As a society, we’re often thinking about what’s next and infatuated by (fill in the blank) that is somewhere in the future.
For sports fans, the blank might be to win a playoff game or that Opening Day is just around the corner. From a business perspective, the blank might be how great the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are going to be or wonder, is my business ready for the Taste of Vail next month?
Whatever the case may be, we all tend to have this forward thinking mindset. It seems as if we are always living for tomorrow. It is a completely natural thing to do and we have been conditioned to do it from an early age. As soon as a human being has the presence of mind to think for him or herself the number one goal in life becomes the future.
What’s the connection between the forward thinking mentality of looking ahead into the future and our business community?
The most important things that we can do is to ensure a positive future for our tourism industry and two, continue to develop air service to Eagle County Regional Airport for our community.
We continue to develop air service to the Eagle County Regional Airport via the EGE Air Alliance and our community partners. For those who don’t know, the EGE Air Alliance is a 501c6 not-for-profit entity dedicated to creating a vibrant flight service program at the Eagle County Regional Airport. The EGE Air Alliance is a public-private partnership with more than 65 supporting participants including local municipalities and private business stakeholders throughout Eagle County. Alliance members – both public and private – recognize the critical importance of the Eagle County Regional Airport to their towns, businesses and the entire community.
These are businesses that recognize the importance of non-stop flights to our economy and the benefits to our community. The Alliance is committed to increasing air service from new markets in order to improve the experience of guests visiting the area, as well as to grow jobs and improve the economic vitality of Eagle County.
Most businesses would agree that improving the guest experience, increasing visitors and growing jobs is a common goal. If you share this goal and recognize the importance of air service to our economy you really should be a supporter of the EGE Air Alliance.
Back to the connection of looking ahead to the future, specifically what’s happening in the future with our air service and what are we doing to positively influence the number of incoming flights to the Eagle County Regional Airport?
The EGE Air Alliance announced last month the continuation of summer service operated by United Airlines from Houston (IAH) to Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) three days a week for summer 2014. The nonstop flights will operate from Houston to EGE Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from June 26 through August 17, with southbound service from EGE to Houston on Friday, Sunday and Monday June 27 through August 18.
Michael Brown of the Alliance summed it up nicely when he said “the EGE Air Alliance is proud that summer service from Houston to the Vail Valley will continue in 2014. The inaugural service in 2013 was successful and we hope to build on that success in 2014. Our hope is that, by announcing the service now, it will allow our winter visitors to include these nonstop flights in their travel planning for a return trip to the Vail Valley this summer.”
The northbound flight will depart Houston at approximately 5:45 p.m. with an arrival at EGE at 7:25 p.m. The flight to Houston will depart EGE at approximately 8:10 a.m. with an arrival at 11:39 a.m. The flight times make it ideal for connecting to other major cities such as New York, Newark, Boston, Washington D.C, Austin, San Antonio, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale and international destinations such as Mexico City and Guadalajara.
Please spread the word to your guests, customers and via your websites and other communication tools to help spread the word about the summer air service.
As you look into the future and dream about how to improve your business, consider being a part of the solution to increase our summer visitation by increasing air service. Businesses are encouraged to support the EGE Air Alliance to help increase service to the Eagle County Regional Airport.
The future is within our grasp and we’re in full control. We need the support of all businesses. Contact Michael Brown, EGE board chair, at mikebrown@alpinebank.com or (970) 748-5702 or Chris Romer, Vail Valley Partnership president & CEO, at cromer@visitvailvalley.com or (970) 477-4016 or visit www.egeairalliance.com for more information.
Chris Romer is president & CEO of the Vail Valley Partnership.