For those who don’t know us, Vail Valley Partnership, a private, non-profit corporation, is the regional economic development organization representing the Vail Valley and Eagle County, Colorado. The Partnership has served as the Vail Valley’s official destination marketing organization (DMO) for close to 50 years and more recently has served as the regional chamber of commerce and economic development agency representing the Eagle River Valley. The goal of these various efforts is to work collaboratively to enhance the economic prosperity of the region via tourism and support of the business community via chamber resources.
We are currently conducting our annual membership drive and we encourage your business to join the Partnership.
Why join? The best reason to join is due to the direct return on investment to the community and to your business.
The Partnership’s destination marketing efforts, including group sales, event recruiting and leisure sales, will result in a total economic impact of over $69,000,000 in 2012, contributing over $4,100,000 in state and local tax revenues. The continued focus on tourism efforts as a part of our economic development strategy is essential, as visitor spending in Eagle County equals $720,000,000 annually, contributing $44 million in state and local tax revenues. Direct visitor spending benefits hotels, retailers, restaurants, attractions, transportation services and other small businesses, and in addition directly supports jobs for more than 6,200 people in the Vail Valley region.
We’ve been recognized regionally for our success driving groups & meetings to the valley. The Vail Valley Partnership was named 2011’s Best of…”Top Destination Marketing Organization” by Colorado Meetings & Events magazine and was awarded the 2009/10 “Pinnacle Award” as Outstanding Destination Support Organization by Successful Meetings Magazine. We are dedicated to bringing destination guests to Eagle County through our group & leisure sales efforts and promoting our destination and our member businesses via VisitVailValley.com, VailonSale.com and via our Visit Vail Valley Official Visitors Guide and the Vail Valley Wedding Guide.
The Partnership is not just about tourism promotion. Our regional chamber of commerce efforts, One Valley, provide numerous resources to the business community. Our professional development programming, networking programs, cost savings benefits and market benefits offer value to any business doing business in Eagle County. New in 2013 is an extensive “shop local” program complete with additional marketing exposure to our member businesses.
The Partnership will continue to increase our collaborative community programming via our signature programs including the Vail Valley Merchant Alliance (designed to strengthen the relationship amongst the regional business groups and chambers), the Health & Wellness Initiative (to strengthen this pillar of our economy), the Sports & Event Coalition (increasing the recruitment of special events) and strengthening our more established programs including the Vendor Certification Program and the Non-Profit Network. These programs bring together various stakeholders throughout the valley in an effort to increase our regional cooperation and drive collaboration.
In addition to the Partnership’s destination marketing and regional chamber efforts, we are revamping our regional economic development efforts via the Economic Council of Eagle County. The Economic Council of Eagle County serves to “promote the long term economic health of Eagle County”. The Partnership continues to provide a variety of research and works closely with Eagle County government and other stakeholder groups to promote Eagle County as a place to do business. We’ll be doubling down on this effort in 2013 by creating the Economic Development Leadership Council – stay tuned to learn more about opportunities to participate in the Leadership Council.
The Partnership will continue to focus on regional economic development programs in 2013 as we take the reins on providing oversight of the Eagle Air Alliance, a public-private partnership with the goal to increase air service at the Eagle County Regional Airport.
Due to lack of space, we’ll explore our direct benefits (marketing, cost savings, networking) in a future column.
As you can see, we keep busy. As a private, non-profit economic development, chamber and destination marketing organization, Vail Valley Partnership’s funding is derived from many sources, including a robust membership program, extensive destination marketing programs and economic development programs.
We encourage you to join the 720+ businesses that are currently members of Vail Valley Partnership. We are in the midst of our annual membership drive: membership starts at just $1 per day; that’s an investment in your business and an investment in your community.
What can your business do to help? If you benefit from our tourism promotion, business services, collaborative programming and economic development efforts, it’s time to get off the sidelines and join the Partnership. Visit www.vailvalleypartnership.com to learn more. As an added incentive to join (or renew your membership) the Partnership in the month of December, we’ll draw one business at random to win a free membership to the organization.