October 3, 2024
Grand County Colorado Tourism Board Meeting Granby Fire Station
Mission Statement: We inspire a sustainable, year-round tourism economy in Grand County with an emphasis on strengthening the vitality of our communities, celebrating our local culture and traditions and respecting our environment and resources.
Board Member Attendance: Kristen Spronz, Ron Ellis, Jennifer Brown, Elizabeth Brumm, Joanna Whitemarsh
Absent: Rebecca Bierden
Attendance by Zoom: Cheryl Spezia (Board Member), Dave Huber (Board Member), Jeremy Belnap (Board Member), Carrie Tomlinson (Miles Partnership)
Also In Attendance: Gaylene Ore, Paula Isakson, DiAnn Butler (Grand County Economic Development), Kelly Kirkpatrick (Executive Director Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce), Dakota Cordle (Agent with Keller Williams Real Estate)
CALL TO ORDER– Kristen Spronz
Kristen called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION -
DiAnn Butler (Grand County Economic Development)
DiAnn with the Grand County Economic Development Department presented that the Antero Group has been working on gathering data on all entry points to Grand County. The end goal is to improve the visitor experience at these entry points.
In addition, they are working on hotel development ideas and have created marketing tools for the county.
Kelly Kirkpatrick (New Grand Lake Chamber Executive Director) Kelly introduced herself to the board members as the new executive director for the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Dakota Cordle(Interested in joining the GCCTB)
Dakota is Interested in joining the Grand County Colorado Tourism Board to represent the MainStem district.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES– September 2024 (2 mins)
Meeting minutes for September 2024 are approved as distributed.
APPROVAL OF INVOICES BY FINANCE COMMITTEE- (3 mins)
Gaylene reported that the invoices for August were $85,112.22.
BOARD OF COMMITTEE REPORTS-(15 mins)
Marketing Committee – Elizabeth Brumm
The emails and website are strong, with most traffic going to the website's events section and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Miles Partnership submitted the sustainability grant on September 10 and is working on ADA accessibility on the website.
Finance Committee – RonEllis
Ron met with the county on October 2 and there were no issues with the GCCTB budget as presented.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT– Gaylene Ore-(5 mins)
Gaylene summarized some of the highlights of work done in September, as mentioned in the board packet.
Gaylene mentioned that she also attended the CADMO (Colorado Association of Destination Marketing Organizations) meeting. Some of the insights reported included Colorado’s top international visitors being from Mexico; more visitors are now traveling out of state than in-state. Finally, the ski resorts only saw a growth of 22,000 new visitors during this ski season; there’s a concern that ski areas are seen as a product rather than a destination.
MARKETING UPDATE - Carrie Tomlinson- (15 mins)
Carrie reviewed the September plan for visit grand county dot com
The marketing plan will focus on getaway messaging through emails, website, local messaging, etc. In October, they will work on transitioning to winter messaging.
Miles Partnership submitted a grant to the CTO last month.
Social Ad performance, SEM and video are strong.
Datafy Campaign test was successful - 80% visitors from the front range, and Texas was the next market.
Website work includes working on Accessibility updates and landing pages. Organic search is up 19%. Top locations are Denver, Chicago, Dallas, and Grand County.
New photos from summer are available to view in Basecamp.
OLD BUSINESS-(5 mins)
The board discussed moving meetings to the third Thursday of each month and keeping the meeting time at 3:00 p.m. Gaylene will send out one more email confirming times with everyone.
NEW BUSINESS- (20 mins)
RFP process:
The GCCTB will meet with chosen agencies on October 21 at Granby Library from 12 pm to 5 pm.
Renewal of board members (Cheryl and Jennifer)
Jennifer and Cheryl’s positions are up, and both board members want to continue.
Greta Fosha and Dakota Cordle are interested in joining the board. Gaylene will submit names to the county in November.
Holiday Party location
The December Board Meeting & Holiday Party will be the Overlook in Grand Lake on December 5, 2024.
Retreat Follow-up
Gaylene and Paula will go over retreat notes from August and bring ideas to the December meeting for the board to review and approve.
Antero Itinerary Builder
Gaylene will add information on the itinerary builder to the November agenda.
ADJOURN
Joanna moved to adjourn the meeting, and Elizabeth seconded it. The motion carried unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 3:58 p.m.
NEXT MEETING
November 7, 2024 Granby Ranch in Granby