The après-ski lounge at The Drake Hotel
Patsy Popejoy of Snowmass Tourism & Michael Driver, Director of International Marketing & Public Relations for the Colorado Tourism Office
Rebecca Seeds & Catherine Ball of the Colorado Tourism Office
Air Canada's Cynthia Farrill & Annika Klint, repping the Colorado Tourism Office
Access Marketing's Joanne Scalamogna & Ursula Beamish-Mader of Switzerland Tourism
Toronto didn’t get the magical snowfall that was anticipated this week (can’t say the same for our friends in Ottawa and Montreal). Nonetheless, the Colorado Tourism Office managed to transform The Drake Hotel’s rooftop patio into a cozy après-ski lounge for its event earlier this week. The festivities were complete with fire pit, delicious comfort food and of course, beer and wine to keep the blood warm.
Michael Driver, the Colorado Tourism Office’s Director of International Marketing & Public Relations, was on hand to share stories, jokes, and information on the destination with the 70 travel professionals that were in attendance. According to Driver, Colorado receives most of its visitors in the spring, summer and fall. But with the après-ski themed event and new Air Canada lift, the tourism office is hoping to increase its numbers for the winter. “We have 5 seasons,” he said. “We have ski season, then the other 4.”
According to Catherine Ball, the Colorado Tourism Office’s BDM for Eastern Canada, Colorado is a growth market and their numbers have grown year-over-year. It’s expected that over 200,000 Canadians will have visited the destination this year alone. “Because we haven’t had fantastic winters here, many skiers go to Colorado instead. There’s a lot of appeal to people who enjoy the outdoors,” she said. “We’re also finding a difference with the demographic. A lot of young retirees, people in their 50s with a disposable income, who own RVs or who are motorcyclists, are taking long road trips throughout the state.”
However, if road tripping is not for your clients, Air Canada Vacations and Sunspots Holidays offer FIT packages. Ski and snowboarding packages are available through tour operators Voyage Gendron, Skican and Ultimate Ski. While Insight Vacations, Trafalgar Tours, Collette Vacations and Tauck are also offering a variety of tour product.
As for Air Canada's new seasonal service, the airline will operate weekly flights between Toronto and Vail from December 14th until April 5th. Here’s some reassuring news, Cynthia Farrill, Manager of Sales Development for Air Canada, mentioned that the A319, which will service the route, has enough cargo space to accommodate both skis and luggage. They wouldn’t want anyone’s equipment to be left behind. Then again, it would be the perfect excuse to spend more time in a Colorado après-ski lounge.
