Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Record year for Colorado tourism

Colorado had its best season ever for tourism, both in terms of the number of visitors (28 million) and the amount of money they spent ($9.8 billion), according to the annual Longwoods International Colorado Travel Year 2007 Report released today by the Colorado Tourism Office.

In addition to the raw numbers, Colorado's share of national tourism also grew, from 2.35 percent in 2006 to 2.5 percent in 2007.

Tourism officials say the gains can be attributed to the state legislature boosting the state's marketing budget from $5.5 million to $19 million last year, although the total number of visits to the state has been on an upward trajectory for several years.

Colorado Springs was the state's second-most popular tourist attraction, behind Denver, but ahead of Estes Park and Boulder. The Springs drew 11 percent of out-of-state visitors.

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