Jessica Bixman, the City of Littleton’s director of communications, and Alexandra Vintful, the city’s senior events and marketing manager, presented an update on Visit Littleton—Littleton’s municipal destination marketing organization—on Oct. 9, reporting increased web and social reach, use of a state marketing grant and continuing capacity limits that shape the department’s priorities.

The presentation outlined why the municipal DMO exists, the mix of tactics used this year (organic social posts, targeted paid reels, search-engine-paid keywords and partnerships), and the limits imposed by a small team responsible for both city and Visit Littleton work.

Bixman and Vintful told the board Visit Littleton’s accounts grew from roughly 239 followers in August 2024 to more than 3,200 followers by the time of the presentation, driven largely by organic reels and coordinated weekly content planning with local event partners. The presenters said targeted digital work, paid search and a Colorado Office of Tourism matching grant helped amplify visibility: staff reported the state campaign delivered hundreds of thousands of engagements and above-benchmark click-through rates, and Visit Littleton purchased a 30‑second state field-guide video placement in a high-traffic welcome center. Bixman said the city’s direct cash investment for the state marketing work was about $12,000 and that the field-guide placement cost roughly $4,000; the state partnership provided additional ad-agency resources that the city could not otherwise afford.

The presentation tied marketing work to local events. Staff cited the summer craft fair attendance at about 16,105—roughly 1,100 below the previous year’s ~17,000—attributing the drop at least partly to late-afternoon wind. They estimated typical Harvest Festival attendance in the 10,000–12,000 range when weather cooperates. A visiting, touchable dinosaur exhibit produced strong short-term foot traffic; staff said it was the best-attended traveling exhibit since Visit Littleton tracking began.

Vintful and Bixman described specific tactics: co-promotions with local businesses, organic reels that reached many nonfollowers, paid targeted reels to nearby neighborhoods, SEO and paid keyword buys to put VisitLittleton.org high on searches such as “things to do Littleton,” and in-kind partnerships for radio and holiday advertising. Bixman showed a June web-traffic increase of about 154% year-over-year for the website and said the consolidated digital strategy—weekly coordination meetings, regular asset collection and leveraging partners—was a key factor in measured gains.

Staff also described ongoing costs and tradeoffs. Bixman said website hosting, maintenance and paid SEO/keyword work together consume a substantial portion of Lodgers Tax-funded marketing dollars and that the combination of external vendors and services amounted to what she characterized as nearly $50,000 annually to keep the site and search presence current. She added that some design and creative work is covered by in-house creative services and other departments, which reduces out-of-pocket costs but requires additional coordination time.

A central theme of the presentation was capacity. Vintful is a one-person events staff who already spends most of her time on signature city events (Criterium, Candlelight Walk, Little Jams) and Visit Littleton work. Bixman said the department has used a reliable part-time seasonal staffer year-round to help and that two recently approved positions (a community engagement manager and a communications strategist for public works) will help the communications team overall—but Visit Littleton needs additional event-support and sales capacity if it is to pursue larger-scale conventions, sports tournaments or expanded out-of-state marketing.

Board members and staff discussed practical next steps: building a partners meeting (scheduled Oct. 30) with hotels and event stakeholders; asking grantees to coordinate marketing that drives lodging and dining; tapping local colleges and apprenticeships for photography and video content; and continuing to apply for targeted state grants. Staff asked the Arts & Culture Board to consider designating a regular content liaison for Visit Littleton and to help connect Lodgers Tax grantees to Visit Littleton’s free marketing resources.

The presentation closed with a prioritized list of proposed investments for the coming year—printed venue welcome magazines, targeted postcard drops to surrounding neighborhoods during holidays, and a drone show funded by a state grant for a 02/5150 celebration—and reiterated that the department will be strategic about which events it produces versus supports, given staffing limits.

Ending: The presenters asked board members to supply event imagery and introductions to grantees to increase Visit Littleton’s capacity to promote arts and cultural programming. Board members offered partnerships and invited staff to return with more detailed budget and outcomes data at a future meeting.