Socially Conscious Tourism Travel

Sponsored by the Colorado & Minas Gerais Chapters of the Partners of the Americas

First meeting: November 16, 2008 – 1- 3:00 PM at the Sodbuster (prior to POA social)

Colorado committee members: Linda Allen, Jan Brummond, Jon Monson, Roger & Betty Brown

MG liaison Carolina Cordeiro

These goals were confirmed.

1) To promote interaction between Colorado & Minas Gerais

2) To promote visits to a variety of sites not usually frequented by ordinary tours

3) To recruit members for POA

4) To raise funds

The meeting began with a discussion and brief overview of Carolina’s visit to Colorado (see copy of Professional Agenda). She visited a variety of places, ranging from the natural (Pawnee Buttes, Red Rocks, and Rocky Mountain Park) to the historical (Centennial Village) to educational (University of Northern Colorado) to cultural (Greeley Philharmonic concert) to the more decidedly touristy (Estes Park). Before the visit ends, she will have a day of skiing and a trip to the Colorado Cattle Company working dude ranch near New Raymer. These places, along with an extended meeting with Peggy Ford, local historian, have provided an overview of what might be included on a tour agenda in northern Colorado. She is reading James Michener’s Centennial, which, though a work of fiction, provides a literal overview of the area.

The committee brainstormed possible themes for visitors, including movies filmed in Colorado, photography, music, trains (Greeley museum, Pikes Peak cog rail, Silverton-Durango rail trip, and/or Golden museum), cowboys & Indians (with an emphasis on Four Corners and Greeley’s 4^th of July events), agricultural (water, irrigation, feed-lots, & chickens). Ideas included a Plains & Plateau tour name (Pawnee Buttes), beer tours (Coors, Budweiser, New Belgium) or wine tours in the Grand Junction area. Carolina indicated that she especially liked the little shops of Estes Park. Vail and Aspen would give similar summer-time mountain experiences.

It was concluded that a 14-day tour should include two days of travel on either end. Visitors would fly into Denver International Airport; their travel arrangements would allow for pre or post tour visits to coastal US cities, such as Miami or Washington, DC. All flight arrangements to the USA would be made through Brazilian companies. Probably tours to Colorado would take place in July and tours to Minas Gerais in November. Tours could not be organized before 2010 due to required lead-time for reservations (at least 6-9 months). The tour could begin in Greeley with a welcoming reception hosted by the POA Colorado chapter. This day of acclimation would lesson the effects of Colorado’s higher altitude. Carolina was quite tired her first day, then rediscovered her energy.

Jan, in preparation for the meeting, did considerable research using the AAA website and information gleaned from Peggy Ford. She calculated a trip from Greeley to DIA consisting of 10 days and 1,000 miles – stops would include Estes Park, Vail, Grand Junction, Durango, and Colorado Springs. Side trip ideas include wine tour or river rafting during the Grand Junction stopover. Time on a tour bus would be in excess of twenty hours. (Movies could be shown during travel time.) Videotapes of the tour experiences and places visited could be made and sold for additional revenue; these could include Roger’s excellent photographs. Betty has been in touch with Village Tours (home office in Wichita, KS) who would like to enter a bid for the business. Betty will contact Elderhostel to see if arrangements could be made through their network. Jan will contact Colorado bus companies to determine what local company might want to bid the business. Jan will refine her original calculations to include costs for a paid guide, who would know and relate information related to the theme. (We might need to hire a translator.) Her calculations came to approximately $2,000 for a 10-day tour for 40 people. One detail example, the bus would be charged $200 to enter Rocky Mountain National Park. Jeff, from Village Tours, gave a “ball-park” figure of $125/person/day for double-occupancy modern hotel (with breakfast), one meal a day, bus (with driver & guide) and admission to local attractions. Their company usually holds to a minimum of 30 people for a tour, but he might be willing to reduce this to 20 with slightly increased costs. If we provide a guide, the daily rates would only be reduced by $3-4. The committee is aware that June/July are high season for Colorado so hotel rooms could be more expensive.

The committee recognizes a charge to develop a theme and general route and then contract with companies who hold not only expertise with such tours, but also liability insurance. It was agreed that flexibility in addition to more brainstorming and planning are necessary. The name of our committee and tour was suggested by Roger as a way of recognizing this endeavor promises the opportunity to become aware of what both of our states have to offer and do it in en enriching and responsible manner.

Jon & Roger, at the same moment, suggested a “people to people” theme could promote tours to both residents and guests of both states, giving people an opportunity to intermingle for a more meaningful experience. Burke’s rhetorical pentad model was mentioned by Lin as a way of recognizing the importance of a tour focus using “who” (people to people- seeking a common narrative) or “why” (stories of historical importance). These ideas could be used for tour development as well as marketing. For example, Jon was intrigued with the idea of the slaves on the Royal Road in Brazil and the decisions reached in order to transport gems and gold to the coast from the interior state of Minas Gerais. The possibility of accreditation is another idea worth exploration, adding to the attraction and value of the tour. Jan will contact Heather Lelchook, a Colorado partner who heads the AIMS Community College downtown campus. Beautiful Colorado scenery will form the backdrop for all of these ideas.

Marketing ideas were discussed at length. A market survey would be helpful, but also could be costly. To attract a wider audience, promotional material could be made available on the international POA website (especially to the other Brazilian related partners and chapters) as well as on tour company websites. If the POA website is not specifically used, promotional materials could be sent to targeted chapters. The target audience is probably older people without children since they have more discretionary money and time. Promotion, recruitment, and participation could determine the financial split of the fund-raising element of the tours. It could be a 50/50 split or based on who buys the tour package. Another idea is to share the profit side of the plan with chapter who send members to Colorado or to Minas Gerais because of POA promotions. Example if Oregon sends two members to interact with Brazilians their chapter would receive two credits of profit sharing.

Carolina said she needs to go back to the Minas Gerais committee and local travel agents to explore the organization of the tour to Brazil. She distributed material on state destinations as well as about the Royal Road for committee members to evaluate. She pointed out that dollar value and other economic considerations will impact the acceptance and success of these tours.

The committee adjourned without setting a date for the next meeting. This will be determined by the reaction of our partners in Brazil as well as performing the above-mentioned research. Betty will collect thoughts and ideas from the meeting into minutes for approval by each member.