The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO), announced on Wednesday the recipients of its Tourism Management Grant, and of the 15 organizations that received funding, Winter Park & Fraser Chamber of Commerce was one.

The grants are provided for tourism-related projects that develop, enhance or manage visitor experience in Colorado. As tourism has continued to explode across the state,

“an extraordinary number of qualified applicants applied,” said CTO Director Tim Wolfe. “This points to significant demand for tourism management and stewardship support. The innovations and strategies proposed demonstrate how Colorado’s tourism industry continues to evolve in the wake of the pandemic. We’re committed to partnering with industry leaders and communities to advance the management of tourism that protect and preserve what makes Colorado special.”

Among the 15 candidates, the Poudre Heritage Alliance won $20,000 to launch the Colorado Heritage Journeys Scavenger Hunt Series, which will disperse visitation by encouraging travelers to interactively explore the Sangre de Cristo, Cache la Poudre River and South Park National Heritage Areas. And Visit Estes Park (another $20,000 grantee), to install an interactive visitor information kiosk at the Estes Park Visitor Center that encourages travelers to purchase timed-entry permits at Rocky Mountain National Park, use public transportation and travel to less-visited areas.

Winter Park & Fraser Chamber of Commerce was awarded $20,000 to develop a sustainable community plan for the region that guides tourism strategy and planning in a way that balances visitation with quality of life for residents and visitor experience.

“We’ll be looking at how to have goals and visions that other working groups can touch,” said chamber Executive Director Catherine Ross. “A lot will be around our tourism industry and how it affects residents’ housing and sustainability—how to have a tourism industry while protecting the natural resources around us. It’ll be looking at our tourist industry as a whole and figuring out how to move forward.”

The maximum grant amount is $20,000 and the required match is 4:1. For every $1 the qualifying grantee allocates to the proposed project, the Colorado Tourism Office will provide $4 in matching funds. Grant recipients were selected by an evaluation committee that applied a competitive process based on alignment with the eligible use of funds, the ability to advance the selection criteria, demonstrated need, organizational capacity and availability of matching funds.

To learn more about funding and grants available through OEDIT, please visit oedit.colorado.gov/programs-and-funding.