Pubdate: Tue, 16 Dec 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388

SKI TOWNS WORRY THAT POT IS BAD FOR TOURISM BRAND

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (AP) - Business is booming in Colorado's mountain 
resorts, and the addition of recreational marijuana stores this year 
has attracted customers curious about legalized pot. But there's 
mounting anxiety that ski towns have embraced stoner culture a little 
too much, potentially damaging the state's tourism brand.

That worry flared up in two resort towns last week. In Breckenridge, 
residents voted overwhelmingly to force downtown's lone dispensary 
off Main Street to a less-visible location. And just up the road in 
Granby, town officials used a property annex to prevent the first 
dispensary from opening there.

The fear is that some families - a mainstay of the ski tourism 
industry - will stop vacationing here.

"It's not a morality issue, or that we think marijuana is bad," said 
Breckenridge Councilman Gary Gallagher, who supported legal marijuana 
but also voted to force the Breckenridge Cannabis Club out of 
downtown. "Marijuana, it is not in this country's DNA yet. It's a 
little bit too early."

So far, there's no indication that legal pot has damaged tourism, 
Colorado's No. 2 industry. The state notched a record $17.3 billion 
in tourism spending in 2013, the year after legalization, with a 
record 64.6 million visitors, and state tourism officials say 2014 is 
poised to top last year's record.

But it's an open question whether pot has anything to do with it. 
Officials cite the improving economy and the weather, with healthy 
snow totals historically being the most significant driver for mountain visits.

The state and its marijuana industry are barred by law from 
advertising weed out of state, and the head of the Colorado Tourism 
Office says the state isn't tracking the role of marijuana in tourist behavior.

"It's all anecdotal," Al White said. "I have heard from some angry 
parents who said they'll never come back to Colorado because of 
marijuana. And I've also heard from people who say they came to 
Colorado just to see the marijuana. At the end of the day, it may be 
having a modest effect, but it's not huge either way."

Still, at rates greater than their urban neighbors, mountain 
communities backed marijuana legalization in 2012, including 
Breckenridge, an early and enthusiastic support base, and there's no 
doubt that recreational pot has had an effect on ski towns.

A state-produced July report on the new marijuana industry concluded 
that 90 percent of recreational sales in mountain resort communities 
go to out-of-state visitors.

The influx of shoppers - and camera crews that have become frequent 
sights as they work on pot-themed news stories and documentaries - 
has prompted a lively debate among residents about how pot is 
changing their resorts.

"Whether you're pro-marijuana or against marijuana, you have to be 
concerned about how tourists react to seeing it," said Bob Gordman, a 
Breckenridge retiree who voted to move the dispensary.

Others say the marijuana novelty will die down naturally and that 
resort towns shouldn't worry about dispensaries or the souvenir shops 
that put "Rocky Mountain High" puns on T-shirts.

"In five or 10 years, it'll be no big issue," said Bill Kiser, a 
Breckenridge retiree who voted to keep the dispensary on Main Street.

"Why don't families get turned off when they go on vacation and see a 
bar and people drinking alcohol? Because they're used to it," Kiser 
said. "People will eventually get used to this, too."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom