Visit Estes Park hires new CEO

ESTES PARK — Visit Estes Park has signed an agreement with its next CEO, Kara Franker.

Franker, who is moving from Florida to Estes Park, will begin work in May if her move goes as planned. Visit Estes Park will pay her $145,000 to start, with bonuses yet to be negotiated, according to Deb Gibson, chairwoman of the Visit Estes Park board.

Franker is senior vice president of marketing and communication for Visit Lauderdale, a much larger tourism organization. The budget and staff of her department, however, is about the same as what she will have for the whole organization in Estes Park, Gibson said.

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“Her love for the tourism industry, her desire to come back to Colorado, her energy level” are all attributes that Gibson cited as attractive to the Visit Estes board. “She’ll bring a whole new element as we enter the recovery phase,” Gibson said in reference to impediments caused by wildfires and the pandemic.

Franker, as noted in her online resume, ran her own tourism marketing company prior to joining Visit Lauderdale. She has a law degree from the University of Denver and a journalism degree from the University of Kansas. 

In addition to her tourism position, she has written extensively about tourism and travel. She serves as editor-in-chief of two Modern Luxury publications.

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