Nearly Half of Colorado Tourists Say Legal Cannabis Influenced Their Visit

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]R[/dropcap]ecord tourism stats in Colorado during the last two years have led many to speculate if legal cannabis is a motivating factor. According to a recent study conducted by the Colorado Tourism Office and Strategic Marketing and Research Insights (SMARI), 48 percent of surveyed Colorado tourists say legal cannabis was “extremely to somewhat influential” in their vacation decisions. 6.8 percent of those surveyed indicated the availability of marijuana was a primary trip motivator, up from 2 percent last year.

Each season, the Colorado Tourism Office contracts with Strategic Marketing and Research Insights (SMARI) to measure ad awareness, ad effectiveness and incremental travel generated by the CTO’s ad campaign. While the Colorado Tourism Office’s seasonal research studies explore more than cannabis’ impact on tourism, SMARI has included a hand full of survey questions relating to the impact of legal cannabis on tourism over the last two years.

Denise Miller is director of tourism surveys for Strategic Marketing and Research Insights. SMARI surveyed 3,254 tourists with a 33-question survey. “I think definitely the laws are having an influence when people are considering Colorado. We can see that it’s still not a large percentage in terms of what people are doing, but it’s become more of a motivator for those who want to do it,” Miller told the Denver Post. 

Danny Shaefer of My 420 Tours gets about 120 to 200 visitors per week. “Shatter, wax, hash, dabs and transdermals. Our visitors, they have no idea what the modern industry has in the store for them and they are really lacking that education,” Schaefer said. “Consumption education is absolutely necessary.” With 48 percent of surveyed visitors expressing cannabis legality as an influence for their destination decisions, it can be assumed that the unique cannabis amenities of Colorado state are, in some way, impacting its tourism appeal. Still, in usual fashion, cannabis continues its impact both state and nationwide.