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Colorado Springs tourism officials optimistic about summer season ahead

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Colorado Springs tourism officials optimistic about summer season ahead


Colorado Springs tourism industry leaders are optimistic the Pikes Peak region will enjoy robust visitor spending during the summer tourism season that begins with this weekend’s Memorial Day holiday, despite a slow start for some attractions this spring.

Stable gas prices, a surprisingly robust national economy, surging passenger traffic at the Colorado Springs Airport and a few new and expanded tourist attractions are expected to fuel another strong tourism season even as some economists warn of a potential slowdown in consumer spending. While most industry leaders expect a small increase in visitor numbers, some hope for even more as marketing efforts gain traction.

Doug Price, CEO of Visit Colorado Springs, the Pikes Peak region’s primary tourism marketing agency, expects a 3% increase in visitor numbers from last year, likely enough to push collections from the city’s tax on hotel rooms and rental cars past last year’s record $10 million. The tax, a key indicator of tourism spending, set records in each of the previous three years, though last year’s increase was just 2%.

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“People are back traveling again,” Price said. “I think it will be an exciting summer. The business forecast is good from what I have heard from the (region’s) hotels and attractions. For us, it is really all about events and I believe we will see a sustained increase from mid-June into September from the events that are scheduled this summer. I am very hopeful.”

Price’s forecast matches a similar nationwide outlook published in January by the U.S. Travel Association, which calls for a 3.2% increase in the number of tourists this year over 2023. Although domestic leisure travel by auto makes up the bulk of tourist trips nationwide, business, international and air travel are expected to grow faster, according to the trade group’s prediction. Nationwide tourist spending, adjusted for inflation, is expected to grow by 5.2%.

A Bank of America survey last month of more than 2,000 people found 72% of respondents plan to travel this summer, similar to last year, though they said they’ll try to save money by taking shorter trips and less expensive vacations, while also not traveling as far because of inflation concerns. Nearly two-thirds of the travelers plan domestic vacations, which will benefit U.S. destinations as consumers seek experiences, especially major events.

Locally, special events that range from sports competitions to museum openings have been a key contributor in recent years to attracting visitors and fueling their spending, and the same is expected this summer, Price said. The World Jump Rope Championship and National Weightlifting Championships, held last year at Colorado College’s Ed Robson Arena, were major contributors to attracting visitors, he said.


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Events this year include the June 1 reopening of the Space Foundation’s Discovery Center; major regional softball, soccer and lacrosse tournaments expected to attract 30,000 participants and spectators in July; the Rocky Mountain State Games from July 19-21; the Downtown Summer Fest on July 27 that celebrates the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris; the Aug. 9 opening of the 8,000-seat Sunset Amphitheater outdoor music venue on the city’s north side; and the Aug. 17-18 Pikes Peak Regional Airshow that features the Navy’s Blue Angels flying team.

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The Discovery Center, a space-focused museum inside the Space Foundation’s Colorado Springs headquarters, will reopen after a $3 million, six-month renovation and expansion that is expected to more than triple annual visitor numbers to 100,000.

The center will include a new 3D printing lab and a “Drone Zone” that will allow visitors to get a sense of flying on a different planet, six other new exhibits and upgrades to its Mars Robotics Laboratory and its Science on a Sphere theater.


Building boom: Pace of hotel construction hits nearly 30-year high in Colorado Springs

July’s Downtown Summer Fest at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum will feature a 5K run and walk, a kickoff for the Summer Olympics in Paris with sports and other demonstrations, live music and exhibits and a big-screen broadcast of Olympic and Paralympic competitions.

A similar event at the museum in 2022, which was tied to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, attracted 5,000 people and 10,000 people are expected at this year’s event, said Davis Tutt, director of sports tourism and Olympic engagement for the Colorado Springs Sports Corp.

To promote Olympic-related visits, the museum, Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Visit Colorado Springs and other partners are spending $250,000 on a two-month advertising campaign to attract summer visitors from Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and other cities within a day’s drive of Colorado Springs. Visit Colorado Springs spends about $1 million annually to promote summer tourism, Price said.

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“If you can’t go to Paris, what better place to visit than Olympic City USA, where you can feel the excitement and energy of the games? Don’t just watch the games, experience them here,” said Tommy Schield, who heads marketing, communications and programs for the museum.

Visit Colorado Springs and other partners also are spending another $250,000 on an advertising campaign tied to a nonstop flight to Baltimore that Southwest Airlines will launch June 4.

Part of the campaign will promote visits to Colorado Springs with ads in the Baltimore market through July, while another part of the campaign promotes the new Baltimore route locally through year’s end and is financed with funds from the city’s tax on hotel rooms and rental cars.

The $90 million Sunset Amphitheater is under construction southeast of Interstate 25 and North Gate Boulevard; it will host 22 shows between Aug. 9 and Oct. 17 featuring OneRepublic, the Beach Boys, Barenaked Ladies, the Steve Miller Band, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among other performers.

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Price expects the venue — targeted to host up to 45 shows a year in 2025 and beyond — to attract audiences from across Colorado and give people “another reason to visit Colorado Springs.”

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J.W. Roth, CEO of Colorado Springs-based Notes Live, the amphitheater’s developer, said 80% of tickets for the first 18 of this year’s 22 planned shows have been sold. He estimated the venue will generate an annual economic impact of $200 million from concert attendees who spend at nearby hotels, restaurants and other businesses. About 40% of this year’s concertgoers will travel to Colorado Springs from outside El Paso County, he said.

Notes Live hasn’t yet begun selling hotel packages with tickets to out-of-town buyers, but Roth said he has been negotiating “stay-and-play” packages with several nearby hotels that would be marketed in future concert seasons.

The Pikes Peak Regional Airshow, held every other year at the military terminal at the Colorado Springs Airport, will feature the Blue Angels, along with vintage and current military aircraft.

The event drew a record crowd when last held in 2022 and is expected to draw 30,000 this year, said Tutt, of the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. The show benefits the National Museum of World War II Aviation at the city’s airport, as well as museums at Fort Carson and Peterson Space Force Base.


Colorado Springs tourism soars from sports events and Olympic ties, officials say

Price also is encouraged by increased travel at the Colorado Springs and Denver airports. The number of departing and arriving passengers at the Colorado Springs Airport in the first three months of the year spiked nearly 20% from a year ago to 543,410. Passenger numbers for Denver International Airport for the same period are up 7.5% to 18.5 million.

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Visitor numbers at local attractions in the first quarter were relatively flat after a major snowstorm in March and windy weather in April and May that hampered outdoor attractions, said P.K. McPherson, executive director of the Pikes Peak Attractions Association, a trade group for nearly 30 area tourist attractions and businesses.

But bookings for the summer are strong and point to increased visitor numbers for the rest of the year, McPherson said.

She’s optimistic about summer tourism because the organization’s YouTube channel has attracted more than 2 million followers after one of its videos in August went viral, getting nearly 1.3 million views. The video, “How My Parents Go to School,” features cycling, horseback riding, zip line rides, stand-up paddle boarding and climbing on a via ferrata — a climbing route with safeguards such as steel steps, ladders, railings and cables to prevent falls.

“I expect we might end up being up a little bit for the summer, but not a lot,” McPherson said. “Last year, visitors were booking three or four months out, but are only booking two or three weeks in advance now. It seems people are trying to hang onto their cash (longer) and not booking so early because of the economy and inflation. Despite the shorter booking window, we have stronger bookings at this point of the year than we did last year.”

McPherson’s forecast is consistent with short-term rental bookings monitored by the Colorado Tourism Office that indicate softness in June travel but slight increases in July and August, compared with a year earlier.

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Tatiana Bailey, executive director of Data-Driven Economic Strategies, a Colorado Springs economic and workforce research nonprofit, is concerned consumers might cut back on travel spending because of inflation and record debt levels.

She expects visitor numbers and spending in the Colorado Springs area this year will end up flat or down somewhat compared with last year, when pent-up consumer demand for travel boosted both indicators.

“We are starting to see a slowdown in U.S. (consumer) spending and that has been reinforced by a decline in consumer sentiment. Small business groups like the National Federation of Independent Business are also seeing a slowdown in consumption,” Bailey said. “I would expect tourism this year to be either flat with last year or a small decline. It won’t hit the wall, but it won’t be a banner year, either.”

Josh Friedlander, director of research for the U.S. Travel Association, said consumers “have general financial concerns, but when we asked people if they intend to travel (this year), the numbers remain quite high.”


U.S. Air Force Academy Visitor Center not expected to open until late 2025

Tim Haas, CEO of the Colorado Retail Collection, which is composed of eight tourist-focused shops in Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and Garden of the Gods Park, said sales at the company’s shops were up about 10% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, fueling optimism for the rest of the tourism season.

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He worries about consumer debt levels, which he believes “are not sustainable in the long term,” but noted Colorado Springs remains “an affordable destination.”

Andy Neinas, CEO and owner of Echo Canyon River Expeditions in Cañon City, said he’s concerned about gas prices and inflation, yet believes most Americans still will take vacations and many people are “spending on experiences rather than material things.”



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Colorado wants to force insurance companies to help homeowners understand, mitigate wildfire risk

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Colorado wants to force insurance companies to help homeowners understand, mitigate wildfire risk



Insurance companies operating in Colorado would be required to inform homeowners of ways they could reduce the risk of wildfire to their properties and subsequently pay less in premiums under a bill introduced this week in the state legislature. 

House Bill 1182 would also require insurers to give customers an opportunity to appeal assessments of a property’s wildfire risk, which can lead to increased costs and nonrenewals. 

The measure is the legislature’s latest effort to tackle the growing problem of rising homeowners insurance costs and nonrenewals in wildfire-prone areas of Colorado as climate change increases the frequency and severity of wildland fires across the state. The cost of property insurance in Colorado has become one of the fastest-growing household expenses, with premiums increasing an average of 57.9% from 2018 to 2023, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

Nevertheless, in eight of the past 11 years, property insurers have lost money in Colorado, said Ethan Aumann, senior director of environmental issues and resiliency at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

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In 2023, the legislature passed a bill creating a quasi-governmental insurer of last resort for homeowners who can’t get coverage on the private market. Lawmakers hope House Bill 1182 will serve as a way to prevent homeowners from needing that last-resort coverage.

Hail is a big part of the rising cost of homeowners insurance in Colorado. Wildfire is another.

Unlike hail, however, Colorado homeowners can take several steps to protect their properties against wildland blazes.

The bill’s lead sponsors in the House are Democratic Reps. Kyle Brown of Louisville and Brianna Titone of Arvada. In the Senate, the main sponsors are Sens. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, and Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa. 

Titone said she knows of examples of homeowners losing their coverage because insurance companies have made incorrect assumptions about a property’s risk of being destroyed in a wildfire. One person’s insurer dropped them after determining based on satellite images that their property was in the woods, even though it really wasn’t, Titone said.

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“We want to make sure that these kinds of situations are rectified,” Titone said.

Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada, makes a point before Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs a bill on April 25, 2023, during a ceremony outside the Colorado Capitol in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

House Bill 1182 would require home insurers in Colorado that use a wildfire risk model or scoring method to share the details of those calculations with the state and how they affect underwriting decisions and rates.

The models and scoring methods would be required to take into account a homeowner’s work to mitigate risk on their property, such as removing vegetation to create defensible space for firefighters and using fire-resistant building materials, as well as community- and state-level mitigation activities. 

Finally, insurers would have to take into account the state-level purchases of equipment to combat wildfires. Colorado has purchased two wildfire-fighting helicopters in recent years — Colorado’s only state-owned firefighting aircraft.

Insurers would have to tell homeowners within 60 days of a renewal or 90 days of a nonrenewal how they assessed a property’s wildfire risk. Insurance companies would have 30 days to respond to an appeal, and any denials of an appeal would have to be forwarded to the Colorado insurance commissioner. 

The bill, if it passes the legislature and is signed into law, would go into effect in 2026. The changes are a key part of Gov. Jared Polis’ legislative agenda this year.

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“I hear from Coloradans across our state — I’m sure you have too — who either can’t find coverage or who are seeing very large increases and getting priced out of the market for the coverage that they have,” Polis told lawmakers during his State of the State address last month. “And the rising cost of insurance of course doesn’t just affect homeowners. It’s also passed along to renters, too.”

Insurance companies have concerns about how soon the bill would go into effect and their ability to adhere to its changes, citing technological limitations.

“We do believe in mitigation,” said Carole Walker, who leads the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, an insurance industry trade group. “We have common ground on (wanting) mitigation to matter and we want to incentivize homeowners to do personal- and community-level mitigation.”

The hang-up is around protecting the proprietary technology of the third-party companies that provide modeling to insurers and verifying and measuring the meaningfulness of mitigation work of homeowners and communities.

“It has to be something that both the modeling companies can comply with and the insurance companies can, (too),” she said. “The stakes are really high.”

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A March 27,2012 file aerial photo shows a home completely burned during the Lower North Fork Wildfire near Denver. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Joe Amon, file )

Titone said she is open to working with the companies to give them more time to prepare for the legislation before it would go into effect.

“Maybe there’s some things that you need to push off a little bit later, but we shouldn’t kick the whole thing down the road just because there’s a couple technological things that we need to address,” Titone said.

The measure was assigned to the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. Its first hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet.

Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

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3 Big Questions for Kansas Basketball Before Colorado Matchup

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3 Big Questions for Kansas Basketball Before Colorado Matchup


Kansas basketball is back at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Kansas State.

The Jayhawks (16-7, 7-5 Big 12) need a strong showing against a struggling Colorado team that has yet to win a conference game this season. While KU is a heavy favorite, Bill Self’s squad still has some lingering questions that could impact their postseason trajectory.

From lineup adjustments to key player performances, here are three major storylines to watch before the Jayhawks take on the Buffaloes.

Freshman big man Flory Bidunga has been a key piece for Kansas this season, but recently he has come off the bench in limited minutes. With his athleticism, rebounding, and rim protection, Bidunga gives the Jayhawks an edge inside.

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KU has struggled with consistency in the paint, especially in defensive rotations, and getting him back into the starting five could help stabilize things. Whether Bill Self makes that move against Colorado remains to be seen, but a confident Bidunga will be crucial down the stretch in Big 12 play.

Tuesday’s game isn’t just another conference matchup—it’s a homecoming for two Colorado coaches with deep ties to Kansas basketball.

Tad Boyle, a former Jayhawk, has been leading the Buffaloes for over a decade, while his assistant, Danny Manning, is one of the greatest players in KU history.

Manning helped guide the Jayhawks to a national title in 1988 and later served as a Kansas assistant under Self. While nostalgia will be in the air, the duo faces a massive challenge—finding a way to end Colorado’s 12-game losing streak against a Kansas team eager to bounce back at home.

Zeke Mayo has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but his offensive production has dipped in recent games.

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Kansas needs him to be a consistent scoring threat, especially from deep, to complement their inside attack. Against a Colorado team that struggles defensively, Mayo has an opportunity to get back on track.

If he can find his rhythm early, it could open up the floor for the Jayhawks and take pressure off Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson. A strong performance from Mayo would be a great sign for Kansas as it looks to build momentum heading into the final stretch of Big 12 play.

Kansas is heavily favored, but with key lineup decisions, a historic homecoming for opposing coaches, and the need to get key players rolling, there’s plenty to keep an eye on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.



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Snow set to blanket Colorado, below 0 wind chills expected in Denver and other parts of Front Range

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Snow set to blanket Colorado, below 0 wind chills expected in Denver and other parts of Front Range


Major changes with cold and snow arriving quickly in Denver and eastern Colorado

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Major changes with cold and snow arriving quickly in Denver and eastern Colorado

03:30

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A cold and snowy stretch of weather is headed to Colorado. Accumulating snow is expected in Denver and across the Eastern Plains Tuesday night into Wednesday. 

Arctic blast arrives Monday night, snow by Tuesday 

An arctic blast will push through the state Monday bringing colder temperatures and light snow overnight. Weak upslope is expected into the early hours of Tuesday bringing the chance for light snow accumulations for much of the Front Range. Very little impact to the Tuesday morning commute is expected, except possibly in some parts of the northwestern part of the Denver metro area.

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Downright frigid air lags behind Monday’s cold front. People stepping outside on Tuesday morning should be ready for wind chills below 0. Actual temperatures will rise to the 20s, but this is just the start of cold days and nights.

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Light snow will spread across much of the state during the afternoon and evening, continuing into Wednesday.

Light, fluffy snow piles up Wednesday morning 

Light snow will continue through 11 a.m. on Wednesday. I’d plan for a slick commute and major delays on Colorado’s interstates, including I-25 and I-70.  

As of now it is looking like widespread 2-5 inches on the Eastern Plains, 4-6 inches in the foothills and portions of Interstate 25 as well as Vail Pass and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel.

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Highs will top out in the teens on Wednesday with wind chills as low as 15 degrees below 0. Frostbite can occur on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes, so if you’ll be outside at all bundle up.

Coldest night of the Arctic blast, dangerously cold Thursday morning

Lows will drop below 0 degrees late Wednesday and out the door early Thursday morning. Wind chills will bottom out as low a 20 degrees below 0.

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Layering of clothing will be necessary on Thursday. By the afternoon, temperatures will get above the freezing mark, followed by 48 degrees on Friday — Valentine’s Day. 

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Another round of heavy mountain snow is expected Friday and Saturday. Snow showers will spill across the Eastern Plains on Saturday resulting in another round of accumulating snow. 



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