Durango residents beware: If you look lost, confused or in need of assistance while strolling downtown’s Main Avenue, you might get approached by a jovial soul wearing a red-collared shirt and matching visor emblazoned with “Downtown Ambassador.”
For visitors, these smiling faces can provide a wealth of information about Durango and the surrounding area. The so-called ambassadors can recommend a good restaurant, help someone find a public restroom, provide insights about the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, recommend a scenic drive or offer historical factoids.
“Honestly, a lot of questions revolve around the train,” said Stephanie Simons, a downtown ambassador.
The downtown ambassadors program was started in 2016 to help counter the negative impression some people were receiving from an influx in panhandlers, said Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District. The BID instead wanted to offer tourists a friendly face with helpful information about where to eat or what to do while in town.
“If someone did potentially have a bad interaction with someone else in downtown, we would counter that with a positive interaction with our ambassadors,” he said.
Since then, the BID has found the ambassador program to be a wild success among visitors and a useful way to take the pulse on tourism in town.
The ambassadors average about 12 interactions per hour.
“I’m so glad we started it,” Walsworth said. “It’s really become a signature program for stuff that the BID offers for anyone visiting downtown.”
Walsworth said the ambassadors are seasonal, part-time employees who work from about Memorial Day to the end of September.
Simons said most of her career has been connected to the tourism industry. The Durango native worked at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet store and at Tamarron Resort when it was a hotel.
Later, she moved to Denver where she worked at a luxury destination club. The pandemic forced her to move back to Durango, and when she found out about the BID’s downtown ambassador program, she knew it was a perfect fit.
She enjoys helping visitors make the most of their trip by figuring out what they want to do and directing them accordingly.
“They think it’s a really good program,” Simons said. “They really love the idea that they can ask someone a question and that that person is a local.”
Simons approaches dozens of strangers every day as an ambassador. She tries to identify which ones need help. She said there are generally some telltale signs when someone is not familiar with the area.
“It’s like a body language thing,” she said. “Some people are very closed off and it seems like that’s not someone that wants to talk right now. Or some people are looking around and they have questions in their eyes or they’re staring at their phone and you can hear them asking questions.”
Not everyone realizes Simons is there to say hello and offer a helping hand. Some people see the red shirt and assume she is gathering signatures for political causes.
She tries to read the situation and figure out the best approach before approaching passersby on Main Avenue. She said it can be awkward because people can feel her staring at them.
“The families are generally looking for something, and you can help them with something specific,” she said.
On occasion, Simons will cross paths with a local resident. The person might become offended when she asks if he or she needs help, but most locals are polite.
Sometimes, visitors will have pithy a response when she asks how she can help. In one instance, a passerby responded, “Liquor, guns and cigars,” which she laughed at. A man might complain that he can’t find his wife; some people half-jokingly say they can’t remember where they parked.
Tourists often want recommendations about where to eat lunch or dinner and sometimes where to get outdoor gear. Simons tries to read the group when giving advice. She often refers larger families to breweries, because breweries tend to have larger menus, which helps to ensure everyone will find something they want to eat.
And the questions flow both ways: Simons frequently asks visitors about their favorite Durango activities. Many cite the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a rafting trip on the Animas River or a trip to Mesa Verde National Park.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
