Grand County, Colorado, gives visitors plenty of reasons to explore. From ski areas and guest ranches to the western entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, its mountain communities offer a wide range of outdoor experiences. Visit Grand County promotes those communities and the experiences that make the destination distinctive.

For Gaylene Ore, executive director of the Grand County Colorado Tourism Board, understanding visitor demand helps connect that marketing mission with practical support for the community. Knowing where booked guests are coming from and how upcoming weekends are shaping up helps inform both marketing decisions and business planning.

With KeyData, Visit Grand County puts verified vacation rental booking data to work through board reporting, marketing discussions, and a shared outlook for local businesses. The value extends beyond understanding performance. It gives the tourism board useful information to share with the people who help bring the destination to life.

“It’s helped us understand where we should be spending marketing dollars while also providing a great service to those businesses that want to plan ahead and staff accordingly to busy weekends.”

Gaylene Ore, Executive Director, Grand County Colorado Tourism Board

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Destination Profile

Grand County is an outdoor destination in Colorado’s northern Rockies, with experiences ranging from skiing and Nordic trails to guest ranches, golf, and the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The tourism board promotes the county and its individual communities. Vacation rentals play an important role in the lodging economy, making visibility into their performance valuable for both destination planning and business preparation.

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The Challenge

Visit Grand County wanted lodging insights that could support decisions across the destination.

The board needed context around performance and comparisons with other destinations. The marketing agency needed insight into where booked visitors were coming from. Local businesses needed a view of upcoming demand to help prepare for busy weekends. Each audience had different questions, but all needed information they could put to use.

As Gaylene evaluated lodging data providers, she also wanted a clearer understanding of vacation rental revenue and average daily rates, separate from cleaning and other fees. Lodging partners already using KeyData helped introduce her to the platform.

The priority was not simply accessing more data. It was connecting reliable booking insights with the tourism board’s goals: informed marketing decisions, clear stakeholder reporting, and useful guidance for the business community.

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The Approach

Visit Grand County uses KeyData’s direct-source vacation rental data from participating property managers to understand booking activity and market performance.

Gaylene works with her KeyData Partner Success Manager to translate that information into reporting and planning. Their regular conversations focus on the questions that matter at that moment, whether they are reviewing the previous month, looking ahead 60 or 90 days, or examining bookings around an event or holiday.

Gaylene shares reports with the board and brings selected insights into the organization’s monthly community newsletter. The newsletter also includes access to a shared KeyData dashboard, giving businesses a way to check the latest outlook for themselves.

The same booking data can support a board conversation, a marketing decision, and a local business preparing for the weekend.

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What Changed

Board reporting with more context

A performance number is more useful when the board understands what is behind it.

With KeyData, Gaylene can compare Grand County’s booking pace with other destinations and work through the factors that affect those comparisons. During a review of September performance, for example, she and her partner success manager considered how the timing of Labor Day differed from the previous year.

That adds context to the conversation, helping the board interpret changes rather than look at a number in isolation.

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An outlook businesses can use before visitors arrive

Visit Grand County’s shared dashboard gives community partners access to a live view of upcoming demand.

Instead of relying only on a report captured at one point in time, businesses can return to the link and see updated information. The outlook stays useful as bookings change, without requiring the tourism office to send a fresh attachment each time.

For businesses thinking about staffing and busy weekends, that visibility offers practical planning value. It also gives the tourism board a way to make its lodging insights useful beyond its own office.

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Marketing conversations grounded in actual bookings

Gaylene and the marketing agency use KeyData’s visitor origin insights alongside their other tourism research to understand where guests are coming from and identify markets with potential.

KeyData adds a booking-based perspective to those discussions. The agency can consider where visitors are reserving accommodations as it evaluates where to focus marketing dollars.

For Grand County, the value is a stronger foundation for choosing which markets deserve attention.

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A partnership that turns insight into action

Visit Grand County pairs local knowledge with KeyData’s data and Partner Success support.

Gaylene works closely with her account manager to review the questions most relevant to the destination. Their conversations can focus on recent performance, the next 60 or 90 days, or how bookings are developing around an upcoming holiday or event. Together, they prepare reporting that Gaylene shares with the board and draws from for community newsletters.

For Grand County’s small team, that partnership helps connect analysis with communication. The focus stays on what the information means for the destination and how to make it useful to local partners.

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Why This Matters for DMOs

Grand County’s experience shows why a data platform needs to do more than provide access to numbers.

A board needs context. A marketing agency needs direction. A local business needs enough notice to prepare. For a destination leader balancing all three, the value comes from turning booking information into something each audience can use.

Grand County’s combination of regular reviews, board reporting, and a shared community outlook offers a practical example of that approach. KeyData supports both the analysis and the communication that make the information useful.

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Results That Matter

For Visit Grand County, KeyData helps connect destination reporting with everyday decisions.

Board members receive performance context. Marketing conversations benefit from insight into where booked guests are coming from. Local businesses have access to an updated outlook that can help them prepare for upcoming weekends.

The benefit reaches beyond the tourism office.

“It gives them better knowledge and understanding of what’s happening within our destination.”

Gaylene Ore, Executive Director, Grand County Colorado Tourism Board

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KeyData at a Glance

KeyData brings together the industry’s largest verified vacation rental dataset, robust hotel data through partnerships, and responsibly sourced online travel agency data to help destinations understand the complete lodging picture.

With forward-looking insight, clear reporting, and support for putting data into practice, KeyData helps tourism leaders connect lodging performance to marketing, stakeholder communication, and community planning.

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Put Your Destination’s Data to Work

Your board needs a clear story. Your marketing team needs direction. Your community needs to know what is coming next.

Explore the vacation rental and hotel data available for your destination in a personalized KeyData demo. See how lodging insights can help you guide marketing decisions, simplify reporting, and give local partners information they can use.

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About Visit Grand County

The Grand County Colorado Tourism Board promotes Grand County and its communities in Colorado’s northern Rockies. The destination brings together mountain towns, ski areas, guest ranches, golf courses, and access to Rocky Mountain National Park, offering visitors a wide range of outdoor experiences.

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