‘It gives a chance to showcase what makes each area special’: Colorado digital passport to release this summer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Beautiful Colorado holds various hidden gems all around, it’s just about finding them. As the state prepares to celebrate its 150th birthday in the next year, along with the nation’s, the America 250 - Colorado 150 Commission has a special way for residents and visitors to celebrate.

In the summer of 2025, the commission will be launching a digital passport.

“The passport was brought about because there’s a lot of places that are to be seen in Colorado,” Co-Chair of the 250-150 Commission and Director of the Colorado Tourist Office, Timothy Wolfe, explains. “This gives us a way or a platform to be able to share those different and unique experiences across the entire state... There’ll be various types of passports. For example, one passport could be arts and culture, and so that will include museums and different types of activities in and around the state. The one thing that we know for sure... is that we’ll have at least one type of experience in every single county in the state of Colorado.”

Other passport experiences could include local businesses, outdoor activities and parks, events and more.

“A lot of times our focus from the tourism office is bringing guests in from other parts of the country and also internationally,” Wolfe said. “But, this is our chance to also highlight things to various communities in Colorado... Sometimes when you live in the state, you don’t realize all of the special experiences that you have around... So, this is really going to help showcase that and really help you connect. A lot of us travel to other places for these things, but you know what? We have an amazing backyard of experiences right here in our own state to be able to do that, and this is going to help showcase that, as well as our communities.”

Based on each passport, there will be certain locations set up for users to visit based on a county. Once a user visits that location, and for some, that’s completing a challenge, users can collect digital stamps where there’s an opportunity for different prizes or incentives.

The commission tells 11 News the passport is still in the works.

“We’ve identified some of the passports, the topics of the passports, and we’re slowly starting to reach out to communities to say, ‘okay, here’s what we’re thinking of, here’s our release,’” Wolfe said. “It’s really in the infancy stage, and then the commission will review the total package of these different experiences, and then we’ll start rolling them out.”

The 250-150 Commission says their partnership with United Airlines has helped bring the passport to the forefront. The first passport will be out by July or August at the latest, and will then continue throughout the year and into 2026. The commission will decide participants based on applications.

Digital passports will be available through the myColorado app and Colorado.com. The 250-150 Commission told 11 News that their website is a great resource for more information in the coming months. There, you can sign up for their newsletter.