More than 155,000 people in Colorado work in tourism-related industries, but it was Durango’s own Carrie Whitley who received the 2015 Governor’s Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution to Colorado Tourism.

Whitley has led the sales team at Durango’s premier attraction, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, for the past five years and was with the Durango Area Tourism Office for four years before that.

The honoree is also involved in tourism at the state and national level, serving on committees with the Colorado Tourism Office, American Bus Association and the National Tour Association. She is also part-time director of Tour Colorado, the only statewide organization marketing Colorado directly to domestic tour operators and packaged travel planners.

“It was a huge surprise,” she said about being given the honor at the Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference in Crested Butte last week. “They said I got a standing ovation, but I really couldn’t see anything.”

Herald Staff

If you go

In addition to her other activities, Carrie Whitley, who received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution to Colorado Tourism last week, organizes the Southwest Colorado Tourism Summit. The next summit will be held from April 6-8, 2016, in Pagosa Springs.