Program Summary
Colorado organizations and businesses can submit brochures to display at 10 official Colorado Welcome Centers. These centers welcome visitors at every major highway leading into the state and help guide tourists.
Eligible organizations can submit travel:
- literature including brochures, booklets, guidebooks, rack cards, and coupon books
- displays and content for television monitors, kiosks, and signage
The 10 welcome centers display travel literature similarly. Each welcome center has a display area for Colorado’s eight tourism regions. The welcome center manager has discretion when arranging brochures in a regional display.
Overview
Travel literature
Travel literature needs to contain information relating to at least one of these categories:
- outdoor activities/sports
- scenic areas
- historic sites
- the arts including museums
- fairs, festivals, or special events of public interest
- accommodations promoted by an association or a group, not an individual property (for example, the Colorado Dude and Guest Ranch Association)
- shopping centers, malls, or outlet stores
- multiple RV parks and campgrounds in a consolidated piece, not an individual property (for example, the Colorado Campground and Lodging Owners Association)
- city, county, state, or national parks
- public transportation information
Guides incorporating Colorado attractions along with advertising for other states will be accepted, as long as the piece focuses at least 75% on Colorado. Travel literature funded or produced, whether in part or wholly, by a Colorado government entity or political subdivision (for example, a four-state regional piece) will be accepted.
All guides that promote the entire state and are not sponsored or published by a trade association will be used as secondary, back up material.
Travel literature should meet the following criteria:
- be of professional quality, as determined by the welcome center manager
- brochures should be 3.8 inches by 8.5 inches
- magazine-style publications should be 8.5 inches by 11 inches
Space permitting, the welcome center manager has discretion to approve oversized or undersized brochures, for example, tear-off maps, newsprint stock, and coupon books.
These materials are not eligible to be displayed:
- state maps of Colorado that are not the official state map
- standalone materials promoting attractions outside of Colorado
- materials meant as relocation, real estate, or residential rental guides
- materials containing offensive language or pictures as determined by the welcome center manager
- literature in which cannabis-related advertising or editorial is 30% or more. Any cannabis-related content in a larger piece cannot:
- be in a print publication 30% or more of whose readership is reasonably expected to be under the age of 21
- assert that its products are safe because they are regulated by the state licensing authority and/ or tested by a retail cannabis testing facility
- target minors by employing cartoon characters or similar images
Travel displays
Other travel information displays require a contract or memorandum of understanding with the Colorado Tourism Office.
Topics for other travel information displays include:
- city, county, state, or national parks
- public transportation information
- parks and wildlife
- Colorado history
- destination marketing organization
- regional events outdoor activity/sports
- scenic areas
Displays need to be appropriately sized to fit the aesthetics of the individual welcome center. They need to:
- not exceed 44-inch display screens
- be spaced strategically so they do not compete with other travel information displays
The welcome center manager needs to approve displays before they are installed. The manager may provide informal feedback on the layout, concept, and content of a proposed display.
Submit your travel literature via email to Taren.Mulch@state.co.us with the subject line "Welcome Center display request". Be sure to include the following information in your email:
- Organization
- Brochure Title
- First and Last Name
- Phone Number
- Website
- Dimensions
- Display Type (1/2 Magazine, Magazine, Newspaper, Postcard, Rackcard, etc.) & quantity
- Nearest Town
- Distribution Start & End Dates
- An electronic file of the literature
- Image of front cover
- Ordering instructions
- An explanation of how the display promotes and enhances travel throughout Colorado
- Description of tech support needs
- Installation process
- Display location in Colorado Welcome Center
- Timeline of installation
- Ongoing maintenance
Once your email is received, a Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) staff member will work with you to get a digital or hard copy of your travel literature. That staff member will approve or deny your request to have your brochure added to CTO's brochure database
Selection process
If your piece is approved, it is added to the Colorado Tourism Office’s brochure database. Each welcome center has access to the brochure database.
Your brochure will automatically be considered for inclusion by all 10 welcome centers. If you only want your brochure in one center, you will need to request to be considered for the "local only" option. For example, if a Cortez restaurant doesn't have the marketing means to distribute its brochure to all 10 centers, then the Colorado Tourism Office can approve the brochure as a "local only". Then, the restaurant would only send its brochure to the Cortez Welcome Center.
Distribution process
The Colorado Tourism Office will provide shipping addresses to all of the welcome centers and recommend a quantity to ship for each location. You need to ship your literature and pay for the shipping costs. If you ship on pallets, you need to make prior arrangements with each welcome center for delivery times.
Welcome center managers will reach out if they are running low on supplies or if they are overstocked. You need to have excess literature picked up at your expense within one month of notice, or the welcome center will discard it.
Program Manager
