Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jan 2014
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Ana Campoy

A STATE'S BUDDING INDUSTRY: POT TOURS

Colorado Travel Boards Play Wait and See, but Some Firms Seize on Green Light

DENVER--When Zak Ackel was planning a winter vacation for this month, 
it wasn't the powdery ski slopes that put Colorado at the top of his 
list--it was the sticky green weed.

"The quality is amazing," said Mr. Ackel, a 21-year-old used-car 
salesman, who legally purchased marijuana at a pot store here last 
week just hours after arriving from Lake Charles, La.

It's too soon to quantify how many tourists have lit up in Colorado 
since Jan. 1, when the state became the first in the nation to allow 
the sale of recreational pot. But a number of enterprising companies 
are betting marijuana will attract thousands of visitors and are 
seizing on the opportunity to serve the market, offering everything 
from pot-themed vacation packages to cannabis concierges.

So far, non-Coloradans account for more than half of the roughly $1 
million in daily sales at the state's several-dozen marijuana 
outlets, according to the Medical Marijuana Industry Group, a trade 
association. The sales have generated about $2 million for Colorado 
since the beginning of the year, thanks to 25% in pot taxes approved 
by state voters last year.

The long-term impact of pot on the state's $11.2 billion tourism 
industry remains hazy, however. Nobody can predict how many 
out-of-state visitors will head to Colorado just to buy and smoke 
marijuana--or if the state's budding reputation as an American 
Amsterdam will prove positive or negative for most prospective tourists.

The Colorado Tourism Office said it has no plans to highlight pot in 
its marketing campaigns, noting that it is forbidden to light up in 
public. "If there is a tour bus of 40 people, it's interesting," said 
Rich Grant of Visit Denver, the city's tourism bureau. But compared 
with the 13.6 million people who visit Denver every year, "it's not 
even a blip on the radar screen."

Ski resorts and other major tourist businesses largely have kept 
marijuana at arm's length. Visit Denver has put a one-year moratorium 
on marijuana marketing as it determines the scope of pot tourism, 
even though the city is home to most of Colorado's licensed pot retailers.

Peter Johnson, however, started Colorado Green Tours to target 
out-of-state pot enthusiasts. His travel agency offers 
marijuana-themed packages that often include a primer on marijuana 
varieties and ingestion methods, such as using a smokeless vaporizer.

"It's the tip of the iceberg of a very large opportunity," he said.

At Colorado Rocky Mountain High Tours, demand for limousine rides to 
pot shops is four times what owner Addison Morris said she expected. 
Still, to ensure the outlets are well stocked, she is waiting until 
the end of January to launch tours, which cost $295 per person, 
including gourmet munchies.

"I didn't want to book anything before I knew who was going to be 
open," Ms. Morris said.

Justin Jones, owner of Dank Colorado, said he has hired six extra 
workers to handle business at his Denver store. "It's really a new 
era," Mr. Jones said. "People are able to buy some pot like you would 
buy a bottle of wine."

Florida-based discount carrier Spirit Airlines also has sought to 
grab a piece of the buzz with an online ad declaring: "The no smoking 
sign is off (in Colorado). Get mile high with $10 off your next flight."

"They can fly on Spirit and have more money for munchies," Chief 
Executive Ben Baldanza, in an interview, stressed that the campaign 
was more about attracting web traffic than trying to build a business 
around marijuana tourism.

Out-of-state visitors, however, face numerous hurdles to enjoying 
recreational pot in Colorado. Though users can legally buy up to a 
quarter of an ounce, many hotel rooms are nonsmoking. Marijuana also 
is unwelcome at Denver International Airport, which prohibits it to 
comply with federal laws. that consider marijuana a controlled 
substance. And Colorado's ski resorts, which account for more than 
20% of all ski trips in the U.S., are warning visitors they can't 
light up on the slopes. "There isn't any place at a ski resort that 
is not public," said Jennifer Rudolph, a spokeswoman for Colorado Ski 
Country USA, a trade group.

Still, out-of-state customers are lining up by the dozens outside pot 
stores, and finding ways to consume a drug that is mostly illegal 
back home. Recently, the tourists waiting in line at Denver pot 
emporiums included stock-option traders, union carpenters, ad writers 
and bartenders.

Out-of-state marijuana advertising by retailers is forbidden, so the 
customers said they located stores through news articles and web 
searches. One person said he found a pot shop by asking Siri, the 
personal assistant program on Apple's iPhone.

While several tourists said they were visiting Colorado for many 
reasons, the opportunity to buy pot legally was a big draw.

"I'm not 18," said Sherry Hasty, a 43-year-old Dallas nurse, who 
picked up supplies at Dank before heading to the slopes. "I don't 
want to worry about being stopped with that in my car."

Others designed their travel plans around weed, including Matt 
Sylestine, a 21-year-old Houston waiter, who took a week off from 
work to go on a pot sampling tour.

At 3D Cannabis Center in Denver, he bought marijuana varieties such 
as Golden Goat and Ogre 99 for less than $15 a gram. He then checked 
out the store's in-house marijuana plantation, which is only visible 
through windows because no one but authorized personnel are permitted 
in grow rooms.

"It must smell really good in there," Mr. Sylestine said
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom