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Two Entities, One Goal

Just over two years ago, the Town of Telluride asked a group of business-minded individuals to form The Business Task Force.  Concerns over issues facing the business community were mounting.  The Task Force spent endless hours surveying, studying and evaluating the issues.  A very thorough report was presented to Council.  In it, the Task Force identified that Marketing Telluride Inc. dba Telluride Tourism Board was successfully increasing visitations to Telluride, but concluded that Telluride needed an organization entirely devoted to, and focused on, the concerns and needs of the business community. Thus was the genesis of the Telluride Business Alliance.  In the scant three months since its inception, the potential of The Telluride Business Alliance has become very apparent.  However, equally apparent has been the confusion that has surfaced over the differing roles and responsibilities of Marketing Telluride Inc. (MTI) and The Telluride Business Alliance (The Alliance).  In complementary arenas, the two organizations are working together to enhance the visitor experience and increase the sustainability of local business.     

MTI’s mission is to market and maintain the quality of the Telluride region experience for the benefit of both the visitor and the economic sustainability of the community.

Key roles of MTI are the following:

Marketing & Data Mining

• Create and execute top level marketing campaigns in all markets, (i.e. national, regional, international) to maintain and increase tourism levels.
• Market and maintain the destination’s call to action website www.visitTelluride.com
• Work closely with the ski resort to cross promote seasons and create efficiencies.
• Maintain a current library of high definition b-roll and photos for marketing and PR purposes.
• Collect year round research on visitor demographics, marketing sources, satisfaction results, lodging data etc. to analyze trends and changes enabling better forecasting.

Visitor Information

• To be the call to action and point of contact for visitor inquiries, sales, and general information.
• Actively convert day visitors into overnight guests.
• Manage all visitor centers and regional guest service/visitor information programs.
• Promote businesses to the visitor community to foster economic development in the region.
• Assist with the publication and distribution of the Telluride Visitors Guide.
• Collect and maintain visitor and visitor inquiry databases to keep in touch with our guests.

Sales & Events

• Act as a central point of contact for all tourism sales related efforts and operate a central reservations department.
• Operate a group sales department whose primary goal is to attract group events and send out monthly group reports to businesses.
• Attend trade shows and events to sell the destination to diverse market segments.
• Work closely with all existing festivals and events to ensure success and attract new events.
• Provide business community and visitors with weekly updates on the calendar of events.
• Maintain and utilize Telluride Ticket to assist venues with sales and promotions.

The Alliance’s mission is to provide a common vehicle through which all segments of the business community can work together for the common good of the region.  

Key roles of The Alliance are the following:

External Communication

• Provide a voice on behalf of businesses to Government & Community Organizations.
• Act as liaison between all of our region’s organizations, gathering applicable information and disseminating it to the business community.
• Provide advocacy on behalf of businesses.

Program Development

• Provide HR support & development via employee retention programs, job fairs, etc.
• Coordinate educational seminars on tax planning, business best practices etc.
• Assist in environmental awareness by working with the New Community Coalition.
• Facilitate group insurance programs, e.g. health, workers comp etc.

Business Communication

• Create informational email blasts and newsletters.
• Provide real time informational updates on The Alliance website.
• Organize networking functions, speaker breakfasts and other educational events.
• Act as the primary point of contact for the business community.

As defined above, the two organizations clearly have different roles.  However, for our region to succeed MTI and The Alliance must work cohesively.  Some of the collaborative efforts the two organizations plan to undertake are:

• The creation of more business enhancing events.
• Improving communication and coordination between visitor groups and local businesses .
• Enhancing the downtown experience to improve the visitor experience resulting in more frequent and increased visitor returns.
• Improve lodging occupancy reporting to businesses enabling better service to the visitor.

We hope this outline helps distinguish the organizations and highlights the ways they plan to work together for the benefit of the entire community.  The Business Alliance has schedule its first annual meeting on June 4th at 9:30am at the Wilkinson Library moderated by Dirk dePagter, President of MTI,  joined by panelist Stu Fraser, Mayor of Telluride; Bob Delves, Mayor of Mountain Village; Jeff Proteau, VP of Operations, Telluride Ski & Golf Company.   To find out more information about MTI visit www.visittelluride.com and for the The Business Alliance visit www.TellurideBusinessAlliance.com

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hayes                                                                                                                   Dirk dePagter

Interim President – Telluride Business Alliance                                               President – Marketing Telluride Inc.

Presidents Letter - April 4 2008

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Telluride Business Alliance    PO Box 1277, Telluride CO 81435

Phone – 970-728-2910 www.TellurideBusinessAlliance.com