At the Estes Valley Voice’s Beyond the Busy Season: Business Resilience summit Nov. 18, consumer confidence was said to have the biggest impact on visitation. I also heard that building relationships in person and online is the most powerful tool to build long-term loyalty.
The Brownfield’s store is one of the best at that. Brownfield’s sage Jamie Palmesano visited the town board earlier in 2025 to talk about how to keep our summers strong. In a recent local article, she called on the town board to consider how our actions and policies impact summer tourism.
I very much appreciate her insights. I agreed then, and I agree now with her comments. Hospitality, building customer relationships, and the overall visitor experience are our strongest assets as far as visitation is concerned, along with natural beauty and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Palmesano said, “My challenge to our leaders is, how are we weighing the benefits and the consequences [of], and what is the return on investment for, every single decision that’s being made?” Yes, we must weigh those benefits and consequences on any decision that could impact tourism.
The Estes Park Economic Dashboard doesn’t identify causal relationships from specific policies. Does paid parking really drive away a measurably large number of potential tourists? Do new traffic patterns degrade the Estes experience and cause long-time multi-year visitors to choose a different destination this summer? Is the lodging tax itself the single factor that reduces the number of nights visitors stay in Estes? Are there other Estes-centric factors that push people away or draw them in?
And are the policies and practices of Estes as influential as the economic, generational, cultural, political, social, and other factors in our state, nation, and globe? The Estes factors must be properly weighted in the context of the totality of factors.
If we put every factor on a scale of “excites more visitation” or “turns away visitation,” which of all these factors would be weighted the most? And second and third-most?
Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers are all human beings. All generations share certain themes: starting families and navigating educational costs, career options, and healthcare. Then there are new and changing social, economic, and technological factors, including AI, remote workplaces, the mobile communication world, and social media.
The forces of 2025 American society are as different from the 1980s as the 1980s were from the 1950s, and the 1950s were from the 1920s.
Palmesano asked another excellent question, “How is the [economic dashboard] data being reviewed, critiqued, discussed?” I do expect the Chamber of Commerce and Visit Estes Park to consider those indicators and evolve their approaches as appropriate, in addition to other data that they collect.
The town board hasn’t spent time as a group reviewing the dashboard in a general sense, or in regard to tourist traffic. It’s difficult to use that broad data as a referendum on any specific policy. Still, looking at the full set of dashboard data would be a worthy exercise; I will suggest it as a Study Session topic. The Town Trustees owe it to Estes to study and use that data, as well as other relevant information, when considering policies, ordinances, and other actions.
The need to keep Estes Estes should impact any related policy decision
Palmesano analyzed VEP and town data, with a bit of AI help, and gave me a great “focus list” of potential directions/actions. I am studying that, learning, and adjusting my thoughts. Her assignments are highly worthy!
As long as I’ve lived here, I’ve heard that we need to build the shoulder seasons. (In my time at the hospital, we needed that to give our medical and support staff year-round work.) We are now more of a year-round destination (much thanks to VEP), and most residents and businesses in the community survey say they like that.
Our identity since the 1870s has been a destination to visit and explore. Most of our sales tax revenue is generated from tourism. Estes is still a beautiful and desirable place to be. So, keep the summer strong. (I will continue to urge the VEP Board and the new VEP CEO to keep that top of mind.) Keep Estes beautiful. (I will continue to work with the town board to always consider that.) And then – everything else! Retain necessary workers, prevent fires, keep the population safe, maintain our roads, utilities, and buildings, improve transportation, and expand workforce housing. There is much to do and balance.
We must be Estes-centric to preserve the beauty and character of our town. We must be Estes-centric in our expression of welcoming our visitors with the unique, magical Estes experience. And we must weigh the totality of factors (internal and external) that impact tourism.
I thank all who provide input to help the trustees shape policy. Your input does affect the arc of the town’s future. Bring it on.