Tourism numbers showing improvement

“A good sign of things to come”

Now that the holiday rush is over, Crested Butte will see a lot less action during the first weeks of the New Year, but not much less than the first weeks of 2008. Although the pace of airline bookings and local room reservations in January and February has dropped off somewhat from last year, by March things should pick back up.

Currently, overall airline bookings at the Gunnison/Crested Butte Regional Airport are pacing about 4 percent down in January compared to 2008, and 10 percent down in February, according to a report from airline consultant Kent Meyers.  Just a week ago the pace was over 8 percent down in January.  
“It was a very good booking month,” Meyers says of reservations made during the latter half of December.  “People realized the good snow was here and there were good promotions.  We’re not very far behind last year.”
Crested Butte Mountain Resort chief operating officer Ken Stone says the airline pace is looking pretty good, considering the national economic slump.
Lodging bookings at the resort are 9 percent down for January. But Stone also says (lodging) reservations at the resort have picked up considerably in the last few weeks.
Over at Crested Butte Lodging, assistant general manager Patrick Seaman says lodging reservations are 10 percent down across January, February and March. Seaman says January is on the lower end of the spectrum compared to the other two months. “For the whole first quarter we’re looking pretty good. We’re not quite on pace but we’re down slightly. February and March are definitely looking like stronger months. That’s a good sign of things to come,” Seaman says.
“January is going to be a tough month,” Stone admits.
“It’s going to be really soft the next two weeks until group business picks up… We’ll be stronger the second half of the month,” Stone says.
He says there are 25 groups on the books for January, including business conferences and college ski vacations.
While the overall pace of airline sales is down somewhat in January, some flights are doing better than others. The American Airlines flight from Dallas is down about 900 passengers in January, and the United Express flight from Denver is down 175 seats.
However, Stone says, that difference is being made up by new airline service to Chicago on American Airlines, and service to Atlanta and Salt Lake City on Delta Airlines. Between the Chicago, Atlanta and Salt Lake City flights, there are over 800 additional seats sold through January.
The Salt Lake City flight is hurting for passengers, but Stone says CBMR and the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority expected that numbers on this connecting flight would be low. Currently the flight from Salt Lake City is only 17 percent full in January, and 13 percent full in February.
“You’re not going to find many people willing to fly over from Salt Lake to go skiing, as opposed to a market like Dallas… All the traffic is generated beyond the hub,” Meyers says.
However, Stone says the load factors on this flight are skewed somewhat, because Delta is providing a larger plane than CBMR and the RTA originally agreed to. Delta upgraded the service to a larger plane at no extra charge. Despite the low numbers, Stone says, the Salt Lake City flight is important to have.
“I think it’s going to be a vital hub for us in the future,” Stone says. “In order for us to open up the West Coast, it is an investment we had to make.”
Stone says CBMR is doing everything possible to improve numbers on the Salt Lake City flight, including an offer of free lift tickets for anyone who flies through the city.
Aside from the national economy, Stone says another factor impacting business is snow. Last season Crested Butte was getting more snow than other resorts. This season, nearly all the resorts in Colorado are seeing heavy snowfall, “so the market share gets spread out,” he says.
Resorts in New Mexico are also getting bombarded with good snow, and Stone says that’s having an effect on potential drive-market vacationers.
But further down the line, both Stone and Patrick agree that February and March are shaping up to be strong months.
Stone says lodging reservations are up 10 percent in February, due to strong group sales.
Both companies are sending out special deals to entice more skiers to visit the area. Crested Butte Lodging is offering 25 percent off all lodging for the rest of the ski season.
Both companies are also seeing short lead times for reservations. “People are booking very close in,” Stone says. “The sense is if you book closer you’re going to get a better deal.”
“We’re finding shorter lead times and shorter stays,” Seaman says. “I think people are waiting for last-minute deals.”
Taking a look back to December, the holiday season was pretty busy in the Butte. Stone says the ski area was seeing 6,000 skiers a day for four straight days after Christmas—actually outpacing the number of skiers during the same time last year.  Airline ticket sales in December were a percent up over last year – an additional 44 seats sold.
With numbers up or down depending on the month, Meyers provides some insight. “I told somebody the other day that when it’s bad, it’s never as bad as people think it is. When its good, it’s never as good as people think it is. It’s always somewhere in between.”