Colorado Tourism Office Awards Nearly $400,000 in Matching Community Marketing Grants

Grant program supports the travel and tourism industry’s economic recovery and repositioning through new travel initiatives 

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 (Denver) – Chaffee County’s new Adventure by Nature responsible travel pledge and Discovery Pass, a marketing initiative promoting the socially-distanced nature of Nordic skiing, and a statewide “Liquid Arts” digital passport program are among 19 projects that will share $392,250 in Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) marketing matching grants for the FY21 award cycle. The grant program encourages industry collaboration among Colorado destinations and supports multiple initiatives that will spur innovation and adaptation in the post-COVID-19 travel landscape.

The grant program awards funding to eligible applicants for projects that promote the state as a tourism destination, supporting CTO’s mission to “drive traveler spending through promotion and development of compelling, sustainable travel experiences throughout our four-corner state.” Tourism continues to be among Colorado’s industries most deeply impacted by COVID-19.

Project work will begin in January 2021 and will target future economic development and recovery for the tourism industry next year and beyond. The CTO’s Marketing Matching Grant Program awards grants up to $25,000 and applicants must demonstrate a 1:1 match, including an in-kind match of up to 20 percent. More information about each of the awardees and the marketing initiatives can be found here.

The full list of grantees is as follows:

*Steamboat Chamber of Commerce serves as project lead on two separate marketing initiatives.

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About the Colorado Tourism Office: The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) is a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The CTO’s mission is to generate traveler spending through promotion of Colorado as a four-season, four-corner, world-class travel destination and development of compelling, sustainable travel experiences. In 2019, Colorado travelers directly spent $24.2 billion, generating $1.49 billion in local and state revenues. Replacing those revenues would have cost each Colorado household $707 in additional taxes last year. Tourism is the state’s second-largest employer, directly supporting 181,200 jobs in 2019. For more information, please visit  https://industry.colorado.com/research.