Three employees from the region receive Colorado Tourism Office top frontline worker award

Tourism and outdoor recreation is the mainstay of the NWCCOG Region's economy, and it is our front-line workforce who make it run. Fifty percent of the jobs in our region are in the tourism & outdoor recreation sector, from restaurant servers, to front desk workers at our hotels, to lift operators to housekeepers. These workers are vital to our economy, and have endured many challenges as they continued to keep our tourism economy operating during this very difficult past year. Each year, the Colorado tourism industry nominates tourism employees to be recognized as Top Frontline Tourism Workers in celebration of National Travel and Tourism Week. These nominees are people who do an outstanding job of welcoming visitors to our region and providing them with the best experiences possible. NWCCOG would like to congratulate three hard-working, dedicated employees from our region who were the recipients of this award:
Christian Lindblom, Breckenridge
Countless stories have come from Grand Colorado on Peak 8 about Christian's dedication to Colorado-style hospitality. From driving guests in his own car to DIA during a snowstorm to giving a guest his shirt for a virtual board meeting, Christian's service to guests and the travel industry is unparalleled.
Halka Herd, Snowmass Village
Halka exemplifies the qualities of an executive housekeeper at Viceroy Snowmass and has been steadfast through the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. She has proven her ability to be agile in the ever changing landscape of regulations and process changes. Halka is a true leader. Halka possess such a positive rapport with her team. She is a practitioner of servant leadership. She can often be found cleaning and inspecting rooms and public areas along side her team. She is approachable and has an infectious positive attitude that has been a major asset during these difficult times. She is a joy to work with and truly personifies hospitality.
Logan Bartek, Glenwood Springs
Logan has been instrumental in developing the reservation system and operational plans for the Hanging Lake and Maroon Bells managed recreation areas. His uncanny understanding of visitors' needs and the resources available have made for an excellent visitor experience at two of Colorado's iconic landmarks. During the recent COVID-19 restrictions, he developed a social-distancing plan that still allowed for great customer service. His attention to detail and staff training allowed the visitor to still visit these remarkable areas, which received more than 150,000 visitors with no COVID-19-related cases among frontline staff or customer tracing.
Northwest Colorado Council of Governments
Economic Development District | www.nwccog.org/edd