This summer, the Sundance Film Festival named Boulder a finalist for its next permanent home, an exciting announcement that could continue to fuel our state’s tourism industry. While Sundance could lead to tens of millions of dollars in economic impact, the success of the festival — and of Colorado tourism more generally — relies on visitors being able to afford to travel. Congress, however, is considering legislation that would make paying for a trip significantly more difficult.

Traveling can be expensive. When it comes to the high costs of airfare, hotel rooms, rental cars and meals, many families save up for months, if not years, to pay for that special vacation. Many of us tourists have come to rely on credit card rewards to help pay for their travel. A recent survey from the U.S. Tourism Economy Alliance found that 74% of people with rewards credit cards have used rewards to pay for travel experiences that they otherwise could not afford.

That is why I remain very concerned about the Durbin-Marshall credit card bill, which would gut funding for these popular reward programs by fundamentally changing the way credit card transactions are processed.

Credit card rewards are simple to earn. When consumers make a purchase, a small percentage of their transaction — usually 1-3% — goes towards an interchange cost. Banks use this money to protect transactions and secure customer data. They also use this money to fund popular programs that offer consumers airline miles, hotel points, cash back and more.

That money for rewards programs — made possible by interchange — would dry up under Durbin-Marshall. The bill allows corporate retailers to use cheaper, less tested and potentially less secure credit card networks that put consumer data and money at risk. Not only would consumers be more exposed to fraud, but the change would gut the funds that support credit card rewards that consumers know and love.

While big retailers claim that this legislation would lower prices for consumers, evidence suggests otherwise. When a similar law was passed for debit card transactions, prices actually increased on many items. At the same time, debit card rewards disappeared virtually overnight.

Colorado can’t afford to lose the tourism revenue that credit card rewards provide. After a drop in tourism during the pandemic, our state has come back stronger than ever. Just last year, more than 37 million visitors to Denver generated $10.3 billion in revenue, a record number. If we expect to land major tourism events like the Sundance Film Festival and continue to draw millions of visitors, we cannot afford legislation that would force many visitors to consider staying home.

Our state’s small businesses, employees in the tourism industry and local communities across Colorado all depend on travel fueled by credit card rewards. When consumers use credit card points to pay for core components of their trips — like airfare and hotel stays — they have more cash to spend on meals, shopping and experiences in places like Boulder, Denver and Breckenridge.

Credit card rewards are essential to keeping our state’s tourism industry growing and should be protected. On behalf of the thousands of small businesses across Colorado that rely on visitor spending, I’m urging U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennett to reject this harmful legislation.

Chris Renner is the Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Companies, a mountain lodging and tourism organization based in Breckenridge.