Scene from the annual Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. Courtesy/New Mexico True
STATE News:
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Tourism Department has created a list of 23 things for visitors to do during Balloon Fiesta week, encouraging an extended stay for the hundreds of thousands of visitors that travel to see New Mexico’s sky burst with color in early October.
The guide, titled “23 New Mexico True Adventures You Need to Experience During Balloon Fiesta,” showcases the wide variety of cultural activities and authentic experiences visitors can encounter before, during and after the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
Suggestions include “Fill Your Tank” (on the Breakfast Burrito Byway), “Cowboy Up” (at the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium), “Reach for the Sky” (at Acoma Sky City), and “Break Out Your Lederhosen” (at Red River’s Oktoberfest).
Also included are nods to several of New Mexico’s famed culinary trails, including “Take a Bite” (on the Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail), which has been named the number one food trail in the country by USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
“This guide serves as inspiration for visitors and residents alike,” Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Latham said. “It is the perfect format to help plan a day trip or extended stay no matter where you’re from or how many times you’ve been to Balloon Fiesta.”
The Tourism Department has published a digital version of the “23 New Mexico True Adventures You Need to Experience During Balloon Fiesta,” on its website, NewMexico.org, and has used social media and a consumer-focused e-newsletter to distribute the list to 250,000 potential Balloon Fiesta attendees. Additionally, the Tourism Department will distribute the printed guide in 8,000 Balloon Fiesta RV welcome bags and plans to hand out another 5,000 at the New Mexico True booth at the Fiesta.
View the “23 New Mexico True Adventures You Need to Experience During Balloon Fiesta,” at NewMexico.org, and find hard copies of the list during the event at the easy-to-locate New Mexico True Traveler Mobile Visitor Center (on Main Street) and at the official Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Information Booths.
About New Mexico True:
Under the direction of Governor Susana Martinez, the New Mexico Tourism Department created the New Mexico True brand in response to common misconceptions that New Mexico is a dry, arid, barren desert state with nothing to do. Built upon the idea that a trip to New Mexico is an “adventure that feeds the soul,” the brand advertising campaign provides a platform for unified messaging for more than 50 communities and businesses around the state. In 2015, New Mexico True received two prestigious awards for “Best Digital Campaign” in the country, and was also awarded the “Best Cooperative Marketing Program” in the US in 2018. Since the launch of the campaign in 2012, the economic impact of tourism in New Mexico has grown for seven consecutive years.
