From: Michael Doherty <doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: RMN: Aspen booked solid for holidays
Followup-To: amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Originator: doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 02:40:55 GMT

Rocky Mountain News                    reprinted without permission
12/21/92

Aspen booked solid for holidays

Amendment 2 boycotts and negative publicity fail to make a dent in
Christmas business

by Jon Klusmire
Special to the Rocky Mountain News

ASPEN - Several highly publicized calls to boycott Colorado because
its voters passed Amendment 2 haven't hampered the holiday season
here as revelers have completely booked the town into the new year.
     "I don't see any fallout from it during the holiday season,"
said Pam Blanton, public relations director of the Little Nell Hotel
in Aspen and the Snowmass Lodge and Club. "All the regulars are here
and we are sold out. Both are at 100%."
     Aspen "hasn't seen any effect at all on the holiday season" from
threatened boycotts to protest Amendment 2, which bans
anti-discrimination laws for homosexuals, said Tom Hines, director of
the Aspen Resort Association.
     The town is pitching its tolerance and amenities to groups
thinking of boycotting the state.
     Meanwhile, the committee formed in November to fight a potential
boycott of Aspen has disbanded because organizers felt they had done
what was necessary to point out that Aspen favors homosexual rights.
     The group has been replaced by a non-profit organization that
will work with the statewide group seeking to overturn Amendment 2.
     "Aspen's not stopped moving" when it comes to Amendment 2, said
Kitty Boone of the Aspen Skiing Co. But the focus has shifted to
overturning the amendment.
     That's where the non-profit group, tentatively called the Aspen
Action Committee, comes in. The group held its first meeting Dec. 18
to discuss tactics, educational efforts and fund-raising
alternatives. It will be working with Equal Protection Ordinance
Colorado, the statewide group that opposed Amendment 2.
     A legal challenge could take more than a year, noted Terry
White, chairman of Aspen's Gay and Lesbian Community.
     White would prefer an amendment overturning Amendment 2 on the
ballot next November. "That would settle the issue with a clear-cut
answer."
     But Aspen's December reservations aren't hurting. They are
running about 12% ahead of last year, said Hines. That's not counting
the final two weeks of the month, which are nearly sold out, meaning
there will be a significant increase in business over last December,
he added.
     Consistent November snowfall, early opening dates for several
ski hills and discounted lift tickets "jump-started" the ski season,
said Allison Scott of the Snowmass Resort Association.
     She estimated Snowmass in 85%-90% booked for the first week of
Christmas and expects the town to be 100% booked the following week.
     Singer-actress Barbara Streisand raised the issue of a celebrity
boycott at an AIDS Project benefit in Los Angeles last month. A
couple of weeks later, she said she would boycott Colorado only "if
we are asked to." 
     But two weeks ago, she again announced she was backing the
boycott. She agreed to have her name added to a list of celebrities
endorsing the boycott, which includes comedian Joan Rivers and
actress-comedian Whoopi Goldberg.
     Blanton said she already has seen some stars about town: actress
Sally Field at the grocery store and former Beatle Ringo Starr on the
slopes.
     Despite strong holiday business, a number of individual
cancellations and the possible larger group cancellations make
January and the rest of the season "hard to read," said Boone.
     January's Gay Ski Week "has already taken a hit," said White.
Instead of the expected 4,000 visitors, White estimated only 2,000 to
3,000 will attend. Regardless of the numbers, "We're going on with
it," he said, in an effort to "not give in" to Coloradans for Family
Values, the group that backed Amendment 2.
     The newly opened Ritz-Carlton isn't feeling the pinch. The posh,
257-room hotel is booked solid through mid-January, and has "very
high occupancy days and some sell-outs" from February through April,
said public relations director Elena Valadez.
     The hotel, with almost 95,000 square feet of conference space,
has already booked 30,000 conference-goers for 1993, Valadez added.
     Although the Ritz "is not targeting groups" which have cancelled
conferences or conventions in Colorado, Valadez said, the hotel is
certainly willing to "facilitate requests" from any such group.
     Hines was more direct.
     "You can bet your bottom dollar we'll be going after" groups
considering relocating their convention or gathering, he said.
     White said he thinks any impact from a boycott will come in the
spring and summer, noting Aspen's winter visitors usually make plans
well in advance.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corrections, new info, and requests for info: amend2-info@cs.colorado.edu
Administrative comments                     : amend2-mod@cs.colorado.edu
General Discussion                          : amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Boulder/Denver area local meetings/events   : amend2-local@cs.colorado.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to a list, send mail to Majordomo@cs.colorado.edu, with
        subscribe <list-name>
in the BODY of the message.  For multiple lists, use multiple lines.

Newsgroups: co.politics.amend2.info