The Longwoods International analysis, conducted on behalf of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, shows that 9.6 million visitors stayed overnight in Denver in 2000, a 7% over 1999. Most important to tourism officials, the number of pleasure visitors increased 8% last year to 6.9 million in 2000.
The increase in Denver visitors came despite the fact that Colorado saw a 5% drop in pleasure travelers in 2000, dropping to 19.8 million.
People on Colorado vacations also spent more time in the city, with 6% more people spending time in Denver who did not stay overnight. At the same time, the number of people who passed through Denver without stopping dropped 14% to just 10 million in 2000.
The 8% percent growth in Denver pleasure visitors in 2000 far surpassed the national numbers for growth in pleasure visitors, which grew by only 1% last year according to Longwoods.
"There has been an increase in recent years in the number of people taking vacation trips to cities, but Denver is far outpacing this trend," says Eugene Dilbeck, president of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Dilbeck credits the increase in Denver's tourism numbers to the new tourism product and hotels in Denver, the steady marketing of the city through a period where there has been limited marketing of Colorado tourismand the fact that cities are now perceived as safe, "family-friendly" places to visit.
"In the past few years, Denver has built three new sports stadiums, seen the revitalization of LoDo and downtown with dozens of new restaurants, added major attractions such as Colorado's Ocean Journey and Six Flags Elitch Gardens and seen vast improvements in shopping with the expansion of Cherry Creek Shopping Center and the addition of Denver Pavilions (mixed-use retail center), and regional malls such as Park Meadows andFlatiron Crossing," Dilbeck adds.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
