Marketers seek input on what makes Loveland so great

By Madeline Novey
Loveland Reporter-Herald
3/31/2011

Starting today, Loveland’s greatest stakeholders — its residents — will have the opportunity to brag about why their city is a must-visit destination.

In a series of meetings with targeted groups, city-contracted Toolbox Creative marketing firm and its partner in the project, Corona Marketing Group, will set out to learn what Loveland is doing well and what it needs to improve upon in terms of attracting tourism.

“Who are we? What do people think of Loveland, Colo.?” is the question at hand, according to city business development manager Betsey Hale.

Over the course of the next six weeks, Toolbox and Corona will gather data about the events, conferences and city offerings that already draw people to the Sweetheart City and learn what gaps need to be filled.

The stakeholder meetings, to be held today through late April, give artists, retailers, city staffers and others an opportunity “to have their voices heard ... and what their hopes and dreams are,” said Dawn Putney, CEO and president of Fort Collins-based Toolbox.

And while this is the start of a new research phase, the development process goes back years, Hale said.

In 2006, the city adopted a master plan that contained an objective to improve tourism and explore various funding strategies to do so. Enter the lodging tax, which voters approved in November 2009 and which went into effect in January 2010.

Since its inception, the tax has brought in an average of $43,000 monthly, Hale said, and has gone to fund grants requested by organizations and events aimed to attract tourists, such as marketing for Sculpture in the Park and the German shepherd dog show coming in October 2012.

Research from Toolbox’s five-part, $110,00 contract will be presented to the City Council in the fall, Hale said, and help to answer how best to spend future lodging tax dollars.

It is then, with knowledge of the impact of the tourism economy, Hale said, that Loveland will be able to say, “Let’s increase tourism by 20 percent, by 50 percent.”

At the end of the targeted sessions, Putney said Toolbox will host one additional session open to the public to act as a “catchall.”

Sessions will last approximately 90 minutes. Questions regarding session attendance should be directed to Putney at 493-5755 or at www.toolboxcreative.com.