Durango City Council will consider a resolution on Wednesday that would begin the process of merging destination management and sustainable tourism nonprofit Visit Durango with the city of Durango.
If council approves the resolution, which appears likely based on councilors’ previous comments in support of it, the city will formally begin the merger between the city and Visit Durango, starting with the transition of two Visit Durango employees into Durango’s sustainability and community engagement divisions, said José Madrigal, city manager. The Durango Welcome Center will also be brought under the city’s management in January.
The first two Visit Durango employees to be transferred would be Weylin Ryan, Visit Durango’s sustainability and policy manager, and Kat Brail, Visit Durango’s engagement and inclusion coordinator, he said.
Additionally, the city would hire a replacement for Visit Durango Interim Executive Director Barbara Bowman, who was hired on a short-term contract to fill the position left by Rachel Brown, former Visit Durango executive director, in early June 2024, according to council's meeting agenda.
In the next step of the merger, likely in February, the city would produce an ordinance for City Council's approval that would establish a resident Tourism Advisory Commission, a Tourism Division and a “Prosperity Office” focused on tourism, economic development and affordable housing, Madrigal said.
The Prosperity Office, as described in a November letter proposing the merger from Visit Durango Board Chair Ken Stone to Madrigal, would “execute dynamic marketing campaigns, form strategic partnerships, manage public relations, and foster stronger relationships with tourism nonprofits and industry leaders.”
He added more Visit Durango employees would be transferred into the city’s new Tourism Division following the passage of the ordinance. The Tourism Advisory Commission is being modeled exactly like the city’s Durango-La Plata County Airport Commission, which advises City Council and the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners on airport operations.
The resolution formally comes before the dais for council’s consideration after an independent forensic audit revealed the need for more oversight of Visit Durango’s finances, which are funded by city and La Plata County lodgers tax revenues, and after the Visit Durango board of directors proposed the merger in the letter to Madrigal.
Madrigal and Visit Durango Board Chair Ken Stone signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the merger process Dec. 12.
Durango Business Improvement District Executive Director Tim Walsworth said the merger is good for tourism in Durango because it firmly cements the city “squarely in the camp of ‘tourism is important.’”
He acknowledged anti-tourism sentiment in Durango, noting La Plata County voters’ move to reallocate up to 70% of county lodgers tax funds away from Visit Durango and tourism marketing in the November election, but said tourism is vital to Durango businesses and the economy.
“Tourists support a lot of jobs in our town and are helping people to have salaries and pay their bills,” he said. “I know it’s not the end all be all. A lot of the jobs are service-level jobs, so they’re entry-level wages. And we know that that's not how you afford to live in Durango with any comfort. But it’s a huge part of our overall economy, especially if you look at it from a macro level.”
Visit Durango and the city are key partners to BID, he said. BID invested in the Durango Welcome Center in 2012 and helps pay rent every month.
Walsworth said the forensic audit of Visit Durango didn’t reveal any theft or embezzlement, but it did reveal the need for the organization to tighten up its finances.
“The city is already under the microscope for all those things and they do a great job of putting their financial information out there … and they pass their own audits,” he said. “This merger, in terms of Visit Durango, it’ll tighten up any of those procedures and policies that need to be tightened up.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
