Trying to read the tea leaves of summer tourism

Talk about a good news/bad news situation.
The Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce held a panel discussion last Thursday. The topic was a cheery “What to expect as far as tourism this summer in the valley.” Ouch.
The bad news first: Matt MacDonald of Crested Butte Lodging informed the three dozen people in the room that as of now, reservations are tracking 15 percent to 20 percent down from last year. June and even July are looking lean.
Marchitelli’s Bayou in the Butte Swamp Fest is off the docket for June. There will be no mushroom festival in August or Colorado 400 dirt biker group in September. The lack of these events will impact tourism numbers in a bad way. While not a fully developed picture, the snapshot is looking dark.
MacDonald did say that given the current state of the national economy, people are booking trips closer to the actual time of taking a vacation, so the numbers can pop back up. But they are taking shorter vacations and they aren’t afraid to ask for deals. McDonald said Crested Butte Lodging isn’t afraid to give some deals.
Over at CBMR, the resort’s doctor of numbers, Jeff Moffett, says June through August is looking down but not out. The latest numbers have rooms booked for June, July and August off from 2008, but only by 5 percent.
More bad news; Pretty much every area non-profit organization is getting financially hurt. More organizations are vying for fewer grants. There are fewer business sponsorships and fewer donations. These non-profits help put on a lot of the summer events and provide activities. The Alpenglow through the Center for the Arts, the Crested Butte Music Festival, the Mountain Theatre, and the Museum are all hurting.

Now the good news; The Bicycle Tour of Colorado will bring in thousands of people to Crested Butte in late June for two nights. Ride the Rockies touches Gunnison in mid-June. The Chamber is working hard to give back some panache to Fat Tire Bike Week. A new “Fat Tire 40” bike race is in the works. Live music will be a draw. They are in touch with bike shops around the Front Range.
CBMR’s Moffett says there will be four flights a day into the Gunnison airport instead of last summer’s two. The resort is hoping to make Mt. Crested Butte more of a vacation destination with the Adventure Park, more mountain bike trails and live music on the mountain. “We rely heavily on groups and conferences in the summer,” Moffett said. “That’s where our summer marketing focus is. We are also trying to increase an Internet presence on the leisure side.” Moffett said CBMR is willing to be flexible when dealing with potential customers but more in terms of adding value to a vacation.
Jane Cheney of the Tourism Association said the organization is doing more web marketing. Nice. They have new website, stimulusvacation.com, that highlights free things and “value-added” deals in Gunnison and Crested Butte. Their new ad campaign is geared to “lift Gunnison-Crested Butte out of all the advertising clutter from resorts.” It is a fun “frivolous” look.
Of the $730,000 the Tourism Association spends a year in marketing the area, half is spent on winter promotion and the other half is spent for the rest of the year. Cheney said international visitors are also starting to put this area on their radar.
More good news; The Crested Butte Land Trust wine and food festival is being expanded and there will be big events on the mountain and in Crested Butte. CBMR and the Tourism Association are being nimble and realizing the attraction of “stay-cations.” They are focusing some summer marketing dollars in Colorado and other drive-markets.

One other take-away from the meeting; Longtime Le Bosque Restaurant owner Candy Shepard asked an oft-heard question. Can any of the new summer events be held at a time other than July? July is not a problem. July is busy. Late June, mid-August into September is what could use some help. She is right.

People are trying. No one really can predict with any certainty what the tea leaves are saying. But as we hit the early summer season, it appears there is a real effort being made to make the best of a shaky situation…