Madden Media reports summer tourism campaign performance; board reappoints four members

Madden Media and Grand County Tourism staff presented a preliminary report Oct. 28 on summer marketing efforts, site analytics and a forthcoming website redesign, and the board approved reappointments to the tourism advisory panel.

Brett Gordon and account lead Leslie Robalo of Madden Media briefed the commissioners and tourism board about data-driven media buys, including a campaign that showed a preliminary 9-to-1 return on ad spend in tracked local spending for visitors who engaged with ads, and separate lodging-booking lifts from an Expedia partnership. Madden said additional analysis from data partners (which anonymize device and credit-card data) will be available in later reports and that the county should continue diversified tactics to measure direct visitor spend and behavior.

The tourism team also described a partner portal that has generated 369 partner accounts and more than 500 community-submitted events to-date, and previewed a December website launch that will prioritize ADA compliance and improved trip-planning tools.

Following the presentation, commissioners approved reappointments to the Grand County Tourism Board for Heather Bishop, Dakota Cordell, Greta Fosha and Kristen Sprance for three-year terms from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2028.

Commissioners asked for periodic updates on web analytics, campaign ROI and how marketing efforts align with sustainability and visitor-dispersal goals.