Photo: The new 78-room motel building under construction at The Springs Resort, September 2024.
On August 20, following public interviews with three applicants — Shane Lucero, Jesse Hensle, and Austin Marchand — for a vacant Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board seat, the Board voted by secret ballot to appoint Mr. Lucero to the position. The fact that it was a secret ballot became an issue two weeks later, as we will discuss later.
I mentioned yesterday that Mr. Lucero once worked as Marketing Director for The Springs Resort, but lately has been running a business that organizes and markets and events. He also has plans on open a new restaurant, uptown.
Another applicant for the vacant seat was Jesse Hensle, the current Marketing Director for The Springs Resort.
We might have the impression that the resort hopes to play a significant role in Pagosa’s publicly-funded tourism marketing.
I found some of the comments from Mr. Hensle’s interview to be enlightening, in regards to how the Springs management views our tourism industry. This was Mr. Hensle’s second attempt at getting a Tourism Board appointment.
The first question from Board member Dallas Weaver: Why do you want to be on the Board?
“Great question, Dallas. You know, for me, it’s an opportunity. Look, I said it last time. I wake up; eat, breathe, live, marketing. If I can apply that to something that is impactful to more than just myself — to this broader community here — then why not apply those talents and skills?
“I have an affinity for data analysis. I love looking at data and trends. I use it in my day-to-day operations at The Springs Resort. I’m always looking forward, to see what’s on the horizon, and what’s coming. And some of these things can be advantageous for us as a board, to understand, and see what’s on the horizon.
“It’s just what I do day-to-day. So, the last time I was here, I was asked, if I wasn’t put on the Board, if I would still continue to help out. I’ve worked with the lodgers, I meet with the lodgers to hear what’s going on, to see how we can create an impact.
“Again, I’m here to show up and be part of this board, to make a direct impact on a much larger scale. So if I’m doing it on my own, I might as well do it together as a team. And have fun while doing it…”
I will be interrupting Mr. Hensle’s thoughtful responses — his opinions — to share my somewhat different opinions. Because there are always at least two sides to any story.
Let’s consider ‘data’ for a moment. Some people view data as divine messaging, handed down from heaven. The data then needs to be interpreted by the holy priests of marketing, using analytical software. Voila! We clearly perceive the path to higher profits.
There are just three little problems with that belief.
Number one: Some very important aspects of human life cannot be translated into data. The number of tourists can be shown as numbers, but the emotional impact of those tourists on the lives of local residents cannot. You can show the quantity of dollars in your pocket as data; the quantity of distress caused by annoying tourists partying next door, into the wee hours of the morning, cannot be expressed as data.
Certain marketing experts might treat financial profit as very important, and ignore community distress as unimportant.
Number two: data is not divine messaging. Although the Tourism Board had access to plenty of data in 2019, no one could predict that Pagosa Springs would be overrun with tourists during the COVID crisis. Nor did anyone predict that the conversion of 1,000 residential homes in Pagosa Springs into vacation rentals would help bring about a serious housing crisis, with average rents and home prices tripling since 2012.
Number three: The easiest data to collect is numbers of ‘things’. Number of dollars. Number of tourists. Number of overnight stays. Whatever data you’re collecting and analyzing at the moment, may seem to be the most important data to collect and analyze. But if that’s true, then why are so many local residents unhappy with the direction of Tourism Board has been pushing our community?
Possibly, because we’re not collecting and analyzing the number of workers in Pagosa who have moved away due to the higher and higher cost of living here.
But let’s get back to Mr. Hensle’s interview, where he mentioned the amazing growth in Pagosa tourism during the COVID crisis, and seems to credit that growth to the Tourism Board. Then, he seems to blame the Tourism Board for the decline in tourist visits since 2022.
“This board has done amazing things over the past few years. We’ve seen tourism grow. We’ve also seen it tail back recently, too. To build it up to this point has taken a lot of hard effort. It’s taken festivals, it’s taken contributions and volunteerism, to get to this point.
“For me, it’s: How can we take this opportunity and keep it going, and make this ball roll faster, further, and better. So that’s really about it. In marketing, there’s always opportunities, there’s new tactics, there’s new ways to look at things. There’s ways to look back and say, did we do this right, or could we have done this better? That’s just part of marketing and what it is. That’s why I wake up in the morning. That’s what makes me happy. That’s why I want to be on this board.”
Folks who are paying attention know that tourism numbers in Pagosa have declined for the past two years, since the COVID spike in 2020-2021.
A failure of Tourism Board marketing?
Or a Tourism Board decision that 2020-2021 was an unpleasant experience for the community, in terms of ‘overtourism’?
Maybe, a decision that making the ball roll faster, further, and better is not actually what the community wants?
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.