Colorado tourism officials are launching a new drive to encourage visitors to visit areas affected by wildfires, including Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.

Called the “Colorado Pledge,” the Tourism Industry Association of Colorado and the Colorado Association of Destination Marketing Organizations will post the pledge at areas around the state, asking visitors to seek out attractions, hotels and restaurants in tourism-dependent areas that have been hard-hit by the closures and evacuations that came with the Waldo Canyon and High Park fires.

Many of the Pikes Peak area’s most popular destinations were shut down during what’s normally the busiest weekends of the summer, said Michele Starling, executive director of the Pikes Peak Country Attractions Association. Those financial losses aren’t as tough as the emotional blows for people that have lost their homes, she said, but it will be tough for her members to recover from.

“Certainly seeing business drop anywhere from 40 to 50 percent in prime summer season is going to hurt and the recovery is a little slower than we’d like to see,” Starling said. “There are people here, but it’s not what you would expect to see in the middle of July — it’s more like pre-season than prime season.”

Doug Price, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that during the Waldo Canyon fire, the CVB was playing defense, but that it plans to ramp up its outreach efforts now that the fire is contained.

“Our job is to let them know we are still open for business,” Price said.

The destruction of the Flying W Ranch, a popular dinner destination for large groups, is a blow, Price said. But all of the city’s other attractions have now reopened.

“We will come out of this, I hope, stronger as a community and our natural assets, I hope, stronger than ever,” Price said. “But it’s going to take some time.”

Starling said local tourism businesses are considering additional advertising, but many have already spent their budgets. For now, she hopes the Colorado pledge will take root on Facebook and Twitter and help visitors see that Colorado Springs is open for business.

“We lost a lot of momentum,” Starling said. “We were doing great, everyone was feeling really good about the summer.”

With Colorado children headed back to school in mid-August, there’s a short window for a turnaround. The saving grace, Starling said, is that people plan vacations on a shorter time frame than they used to.

“People do not plan the way they used to, where six months ahead you had all your reservations made,” she said.