The organization has received approximately 250 responses as of earlier this week.
Visit Durango, the regional tourism board, has launched an annual Resident Sentiment Survey to solicit opinions from local residents on tourism and its impact in 2022. The survey, which runs through his January 31st, seeks opinions on what tourism activities will work in 2022 and what efforts should be focused on. to move forward.
The survey is available online at bit.ly/3XJGB7L.
The survey asks residents to rate their feelings and experiences on the topic, and also questions respondents about their knowledge of where lodger tax funds come from and where they are spent.
Rachel Brown, executive director of Visit Durango, said at a city council meeting on Tuesday that the tourism board had received at least 248 responses to the resident survey as it reported on tourism activity in the third quarter. said received. And she hopes to see more responses submitted.
She said Durango’s Tourism Sentiment Score, which measures whether a destination “lives up to its promise,” is the first choice metric to measure Visit Durango’s performance.
The Tourism Office’s tourism sentiment score for the third quarter of last year was 29th in the world and 1st in Colorado, she said. And the score is up 33% from last year she was in July to her in September 2021.
She referred to a Southwest Economic Outlook Forum presentation by Nate Peach, associate professor of economics at Fort Lewis College, who said the Durango region could benefit from some GDP declines brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. , said that it is protected to some extent by the tourism industry.
“But tourism is not doing as well as it did during the pandemic for many reasons,” she said.
In the third quarter from July to September, Visit Durango welcomed 33,000 visitors at the Durango Welcome Center, according to the one-way door count system. About 3,810 visitors requested information about local services during their visit, but were walking around and using the restrooms before leaving.
The debate over lodger tax spending, with 55% allocated for tourism marketing, was posed at a city council study session on Tuesday. It was part of a larger debate about whether to add it.
Part of the discussion focused on financing housing and tourism marketing.
Alderman Jessica Buell is unsure whether diverting tourism funds to housing will have a significant impact on efforts to address the housing crisis, and questions how the current allocation works. We need more time to evaluate.
“I would like to take the time to make this decision to get a full picture of everything this council wants to do and prioritize how to fund it,” she said.
She said she supports a future cap on tourism marketing funds after more results and information are reviewed. And she likes the city council’s idea of more flexible discretionary spending to better accommodate changing needs, such as tourism marketing, transportation, police services, and other amenities.
cburney@durangoherald.com