2006 was the best year ever for Denver tourism with 11.7 million overnight visitors coming to the city, according to Longwoods International. This is a 13 percent increase over the 10.4 million overnight visitors who came to Denver in 2005, the largest single one year increase in tourism in Denver’s history.
The study, commissioned by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, found that in 2006, metro Denver visitors spent a record $2.76 billion, which was also up 13 percent over the $2.43 billion spent in 2005.
Leading the upward trend were increases in visits to friends and family, which jumped 17 percent, “marketable” visitors, which climbed a record 12 percent in 2006 to 3.6 million visitors, and business travelers, who leaped 7 percent to 2.6 million, surpassing a national increase of just 5 percent in 2006.
“Marketable” visitors are defined as visitors who are not visiting friends or relatives and could therefore travel to any destination, but chose to visit Denver. “Marketable” visitors, including group travelers, are the most valuable to a community because they stay in commercial accommodations and spend more money. “Marketable” visitors spend an average of $93 per day per person in 2006, versus only $43 per person, per day for people staying with friends and relatives.
In November 2005, Denver voters approved Initiative 1A, which provided the Bureau with an additional $4 million for tourism marketing in 2006.
In 2006, the Bureau conducted its first major regional tourism campaign with special marketing efforts in Phoenix, Albuquerque and Omaha. These efforts appear to be paying off with Phoenix now being ranked third in metropolitan areas sending visitors to Denver, after Los Angeles and Colorado Springs/Pueblo.
Courtesy of grouptravelblog.com
