Stay out of brand marketing
Dear Editor:
You can have it both ways.
It would be a huge mistake to move the Aspen brand into the mass-market space. Aspen is not Vail. We have great hotels. Great restaurants. Great skiing and great people. The best music and entertainment, outstanding events and a special culture still best described as the Aspen Idea. We live in a special place and you can read exclusive; not mass market.
That still means that affordable housing is a requirement because diversity is part of our culture. Carving up our city with more massive hotels and time-shares is not going to save our community from the ravages of this great recession. Long-term we are a resort. Not a developer. We need to protect ourselves from the type of decisions made in the last recession that lead to the massive building boom.
While the idea of marketing Aspen as a low-cost destination is ludicrous, that does not mean that in a slow economy we cannot market the opportunities for consumers to save.
Building a brand is difficult; destroying one is easy.
The current mayoral race has entered the brand-marketing debate. They should stay out of it.
Rob Pew
Woody Creek
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