Visit Alamosa presents draft five‑year tourism strategy focused on longer stays, resident benefit and regional packaging

Visit Alamosa on Monday presented a draft five‑year tourism strategic plan to the Alamosa City Council, outlining five goal areas intended to lengthen visitor stays, support tourism businesses and ensure residents share in the benefits of tourism. Kale Mortensen, executive with Visit Alamosa, said the plan was produced with consultant Solimar International and a diverse steering committee and is now open for public comment through Nov. 18.

Mortensen said the plan’s vision is "a year‑round tourism economy that inspires pride, supports local prosperity, and celebrates and protects the people and landscapes of the San Luis Valley." He described five goal areas — enhanced visitor experience and longer stays; year‑round tourism growth; tourism business development and prosperity; community engagement and resident benefit; and destination stewardship and institutional collaboration — and outlined specific tools under each goal.

To encourage multi‑day visits, Visit Alamosa proposes mapping and packaging itineraries and building an online experience marketplace and booking platform so small operators (jeep tours, horseback riding, local guides) can be discoverable and bookable. "If someone can book this, right, altogether and actually make their plan their stay and book it," Mortensen said, "that's outside of just that one night and coming and visiting the national park." He said Solimar’s Chris Sieg has identified a company the organization is considering to provide that marketplace.

Mortensen highlighted recent private investment that he said will change visitor dynamics, including a 90‑room hotel now under construction. He described the bed‑tax structure that funds Visit Alamosa programs as a 2% lodging tax plus a 4% marketing district tax (6% total on stays under 30 nights) and said short‑term rentals (Airbnb/VRBO) are collected under existing county structures.

Responding to council questions, Mortensen said the county’s prior moratorium on new campground approvals followed a comprehensive‑plan update and was intended to give planners time to strengthen permitting language; he said the moratorium has since been lifted. He also said an online booking product and better packaging are needed because many small attractions are "not giving that full attention" to sales and lack a centralized way to be found.

Councilors pressed on several topics during the Q&A: whether Visit Alamosa will promote hunting and fishing (Mortensen said it has been discussed but raises marketing and operational challenges, and some hoteliers expressed discomfort with hunters), how to attract off‑season markets (sports tournaments and conferences, including working with Adams State University), workforce support (internships and tabling at job fairs), accessibility for visitors with disabilities, and family‑friendly attractions such as guided historic tours and farm‑to‑table experiences.

Mortensen said Visit Alamosa surveyed residents this spring and received "over 450 responses," and that resident sentiment was generally positive. He said measurement will include indicators such as visitor length of stay, average spend per visitor (from Dean Runyan/state reports and Place AI), hotel occupancy and a business satisfaction survey for local tourism businesses.

The plan also proposes destination stewardship and institutional collaboration — strengthening partnerships with the city and county, SLV Go, History Colorado and regional partners to develop a unified San Luis Valley tourism brand. Mortensen noted current support for the San Luis Valley Museum (Visit Alamosa provides roughly 90% of the museum's funding), and said Visit Alamosa wants to be at the table for downtown revitalization and riverfront development.

Next steps: the draft is open to public comment through Nov. 18; Visit Alamosa plans to revise the draft with steering‑committee input and hopes to finalize the plan by Dec. 19 and begin implementation in January.