Partner with Visit Estes Park
Visit Estes Park tourism partners have access to complimentary services without paying annual dues or membership fees. This partnership model allows us to tell the complete story of the destination brand without being limited to a membership roster.
To be eligible to participate in Visit Estes Park partnership, a business must:
Be a tourism business, defined as a business whose primary customer base is from the tourism industry (includes attractions, food and beverage, lodging, retail, transportation)
Be open to the public, unless otherwise approved by Visit Estes Park
Operate at a single physical location within the Estes Park Local Marketing District*
Have a valid Estes Park business license**
Comply with the terms of Visit Estes Park’s policies, as well as the local, state and federal laws and regulations
*Physical Location Exception:
Outdoor Recreation - For some recreational businesses like river rafting and guided tours, there is not a physical location within district boundaries yet there is a demand for this activity by our guests In these cases, companies without an in-District physical location may participate in Visit Estes Park partnership.
Other businesses that offer an in-demand, out-of-district guest experience Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
**Business License Exception
If a business operates exclusively within Rocky Mountain National Park, an Estes Park business license is not required. If any pick-ups/drop-offs or other business happens within Town limits, a business license is required Learn more about Estes Park business licensing here.
About Visit Estes Park
MISSION
As the official Destination Marketing Organization for Estes Park, Visit Estes Park’s mission is to nurture visitor reverence of our vibrant mountain town for business success, environmental sustainability and community harmony
VISION
Our vision is to be a year-round, family-friendly tourism and event destination that supports our vibrant mountain town with a balance of financial success, positive and memorable experiences for guests and a meaningful quality of life for our community.
NUTURE VISITOR REVERENCE
Why Partner with Visit Estes Park?
WEBSITE DATA FROM 2023
4.8 million pageviews
1 9 million users
1.6 million engaged sessions
Top viewed pages: Home page, Events Calendar, Things to Do, Lodging, Rocky Mountain National Park, Restaurants
CONSUMER ENEWSLETTER
70K+ subscribers
30%+ open rate
LODGING REFERRAL ENGINE
459, 737 searches within Visit Estes Park's engine
401, 421 referrals sent to stakeholder booking engines
$5.7 millions estimated booking revenue referred, based on a global conversion rate, referrals sent, average daily rate and the average length of stay
SOCIAL MEDIA
187K+ followers
101K+ followers
Partner Benefits
WEBSITE LISTINGS
Visit Estes Park Partners receive one complimentary listing on VisitEstesPark.com, with the opportunity to amplify their listing presence
There are three listing tiers: standard, enhanced and featured Enhanced and featured listings are part of our web advertising program with Destination Travel Network (DTN). Please see the Advertising section below for more information.
Partner Benefits
EVENTS & SPECIAL OFFERS
Increase your exposure on VisitEstesPark.com by adding special offers and events!
Our Events Calendar is one of our top viewed pages on the site Events added to our site are included in monthly event articles, local publications, event campaigns and other original content
ANNUAL PHOTOSHOOT
Our Special Offers page promotes weekly, seasonal and one-off deals and discounts. Offers are then promoted in seasonal event campaigns, posters, pitches to the media and original content
Capture what makes your business unique by setting up a photo shoot with Visit Estes Park’s staff photographer The photos will be available to you and to Visit Estes Park for marketing Partners are responsible for providing their own models for the photoshoot if needed. Complete the Photoshoot Request Form
EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS
Receive monthly e-newsletters with updates, data, marketing opportunities, how to get involved and other resources for your business
EDUCATION & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Each year, we host opportunities for our partners to connect with each other and the Visit Estes Park team. Whether it’s an educational workshop, roundtable or Visit Estes Park Board meeting, we invite you to learn about industry trends and connect with your peers Or set up a meeting with our team anytime to ask questions and share updates.
VISITOR CENTER KIOSK EXPOSURE
Visit Estes Park’s digital kiosk, located in the Estes Park Visitor Center, provides an opportunity for visitors to view your listings, events and special offers that pull directly from our website Work with us to keep your listing information accurate and up-to-date!
Partner Benefits
BOOK › DIRECT REFERRALS
The Book › Direct search widget enables visitors to enter their travel dates on VisitEstesPark com and search for any lodging property within Estes Park All lodging partners in the Estes Park Local Marketing District receive a complimentary listing on the Book › Direct site, which includes live rate and availability content.
OLIVE PARTNER PORTAL
OLIVE (Online Link Into Visit Estes) will allow anyone with an account to:
Update website listings
Post on our events calendar
Create special offers
Add lodging packages
Access industry resources
Create new contacts
And more!
Log in here: VisitEstesPark com/Olive
If you have any questions or want to set up an OLIVE training for your team, email community@visitestespark.com.
PARTNER RESOURCES
Visit Estes Park’s website is a great resource for visitors, and also for our partners! In addition to providing materials on OLIVE, we’ll also update our website for easily accessible and timely information.
Check it out here: VisitEstesPark.com/Partners
Lodging Occupancy
POST OCCUPANCY IN OLIVE
Visit Estes Park, through OLIVE, collects RevPAR, ADR and occupancy numbers.
Participating will allow you to set room prices strategically to maximize revenue, and it will allow us to adjust marketing spend to promote overnight stays based on projected occupancy. Importantly, all data is kept strictly confidential
With this data:
Lodging properties can compare their information with the results of all participants to determine if they are over or under-pricing rooms.
Occupancy metrics allow lodging properties to see peak and need times based on current data.
VEP staff can proactively adjust advertising to market the destination most effectively.
Contributing your data will help your property be more competitive and allow VEP to reallocate advertising dollars to help fill rooms when staff may otherwise be unaware of the need
Advertising Opportunities
WEB ADVERTISING
Visit Estes Park partners with Destin ( ) to provide web advertising opportunities on VisitEstesPark.com. DTN helps deliver your message to an audience of highly qualified visitors who are ready to spend, highlight the special value that makes you unique in your market, keep your business top-of-mind throughout the visitor's trip-planning and research journey, move visitors to book or buy on your website, provide insights for informed decision making
With a limited number of featured listings available in each listing category, an annual lottery determines which businesses receive the option to purchase featured listings. Our team will communicate lottery updates via email.
VISITORS GUIDE ADVERTISING
Visit Estes Park partners with Estes Park Vacationland, a GuestGuide Publication, to produce Estes Park’s official visitor guide. The partnership provides both in-market and planning guests with the information they need to have the best experience possible while in town.
Estes Park Vacationland features a restaurant guide, maps of Rocky Mountain National Park and Downtown Estes Park, and many more tips on where to go and what to do.
For more information about advertising in Estes Park Vacationland, contact Susie Masterson at susie@guestguidepublications com
Marketing & PR Opportunities
BEYOND EVENT
PROGRAM
Estes Park’s festivals and events alone draw tens of thousands of people into town The Beyond Event program is a collaboration between Visit Estes Park, the Estes Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Estes Park to help drive event attendees into our local businesses while they’re here
We invite businesses to submit special offers, lodging packages and events specific to event campaigns. Offers will be featured on a dedicated VisitEstesPark.com page, which will be shared with guests through event posters, Visit Estes Park blog articles, social media channels, and in special pitches to the media for news coverage Questions? Read our FAQs
BLOG ARTICLES
Visit Estes Park’s marketing team creates original content to share with visitors. Keep us upto-date on your latest offerings for a chance to be featured in an upcoming article. Or pitch a guest blog to our team for a chance to have your blog published on our website!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Connect with Visit Estes Park on social media! Share your content with us, or share our content with your guests.
EARNED MEDIA
Where to Find Us
Facebook - @VisitEstesPark
Instagram - @VisitEstesPark
TikTok - @VisitEstesPark
Twitter - @VisitEstesPark
Members of the media often request images, copy or quotes about specific businesses, or types of businesses, for inclusion in the content they are creating.
Look for requests for information in your inbox. Your submissions will be given to the media for consideration The more information we know about your business, the better we can help connect you with the right opportunities.
Marketing & PR Opportunities
FAM TOURS
Familiarization tours (FAMs), or press trips, are tours that Visit Estes Park organizes and hosts for journalists, freelancers, influencers and travel trade partners (existing and potential). Tours are guided experiences and usually include lodging, dining and activities. The trips are either customized to participants’ journalistic focus or a particular theme or campaign Visit Estes Park is promoting. FAMs are hosted in partnership with participating partners to increase exposure of Estes Park in national and international media.
INDIVIDUAL & GROUP MEDIA FAM TRIPS
Visit Estes Park hosts FAMs for groups and individual journalists, bloggers, and social influencers from target markets, thus generating potentially significant media coverage for the Estes Park area Media outlets include print and digital publications
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA FAM TRIPS
Visit Estes Park hosts media FAMs for groups and individuals from international target markets if they have confirmed assignments. Their visits often result in powerful international media exposure for the Estes Park area through both print and digital channels
INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAM TRIPS
Visit Estes Park hosts international tour operators and product planners from target markets on a group and individual basis These trips are coordinated to highlight itineraries that will assist our tour operators and product planners in developing Estes Park products to sell within their markets Trade FAMs give participants a first-hand experience of what local partners offer, which aids in developing and selling local products and services to their consumers.
Sales & Service Lead Opportunities
Visit Estes Park fields requests through our website and industry partners Events range from conferences and corporate offsites to weddings and reunions. When a request for proposal (RFP) comes in, we connect with the meeting planner directly and share their event details with our local partners. Once we’ve collected proposals and brochures from our partners, we respond to the meeting planner and encourage them to reach out directly to those businesses
Visit Estes Park Partners may view and respond to RFPs by logging into their OLIVE account. Please reach out to Visit Estes Park staff for login credentials or to set up an OLIVE training session.
Sponsorship
Visit Estes Park seeks to support local events and projects that will benefit and enhance our community while encouraging visitation to the Estes Valley.
Sponsorships will be awarded to businesses and organizations whose projects align with Visit Estes Park’s mission to drive sustainable year-round economic growth and add to the variety of experiences offered to visitors
Fill out the sponsorship application form at VisitEstesPark com/Sponsorship For consideration, please fill out the form at least 90 days prior to the event.
Contact
Stay engaged with our team! We want to hear what’s new, how your business is doing, ideas you have for destination marketing and what we can do to help
Reach out to any of us, and we'll be happy to chat or set up an appointment.
STAFF DIRECTORY
Administration
Mike Zumbaugh, Interim CEO and CFO mike@visitestespark.com
Community Relations
Cindy Mackin, Chief Strategy Officer, cindy@visitestespark.com
Rebecca D Gelsinger, Operations Director, rebecca@visitestespark com
Dana Paiement, Destination Development Director, dana@visitestespark.com
Rachel Ward Oppermann, Advocacy & Sustainability Director rachel@visitestespark com
Marketing
Heidi Barfels, CMO heidi@visitestespark com
Kendall Akin, Creative Manager kendall@visitestespark.com
John Berry, Photographer john@visitestpark com
Claire Molle, Communications Manager c
