Marketing

BID markets and promotes the district to all audiences. These efforts include branding, event marketing, banners, brochures, newsletters, social media, and digital media.

Website
BID's website sees over 160,000 page views a year and enjoys high rankings in search results. BID's website includes information about events, parking, things to do, the history of Durango, attractions, arts and culture, and more. The site also includes a robust business directory with listings for BID businesses. Listings are free, there is no charge to be included. The business directory offers easy navigation and search tools to find each business. Each business listing includes photos, website links, business descriptions, and more.

Printed BID Business Directory
Each May BID produces printed versions of its business directory and a map. This business directory and map are divided by block and color-coded to make it easy to navigate. There are two large signs in Downtown that have this information – one at the D&SNGRR depot and the other at Buckley Park. In the North Main District, the North Main District business directory and map are at all covered Trolley stops.

There is also a printed brochure. It contains a pull-out map with color coding for each block that matches a printed list of businesses by block. It also includes other key information such as Trolley stops, grocery stores, parking lots, parks, and more. The map is distributed to visitors through BID's Downtown Ambassadors, at the Durango Welcome Center, and through area hotels and campgrounds.

Click here to enter your business in BID's online business directory.

 

 

Promotions

BID organizes several promotions each year to incentivize local shopping.

BID offers two Rewards Programs to incentivize local shopping. The Spring Rewards program occurs in April and the Holiday Rewards Program is in December. Shoppers are encouraged to spend money locally at eligible BID businesses and to save their receipts. Once they have reached a spending level, they can submit their receipts through an online form. Shoppers are then rewarded with a gift card to a BID business. Rewards programs began in December 2020 and have generated to $1.2 million in local spending!

BID is creating a new promotion in fall 2024 called NoMAD ~North Main Autumn Days~. This promotion will be for North Main District businesses. Shoppers who spend money in October at eligible North Main District businesses in the following business sectors - retail, food and beverage, lodging, personal services and attractions - will be eligible to enter their receipts to earn entries in a drawing for a local gift card. A total of 20 gift cards will be awarded. More details can be found at NorthMainDistrict.org/NoMAD.

BID is excited to announce the launch of its newest initiative to support local businesses: the Heart of Durango Dollars gift card program, which is in partnership with industry leader Yiftee. Through BID’s partnership with Yiftee, we have developed the Heart of Durango Dollars gift card to drive direct revenue to BID businesses. Heart of Durango Dollars will serve as a local gift card (powered by Mastercard), which can be redeemed only at BID businesses that have opted in to accept the gift card. Heart of Durango Dollars will be used during the NoMAD promotion and the Holiday Rewards program. In the near future, these cards will be available for purchase by the public, allowing locals and visitors alike to spend at BID businesses. Click here for more information about the Heart of Durango Dollars gift card.

 

 

Communications

E-News
BID provides weekly communication through its E-newsletter. The newsletter publishes every Wednesday morning and contains accurate and timely information on activities that impact BID businesses.

Click here to see the most recent E-Newsletters.

Click here to sign up for the E-newsletter.

BID also sends direct communications to contacts associated with every business listed in the business directory. These communications will include information on BID's advocacy efforts, shoplifting reports, street closures for events or construction projects, and more.

Shoplifting Reports
BID businesses are encouraged to submit shoplifting reports and any other incidents that fellow business owners should know about. BID will review the information and then forward it to nearly 600 contacts at other BID businesses. This has worked to identify people accused of bad behavior and allows businesses to be on the lookout for folks causing problems.

Click here to file a report.

Monthly Meetings
BID hosts a monthly meeting for Downtown and North Main District business owners, and anyone interested in activities in the district. BID's Coffee and Conversation meeting is held every month on the second Friday from 8:30 to 9:30 am at TBK Bank's Downtown branch, in the Community Room. Note that these meetings are not held in July and December.

Click here for meeting agendas, which are posted a few days before each meeting.

Newsletters
Each quarter BID will provide a newsletter for business owners. This includes important information that directly relates to programs or services that BID provides for businesses.

Click here for BID's Fall 2024 Newsletter.
Click here for BID's Summer 2024 Newsletter.

 

 

Events

BID hosts four events each year and also promotes hundreds of other community events that have a positive impact on BID businesses.

San Juan Brewfest
The San Juan Brewfest takes place in Buckley Park the weekend prior to Labor Day weekend. This event is a benefit for United Way of Southwest Colorado. The event is a beer tasting festival with live music. It typically includes 40 breweries from around the nation, music, food, and vendors. This event had 1,700 people in attendance in 2024.

Click here to learn more about San Juan Brewfest.

Downtown Balloon Glow
Downtown Balloon Glow takes place each fall in mid-October in the 500 block of Main Avenue. Half a dozen tethered hot air balloons will glow. Visitors can get up close to the colorful balloons and meet the pilots. There are also "candlesticks" at this event which are the balloon basket and burners, without the balloon. Pilots let kids get in the basket and pull the burner. This two-day event draws around 1500 people annually, and has turned what used to be a slow weekend into a busy one.

Click here to learn more about Downtown Balloon Glow.

Children’s Halloween
Children's Halloween takes place in Downtown Durango on the day of Halloween. This free community event includes approximately 75-100 merchants who hand out candy and non-candy items to children 10 and under. In 2022, BID added a carnival to the event in the TBK Bank parking lot. The carnival offers fun games and activities for children. BID has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club over the last few years to run the carnival. 2,000 to 3,000 people come to Children's Halloween every year.

Click here to learn more about Children's Halloween.

Singing with Santa
Singing with Santa takes place the day after Thanksgiving. This event is the kickoff for the holiday season in Downtown Durango. Singing with Santa takes place at Buckley Park, and includes free hot chocolate and cookies, Christmas carols, lighting of the community Christmas tree, and Santa! In 2023, BID added an incentive program to kick off the local shopping season and a reindeer scavenger hunt for kids, both designed to get people into BID businesses. Singing with Santa draws approximately 1,000 people each year.

Click here to learn more about Singing with Santa.

 

 

Event Promotion

BID promotes events through an online events calendar powered by our friends at WhatsHappeningDurango.com. Their calendar is embedded on BID's main website, DowntownDurango.org, and on BID's mobile-friendly microsite HeartOfDurango.com. The calendar can also be accessed at BID’s computer kiosk in the Durango Welcome Center.

BID provides free PR for many local events. This includes promotion on BID's social media channels, event listings on the weekly e-news, mention at the monthly BCC meeting, and more. In addition, some events are listed on the scrolling screens in the front window of the Durango Welcome Center. Event promoters can reserve the window at the Durango Welcome Center to promote their upcoming event, with priority given to events that positively impact BID businesses. The window fills up quickly and is reserved a year in advance. To be eligible for these promotions, events must be in Durango and have a listing on the event calendar (WhatshappeningDurango.com). Event promoters can contact Tanya Clegg at tanyac@downtowndurango.org for more information.

 

 

Visitor Information

Downtown Ambassadors
BID's Downtown Ambassadors serve as a welcoming experience for visitors (and locals) in Downtown Durango. They provide accurate information and resources and have direct connections to Downtown and North Main District businesses, events and happenings. The Ambassadors circulate the 10 blocks of Downtown on foot seven days a week during June, July, August, September and October. They are also stationed at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on weekends.

Click here to find out more about BID's Downtown Ambassadors.

Durango Welcome Center
BID is a partner in the Durango Welcome Center. BID helped build the Welcome Center in Downtown Durango in 2012 to provide a much-needed facility for public bathrooms and information for visitors. The Welcome Center brings on average 2,500 people through the doors each month.

Durango 101 Concierge Training
In the Spring of 2024 BID introduced a new program called Durango 101 Concierge Training. This is free training for frontline workers who are in customer-facing positions at retail shops, hotel front desks and restaurant serves, especially those who are newer to the area. The goal of the training is to familiarize frontline workers with the amenities, attractions, activities, and businesses that Durango has to offers, that they make good referrals when asked questions by their customers.

The training includes an information session provided by the BID staff that includes important details about Downtown and the North Main District, including how to make a referral to a food and beverage business, answers to commonly asked questions, maps to give directions, and information on other things such as parking.

The second part of the training is tasting sessions at food and beverage businesses where attendees will meet the owners, learn what is unique about each business, and then taste small portions of three items on their menu.

This was a pilot program for 2024. BID received excellent feedback from attendees of the program this year, so BID plans on making this another regular program in the future.

 

 

Beautification

BID coordinates several efforts to keep Downtown and the North Main District looking great all year round.

Downtown Clean Day
BID partners with the Durango Chamber of Commerce and the City of Durango on the annual Downtown Clean Day. Held the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, 100 volunteers help clean up Downtown just in time for summer.

Click here for more information about Clean Day.

Flower Barrels
BID partners with the City of Durango on the Downtown Flower Barrel program every summer. BID recruits 100 businesses to host flower barrels, which the City plants and delivers before Memorial Day weekend. To get your business on the list to host a flower barrel, please email Tanya Tanyac@downtowndurango.org

 

 

Advocacy

One of BID's best services is to be an advocate for its business. BID wants to be the first call you make when you have a question or concern about anything in Downtown or in the North Main District.

BID monitors dozens of public meetings every month for items of interest to BID businesses. This information is included in the monthly board of directors meeting report, which you can view a few days before each meeting. It is also provided at BID's monthly Coffee & Conversation meeting, held on the second Friday of every month (except July and December) from 8:30 to 9:30 am at TBK Bank's Downtown branch in the Community Room.

BID cannot weigh in on candidates running for office, but it can provide its position on local issues and ballot items. BID has good relationships with City Councilors and County Commissioners, plus our state and federal elected officials. Past advocacy efforts include how to appropriately deal with panhandling, how much funding should be diverted from County lodgers tax collections for uses other than marketing, Downtown's Next Step, and a pedestrian crosswalk in the North Main District.

If you have an advocacy item you want BID to consider, please email Tim at TimW@downtowndurango.org.