But, while Colorado ski resorts that depend heavily on out-of-state visitors are left to wonder what impact those headwinds will have on their business this winter, resorts that cater primarily to Colorado skiers began the 2025-26 ski season with optimism.

“In terms of our season pass and forward-looking bookings, everything’s looking positive,” Copper Mountain general manager Dustin Lyman said in October at a roundtable involving Summit County ski resort bosses. “It����ap looking like it����ap going to be a great season.”

Those in charge at Arapahoe Basin and Loveland, which primarily attract Front Range day skiers, echoed his remarks.

“We’re pretty optimistic,” said Rob Goodell, chief operating officer at Loveland. “Our early season sales — ticket products, lesson bookings — are all up compared to last season. Very good excitement about the season coming up, very positive.”

“Ditto for us,” said Goodell’s counterpart at A-Basin, Alan Henceroth. “I think it����ap going to be a great year.”

Tim Wolfe, director of the Colorado Tourism Office, said overall bookings for the winter in Colorado are running flat, compared to last year, or slightly up. The addition of daily United Airlines flights from Mexico City to Denver, which began in October and will run through the end of March, should help. Bookings to the U.S. from Mexico for the ski season were up 35% over last year as of Oct. 31, according to Inntopia, a travel industry data source.

“Mexico is one of our biggest international travel markets for the state of Colorado,” Wolfe said.

Bookings to the U.S. from Western Europe were up 9.6%, but the Canadian boycott resulted in a 53% decline in bookings from north of the 48th parallel. Claudia Laroye, a Canadian travel journalist who writes for national Canadian newspapers and magazines, said the boycott has been “completely spontaneous,” without prompting by any organizing entity.

“It has been a grassroots movement by people who are upset, anxious, fearful and angry that this is happening,” Laroye said. “The economic tariff thing is hurting my friends and neighbors in different parts of the country. It����ap creating economic anxiety that is just not helpful when you’re trying to plan a fantastic ski trip holiday for your family.”

Canadians took Trump’s rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st state personally, an insult to Canadian pride and sovereignty.

“It����ap really disconcerting,” Laroye said.

Tom Foley, senior vice president of business intelligence at Inntopia, doesn’t see the boycott ending anytime soon because it has become “societally entrenched,” adding that Canadian ski resorts are capturing business that might otherwise have come to the U.S.

In the U.S. economy, consumer confidence has been trending down for the past 12 months. Patrick Scholes, a Wall Street analyst for Truist Securities who specializes in the ski and hospitality industry, believes Colorado’s more expensive resorts that tend to attract wealthier travelers will do OK — even when those lodging prices soar during the Christmas holidays.

“We are up against an overall macroeconomic background in the United States with pretty lethargic travel trends,” Scholes said. “That said, where you do see strength in travel is with the upper end (income brackets). That customer is doing fairly well. People feel good about their stock portfolios, they feel good about their real estate holdings, and generally, that segment of the economy, their jobs are doing OK. Especially at Christmas and New Year’s at some of these resorts, that����ap about as upper-end a vacation as you’re going to find.”

Aspen-based Ski.com is a travel site set up to book flights, lodging, lift tickets, equipment rentals and other travel needs at resorts all over the world. Chief marketing officer Dan Sherman said their bookings for Colorado have been strong, but there are concerns.

“We are pacing up year-over-year, so everything is looking good,” Sherman said. “The economy, which I view via the stock market, continues to boom. But, consumer confidence does not follow that, so there are a lot of unknowns of what����ap going to happen, and sometimes that can be day to day.”

Tourism experts say travelers are changing their booking habits, booking closer to the time they want to travel than in the past, which can make long-range forecasting suspect.

“If we’re looking at December, January, February, March – the key months – we are flat or slightly down,” said Julia Theisen, tourism director for the Town of Snowmass Village, which includes the Snowmass ski resort. “What we’ve seen over the past year is more last-minute booking patterns. It����ap hard to say right now, but I would say we don’t feel overly concerned about winter performance.”

Travel isn’t the only factor related to the economy that ski area operators are watching. Higher tariffs affect them, too.

“I look at our retail department and we’ve got orders coming in, we don’t know what the final invoice is going to be, because of tariffs,” Goodell said. “Taking delivery of a snowcat, there’s another $30,000 (tariff charge) because it came over on a boat. There are a lot of unknowns and variables that make it a little challenging at times. We try our best to not pass all those costs on to our guests, but things have gotten more expensive.”

The state’s Department of Natural Resources and the Colorado Tourism Office, a division of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade, are splitting the bill of $3,200 per day to run the visitor centers, according to a from the agencies.

The agreement will keep Rocky Mountain’s Beaver Meadows and Kawuneeche visitor centers open starting Friday for seven days, Colorado officials said in the news release.

State officials will have the option to continue funding operations after the first week if the federal government shutdown continues. If the shutdown ends before the week finishes, the extra funds would be reimbursed to the state, officials said.

“Rocky Mountain National Park visitor centers are very important to helping all visitors stay informed, stay safe and enjoy nature,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. “By taking this action, we are helping our local communities, and allowing visitors continued access into the park to enjoy the breathtaking vistas and activities Rocky Mountain National Park has to offer.”

Several states, including Utah and Tennessee, have already taken similar steps to keep their national parks open during the shutdown, which began on Oct. 1.

Polis issued an that directed state officials to develop a plan to keep Colorado’s national parks open in the event of a government shutdown, making this funding possible, according to the news release. He’s said previously that keeping the parks open is one of his top priorities.

Providing the funding also safeguards the revenue and economic benefit that sustains rural communities around the park, state officials said.

In 2023, Rocky Mountain National Park hosted more than 4.1 million visitors, supported 7,833 jobs and generated roughly $888.7 million, according to data from the National Park Service.

“The tourism industry contributes $28.5 billion to Colorado’s economy and supports over 188,000 jobs across the state,” Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade Executive Director Eve Lieberman said in a statement. “Keeping Rocky Mountain National Park and these visitor centers open … helps protect our state’s incredible public lands and supports a critical sector of our economy.”

All national parks in Colorado remain open, though some have limited or unavailable services.

At Mesa Verde, visitors are unable to access cultural sites, including the cliff dwellings, according to the . The main park road and trails leaving the Morefield Campground remain open, but the Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center, Mesa Verde Museum, Mesa Top Loop, Cliff Palace Loop and all other trails were closed in early October.

As of Oct. 12, the visitor center at Great Sand Dunes National Park was being sustained by donations, .

Tourism contributed $28.5 billion to the state’s economy and supported 188,510 jobs across the state in 2024, both of which are relatively flat compared to 2023, according to numbers released by the Colorado Tourism Office.

While the annual research from Dean Runyan Associates and Longwoods International Travel USA shows tourism is still a big economic driver, “…indicators suggest that increasing competition and uncertainty related to federal policy changes are putting pressure on Colorado’s thriving tourism industry,” state officials said in a news release.

There was a 2% increase in tourists last year, from 93.3 million people in 2023 to 95.4 million in 2024. Most of those were people visiting for a day trip, according to the release.

Other tourist spending increased by a fraction of a percent in Colorado despite being up 4% nationally.

Hotel occupancy was down 2% as of June and the number of people staying in short-term rentals dropped by 10% in the first quarter of the year, state tourism officials said.

“We are committed to bringing forward innovative ways to mitigate these changes while continuing to inspire the world to explore Colorado responsibly and respectfully,” Colorado Tourism Office Director Timothy Wolfe said in a statement.

The digital passport will soft-launch this summer with a full rollout planned for 2026, according to a news release from the America 250-Colorado 150 Commission. The passport will feature destinations in all 64 counties, featuring challenges that reward participants with points, discounts and badges, according to Tim Wolfe, commission co-chair and director of the .

“This is a broad-based experience for everybody to look at all four corners of our state,” Wolfe said.

The program is launching as part of the celebration of 250 years of American independence and 150 years of Colorado statehood in 2026, according to the news release.

The passport will be free and accessible through the or , Wolfe said. The goal is to motivate residents and visitors to explore parts of the state they haven’t found the time for.

“I think we probably all have a couple of places on our list that we’ve always intended to go, but haven’t quite made it to yet,” said Jason Hanson, chief creative officer at and a member of the America 250-Colorado 150 Commission. “We thought this was a great opportunity to encourage people to get out and see those places, to actually get there.”

The passport is one of 12 signature initiatives the commission is rolling out. Other initiatives include Stories in the Sky, a series of more than 40 drone shows across the state, and Colorado Heritage for All, an initiative dedicated to historic preservation, with a final goal of adding 150 historic sites by 2026, according to Wolfe and Hanson.

“The passport is all about connecting Coloradans to this place we live, connecting us to each other, knitting together the state because the more we get out and see it, the more we all appreciate the chance to call it home,” Hanson said.

The program will include several different passports, including a music-based passport and a Colorado parks passport, each with different businesses and destinations attached with their own incentives.

Wolfe also announced the Do Colorado Right passport, which will launch later this year. The passport will encourage environmental efforts, such as using public transportation.

“It’s also about making sure that we take care of Colorado and what makes Colorado special,” Wolfe said.

is also involved in the program, serving as the passport’s primary sponsor.

“United Airlines is proud to support Colorado’s digital passport in celebration of our state’s upcoming landmark anniversary,” said BJ Youngerman, managing director of global market strategy and community impact for United Airlines, in the news release. “We are thrilled to join the commission in this initiative and celebrate our state’s historic anniversary together.”

“People are taking more trips and they are talking about them with their friends,” said Randy Yaroch, CEO and owner of The Travel Society in Greenwood Village. “Then you add social media and that really accentuates how people make choices on where to travel next.”

Knowing what the trends are can be reassuring and inspiring — such as women traveling solo — or possibly lead to making a different choice — like opting to avoid traditional Western European favorites due to crowds.

Yaroch’s Travel Society is a member of Virtuoso, a global network of agencies that specialize in luxury and experiential travel with thousands of travel advisers. A travel adviser is similar to the travel agents of the past, but they offer more advice and insights.

“Travel agents were order taking, but in today’s world they have become professional advisers, more like a consultant that is absolutely curating itineraries,” Yaroch explained. While travel advisers tend to work with premium- to ultra-luxury clientele, Yaroch said, they can also assist with more basic trips such as booking an all-inclusive package and transportation to and from a resort.

When working with clients, Yaroch and his team are looking at the trends and factoring in how this information might be used to get their clients the best trip possible.

Virtuoso released a travel trends report recently and had some interesting insights:

• Domestic travel is dominating in fall 2024, but international travel continues to break records with Canada seeing a 168% increase year over year and Japan seeing a 160% increase.
• Some hot spots are cooling a little just like the weather, so this fall could be the ideal time to head to Napa, Calif.; Amsterdam or Taormina, Sicily.
• The holiday or “festive” season is seeing continued interest in Mexico, Hawaii, Anguilla and Costa Rica, with double- to triple-percentage increases in places such as Saint Lucia, the Dominican Republic and Grenada. Although Maui, Hawaii, did see a dip in travelers after the devastating fires in 2023, there is a 23% increase in fall bookings and a 32% increase for the holiday season.
• Those ultra-luxury travelers are seeking expedition cruises, exotic destinations like Fiji or Thailand, and African safaris. This group is motivated to travel for celebrations and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
• Have you heard about “Coolcations?” According to Virtuoso, this is a trend to visit colder climates in summer (think Canada or Northern Europe) where they saw a 44% increase. Traditionally warmer places like Greece saw a very slight decrease in visitors.
• While women traveling solo is not a new trend, both Virtuoso and Yaroch identified this and noted how it has expanded from baby boomers to all generations. “What they’re looking for are like-minded people to travel with,” Yaroch said. “They are going to all continents and seeking adventure travel or soft adventures like expedition cruising.”
• It����ap not just that people want to travel off-the-beaten path, but they are trying to avoid places suffering from overtourism. This means they are seeking out travel during the “shoulder seasons” or off-peak times and heading to South America, for example, instead of Europe. “The service is going to be better in offseason and prices will come down,” said Yaroch.
• Although Instagram and other social media platforms might be influencing travelers, Virtuoso’s report found “a notable shift from focusing on a trip to-do list to an emphasis on how one feels during travel.” They noted that 77% of travelers prioritize curiosity and exploration.

Closer to home, the Colorado Tourism Office commissions a report each year and learned that in 2023 there was increased visitation to Colorado with 93.3 million visitors — a 4% increase over 2022. Other highlights included:

• 38% of visitors to Colorado in 2023 were coming to see family and/or friends, with just 12% citing the outdoors as the main purpose of their trip.
• However, 60% of visitors said outdoor activities were the top activity (if not purpose), 58% entertainment, 40% cultural and 30% sporting. Surprisingly, shopping at 23% was a top activity over hiking/backpacking at 16%.
• A large majority of the people visiting were returning — 85% of overnight travelers were repeat visitors in 2023 and 62% had visited in the last 12 months.

Their report does not show which cities or towns specifically are seeing more visitors, but the annual Dean Runyan Associates, “The Economic Impact of Travel in Colorado,” provides some insight: Denver is seeing the highest amount of spending with a 4.8% increase.

“Travelers choose Denver because of its ‘best of both worlds’ qualities,” said Justin Bresler, vice president and chief marketing officer at Visit Denver. “The city is an urban destination in its own right, and the appeal of everything you can do in the nearby Rocky Mountains makes us an even more compelling choice.”

Visit Denver, the city’s tourism sales and marketing agency, said last year’s visitor total of 37.4 million was a 3% bump over 2022. And the $10.3 billion in Denver’s tourism revenue last year outpaced the $9.4 billion collected the prior year by nearly 10%.

“Tourism is vital to the Denver economy and we are pleased to see our momentum continue in 2023, especially after the dramatic growth we saw in 2022,” Richard Scharf, Visit Denver’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Denver’s tourism businesses, most of which are small and locally owned, rely on these visitors to fuel their success, which allows them to continue to hire employees – almost 66,000 across the metro area in 2023 – and to generate millions in state and local taxes.”

Overnight visitors totaled 20.5 million last year, a 3% rise from the previous year, generating $8.8 billion in spending in the Mile High City. Overnight leisure visits were top in growth last year, rising by 5% over 2022 to a new high of 17.5 million.

Longwoods International provided the Denver visitor data through its annual visitor profile study, which it has conducted for Denver for 30 years. The company’s president and CEO, Amir Eylon, said tourism in Denver in 2023 returned “to levels more in line with 2019,” the year before the coronavirus pandemic struck the state.

And Denver is doing comparably well nationally, Eylon said, “offering visitors both sought-after urban experiences and easy access to outdoor activities.”

The study revealed that visitors come to Denver consistently year-round, with a “modest surge” of visitors in the warmer months. And Denver International Airport plays a crucial role in moving those visitors in and out, with 40% of overnight Denver visitors arriving by plane in 2023.

The average overnight Denver visitor spent $427 per trip. In total, nearly $3 billion was spent on transportation, $2.5 billion on lodging and nearly $1.5 billion on drinks and food in 2023. Recreation, sightseeing and entertainment garnered the city $749 million last year, a 9.3% bump over 2022.

California, Texas, Kansas and Florida were the top four states, outside Colorado itself, in sending visitors to the Mile High City in 2023. And the top five cities sending overnight visitors to the city were Los Angeles, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, New York City, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston.

Myers’s business, , provides tents, meals, guides, first aid kits and satellite phones as part of the quest. He also brings night-vision binoculars, thermal imagers and cameras.

To tackle the trek on horseback, Myers charges $1,400 a person. For a Sasquatch search easier on the wallet, the lifelong Bigfoot devotee hosts $125 night hikes with the hopes of catching a glimpse of the hairy creature. On expeditions he’s deemed successful, Myers said trekkers have witnessed a pair of uniquely glowing eyes through the trees or large, expertly woven branches forming a Sasquatch nest as evidence the mythical forest-dweller walks among us.

“Bigfoot is a lot more mainstream than it used to be,” Myers said “The number of people openly interested in the topic as opposed to not wanting people to know they’re interested for fear of being considered a nutcase has definitely increased. America is infatuated with Bigfoot.”

Bigfoot can mean big business for Colorado’s rural and mountain towns. The National Paranormal Network hosts to gather Sasquatch lovers to search for the creature, an activity often referred to as Squatchin’. to show off their Sasquatch know-how and sighting spots. And rent out shuttles, cars or bikes for Bigfoot hunts.

Myers has been a Bigfoot aficionado since he was a kid after laying eyes on the famed , footage captured in 1967 depicting a large, hairy creature walking on two legs through a Northern California forest.

The cryptid consumed Myers’ life so wholly that when he and his wife were rebuilding a 150-year-old grocery store in Bailey in 2012, they ditched the groceries and dedicated the store to Bigfoot instead.

Now the — a souvenir shop and dedicated to all things Bigfoot —  is one of the more well-visited attractions in Bailey, Myers said.

“For a little town like Bailey, it’s a very popular destination,” Myers said. “We send people to the local restaurants, the gift stores and things just because once they’re in Bailey, then they want to do other things. We try to help everybody else along, as well.

Bigfoot travellers

It’s not easy to gauge Sasquatch’s economic footprint in Colorado. Believe it or not, the state doesn’t track the financial impact of Bigfoot tourism.

The Denver Post emailed the state tourism office requesting an interview to discuss the impact that unusual tourist attractions have on smaller, rural communities. The message was forwarded to an outside public relations firm, which declined to set up an interview.

“I actually do not know that much about Bigfoot tourism in Colorado,” a representative of Handlebar Public Relations conceded.

But Kevin McDonald, the special events coordinator for the town Estes Park, was game for a cryptid conversation.

The Larimer County town that serves as the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park has hosted the since 2019, luring Sasquatch enthusiasts from near and far.

“We celebrate all things Squatchy,” McDonald said.

About 5,000 people attend the festival, which features Bigfoot-themed vendors, Sasquatch celebrities from reality television shows like “Finding Bigfoot,” live music by the likes of Denver-based band That Damn Sasquatch, a contest to see who can do the best Bigfoot call and more.

The night before the event — Estes Park already Squatched it up in 2024, but the 2025 festival is set for April 26 — is the Bigfoot BBQ, where 150 people purchase tickets for an intimate dining experience with their favorite Sasquatch celebrities. This year, the dinner attracted people from eight states, McDonald said.

“It’s a very engaged crowd, and people do travel for their Bigfoot,” he said.

Nearly 75% of surveyed festival attendees said they came to Estes Park specifically for Bigfoot Days, McDonald said, according to a 2024 economic development survey of the event. More than 72% of people surveyed said they stayed in Estes Park and 88.2% said they spent the night in commercial lodging for an average of two nights.

According to the , visitors who stayed in a Colorado hotel, motel, or short-term vacation rental spent a combined $17.3 billion in 2022. Travel spending in Colorado increased 25.2% from $22.1 billion in 2021 to $27.7 billion in 2022, the state tourism report found.

Estes Park and its surrounding forests are ripe with Bigfoot lore.

That’s why Andy Hitch, owner of Estes Park ATV and Jeep rental shop Backbone Adventures, said he wrote advertising an ATV travel guide for spotting Bigfoot.

Initially, Hitch was reticent to share his own Sasquatch encounters, having grown up in the mountains around Estes Park.

“I’m not huge into it,” he told The Post, admitting there was “a rumor mill” about spotting the creature.

Later, Hitch admitted to an experience of his own while dirt-biking through the mountains 14 years ago.

“Something ran in front of me,” he said. “It was tall and had dark-colored hair. I can’t say exactly what it was, but I don’t get riled about anything, and this made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I’m not saying I saw something, but I’m not saying I didn’t.”

Hitch figured others might be looking to have a similar encounter. He was right.

Since writing his post, folks come to his business looking for an ATV or Jeep to get further back into the forest, he said, in the hopes of spying Bigfoot.

“Get out there and keep your eyes open,” Hitch said. “Who knows what you’re going to see out there? You might find antlers. You might just see Bigfoot.”

“The wonder and mystery of what we don’t know”

The Bigfoot hunting expeditions don’t generate enough income for Myers to make a living. His bread and butter is the Sasquatch Outpost store and museum, while the expeditions are more of a hobby to continue fueling his passion, he said.

What keeps Myers and other Squatchers hooked?

“It’s the magic of the whole paranormal cryptid world,” Myers said. “Bigfoot is just one of the many unidentified, uncategorized species in the world. If Bigfoot are real — and they are — what else could be real? Are fairies real? Dogmen? Mothmen? It’s the wonder and mystery of what we don’t know and understand.”

Last year, a Bigfoot sighting in southwest Colorado went viral after photos and video taken from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad showed a Bigfoot-esque creature traipsing through nature. Debates ensued about whether the sighting was a marketing campaign or prank.

The Post reached out to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to see whether the sighting sparked more Bigfoot believers to come aboard, but the train folks were tightlipped.

Bigfoot has a number of talents most don’t know about, Myers said, including mind-reading and the ability to put thoughts into people’s brains.

Another skill? The ability to draw a crowd.

People from all over the globe have ventured out for Myers’ expeditions, he said, but even more have visited the museum and store to gaze upon the wonders of a 6-foot-tall fiberglass Bigfoot replica and a 7-foot-3-inch animatronic Sasquatch. Around 90,000 people have braved the cryptid models, plaster footprints, video footage and educational information in the museum over the years, he said.

Myers houses the merchandise — Bigfoot and Yeti salt-and-pepper shakers, plush toys, boxer briefs, Bigfoot foot-shaped soap and more — among 27 real trees he brought inside. He built a cave system for kids to run through and a small theater where Myers gives “cave talks” — his version of TED talks.

“You won’t find any store like it in the world,” Myers said.

A group of Aer Lingus representatives met and mingled Monday morning with local business and civic leaders, tourism officials and Ireland natives excited for the start of direct flights from the Mile High City to the Emerald Isle.

“It’s 116 days until heels up. Not that we’re counting,” said Yvonne Muldoon, director of sales for Aer Lingus.

Flights from Denver to Dublin will depart four days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. To start, the service will be seasonal, running from May to Oct. 29. Jim Bochneak, the airline’s regional sales manager for the western U.S., said the season could be extended, depending on the kind of support there is in Denver.

After attending the Denver Travel Show at the Colorado Convention Center over the weekend, Bochneak and Muldoon believe the support for service to Dublin is strong.

“We are genuinely overwhelmed with the support,” Muldoon said.

Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles are the three Aer Lingus routes on the West Coast. In all, the airline offers 21 nonstop routes from the U.S. to Dublin. Some of the European cities Aer Lingus connects to are Edinburgh, London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Amsterdam and Barcelona.

Aer Lingus will add Minneapolis-St. Paul to its routes beginning April 29.

Other European cities where passengers can travel nonstop from Denver are: London; Paris; Zurich; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Munich and Frankfurt, Germany.

Aer Lingus takes its time to make a business case for adding new routes, Muldoon said. “I believe Denver to Dublin has been under review for over six years.”

After the pandemic, Denver really started to rise on the list of opportunities, Muldoon said. It is an untapped market where interest is high in traveling on to Europe. She said whether the service is extended past October will depend on the volume of business.

“I’m over from the head office. I wanted to get a feel for what the demand was on the ground, speak to the local community and just get a feel for what the support is like,” Muldoon said. “It’s been phenomenal.”

The first flight from Denver to Dublin, which will take 9.5 hours, is nearly full, Muldoon said. The airline will fly the Airbus A330, a wide-body aircraft.

Both business and tourism representatives said service from Denver to Dublin will be a big benefit.

“It’s a huge opportunity because a lot of U.S. companies have a corporate presence in Ireland and the Dublin area,” said Maggie Fouquet, president and CEO of the International Business Circle in Denver.

All nonstop flights from Ireland to the U.S are pre-cleared by U.S. Customs and Immigration Services at the Dublin and Shannon airports. “That’s a big time-saver,” Fouquet said.

A big benefit for Bill Graebel’s company, Denver-based Graebel’s Relocation Services Worldwide, is that one of its offices is about 40 miles north of the Dublin airport. Graebel said it will be much more efficient flying into Dublin, rather than going through Heathrow Airport in London or flying to New York, Boston or Chicago to return to Denver.

“I think it will be good for tourism in the area” as well, Graebel said.

And tourists from Ireland will likely appreciate direct flights to Colorado so they explore the West, Graebel added.

Muldoon said Aer Lingus will work with tourist boards in Colorado to pitch the state to people in Ireland. Tim Wolfe, director of the Colorado Tourism Office, said the state’s efforts to attract tourists from Ireland has been underway and the Denver-to-Dublin air service will increase the momentum.

“Any time that you add a link to an international destination, that’s huge for both our residents but also for guests and visitors that come to Colorado,” Wolfe said.

Susan Morrice is part of the Irish diaspora in Colorado that Aer Lingus hopes to tap. She has lived in the Denver area for 40 years and travels four or five times a year back to her home country, but she can’t wait to fly nonstop to Dublin. Patricia Fitzpatrick, who lives in Ireland, works with Morrice and flies to Denver seven or eight times a year, is likewise eager for the new service.

“I don’t like going to London. It’s another day’s travel,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is perfect.”

Fitzpatrick and Morrice think Colorado should sell its skiing to lure more Irish tourists. “They need to tell the Irish that the skiing here is actually better than in Europe,” Morrice said.

“And it lasts longer,” Fitzpatrick said.

Will the two be on the inaugural flight?

“We need to look into it,” Morrice said. “If we’re not on that first one, which we could be, we’ll be on the second.”

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But when it came to the nascent industry, the first sales on Jan. 1, 2014, were more a starting block than a finish line.

In the decade since legalization, Colorado has refined laws, catalyzed new ones and served as a litmus test for the rest of the country as states followed its lead. Today, cannabis is recreationally available for sale in 24 states — .

Here are some of the notable local moments along the way.

2014

Jan. 1: Retail sales of marijuana begin across the state in cities, towns and counties that allow it, from Telluride to Denver. The newly legal industry opens after more than 55% of Colorado voters approved Amendment 64 on Nov. 6, 2012. The state already allowed medical marijuana.

January: The Colorado Department of Transportation replaces mile marker 420 along Interstate 70 in eastern Colorado with mile marker 419.99 to thwart those who had swiped the sign bearing the number signifying marijuana culture.

March: The Colorado Supreme Court approves a rule change allowing lawyers in the state to work with marijuana businesses without the threat of ethics sanctions.

April: Colorado’s third-largest city, Aurora, approves regulations for marijuana dispensaries that will allow 24 stores in the city.

May: Denver city officials ask the Colorado Symphony Orchestra to rethink its plans to hold bring-your-own-pot performances, fearing such an event could violate laws prohibiting public consumption of marijuana.

July: State regulators adopt rules regarding the potency, serving size and packaging of marijuana edibles. One rule requires that serving sizes be made easily distinguishable and be limited to 10 mg of THC to prevent overconsumption. Another requires that manufacturers put single-serving edibles in child-resistant packaging.

October: Colorado’s health department proposes a ban on sales of nearly all forms of edible marijuana at recreational pot shops — but then quickly backs off amid an outcry.

November: Owners of marijuana shops on Denver’s South Broadway corridor band together in a new marketing campaign, naming the cannabis-heavy district the “Green Mile.”

November: Monthly recreational cannabis sales ($29.5 million) outpace medical marijuana sales (nearly $29 million) for the first time.

December: Nebraska and Oklahoma file suit, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Colorado’s marijuana legalization law.

2015

January: In the first full year of recreational pot sales, Colorado reports that nearly $700 million of marijuana was sold in 2014. Medical marijuana accounted for a majority, but recreational sales would soon take over in annual figures.

January: The University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law adds marijuana business law — the nation’s first class geared toward representing marijuana clients — to its curriculum.

February: For the second time in two years, then-U.S. Rep. Jared Polis introduces legislation to effectively legalize and tax marijuana at the federal level. He later wins the Colorado governor’s election in 2018.

February: A documentary entitled “Rolling Papers” is released, spotlighting The Denver Post’s continued coverage of the emerging cannabis market.

June: Employers’ zero-tolerance drug policies trump Colorado’s medical marijuana laws, the Colorado Supreme Court rules. The high court rules that businesses can fire employees for the use of medical marijuana — even if it����ap off-duty. Many businesses also prohibit employees from using recreational marijuana.

October: The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City asks a federal judge in Denver to dismiss a lawsuit asking the court to force its hand and issue a master account to a credit union for marijuana businesses, saying that to do so would compel it to “facilitate criminal activity.”

2016

February/March: State marijuana regulators issue repeated recalls of large amounts of retail pot grown and allegedly treated with unapproved pesticides.

March: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Nebraska and Oklahoma’s proposed lawsuit against Colorado’s legal marijuana laws.

April: The Denver City Council passes new industry limits that cap the number of marijuana storefronts and cultivation facilities in the state’s largest market, while providing new protections for saturated neighborhoods.

June: A security guard is fatally shot at an Aurora dispensary.

June: Englewood bans social-use marijuana clubs, saying it has no regulations on the books to deal with them.

July: A study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus finds that emergency room visits and poison-control calls for children 9 and younger who consumed pot in Colorado jumped after recreational marijuana stores opened.

November: Denver voters pass Initiative 300, which allows social marijuana use at some businesses.

2017

January: Fewer travelers visit Colorado in 2016 and the Colorado Tourism Office cites waning interest in legal weed.

March: A new in Colorado is set. With nearly $132 million in revenue, March bests the previous high of $127.8 million set in September 2016.

April: The first drive-thru cannabis store — called the Tumbleweed Express — .

April: Organizers of the annual Civic Center 4/20 marijuana rally in Denver catch flak after piles of trash are left in the park following the weed celebration.

2018

January: Colorado politicians on both sides of the aisle lambast U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to end an Obama-era policy, known as the Cole Memo, that allowed for marijuana legalization to spread in U.S. states despite pot being federally unlawful. Enforcement never occurs.

February: A study from researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder finds that .

November: Tiny Edgewater, west of Denver, puts $3 million from marijuana tax revenues toward building a $13 million municipal complex with a library, police station, fitness center and city offices.

December: Boulder County health officials report increasing cases of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a vomiting condition tied to chronic users of marijuana.

2019

January: Denver announces it will help thousands of people clear low-level marijuana convictions from their criminal records through an online program and a series of clinics.

February: Sales of cannabis in Colorado top $6 billion since legalization took effect five years earlier.

June: Colorado surpasses $1 billion in tax revenue from marijuana sales since recreational use was legalized.

September: Public health experts scramble to determine what����ap causing a mysterious and sometimes fatal lung disease among people who use e-cigarettes with THC-infused oil.

2020

March: Customers rush Denver marijuana shops after then-Mayor Michael Hancock issues a stay-at-home order intended to stop recreational sales in light of the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic. He walked back the order’s applicability to the industry mere hours later.

August: The first vending machine selling cannabis products debuts in Colorado.

November: Colorado dispensaries sell more marijuana in the first 10 months of 2020 than they did during the entire year in 2019, itself a record-setting sales year. Sales receive a huge boost from pandemic-induced lockdowns and mandates.

December: Aurora becomes one of the first Colorado cities to permit marijuana delivery.

December: The Democratic-controlled U.S. House approves a bill to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level. But to date, no legislation has reached the president����ap desk.

2021

January: Marijuana hits $10 billion in sales since legalization.

June: Gov. Polis signs into law HB21-1317, the most substantial marijuana regulatory measure since legalization. It aims to crack down on youth access to high-potency THC products.

August: A former University of Denver student cited for possessing marijuana in Wyoming becomes the first applicant in Denver for a marijuana retail store license under the city’s new social equity program.

September: The Aurora City Council turns down a cannabis hospitality licensing program in a 5-5 tie vote that doomed it to failure. It would have permitted smoking lounges, tasting rooms and touring cannabis buses in Colorado’s third-largest city.

December: Colorado records its highest-ever sales for marijuana since legal commerce began in 2014 — more than $2.2 billion was spent by cannabis consumers in 2021. The record presages a crash to come over the next two years.

2022

April: JAD’s Mile High Smoke, Colorado’s first marijuana “bar” where patrons can drink a non-alcoholic, THC-infused beer and order a gram of pot served with a side of rolling papers, opens in Adams County.

June: Moffat, a 120-person town in the San Luis Valley, considers changing its name to Kush as extensive grow operations pop up.

July: Colorado’s medical marijuana sales fall to their lowest point since retail sales of cannabis began eight years earlier, at a little more than $18 million during the month.

July: Polis vows to issue an executive order that will prevent the state from holding out-of-state convictions for most marijuana-related offenses against people applying for professional licenses in Colorado.

2023

April: Colorado’s marijuana industry dubs weed sales “the worst” in five years on the iconic April 20 date celebrating cannabis, as the industry contends with too much supply, not enough demand and increased competition from other states.

August: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that the Drug Enforcement Administration consider reclassifying marijuana as a lower-risk drug. To date, it remains a Schedule I substance, meaning it����ap perceived to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

October: Marijuana hits $15 billion in sales since legal recreational sales took effect in 2014.

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The money will “support marketing and promotion domestically and internationally to raise awareness about Colorado’s inclusion” in the guide, said Hayes Norris, senior brand manager for the Colorado Tourism Office (CTO), via email. The office will also “collaborate” with the Colorado cities where Michelin is reviewing restaurants to “promote culinary tourism in our state.” Norris added that the partnership agreement is set for three years.

Michelin announced in June that it would produce a Colorado guide for the first time, reviewing  restaurants in Denver, Boulder, Aspen, Snowmass Village, Vail and Beaver Creek Resort. That was big news in the food world since Michelin, which is highly respected, only lists and reviews restaurants in seven other regions in North America: New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, California, Miami/Orlando/Tampa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Michelin revealed an initial list of “Bib Gourmand” restaurants on Tuesday. The first awards ceremony will take place on Sept. 12 in RiNo’s Mission Ballroom.

“This move will elevate Colorado’s status as a global dining destination, showcasing its unique flavors and … commitment to sustainability and innovation in the culinary industry,” Norris said.

Restaurateurs in some cities, however, like Aurora felt snubbed by that limited scope. That raised questions about how Michelin decides which cities to spend time in, and whether the influence of tourism offices in those cities plays a part.

Michelin spokesman Andrew Festa said the organization wouldn’t discuss commercial terms of its partnerships with cities or the state “for competitive reasons,” adding that “the Colorado Tourism Office is working with Michelin on marketing and promotional efforts only.”

He also said that “the involvement” of tourism agencies in establishing a new Guide “does not have any influence on the inspectors’ judgments for the restaurants in the selection or the award distinctions.” Those cities “discover the selected list of restaurants at the same time as the media and chefs … There is no preferential treatment … in the partnership.”

“The Michelin Guide inspectors are anonymous and independent,” Festa said. “They pay their own bills, just as any other person dining at a restaurant. Michelin covers all the expenses of the inspectors just as it would any employee on company travel.”

Financial partnerships between tourism agencies and Michelin isn’t uncommon in other states. in 2022 for Michelin to review restaurants around the state, according to a story in the Robb Report, while for the guide to expand throughout the whole state in 2019, per a story in eater.com.

“To bring these new destinations and their culinary specialties to light, Michelin has initiated a partnership approach with local destination marketing organizations (DMOs),” wrote Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guide, in a statement to The Denver Post, “which cover some of the costs incurred to fund communication, digital and marketing campaigns to promote the selections and broadcast them to the world.”

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