Tourism is the economic lifeblood of the Estes Park community. No other sector contributes as much to our town’s prosperity, job creation, and long-term vitality. Estes Park’s success has always come from the collaboration of the tourism business community and elected public officials, and not the consolidation of power in either. Great care should be exercised in protecting this essential collaboration. We all have a role to play in our mutual success.
The economic power of tourism in Estes Park
Tourism is the driving force behind Estes Park’s economy — funded by visitors, not residents.
In 2024 alone, visitors generated $510.8 million in direct travel spending, $29 million in local tax revenue — a 2.4% increase compared to 2023 — supported 3,419 local jobs, and contributed 82% of the Town’s sales tax revenue.
Tourists inject an average of $1.4 million into the local economy and produce $79,452 in local tax revenue daily, sustaining the amenities and quality of life that make Estes Park such a vibrant community to live, work, and visit. Without tourism, each resident household would pay an extra $5,110 annually to sustain public services and support workforce housing and childcare solutions.
The critical role of Visit Estes Park
Since its founding in 2009, Visit Estes Park has been a cornerstone of Estes Park’s economic success. Funded solely by a 2% lodging tax paid by visitors, not residents, VEP’s strategic marketing and leadership have helped drive a 400% increase in town sales tax revenues, from $5.2 million in 2008 to $22 million in 2024.
This can largely be attributed to VEP focusing on its mission to drive year-round economic growth through tourism, not just during our thriving summer season, but specifically through initiatives in the shoulder and winter seasons. This has helped local businesses generate revenue during the slower months by extending the summer season.
Beyond marketing, VEP has been instrumental in helping the community rebound from wildfires, floods, COVID-19, and other economic disruptions. While local governments focused on physical recovery, VEP led the charge on economic recovery – bringing visitors back, supporting local businesses, and restoring community vitality.
The passage of 6e funding through VEP in 2022 exemplifies a successful public-private partnership, linking tourism revenue to vital community needs and fostering shared prosperity. This unprecedented partnership between the business community and local government demonstrates how public-private collaboration works when trust and balance exist.
The approval of an added lodging tax of 3.5%, raising it to 5.5%, to address affordable housing and childcare needs for our working families, is the first funded, comprehensive, and long-reaching program to help solve a community crisis. This tax, supported by lodging businesses and applied to visitors rather than residents, has already generated over $16 million since 2023. It’s projected to contribute more than $100 million over 20 years.
Ensuring careful analysis before altering Board structure
The change to the VEP Board structure being considered in the proposed amended IGA risks weakening the Estes Park Local Marketing District Board by undermining the balance of expertise and independence that makes VEP effective. The proposed restructuring of the Visit Estes Park Board would reduce representation by the tourism community on the Visit Estes Park Board.
The Board currently consists of seven Directors, five appointed by the Town of Estes Park and two by Larimer County. Currently, this includes two appointed Town Trustees and an appointed Larimer County Commissioner on a seven-person Board. The four remaining citizen Board appointments represent 57% of the voting seats and are intended to reflect the interests and expertise of the business community in the marketing district.
The Board seats would be reduced from seven to five, three of whom are elected officials controlling 60% of the voting seats. This would shift voting control of the organization to elected officials. The proposed Marketing Committee would be limited to advisory input only, without any real control on the direction of the organization moving forward.
This structure is not currently recommended as a successful strategy for organizing a Destination Marketing Organization.
Professional industry standards recommend:
- Balanced board composition: DMO boards balance public representation (20%) with private-sector experts (80%) to align community and industry goals.
- Role of public representatives: Public members act as liaisons to help shape policy while minimizing political influence on long-term strategies.
- Private sector expertise: Private sector members bring hospitality, branding, and data skills, ensuring agility and responsiveness to tourism needs.
- Sustainable tourism vision: This governance model fosters accountability and supports a long-term vision for sustainable tourism development.
The need to build community consensus and support
To remain transparent, there should be meaningful outreach to local businesses, community organizations, and the current VEP Board. A change of this magnitude affects all community stakeholders. A written summary of the proposed changes was shared with the VEP Board only one day before it was discussed by Town Trustees at the Oct. 14, 2025, Town Board Study Session, leaving little opportunity for review or input.
No public comment is allowed in these study sessions. Stakeholders outside of the Visit Estes Park Board have had even less notice of this proposed change. The first opportunity for public comment occurs only when the Town Trustees and Larimer County Commissioners are moving to approve the revised IGA.
This process has advanced without proactive public engagement through the Town and County Administrations. The administrators worked solely with the input of elected officials, without considering well-established industry best practices.
This unique organization is funded by lodging tax revenues from visitors, not residents, and is unlike any other appointed board in Estes Park. The core success of VEP and its capacity to best serve the community is forever tied to the growth of lodging activity in the district. That requires participation by those closest to the tourism industry with hands-on expertise in its growth and marketing outcomes.
As a term-limited VEP Board member who has served for eight years, a long-term resident, business owner, and employer, I respectfully request that you delay a decision on the proposed change in Board structure.
Please take the time to engage and educate the public and all stakeholders who will be affected by such an important change in direction for our most vital industry. Our community deserves the most effective Visit Estes Park possible to serve our future. An incomplete process that fails to consider all available options may lead to unintended consequences and reduced outcomes.
I urge your consideration to:
- Pause the proposed restructuring of the VEP Board to keep a balanced board that includes elected officials and tourism-related experts.
- Engage with tourism and business leaders to review best practices and expert industry guidance on developing a Local Marketing District Board. There are more than 1,000 special marketing districts nationwide, including 25 in Colorado. There is extensive data available to help inform a thoughtful, successful governance approach.
- Revisit the 2019 study by consultant Sandy Hall, which offered guidance in this area. At the time, she said that there is extreme value in a trustee-appointed citizen board. According to Hall, “such a board is more agile, better represents stakeholder interests, brings deeper expertise, and allows local jurisdictions to focus on their core responsibilities-public safety and welfare.”
- Update the earlier study with a current state of the industry evaluation of best practices for VEP.
- Take into account the history of the organization, its place in the community, and especially the tourism business interests.
Conclusion and considerations
As the single most important economic driver in Estes Park, impacting areas beyond town boundaries, it is essential to approach such significant changes with great care.
I believe that this vital community infrastructure requires a more considered process, gathering input from both the industry and the community, and ensuring that the industry’s best practices are accurately reflected in current recommendations. An addendum is attached outlining items of pertinent information for consideration.
Thank you for your service and thoughtful consideration of what’s best for the long-term success of our community.
Addendum
The formation and history of Visit Estes Park
In 2008, representatives from the Town of Estes Park held a series of public meetings to build community support for creating a Local Marketing District. The proposed district would be funded by a 2% sales tax on local lodging businesses only. At the time, there was strong opposition from many lodging owners who worried the tax would hurt their business and create unnecessary government bureaucracy, while not helping their bottom line.
I was at these meetings and clearly remember these discussions.
Lodging businesses were assured that they would have a strong voice and representation on the new Local Marketing District Board, recognizing that:
- The LMD’s success would directly depend on the health of the lodging sector.
- Lodging operators, who collect the tax from guests, are primary stakeholders in tourism promotion.
- This structure aligned with other successful community LMDs.
Since its start, the VEP Board has maintained strong representation from the lodging community. This structure has long been recognized as a best practice in destination marketing because the organization is funded by lodging tax revenue.
Currently, the VEP Board is primarily composed of appointed directors active in local lodging and other tourism-related businesses. This model ensures that the organization’s strategies are informed by professionals with firsthand knowledge of the visitor economy and VEP stays accountable to the businesses that fund it while serving the broader goal of enhancing Estes Park’s tourism economy.
With the Estes Park LMD being funded entirely by taxes paid by overnight guests, lodging owners and operators have a vested interest in strategic marketing decisions that sustain visitor demand and community economic vitality. Their success directly fuels VEP’s work, making their participation essential to both accountability and impact.
Strong lodging participation on the VEP board ensures alignment, accountability,
and a unified vision for the sustainable future of our community. Lodging representatives are not just stakeholders; they are stewards of the visitor economy.
A healthy DMO board model includes one or two elected officials in a liaison role, along with a diverse group of tourism and tourism-adjacent leaders, including hoteliers, restaurateurs, attraction owners, chamber representatives, and financial or community partners.
This balance ensures the DMO stays connected to both the business realities of tourism and the broader community/public interest.
Key reasons this balanced structure matters:
- Specialized expertise: DMOs require knowledge in marketing, hospitality, data analysis, and destination development that elected officials may not have.
- Reduced political influence: A board dominated by elected officials risks subjecting long-term tourism strategy to short-term political cycles.
- Accountability and transparency: A mixed board encourages public-private collaboration and ensures accountability to both government and private-sector stakeholders.
- Economic consequences: A less effective DMO directly impacts jobs, tax revenue, and local business sustainability—especially during downturns or disasters.
- Long-term vision: Industry experts help keep consistent, strategic efforts focused on sustainability, competitiveness, and community benefit.
Elected officials play an essential and valued role within this model. Their involvement helps:
- Shape policy and funding mechanisms that support the DMO’s work.
- Maintain a connection to community priorities, ensuring that tourism benefits both residents and visitors.
- Serve as an official bridge between the local government and the DMO’s operational and strategic goals.
The most effective DMOs operate with a governance structure that balances public representation with private-sector expertise, and are government-supported, not government-run. This ensures tourism development stays sustainable, strategic, and beneficial for the entire community.
Deborah Gibson is the co-founder, co-owner, and general manager of the Rams Horn Village Resort. She has served on the Visit Estes Park Board for eight years and has been the chair of the VEP Board.
The supposition is incorrect. The legitimate “life blood” of Estes Park are the year ’round Citizens who pay for the entire infrastructure of the town. The reality is that Citizens are third rate stakeholders in this town. Businesses are first, Tourists are second, and Citizens are third. We pay for ALL of the fixed cost infrastructure that makes the business owners wealthy and rich.
There is absolutely no empirical evidence that VEP creates economic value for the community. RMNP and RMNP alone is what brings people here. VEP is a contrived tax district to create a multi-million dollar patronage system with a biennial six figure gold parachute for the CEO.
VEP should be shut down.
Brookes-Steele, I spent a great deal of time researching the information in my letter and addendum. The information is correct. I have been a local resident for 51 years. I have worked in the tourism industry for 51 years, starting in housekeeping and eventually starting my own business with my husband. We have only year round staff with benefits. I have worked for eight years and spent thousands of hours of volunteer time on the Board of Visit Estes Park to help this organization develop a more year round economy for those who live and work here. I supported 6e funding to lower costs for workforce housing and childcare that receives additional taxes from visitors who rent with us short term. All funding for Visit Estes Park comes from a lodging and community supported lodging tax on visitors, not local residents. Visit Estes Park has raised millions of dollars over its 15 active years. That funding has grown our economy, and now is helping to fund solutions to long growing problems like affordable housing and childcare for our working families. As my letter states, 82% of the town budget is derived from sales tax dollars from visitors to Estes Park, much of it driven by the activities of Visit Estes Park. My goal for my volunteer work with Visit Estes Park is to help harness the engine of tourism for the benefit of all who work, live and raise families here. The information in my letter, if you take the time to read it, is easily confirmed and public record. The purpose of my letter is to voice my concern that the change in the VEP Board structure could negatively impact the value of the benefit of tourism for our community. The newly proposed structure moves control of the organization from those closely involved in tourism to politically elected officials who often do not have experience in tourism and may have other political pressures. Additionally, this structure is not considered best practice for success in this industry. This is why I am urging more research, time and community outreach. Anything that could effect 82% of our town budget and the predominent source of income for local business and workers deserves great care and deliberation. Deborah Gibson
Brooke While I appreciate your comment I feel you neglect the fact that without the visitors in Estes Park there would be no town. The residents who live here do not support the businesses of the town well and visitation to Estes is what has made the town sustainable. VEP has done an amazing job of increasing the visitation into the slower months of the year. With out them we would be only a 2 month town where people come to visit in the summer. This is not sustainable for anyone. The residents would not have the people to plow their roads/ driveways, do the needed things in a community etc. Please know that without the visitors you would be in the woods by yourself and VEP has created a year round business that is so necessary.
Jenna MacGregor
Thank you for the acknowledgment. My longitudinal data and facts begin in 1966. The VEP is a simple “tax and spend” mechanism that funds the patronage system in Estes Park. VEP has paid out almost $500,000 in golden parachutes to the failed CEOs they have hired. The reality is local Citizens fund the town. Always have. VEP has near zero effect. It is RMNP that fuels the economic integrity of this town. Facts are facts, Ma’am.
I 100% agree with Deborah’s letter to the editor. Thank you for writing this and helping us be educated as to what is occuring. I feel the power should remain the large vote on the VEP board should not be with the goverment.
Jenna MacGregor