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Tourism Paid Media Co-op

Overview

The Tourism Paid Media Cooperative or Co-op helps Colorado tourism partners maximize their advertising and marketing dollars through group purchasing of media buys. Group purchasing creates discounts, because prices become cheaper when they are purchased at a higher volume. 

The Colorado Tourism Office typically operates a summer and winter campaign. The summer campaign runs from April through the end of September. The winter campaign runs from mid-October through the end of March. You can sign up to participate in one or both of these campaigns.

Under the Come to Life Colorado brand, these paid media plans measure conversions, partner referrals, and awareness through impressions. At the end of a campaign, you will receive a report that measures the co-op’s success against benchmarks.

Program benefits include:

  • Access to agency creative services.
  • Measurement strategies and tools.
  • Access to negotiated rates and premium inventory.
  • Increased savings with multi-channel tiers.
  • Affordable custom opportunities.
  • Existing Colorado Tourism Office brand affinity.
  • Customized report of your results, with ongoing optimizations.
  • Traffic driven directly to your website.
  • Evolved opportunities to reach targeted audience segments and further drive impact and efficiencies.
  • Colorado Tourism Office matching funds.

Webinar

The CTO hosted an informational webinar on Feb. 26, 2026, regarding the co-op programs for summer 2026. Review the Tourism Paid Media Co-op webinar recording.

Overview

Type: Marketing promotion

For: Tourism partners

Application period: Closed for 2026

OEDIT division: Colorado Tourism Office

To become eligible you will need to:

  • Identify as a Destination Marketing/Management Organization (DMO).  Non-DMO tourism organizations and businesses are encouraged to apply for our social media co-op program. (please note that State agencies outside of OEDIT are not eligible to participate in the CTO co-op program).
  • Use the Come to Life template.
  • Follow Colorado Tourism Office brand standards and photography guidelines (PDF).
  • Inform flighting, messaging, and diverse imagery considerations.
  • Review and approve all creative before launch.
  • Have creative that links directly to your website.

The Colorado Tourism Office can customize paid media cooperative opportunities to fit your needs. Customization includes:

  • Seasonality
  • Tiered investments or a-la-carte investments
  • Geofencing and in-state targeting
  • Content alignment

Shared and dedicated email

Reach travelers through a one-to-one communication channel. This channel extends the Colorado Tourism Office’s reach by purchasing audience lists and custom publisher emails. Shared emails feature up to six partners in the same email. Dedicated emails feature only one partner with 100% share of voice and options to target a more diverse and representative audience segment.

Sojern Travel Programmatic Digital Display

Leverage travel data partner data offered through Sojern to target high-value consumers who have not booked their trip to Colorado but are demonstrating intent and drive conversions to Colorado Tourism Office partner websites as they plan.

Sequential Digital Display with MIQ

Partners benefit from Colorado’s custom audiences and hyper-targeted digital approach to reach consumers through a seamless sequential messaging strategy at the final stage when they are ready to book.

Online travel agency (OTA) digital display

With the ability to reach consumers in the midst of trip planning and influence consumers through each stage of planning, online travel agencies can hyper-target with their proprietary data. Our partnership allows placements on Tripadvisor, which otherwise could have a hefty minimum spend requirement as a barrier for many destinations and attractions.

Native Ads

Leverage advertisements that feel natural and cohesive on leading travel publisher sites to encourage engagement.

Travel programmatic digital display

Leverage travel data partner data offered through Sojern to target high-value consumers who have not booked their trip to Colorado but are demonstrating intent and drive conversions to Colorado Tourism Office partner websites as they plan.

Undertone Rich Media Map Unit

Participate in a custom map unit that allows partners to feature their attraction/destination in a unique way that drives interest and visitation.

Video

Combine precise audience targeting and immersive storytelling to drive conversion through :15 second or :30 second online video on travel advertisers’ websites or YouTube.

Digital Out-of-Home

Engage audiences in real-world environments at key moments in their daily routines with high-impact, high-traffic placements to drive awareness and inspire travelers.

Eligible partners can participate through an a la carte model. You may select any tactics you are interested in up to a $20,000 investment limit. Your investment is matched by the CTO at a 1:1 match to promote your destination and Colorado Matching funds are limited and first-come, first-served.

Program Manager

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