OUR VIEW: A city that sells itself quite well

The Colorado Springs Convention and Visitor’s Bureau may take a hit to its budget next year, as a result of the country’s Great Recession. Taxpayers simply don’t have more to give or invest right now, and they expressed that Nov. 3 with the rejection of a tax increase and the elimination of revenues paid by city enterprises that raise money from residents with fees.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau receives money from taxes charged to people who stay in hotels and motels, and people who rent cars. Taxes on tourists are an excellent way to raise money for a city, because they grow the economy by spreading the burden of city expenses to people from out of town, out of state, and out of country. It’s smart economics for places with great attractions, such as Colorado Springs.

Two years ago, the visitors bureau budget was $4 million. One proposal would cut the bureau’s budget to $2.4 million — the size it was in 1996.

Opponents of the cuts, including visitors bureau President Terry Sullivan, argue that tourism brings money into the community and should be viewed as a smart investment. City Councilwoman Jan Martin wonders whether a cut to the tourism budget cuts off the city’s nose to spite its face. In truth, the tourism budget is a reasonable place for the city to save money. Tourist money should fund basic services, not just the somewhat nebulous pursuit of more tourists.

The official name of the visitors bureau is Experience Colorado Springs. That’s because the bureau is a marketing firm that tries to get more people to visit our city. It’s laudable work, indeed, but funding it is not a core responsibility of a city government that’s struggling to meet its most basic obligations. We do not need a dedicated non-profit with nearly 20 employees, almost entirely dependent on taxes collected by the city, to do what could just as well be farmed out for bids from an assortment of private marketing firms with diversified income streams.

Despite the bureau’s good work, most people who visit Colorado Springs are not here because of it.
Most visitors in 2008 were here because of Garden of the Gods, which drew two million visitors. It’s a natural attraction with a national reputation that speaks for itself. It is and always will be a must-see attraction for anyone traversing the Front Range, whether or not a designated marketing firm distributes brochures.

The second reason people visited Colorado Springs in 2008 was the Air Force Academy, which drew 630,000 visitors. It draws people to town for a variety of reasons, including sporting events, recruiting efforts, and constant family visits to cadets. The Air Force Academy will bring visitors, with or without appearances in glossy brochures. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was the third biggest reason people visited the springs, followed by North Cheyenne Canon Park, followed by Pikes Peak. Will people suddenly stop visiting the most famous mountain in the United States — visible from Limon, Boulder, and Pueblo — if the city spends a bit less on the convention and visitor’s bureau? Don’t lose sleep over it.

Coming in just behind Pikes Peak, as the sixth most popular tourist attraction in Colorado Springs, is Focus on the Family — an entity some economic development leaders consider a liability to the city’s reputation. Focus had 233,982 visitors last year, meaning it brought more people to Colorado Springs than the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Do tourists go there because of slick, city-funded brochures? Not quite. They visit Focus because the private organization publicizes itself every day with literature and radio broadcasts, funded mostly with money sent to the Springs from other locations, which reach millions of potential visitors throughout the United States.

The money generated by visitors to Colorado Springs is primary revenue, meaning it comes in from other economies. Tourism is enormously important to our local economy. But don’t confuse tourism with the region’s marketing firm. It’s not a crisis if tourist tax money is used more to subsidize core services of government, at least for now, and less to subsidize the marketing of great attractions that mostly speak for themselves.

Top attractions of 2008 and the number of  visitors:

1. Garden of the Gods: 2 million
2. U.S. Air Force Academy: 630,000
3. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: 513,363
4. North Cheyenne Canon Park: 470,035
5. Pikes Peak: 254,419
6. Focus on the Family: 233,982