Some of Denver’s top tourism businesses will be honored on Wednesday at the Seawell Grand Ballroom in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts when the city’s second largest industry hosts the Denver & Colorado Tourism Industry Hall of Fame dinner.
Eight “Tourism Star” awards will be presented to organizations, attractions, events and individuals that had a significant impact on Denver’s tourism industry during 2014. Winning Tourism Stars are a quartet of Denver cultural attractions (the Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver); three major sporting events (the 2014 World Lacrosse Championships, the BMW Championship and the Denver Broncos’ playoff run) and RTD and the team behind the restoration of Denver Union Station.
“There are a lot of players who helped contribute to the success of 2014 as the best year in the history of Denver’s tourism industry,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver. “From the opening of Union Station and the transformation of that part of downtown to four outstanding one-of-a-kind cultural events to major world class sporting events, Denver was in the spotlight in 2014, and these tourism stars helped Denver set new records for average hotel occupancies and rates.”
The 16th Annual Tourism gala will also induct four people into the Denver & Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame: hotelier and philanthropist Navin Dimond, the CEO of Larimer Associates Jeff Hermanson and tournament and executive director of the Colorado Crossroads Volleyball Tournament Kay Rogness. A special posthumous award will be presented in honor of Bill Daniels, cable pioneer, businessman and founder of the Daniels Fund.
The Tourism Hall of Fame serves as the highest award for Denver’s travel industry – which registered its best year ever in 2013 with 14 million overnight visitors, generating more than $4 billion in spending. The industry supports 50,000 jobs in the metro area.
The gala is a fund-raising event for the Visit Denver Foundation, which has given out more than $655,000 in scholarships to 251 Colorado students pursuing higher education in the fields of tourism and hospitality.
For ticket information, please contact Lindsey Riddle at lriddle@visitdenver.com or call 303-571-9405.
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