In July, 2022, the Town of Nederland was selected by the Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) to take part in the Reimagine Destinations Program, which is a tourism promotion initiative offered by the $2.4 million dollar CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant awarded to the CTO in January, 2021, by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The purpose of the Reimagine Destinations Program is to increase collaboration between state and local representatives for tourism to create actionable initiatives that will help manage and advance tourism in the region. Nederland was chosen for the program due to the town’s lack of a tourism budget, or a board or commission responsible for tourism management.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher, Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek, Parks Department Director and Traffic Control Supervisor Nicki Dunn, Nederland Community Center Director Dawn Baumhover, Event Coordinator Stephanie Andelman, Wild Bear Nature Center Executive Director Jill Dreves, TEENS, Inc. Executive Director Stephen LeFaiver, and former Fire Chief Mike Scott were all part of a core tourism team, to help assess the town’s needs regarding tourism, and to create short, medium, and long-term actionable items to advance tourism management.

CTO Contractors Amy Cassidy and Derek Shimmel acted as the facilitators for the partnership between CTO and the Town of Nederland, with Cassidy providing 100 hours of free consulting that resulted in the creation of tourism management guidelines, which includes an approval process for actionable decisions.

The results from the Reimagine Destination Program, compiled by CTO after an initial assessment, a “Nederland Resident Sentiment Survey,”’ a stakeholders survey of Nederland business owners, several workshops with the core tourism team, and the 100 hours of free consulting, indicated that though there was agreement among the community that tourism is important to Nederland’s economy, there was more of a desire to promote the management of the existing tourism, as opposed to increasing tourism.

Overall, it was determined that the Town’s areas of focus should be “encouraging responsible and respectful use in Town and on public lands; championing the value of community-based tourism; and defining Nederland’s identity.”

The next steps in the Reimagine Destinations Program involves entering into the Destination Blueprint Program, which helps the Town to form medium- to long-term initiatives for its tourism structure.

CTO is also to provide Nederland with $20,000 for direct marketing support to fund a creative production shoot with the goal to “strengthen the visual assets used to market and manage Nederland as a tourism destination.”

A branding and marketing campaign was also suggested by CTO, to form a creative visual identity for Nederland as well as marketing materials that would protect and uphold Nederland’s defined values by educating visitors in important stewardship topics, from fire prevention to backcountry safety.

The Town of Nederland opted to use $20,000 from the Tourism Management Grant, awarded to the Town in April, 2023, to contract with a consulting firm to develop the branding and marketing campaign.

On September 5, 2023, the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a contract with Godot Communications, Inc. (GCI), who proposed a fixed bid of $25,000 for 80 hours of dedicated community engagement, with the goal of reaching 225 Nederland residents for feedback, 80 hours for design of the campaign, 40 hours to devise a marketing plan, and 40 hours dedicated to education and outreach.

GCI has been conducting community engagement sessions in various Nederland restaurants and establishments from Kathmandu to Very Nice Brewing Company, as well as reporting updates to all of Nederland’s government boards and commissions, and attending special local events, like the Nederland Community Center-hosted art show Art at the Center.

During the hosted work sessions with the public, GCI offers participants different activities aimed at defining Nederland’s identity beyond that which tourists have already established for the town and the reputation that has been formed over several decades of being a tourist destination.

GCI has until April, 2024 to develop the branding and marketing campaign. However, they expect to have the preliminary foundation of the campaign, from color swatches to font choices, solidified by the end of this year.

Due to the advancement of the branding and marketing strategy and of Destination Blueprint, the Town scheduled two tourism management and education workshops for those interested in Nederland’s tourism initiatives to learn more about the progress being made and to contribute to the evolving discussion.

The first workshop, named the “Evening Networking Event” was hosted at the Nederland Community Library from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, October 30. Town Administrator Miranda Fisher, event organizers, business owners, and members of the BOT, Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB), and the Sustainability Advisory Board, as well as Andrew Grossman, Hilary Lewkowitz, and Beth Wright from CTO were present for the event.

Grossman and Lewkowitz spoke with the crowd about how their “destination development team” will be building on the preliminary work on tourism management completed in the Reimagine Destinations Program, while working in conjunction with the work currently being conducted by GCI.

As attendees were networking they were also supplied with markers and asked to write their answers for three different questions.

To the question of “What places have you visited that you think do tourism management well?” Estes Park was mentioned the most times, with one attendee specifying “NOT Estes Park.” Salida and Carbondale were mentioned several times, as was Telluride. For places out of state, Jackson, Wyoming; Tampa, Florida; and Mystic, Connecticut were just some of the answers.

To the question of “What are one to two tourism management projects you would like to see in the next two years?” there were not many repeat answers. Traffic management, parking, wayfinding, improved tourist education, maintenance and protection of the town’s “green space and wildlife corridors,” and a boutique hotel with shops were just some of the answers.

Other answers included a formal recognition of native land and history, having all Nederland retailers and restaurants adhere to the same hours, and improved infrastructure.

And to the question of “What aspects of tourism management are most important to you?” responses included parking, environmental conservation, partnership and collaboration, locals’ sanity and quality of life, preservation of cultural heritage, responsible recreation, community-based tourism, workforce development, and climate change adaptation.

These answers served as the launching point for the second workshop, the “Community Action Planning Workshop,” held on October 31 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Nederland Community Center.

The goal of the workshop was to continue from the groundwork provided by CTO from the Reimagine Destinations Program and to further develop and implement the tourism management guidelines, as well as form the “tourism advisory subcommittee” that will act as an authority in the approval process for actionable tourism initiatives.

Wright, after introducing herself as the CTO representative who will be providing the 100 hours of free consulting for the Destination Blueprint program, led the room through the four-hour workshop.

Baumhover, Dunn, and Fisher were present, along with Streets Manager Joshua Davis and Sustainability Coordinator Leah Haney. Mayor Billy Giblin and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Mahowald attended, as did Kate Masingale, Steve Rowntree and Ron Mitchell of the NDDA, and President of the Peak to Peak Chamber of Commerce Natalie Duplessy. In addition to members of CTO, Nederland business owners, event coordinators, residents, and other tourism stakeholders, Beckett Taylor and Iti Loorents-Taylor of GCI were also in attendance.

The Destination Blueprint program intends to create medium-to-long term tourism initiatives, as well as the process and criteria to dictate over such initiatives, which includes the creation of the tourism advisory subcommittee (TAS), to be a subcommittee of PROSAB.

The current proposed tourism management structure begins with community volunteers and the Visitors Center, leading up to Public Engagement Manager Cacek, who then consults with marketing experts and the TAS before reporting to the Town Administrator, who then presents an agenda information memorandum to the BOT for discussion and final approval.

In addition to the areas of focus specified by the Reimagine Destinations Program of “encouraging responsible and respectful use in Town and on public lands; championing the value of community-based tourism; and defining Nederland’s identity,” the Destination Blueprint Program intends to also focus on “promoting local businesses and experiences” and “developing and enhancing visitor experience.”

Wright then instructed attendees to form groups based on the five areas of focus, or priorities, and for those groups to discuss newly proposed actions for each priority, and to also develop their own ideas for potential actions.

For the priority of “championing the value of community-based tourism,” suggestions included reevaluating the structure of the NDDA in terms of increasing their ability to assist businesses, researching the prospect of Nederland prohibiting franchises, and developing a website dedicated to exploring Nederland’s recreation and downtown corridor.

For the priority of “defining Nederland’s identity,” the group assessed the CTO-proposed “Do Nederland Right” campaign, which is a state-wide branding structure developed from the successful Do Colorado Right campaign, and determined that the community’s issue with the campaign was on the invasive tone of the slogan.

Bolstering Nederland’s music scene and instituting a stewardship or local ambassador program, providing tourists and locals with knowledgeable trail guides, were some of the suggestions for new actions.

For the priority of “promoting local businesses and experiences,” suggestions included creating a collaboration between the NDDA, the Peak-to-Peak Chamber of Commerce, and Public Engagement Manager Cacek and establishing better communication and opportunity for collaboration among businesses across the entire region.

For the priority of “developing and enhancing visitor experience,” the group discussed initiatives that would enhance the visitor experience as well as improve the quality of life for residents, including the prospect of fixing sidewalks and enhancing Town infrastructure, and strengthening the ambassadorial environment of Nederland’s local restaurants by providing professional customer service training town-wide.

For the priority of “encouraging responsible and respectful use in Town and on public lands,” suggestions included bolstering public transportation projects and to offer incentives for using public transportation, to incentivize owners of Short Term Rentals (STR) to include a list of responsibilities expected of their renters, and to institute more volunteer opportunities, like a neighborhood weeding and BBQ event, called a “weed and feed.”

Wright concluded the workshop by outlining the next steps in the Destination Blueprint Program, starting with forming the TAS, which will be a subcommittee consisting of no more than seven volunteers that will meet quarterly and when needed. Other steps include another stakeholder survey to be conducted in the Spring of 2024, after GCI has completed their branding and creative identity campaign. CTO will also provide another 100 hours of consulting, to be performed by Wright.

The Town of Nederland and the BOT will be using the drafting of a new Comprehensive Plan, and the corresponding sub-area plan focusing on the Central Business District, to explore alternative revenue streams to fund Cacek to work as the Public Engagement Manager full-time and to continue to fund tourism management programs and projects.

Currently there is no dedicated funding for tourism management. Other municipalities use lodging taxes to fund tourism management. However, Nederland’s lodging tax on STRs is earmarked for health and human services and law enforcement.

GCI has until April 2024 to deliver on their contract with the Town for the branding campaign, though Taylor expects the majority of the campaign to be completed by the end of the year, allowing the rest of their contract for community feedback and revising the campaign.

CTO expects work on the Destination Blueprint Program to continue through 2024. Their own branding strategy guideline, the “Do Nederland Right” campaign, includes a fully funded creative production shoot, valued at $20,000; the Town and the BOT have yet to hear more from CTO in regards to the shoot and when it is planned to start filming.