Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
VisitCOS and Chamber/EDC brief council on tourism trends, branding and economic leads
Summary
Visit Colorado Springs reported modest declines in 2025 lodging metrics and previewed a new marketing and sales strategy to lift shoulder-season visitation; the Chamber and EDC outlined business-tourism leads, a national PR push around Space Symposium and a new Source Colorado Springs branding program to attract conferences and talent.
Visit Colorado Springs and the Colorado Springs Chamber and Economic Development Corporation briefed council on April 27 with year-end tourism metrics, marketing results and economic-development activities.
Doug Price, president and CEO of Visit Colorado Springs, said December 2025 lodging revenue per available room was down 1.29% from 2024 and that early 2026 trends showed continued softness, with the first two months pacing down about 6.18% versus the prior year. Price cited industry headwinds — including a 44-day federal government shutdown in October-November 2025 — and shifts in booking platforms that have changed how convention and group leads flow into destination-marketing organizations.
——Because total bookings are now more meaningfully tracked through third-party platforms like Cvent, the traditional bureau-assist and definite categories no longer fully reflect our sales activity,—— Price said, describing an industry shift VisitCOS is tracking and how KPIs will be adjusted for 2026.
Melissa Williams, VisitCOS director of marketing, summarized digital performance: a short educational campaign generated roughly 1.3 million impressions with a above-benchmark click-through rate; a winter-leisure campaign produced measurable lift into shoulder-season visitation. She told council the organization is working with Pikes Peak Community Foundation on a summer resident-sentiment survey and said VisitCOS will continue to adapt content and distribution strategies in response to changing search and social platforms.
Dani Bowling, chief operating officer at the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC, outlined LART-funded activities to attract business tourism and national attention for key industries, including a national briefing around Space Symposium that produced earned coverage. She described a Source Colorado Springs branding initiative developed with local agency Vladimir Jones to present a unified narrative aimed at recruiting business conferences and talent.
Council members asked for more detail on which events and organizations produce measurable ROI and requested a future breakdown tying city funding to leads and confirmed bookings; the Chamber's COO said the organization tracks leads and would share additional information on conversions.
All three presenters offered to return with further data and to coordinate with city staff on Colorado's 150th-anniversary activations in summer 2026.
