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Photos: Mascots celebrate Colorado tourism at Discover Colorado Rally

What does it look like when a bunch of mascots converge on the Capitol steps? Kinda goofy. That's what happened at today's Discover Colorado Rally, a yearly meetup that could be summed up in two words: "Yay, tourism!" Grown-ups dressed as sharks and bears listened as officials rattled off statistics...
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What does it look like when a bunch of mascots converge on the Capitol steps? Kinda goofy. That's what happened at today's Discover Colorado Rally, a yearly meetup that could be summed up in two words: "Yay, tourism!" Grown-ups dressed as sharks and bears listened as officials rattled off statistics (tourism creates 138,000 jobs in Colorado!). Then things got silly.

But first, Al White, the director of the Colorado Tourism Office, said he's expecting a great summer. Colorado has a stunning new tourism campaign called "Come to Life" that officials are hoping will draw more vacationers to the Centennial State. And there's other good news, too: Lawmakers have infused the tourism office's budget with more cash. Next year's budget will be $13.3 million, White says, which is $1.3 million more than this year.

After the official speeches, it was time to take pictures. Dinger, the Rockies' mascot, was the ringleader, beckoning the others to gather on the Capitol steps for a photo-op. Someone holding a camera shouted, "Everybody say, 'Colorado tourism!" Then she remembered a crucial detail. "Oh," she added, "they can't talk."

See the photos below, complete with a special appearance by a weird blur on our camera lens. It was sunny, not foggy -- really!

Page down for more photos. Keep paging down for even more photos. More from our Business archive: "Colorado tourism industry needs truthier mascots: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario."

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