Breck Heritage Alliance records boost in visitors to local sites

Summit County, CO Colorado

BRECKENRIDGE - Heading into the home stretch of its first year, the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance is meeting its goal of increasing heritage tourism in the town, with visitors to local historical sites up 75 percent versus last year.

Thanks to the successful debut of Kingdom Days and moves like extending hours for local historical sites and tours, the Heritage Alliance has gotten off to a good start, said executive director Pat Christopherson.

And Christopherson thinks heritage tourism, which is by no means new to Breckenridge, will only continue to grow in its importance to the Town with proper marketing. "We gave the programs and the tours and the sites more publicity than they've ever had before," he said. "If we keep growing the way we did from this year to the last, the next couple years could be really big."

2009 in particular could be a huge year for the Heritage Alliance and the town in general as Breckenridge celebrates its 150th anniversary - a mark few other Colorado towns are close to reaching.

"This is an opportunity for us to really jump on the radar of heritage tourism," Christopherson said of the upcoming anniversary. "We're really hoping to make Breckenridge the epicenter of heritage tourism in Colorado, just because it's got so much here."

The 150th anniversary is certainly at the epicenter of Breckenridge's marketing plans for the next two years. The "Breck 150" steering committee has asked the Town to budget more than $2 million for local improvements and marketing for the anniversary.

Heritage tourism stands to get a significant boost from the Breck 150 dollars, with the steering committee asking for $840,000 to maintain and renovate Breckenridge's historical attractions. In fact, the creation of the Heritage Alliance and Breck 150 are intertwined - both stemming from a 2006 study advising Town officials how to capitalize on the fast-growing heritage tourism industry.

The hefty price tag asked for by the anniversary steering committee has been met with reluctance by some Town Council members, but Christopherson maintains the capital costs for historic sites are an important investment for the 150th celebration. "We need to have the party dress on, so to speak, for these sites," he said.

In addition to using the 150th anniversary to introduce Breckenridge to more heritage tourists, the Heritage Alliance plans to spread its regular marketing efforts to a wider base. In the first year, "A significant amount of our marketing has been just letting local folks know we're here," Christopherson said. Next year the group will focus beyond Colorado, hoping to attract visitors from surrounding states.

But reaching out to Breckenridge locals remains an important part of the Heritage Alliance's vision. Christopherson said Breckenridge residents account for seven to nine percent of visitors to town historical sites this year, and the Heritage Alliance plans to increase its partnership with Summit schools to encourage field trips and hands-on education in local history.

Peter Grosshuesch, Breckenridge community development director, said the Heritage Alliance's mission to unify marketing of local historical assets is a big job, but the group has responded to the challenge. "They have a lot to try and get accomplished, and they're a pretty high-energy group," he said. "They're taking the whole heritage tourism thing to another level."

Christopherson said the performance of Breckenridge heritage tourism depends greatly on how general local tourism fares, but he foresees the town becoming more and more of a target destination for historically minded visitors.

"The historical and heritage assets in this town present such an opportunity for heritage tourists that this group really needed to be here to bring that all together," he said.



Andy Bruner can be contacted at (970) 668-4620, or at abruner@summitdaily.com.