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Tourist tempo quickens

Lack of fires, marketing to muggy climes is music to shop owners’ ears

All of those out-of-state license plates don’t get here by accident.

Durango’s marketing professionals put advertising and marketing money into markets such as Phoenix, Dallas and Houston to lure tourists to our area.

Durango’s target markets haven’t changed much in recent years, said Bob Kunkel, the newly hired executive director of the Durango Area Tourism Office.

Tourism marketing professionals said tourists continue to come from hotter, and more populous, cities, primarily in the Southwest.

Advertising targets “places that are hot and sticky,” Kunkel said.

“Places where people want some cool mountain air – our message is very appealing,” he said.

DATO also tries to be flexible in its marketing. A hot snap in west Texas, for example, might prompt more advertising there, Kunkel said.

Durango doesn’t have the marketing muscle of some larger areas, but Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and DATO all advertise in other states.

The efforts seem to be working, helped along by appealing attractions, an improved economy and stable gasoline prices. Indications of tourist activity such as lodgers-tax and sales-tax revenues show strong gains.

Lodgers tax revenue is up 14.6 percent through June, while sales-tax receipts have climbed 5.6 percent in the city of Durango.

Visits to Mesa Verde National Park were up 6.4 percent through July, topping 310,000.

“It’s going gangbusters, and the reason is the marketing combined with pure luck,” Kunkel said.

Colorado hasn’t suffered any significant wildfires, news of which drives away tourists. Gasoline prices have held steady at about $3.58 per gallon for most of the summer. And air service continues to provide good options to fly into Durango, Kunkel said.

DATO gets about $700,000 in funding from the city’s lodgers tax and another $200,000 from the county.

The money is spent on magazine and broadcast ads, special promotions and online marketing. Durango has been featured in prize packages given to contestants of “The Price is Right” and “Wheel of Fortune.”

DATO is also developing a new website to launch next year.

Kunkel is hoping to boost DATO’s marketing efforts. “I’m doing everything I can to increase the amount of outright marketing we do,” he said.

At the railroad, ridership is running ahead of last year’s numbers, said Gary Keil, D&SNGR’s business manager. The railroad attracts more than 100,000 riders each summer.

The railroad draws more customers from Colorado than any other state, followed by Texas and California – primarily Southern California. New Mexico and Arizona run about even for the fourth and fifth spot, depending on the time of year, Keil said.

Durango & Silverton advertises heavily in those states, along with efforts in Oklahoma and Utah. The railroad also selectively participates in national campaigns, Keil said.

Along with the railroad’s backbone market of aging but active baby boomers, the railroad’s marketing efforts have expanded to other demographics. Young hikers use the railroad to access Chicago Basin in the Weminuche Wilderness.

The railroad also has launched trains with themes centered around music, food, craft beer and wine to attract younger riders.

Another trend the railroad is seeing is visits by three generations of the same family. Often, tourists who rode the railroad as kids come back with their own children as well as their parents.

“We find a lot of extended family units, as well as grandparents bringing grandkids,” Keil said.

The area’s primary winter attraction, Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, advertises primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico. This year, DMR is pushing harder to attract skiers from northern Colorado.

“The Front Range skier is getting a little fed up with the I-70 mess, and they’re looking for a new alternative,” said Greg Ralph, the resort’s vice president of sales and marketing.

DMR is putting more money into marketing this year, Ralph said.

The resort’s marketing changes tactics as the calendar advances. DMR’s sales teams start hitting ski shows and visiting media outlets in the fall, Ralph said. The resort tries to capitalize on preseason excitement generated by ski promotions and Warren Miller films.

Before the season starts, DMR targets its usual markets with print ads, particularly in skier-specific publications. “If we can reach people through a publication that we know is targeting skiers, then we’ll do that,” Ralph said.

At the same time, DMR tries to retain season-pass holders through its robust email database. The resort offers lower prices before the season to entice loyal customers to come back.

As the season approaches, advertising shifts to radio and some TV broadcast ads. DMR also runs banner ads on websites, which have the advantage of easy tracking to determine how effective the ads are.

DMR has more than just skiing to promote – the resort also has real estate to sell. The resort tries to highlight Durango as well.

“Anytime we have an opportunity to promote the region we will,” Ralph said. “Because we’re all in this together.”

cslothower@durangoherald.com



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