ITTN’s Shane Cullen joined trade and media at a lunch in Bang in Dublin. Representatives from the Colorado Tourism Office, Visit Denver and Aer Lingus spoke to the trade and media about the new route and the multitude of reasons to add the city of Denver, the state of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region to your destination list.
Jim Odoire – Colorado Tourism Office, UK & Ireland
Jim Odoire (Managing Director, Black Diamond) opened proceedings with introductions to the partners present at the occasion. Jim Odoire and Will Hall (Travel Trade Account Manager) run the Colorado Tourism Office in the UK and Ireland.
Representing the Colorado Tourism Office were Andrea Blankenship (Director of International Tourism) and Liz Birdsall (Senior International Market Manager).
From Visit Denver both Jesse Davis (PR & Communications) and Lisa Bruning (Senior Tourism Sales Manager) attended.
Andrea Blankenship – Colorado Tourism Office
Andrea Blankenship explained in relation to the direct Dublin-Denver service, “We’ve been promising it for years and here we are so that’s very exciting. Another big piece of news that we have in Colorado recently is we also just launched the Michelin Guide“
The Michelin Guide officially made its debut in Colorado in September 2023, with five One-MICHELIN-Star establishments and four MICHELIN Green Star restaurants designated.
Brutø and The Wolf’s Tailor in the state capital of Denver were each awarded. one MICHELIN Star, plus a MICHELIN Green Star.
A historic moment for the state’s culinary scene as the prestigious MICHELIN Guide unveiled its inaugural selection for Colorado and honoured chefs and restaurant teams. Colorado received five One-MICHELIN-Star restaurants, thirty Recommended restaurants, four Green Star restaurants and nine Bib Gourmand designations. The full selection of MICHELIN awardees totals 44 restaurants. This momentous occasion celebrates the diversity, quality and exceptional talent that define the state’s vibrant culinary landscape. Check out the One-Michelin-Star restaurants in Colorado here.
Jenny Rafter – Aer Lingus
Jenny Rafter detailed the journey to connect Denver and Dublin and the enthusiasm across the board for this destination joining the multiple gateways Aer Lingus offers to North America. Aer Lingus’ new nonstop flights between Denver International Airport (DEN) and Dublin Airport (DUB) begin on 17 May 2024. The airline will operate an A330 with 23 of the seats in Business Class.
Aer Lingus will operate four days per week (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun) in the summer season onboard a 271-seat Airbus A330 aircraft. Passengers can take advantage of U.S. Preclearance at Dublin Airport. Flights are now available for sale and scheduled to depart Denver at 8:45 p.m. and arrive in Dublin at 12:30 p.m. the next day. Returning flights from Dublin will depart at 4:15 p.m., arriving in Denver at 7:00 p.m.
Jenny Rafter (Head of Global Leisure Sales, Aer Lingus) gave a shout-out to her team, Ivan Beacom & Liza Hammond and detailed the Aer Lingus Roadshow will return in February 2024 with events in Belfast, Dublin Cork and Shannon.
Jesse Davis – Visit Denver CVB
Jesse Davis (Director of Public Relations and Communications, Visit Denver CVB) suggested Aer Lingus as the star of the show and detailed how really excited everybody was about the announcement of the direct service between Dublin and Denver.
Arts & Cultural Epicentre of the Rocky Mountain Region
Denver is not only the most densely populated and largest city in the state of Colorado but not just state of Colorado but also the entire Rocky Mountain Region. It is also the culinary, arts and cultural capital. Jesse explains “We call it the arts and cultural epicentre of the Rocky Mountain Region”.
Denver has Accessibility Covered
The new flight offers increased accessibility, not just to Colorado but beyond. Jesse explained with regard to Denver, “We are one of the most well-connected airports, not even domestically but now internationally… we are roughly 6th busiest airport on the planet. So we’ve got that accessibility covered”
Reasons to Discover Denver
While improved accessibility to Denver solves an initial hurdle, the value proposition of this destination is particularly appealing given all the aspects that a traveller can combine whether city break, outdoor adventure, road trip or twin destination in the US.
The Rocky Mountains & Recreational Outdoor Fun
Firstly, it’s geography. Denver is proximate to the Rocky Mountains. Jesse compared ” going to Denver versus say, a Chicago or New York or an LA, our value proposition is that you can combine all those wonderful things that we all know that you can do in the Rocky Mountains: the skiing, the hiking, the biking etc.”.
“Denver offers just about anything in terms of adventurous nature and recreational outdoor fun… it’s world-class, some of the best on the planet.”
Epicentre of Arts & Culture
Denver has become well-renowned as being an epicentre of arts and culture. Denver Art Museum is the city’s flagship museum. It is internationally renowned from a design standpoint. Dating back to 1893 and originating as the Denver Artists’ Club, today, it is described as one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast with a staggering 70,000+ works of art across twelve collections.
It underwent a $175 million makeover which was completed in 2021. Condé Nast Traveler added it to the “Best New Museums in the World 2022 Hot List”.
Culinary Excellence
The Michelin Guide gives Denver an international stamp of approval. Jesse explained, “It’s something that we have long awaited & we’re very proud of It is I would say, we were calling it a coming of age of sorts for the Denver culinary scene.”
Rockin’ Music Scene – Red Rocks
Jesse boasted Denver’s wonderful music scene. He recounted the tale of “a little band called U2” that played in the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in the early eighties.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a naturally formed, world-famous outdoor venue just fifteen miles west of Denver. Red Rocks is recognized for its star-studded concert roster, natural acoustics and ambience, as well as its awe-inspiring hiking and biking trails.
The flagship music event is Red Rocks. Twenty years prior to the U2 performance that put them on the map in the US, Denver had this band called The Beatles come into play Red Rocks as well. In the early sixties, the tickets cost a mere five dollars!
Today, Jesse explains, Denver has “an amazingly robust music scene as well. We actually have more music venues in Denver than Nashville or Austin, Texas.”
More Beer than Any Other City in the US
Wrapping up, Jesse detailed a final highlight that might whet a thirst; “We got this crazy beer scene, we still brew more beer than any other city in the US. We’ve got the largest beer, festival in the US, Great American Beer Festival. It draws about 40-60,000 people each year and you can actually sample up to 3,000 craft beers [over] the three days”.
He added “I don’t recommend trying that!” and thanked the partners and attendees at the event.
