstanding Tourism Volunteer: Irene Kohler and Irene McClain of the Fruita Welcome Center
Advancing Colorado Award: Delta County Tourism Cabinet
JULIE DUNN
