A Hot Commodity: Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop Wins Best Idea Award at DMA West

Glenwood Springs, Colo. (Oct. 13, 2017) – The  Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop (CHHSL), a collaboration between five Colorado destination marketing associations (DMOs), was one of just four winners in the recent Best Idea Program sponsored by Destination Marketing Association of the West (DMA West) at their annual Education Summit in Las Vegas on Sept. 28, 2017. The Best Ideas Program showcases innovative projects and creative marketing strategies by its member organizations.

The idea behind creating this mutually beneficial program was to pool the marketing and financial resources of several Colorado hot springs resort towns that are all within driving distance of one another. The CHHSL provides visitors with a vacation itinerary that takes them on a 720-mile tour of five western Colorado hot springs destinations. The route includes Chaffee County, Pagosa Springs, Ouray County, Glenwood Springs, and Steamboat Springs, with each destination offering visitors a distinctive geothermal soaking experience. For the destinations along the loop, the result has turned into marketing gold.

Accepting the Best Idea Award on behalf of the CHHSL was Lisa Langer, Vice President of Tourism Marketing for the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association and Jennie Green, Director of Visit Pagosa Springs. “Our success is a tribute to the power of teamwork. It’s thanks to the dedication and commitment of each of the partners that the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop is a winner for our state and region,” Langer said.

Among its most impressive achievements, the CHHSL has garnered an estimated equivalent of $5.5M in editorial media coverage—an astounding amount—since its inception nearly two years ago. To start, each DMO contributed $5,000 to apply for a Colorado Tourism Office 1:1 marketing matching grant, which they have secured for two consecutive years.

The five DMOs used the grant to produce a webpage that is part of the Colorado.com​ state site. This includes a video, downloadable brochures, and information about each destination. The brochures are translated from English to German, Japanese, and Chinese. In addition, they contracted with Brand USA to produce videos in those four languages and are featured on VisittheUSA.com pages. The DMOs have hosted media from around the world and promote the CHHSL at four annual international trade summits.

Articles about the CHHSL, mostly feature placements, have appeared in top-target outlets such as: National Geographic Traveler, Sunset, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, 5280, United Hemispheres, Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post, USA Today, and more. The USA Today article, “Warm up a cold night in Colorado's Hot Springs Loop” was syndicated in 21 additional outlets and The Washington Post article, “The Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop makes it easy to plan a visit and a long soak” was syndicated in 11 additional outlets. Sunset magazine selected CHHSL as a Best of the West Travel Star calling it the “Wellness Highway.”

About the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop
Five premier hot springs destinations in western Colorado—Chaffee County, Pagosa Springs, Ouray County, Glenwood Springs, and Steamboat Springs—joined together to form the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop. This 720-mile loop showcases some of the most popular hot springs attractions in the country. There is so much variety; from intimate private baths, to the world’s largest mineral hot springs pool. Each of the 19 facilities offers unique features like vapor caves, hot pots, terraced pools, enormous travertine formations, and fun-filled aquatic centers. 

About Destination Marketing Association West
DMA West supports and provides resources to western destination marketing organizations (DMOs) as they enhance initiatives and technologies associated with interactions with visitors, clients, partners/stakeholders, board members and elected leaders, as well as interactions with colleagues and industry peers.

Media Contacts:

Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop
Vicky Nash, Project Manager
Resort Trends, Inc.
970-948-4923
vicky@resorttrends.com

Destination Marketing Association of the West | DMA West
Teresa Stephenson,
916-443-9012 Executive Director
info@dmawest.org