---
title: "Visit Fort Collins staff-page changes | Destination Pulse"
description: "Fort Collins's nonprofit tourism bureau (501(c)(6)), on $3.47M in 2024 from a 70% share of the city lodging tax and a contract to run the Tourism Improvement District's plan. Marketing is led in-house by a VP of Marketing and a digital marketing manager, with MMGY Global paid $371,128 for marketing on the 2024 990."
canonical: https://destinationpulse.mandalivia.com/org/visit-fort-collins/
---

> This is the Markdown twin of https://destinationpulse.mandalivia.com/org/visit-fort-collins/ — an index of all Markdown pages is at https://destinationpulse.mandalivia.com/llms.txt.

# Visit Fort Collins

## Sales brief (beta)

As of Oct 12, 2026.

## Why now?

- **September 2026:** published its 2026-2027 Partnership & Marketing Package.[^s10]
- **July 2026:** CNN Travel ranked Fort Collins No. 5 on its list of America's Best Towns to Visit in 2026.[^s22] The same month, Visit Fort Collins built a landing page for PBR Bulls & Beats at Colorado State University (10-12 July).[^s21]
- **January 2026:** City Council held its 2026 retreat at the Visit Fort Collins welcome center.[^s38]
- **December 2025:** Council approved the Tourism Improvement District's 2026 plan and budget. Lead Generation rises from $53,868 to $99,000, Destination Development falls from $195,816 to $109,360, and a new $64,920 Opportunity Fund appears. The Local Champions Program and Software Subscriptions lines have no 2026 amount.[^s36]
- **2026 plan:** the TID lists "AI-driven bookings and decision making" as a trend and plans search and SEO work "along with AI training".[^s36]
- The marketing team named in the 2023 agency RFP was Katy Schneider, Laura Smith and Abby Davidson. Laura Smith is not on the current staff page.[^s5][^s2]

## Is there money?

- Revenue was $3,470,245 in 2024, against $2,403,281 in 2023 and $1,826,808 in 2022. Both 2023 and 2024 ended with a deficit: -$47,894 and -$66,040.[^s14][^s15][^s16]
- In 2024, $1,792,125 came from city lodging tax and $1,229,600 from the Tourism Improvement District. In 2023 the TID paid $607,736.[^s14][^s15]
- Advertising and promotion was $940,777 in 2024, against $206,088 in 2023 (plus a separate $171,356 promotions line), $282,759 in 2022 and $250,628 in 2021.[^s14][^s15][^s45]
- Revenue tripled from $1,087,033 in 2021. The TID paid nothing in 2021, $367,231 in 2022, $607,736 in 2023 and $1,229,600 in 2024; city lodging tax went from $717,071 to $1,792,125 over the same years. Each accounts for about half the growth.[^s45][^s14][^s15]
- The TID's 2026 budget is $1,791,784 against $1,847,494 of expected fee revenue. Its largest lines are Advertising $371,000, Personnel $295,953 and Visitor Services $188,481.[^s36]
- Each spring Council passes on lodging tax collected above projection: $167,517 (2022 collections), $392,125 (2023), $296,957 (2024) and $19,952 (2025).[^s33][^s32][^s31][^s30]
- The city lodging tax is 3%, split 70% to Visit Fort Collins and 30% to Fort Fund (2021). The TID adds a 3% assessment on lodging.[^s7][^s36]
- Media budget outside the TID plan: not published.

## Who decides?

**Runs marketing**
- Katy Schneider, CDME, Vice President of Marketing[^s2]
- Austin Hannon, Digital Marketing Manager[^s2]
- Abby Davidson, M.T.M., Partnership Manager; contact for partnerships and visitors guide ads[^s2][^s10]

**Leads the bureau**
- Cynthia Eichler, CDME, President and CEO[^s2]
- Erik Barstow, Vice President of Sales[^s2]
- Board president Mike Hooker, with 10 voting members (2024 990)[^s14]
- The TID board is six hoteliers, including Carl Pratt (The Elizabeth) and Casey Kittel (The Hilton Fort Collins), who also sit on the bureau's board.[^s36][^s14]

Titles from the staff page, the partner package and the 990. Contact details are on [their staff page](https://www.visitftcollins.com/staff-directory/).

## Who do they work with?

- **Marketing:** MMGY Global, $371,128 for marketing on the 2024 990.[^s14] MMGY also led the 2023 place brand ("In Fort Collins, open spaces inspire open minds").[^s5][^s28] The 2023 RFP for an agency of record anticipated up to $250,000; no award was announced.[^s5] The site's Tag Manager carries Adform tags labelled "MMGY_Fort Collins Leisure FY25" (retargeting, engagements, inquiries and the Check Rates page), which points to MMGY as the current leisure media agency.[^s44]
- **Website:** Simpleview, $244,838 on the 2024 990 and $101,825 in 2023. The site was relaunched in 2024 and also uses Simpleview BookDirect, AudioEye and Snapsea.[^s14][^s15][^s35][^s27]
- **Research:** RRC Associates, for the 2023/24 economic impact and visitor study. STR for hotel data.[^s35][^s5]
- **Sales data:** Cvent Destinations Intelligence (2026 plan); PlayEasy for sports leads (2025 plan).[^s36][^s37]
- **Visitors guide:** 2026 guide hosted on Issuu under RM Publishing. Website ads are sold through Destination Travel Network.[^s29][^s10]
- **Construction:** Elder Construction ($422,274), Rockfan Entertainment ($141,198) and Beck Total Office Interiors ($154,148) on the 2024 990.[^s14]
- **Ad tracking** (through Google Tag Manager, GTM-TMF7XF9): Sojern (three pixels), The Trade Desk, Microsoft Clarity, Qualaroo, and Meta, LinkedIn and Bing tags, plus two unidentified trackers (arttrk.com, with lead and purchase actions on /hotels/, and pixel.zprk.io).[^s44]
- **Visitor measurement vendors** (Arrivalist, Zartico, Datafy, Placer.ai): not in the site's tags or the TID plans.[^s44][^s36][^s37]

## When do they buy?

- The fiscal year ends 31 December.[^s14]
- The TID board holds a public hearing in August and must file its plan and budget by 30 September. Council approves it in November or December. In 2025 the hearing was 7 August, board adoption 26 August and Council approval 16 December; in 2024 the board adopted on 27 August.[^s36][^s37]
- Council appropriates the lodging tax true-up each March or April.[^s30][^s31][^s32][^s33]
- Visit Fort Collins presented to Council work sessions in May 2023 and May 2025.[^s34][^s35]
- The last agency RFP was issued 28 April 2023, with responses due 7 June and a planned contract start in July 2023. It asked for concepts that "can run/evolve over a 2-3-year period" and set no contract term: "BEGIN CONTRACT: Week of July 18th", for "up to $250,000 for this project".[^s5]
- The TID's current term runs to 31 December 2031.[^s36]
- Board meeting calendar and minutes: not published.

## What they're running

- **Fort Collins Welcome Center:** opened 1 August 2024 in Old Town Square, "a Welcome Center by day and a Community Hub by night". It had 6,400+ guests and 104 events in 2025 to May, and 22K visits and 247 events in the year to August 2025.[^s19][^s35][^s36]
- **Group sales, 2024:** 146 leads, 58 groups booked for 22,704 room nights, and 51 groups arrived at an average rate of $179.[^s35]
- **Sports:** My Hockey returned in February 2025 with 941 room nights, against 424 the February before. The 2025 plan moved sports groups to performance-based support.[^s35][^s37]
- **Paid media, 2024:** 21.6M impressions across eight markets, from Denver and Colorado Springs to Omaha and Albuquerque.[^s35]
- **Meeting incentives:** cash back of up to $1,000, $3,500 or $5,000 by room-night block, or a free welcome reception.[^s25]
- **Regional itineraries:** the NoCo Holiday Light Trail and the NoCo Creative Road Trip across five towns, with sponsored placements.[^s23][^s24]
- **Forever Fort Collins:** a local-champion meetings program launched in 2024.[^s37]

## Worth knowing

- RRC's 2023/24 study puts total economic impact at $360.0M (2019/20: $285.0M) and the visitor Net Promoter Score at 67 (2019/20: 26).[^s35]
- The annual report is behind the login-only partner portal.[^s9]
- Partnership dues are $525 or $395 a year.[^s10]
- The staff page's meta description still names Autumn Schempp, Director of Business Development, who is not in the page body.[^s2]
- The city lodging tax agreement itself was not found in 254 Council agendas from 2023 to 2026.[^s40]

[^s2]: Staff Directory, Visit Fort Collins, read 2026-10-12.
[^s5]: Request for Proposals: Brand Implementation and Marketing Strategy, Visit Fort Collins, 2023-04-26, pp. 1-7.
[^s7]: "Fort Collins City Council to consider proposal for new tourism authority", BizWest, 2021-02-22.
[^s9]: Partners, Visit Fort Collins, read 2026-10-12.
[^s10]: 2026-2027 Partnership & Marketing Package, Visit Fort Collins, 2026-09-14, pp. 2-4.
[^s14]: Form 990 for 2024, Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc, Parts I, VII, VIII, IX.
[^s15]: Form 990 for 2023, Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc, Parts I, VII, VIII, IX.
[^s16]: Nonprofit Explorer record, EIN 84-1055690, ProPublica, updated 2026-09-23.
[^s19]: "New Fort Collins Welcome Center", Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, 2024-08-13.
[^s21]: PBR Bulls & Beats at Colorado State University, Visit Fort Collins, 2026.
[^s22]: "Fort Collins named one of America's best towns to visit in 2026", Axios Denver, 2026-07-01.
[^s23]: Northern Colorado Holiday Light Trail, Visit Fort Collins, 2025 season.
[^s24]: The NoCo Creative Road Trip, Visit Fort Collins, read 2026-10-12.
[^s25]: Fort Collins Meeting Planner Promotions, Visit Fort Collins, read 2026-10-12.
[^s27]: visitftcollins.com page source, read 2026-10-12.
[^s28]: Visit Fort Collins Brand Promise, read 2026-10-12.
[^s29]: Visitors Guide page and 2026 guide on Issuu (RM Publishing), 2026.
[^s30]: City Council agendas, 2026-04-07 and 2026-04-21, Ordinance No. 034, 2026.
[^s31]: City Council agendas, 2025-04-15 and 2025-05-06, Ordinance No. 071, 2025.
[^s32]: City Council agendas, 2024-03-19 and 2024-04-02, Ordinance No. 042, 2024.
[^s33]: City Council agendas, 2023-03-21 and 2023-04-04, Ordinance No. 037, 2023.
[^s34]: City Council work session agenda, 2023-05-09.
[^s35]: "Community Report: Visit Fort Collins 2024-2025 Update", Council work session packet, 2025-05-13, pp. 4-15.
[^s36]: Resolution 2025-111, TID 2026 Annual Plan and Budget, Council packet, 2025-12-16, pp. 260-297.
[^s37]: Resolution 2024-132, TID 2025 Annual Plan and Budget, Council packet, 2024-11-19, pp. 213-235.
[^s38]: City Council retreat agenda, 2026-01-24 and 2026-01-31.
[^s40]: City of Fort Collins Agendas/Minutes portal (Municode Meetings), 254 agendas searched, read 2026-10-12.
[^s44]: Visit Fort Collins site, Google Tag Manager container GTM-TMF7XF9 (googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id=GTM-TMF7XF9), read 2026-10-15.
[^s45]: IRS Form 990 e-file XML for 2021 and 2022 (Part VIII line 2, Part IX line 12), via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 84-1055690, read 2026-10-15.

## Changes (0)

No staff-page changes recorded for this organization yet.

## Current leadership (3)

- Cynthia Eichler, CDME — President and CEO
- Erik Barstow — Vice President of Sales
- Katy Schneider, CDME — Vice President of Marketing

## Team

Captured Oct 22, 2026 from the official team page: <https://www.visitftcollins.com/staff-directory/>

### Sales & convention services (3)

- Bri Seifert — Senior Manager, Sport Sales
- Katie Miller — Group Sales Manager
- Marci Kurronen — Sales Manager

### Other (3)

- Carrie Fitzgerald — Executive Administrator
- Emily Bates — Destination Services Manager
- Marshall Floyd, M.T.M — Wecome Center Manager

### Marketing & communications (1)

- Austin Hannon — Digital Marketing Manager

### Partnerships & community (1)

- Abby Davidson, M.T.M. — Partnership Manager

### Finance & administration (1)

- Melissa Draxler — Director of Business Administration

## From the IRS Form 990 (FY2024)

Revenue: $3,470,245

Contractors (5), largest first:

- ELDER CONSTRUCTION INC — CONSTRUCTION — $422,274
- MMGY GLOBAL LLC — MARKETING — $371,128
- SIMPLEVIEW — WEBSITE — $244,838
- BECK TOTAL OFFICE INTERIORS — ARCHITECTURE — $154,148
- ROCKFAN ENTERTAINMENT LLC — CONSTRUCTION — $141,198

Officers and directors (13):

- CYNTHIA EICHLER — CEO — $222,385
- KATY SCHNEIDER — VP OF MARKET — $126,000
- ERIK BARSTOW — VP OF SALES — $120,220

Others listed without compensation: MIKE HOOKER (PRESIDENT); GARY OZZELLO (SECRETARY); DAYLAN FIGGS (TREASURER); KATE COOPER (IMMED PAST C); CLYDE WOOD (DIRECTOR); ERIN PALMER (DIRECTOR); AMANDA COSSEY (DIRECTOR); CASEY KITTEL (DIRECTOR); ARTHUR SINTAS (DIRECTOR); CARL PRATT (DIRECTOR)

Source: IRS Form 990, tax period 202412: <https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/841055690>

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