Public Relations Society of America Colorado Chapter honors Colorado Tourism Office publicity campaign for the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop

Denver, CO, May 4, 2017 - The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) Public Relations team took home two Gold Pick Awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Colorado Chapter’s annual dedication ceremony. Both awards — one for Best Campaign and one for Best Component of a Campaign — recognized the team’s success in promoting the new Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop (CHHSL).

In 2016, the team hosted five top-tier journalists on assignment or with strong assignment prospects to experience portions of the CHHSL firsthand including: Sophia Dembling, Dallas Morning News (story ran on Nov. 10, 2016); Melanie Kaplan, The Washington Post (story ran on February 9, 2017);  Alex Schecter, National Geographic Traveler (story ran in the Feb./March 2017 issue);  Susan Barnes, USA Today (story ran on Feb. 16, 2017); Charles Bethea (pending articles for possible WSJ Off Duty or Outside inclusion).

As a result of hosting and pitching the new CHHSL, the CTO PR team has generated 17 articles to-date covering the loop, mostly feature placements, in top target outlets including: National Geographic Traveler (with cover mention), 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. These articles (including syndications) produced $4,112,050 in media value and 95,043,725 impressions.

As a result of distributing the “Colorado’s New Historic Hot Springs Loop Pairs Year-Round Adventures with Rejuvenating Soaking Spots” press release to target media and distributing through PR Newswire, the release was picked up in 102 outlets and produced a media value of $1,000,271 and 33,668,198 impressions.