Fort Collins visitors come for rafting, beer

FORT COLLINS – According to the 2010 Visitor Profile Study just released
by the Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau, the number of
rafters who dined in Fort Collins and stayed overnight increased
dramatically from 2006, when the study was last conducted. Another
increase occurred in the participation in brewery tours as the primary
reason for visiting.

The CVB attributes the increases to promotions appealing to rafters
after the last study, and notice Fort Collins breweries have received in
the travel press.

“The partnerships with the breweries and the rafting companies have been
extremely valuable in growing and extending visitation,´ said Jim
Clark, President and CEO of the CVB.

Other findings from the study, which was conducted at popular visitor
spots around town last summer by John Loomis and James McTernan of the
Colorado State University Department of Agricultural and Resource
Economics:

• 43.5 percent of visitors interviewed were from Colorado, but not the Fort Collins area.
• California and Texas provided the highest number of visitations to Fort Collins, each at 8.9 percent of the sample.
• The Internet was by far the most common resource used for the planning of the trip.
• The top three primary reasons for choosing Fort Collins were being on
  vacation, visiting family and friends, and outdoor recreation. These
  were the same top three as in 2006 but in a different order.

The visitor profile study helps Fort Collins better market itself to
potential tourists during the city’s prime summer tourism season, Clark
added.

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