Denver’s Tourism History by Decade

The 2000s

• 2001: September 11 terrorist attacks
• 2001: Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup
• 2001: Lufthansa begins service to Frankfurt
• 2001: INVESCO Field at Mile High opens
• 2003: Denver opens $15 million Visitor Center at Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• 2003: Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art opens
• 2003: Voters approve restoration of Auditorium Theatre and the building of a new opera house inside
• 2004: Voters approve $6 billion FasTracks Light Rail Expansion, the largest such project in the country.
• 2004: Voters approve continuing SCFD
• 2004: Colorado Convention Center Phase II Expansion opens
• 2004: First Mile High Holidays campaign
• 2005: Voters approve increase in Denver’s lodger’s tax as funding for the Bureau
• 2005: Colorado Heritage Tourism created by Colorado Historical Society’s State Historical Fund and Colorado Tourism Office
• 2005: Hyatt Regency at the Convention Center opens
• 2005: Ellie Caulkins Opera House opens
• 2005: Denver hosts NBA All-Star Game
• 2005: Colorado Crush win Arena Bowl
• 2005: Southwest Airlines begins service to Denver
• 2005: Daniels & Fisher Tower restored
• 2005: First annual Denver Restaurant Week
• 2006: Legislature passes HB-1201 creating tourism funding for the Colorado Tourism Office
• 2006: Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Wing Expansion opens
• 2006: Colorado Mammoth win National Lacrosse League Championship
• 2006: National Western Stock Show celebrates its 100th year
• 2007: Light Rail service on I-25 and Southwest metro corridor opens
• 2007: First Denver Arts Week
• 2007: Colorado Rockies win National League Championship, bringing the World Series to Denver
• 2008: Denver hosts Democratic National Convention
• 2008: Denver hosts NCAA Frozen Four Hockey
• 2008: 150 Year Anniversary of Denver’s founding
• 2009: VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau celebrates its 100 year anniversary

The 1990s

• 1990: Colorado Convention Center, Phase I opens
• 1990: New Cherry Creek Shopping Center opens
• 1990: Voters approve the Central Denver Public Library building
• 1990: Denver hosts NCAA Final Four college basketball championships
• 1990: First Cherry Creek Arts Festival
• 1991: Denver launches its annual PowWow Native American celebration
• 1991: Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre opens
• 1991: Voters approve limited gaming in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek with taxes to benefit statewide historic preservation
• 1992: Voters reject Colorado Tourism Tax & approve Amendment 2
• 1993: World Youth Event brings Pope John Paul II to Denver for the city’s largest gathering ever
• 1994: Voters defeat Colorado Tourism Tax
• 1994: Frontier Airlines returns to Denver
• 1995: Denver International Airport opens
• 1995: Coors Field opens
• 1995: Elitch Gardens opens in Platte Valley
• 1995: RTD opens the first line of its Light Rail system
• 1995: Denver Public Library Central Branch opens
• 1996: NHL Colorado Avalanche moves to Denver
• 1997: Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup
• 1997: Denver hosts “Summit of the Eight” world leaders
• 1997: Light Rail begins service to Southwest metro area
• 1998: Denver hosts Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game
• 1998: Denver Pavilions opens
• 1998/99: Broncos win back-to-back Super Bowls
• 1998: British Airways begins non-stop service from London to Denver
• 1998: Voters approve Colorado Convention Center Expansion
• 1999: Voters approve a new Denver Art Museum building and refurbishing of the Denver Zoo
• 1999: Pepsi Center opens

The 1980s

• 1982: 16th Street Mall opens
• 1982: Legislature approves Colorado Tourism Tax
• 1982: Wings over the Rockies Museum opens at old Lowry Air Base
• 1985: Voters defeat Union Station Convention Center
• 1987: Cinco de Mayo Festival inaugurated
• 1988: City Council approves Colorado Convention Center
• 1988: Voters approve Scientific & Cultural Facilities District supported by a metro-wide sales tax
• 1989: Voters approve Denver International Airport

The 1970s

• 1970: Keystone Ski Resort opens
• 1971: Copper Mountain Ski Resort opens
• 1971: Black American West Museum opens
• 1972: Statewide vote against Colorado hosting the 1976 Winter Olympics and emergence of anti-growth, anti-tourism movement
• 1972: McNichols Arena opens
• 1973: Eisenhower Tunnel opens
• 1973: Denver imposes the Lodger's Tax with proceeds going to the Convention & Visitors Bureau
• 1976: Colorado History Museum opens at 1300 Broadway
• 1976: Auraria Higher Education Center opens in Denver’s oldest neighborhood with Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College and University of Colorado Denver sharing the largest campus in the state
• 1978: Boettcher Hall opens in the Denver Performing Arts Complex (DPAC)
• 1979: Bonfils Theatre Complex opens in DPAC
• 1979: Four Mile House, Denver’s oldest building, restored and reopened as a museum and living history farm

The 1960s

• 1962: St. Patrick’s Day Parade inaugurated on the Saturday closest to March 17
• 1962: Vail Ski Resort opens
• 1964: Beatles perform at Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• 1965: Joyce Meskis opens the Tattered Cover Book Store
• 1965: Dana Crawford began Larimer Square restoration
• 1966: Denver Landmark Preservation Commission created to identify and protect historical treasures
• 1969: Currigan Hall opens

The 1950s

• 1951: Denver Convention & Visitors Bureau becomes independent from the Chamber of Commerce and builds its own home, the Hospitality Center, 225 W. Colfax Avenue
• 1955: Original Cherry Creek Shopping Center opens
• 1959: Denver Botanic Gardens opens

The 1940s

• 1940: First Ski Train departs from Denver’s Union Station to Winter Park
• 1941: Red Rocks Amphitheatre opens

The 1930s

• 1930: Denver Tourist and Publicity Bureau opens as part of the Denver Chamber of Commerce
• 1932: Central City Opera House reopens
• 1937: United Airlines begins service to Denver
• 1938: Lowry Army Air Base opens on land donated by the Chamber of Commerce and City of Denver

The 1920s

• 1921: Denver Chamber of Commerce reorganized as the Civic and Commercial Association

The 1910s

• 1913: Deepest blizzard in history shuts down the city

The 1900s

• 1904-1918: Mayor Robert W. Speer’s City Beautification
• 1905: Denver Convention League founded as an arm of the Denver Chamber of Commerce
• 1906: First National Western Stock Show
• 1906: U.S. Mint opens and ultimately becomes a top tourist destination with free tours
• 1908: Denver hosts the Democratic National Convention (DNC)
• 1909: Denver Convention League reorganizes after successful DNC to court other conventions

The 1890s

The 1880s

• 1881: Union Station opens on current site
• 1884: Board of Trade reorganized as the Denver Chamber of Commerce
• 1896: Denver Zoo opens in City Park

The 1870s

• 1870: First railroads reach Denver
• 1876: Colorado becomes a state

The 1860s

• 1867: Denver Board of Trade (predecessor to the Chamber of Commerce) formed

The 1850s

• 1858: Denver City founded