The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Fewer air passengers, more drivers…more people, less lodging tax
By Mark Reaman
As it seems spring in the valley won’t let go with cool temperatures and consistent precipitation, summer is coming faster than you might expect and it appears we could see a jump in visitor numbers from 2022, at least for the beginning of the summer season. The summer wedding business kicked into high gear last weekend and the Fourth of July holiday is only a few weeks away.
Last year, summer was recorded as being pretty slow with numbers down almost 20% from 2021, which was a heavy summer experience in terms of people visiting the valley. Summer 2022 was even down almost 10% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Initial estimates project that 2023 will draw in visitor numbers similar to 2019 from June to September so it will be busier than last summer.
Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP) marketing director Andrew Sandstrom said based on expected lodging occupancy data and flight information, it appears there will be a bump in tourism over last summer, but lodging revenue might decrease as lodge owners and short-term rental owners have lowered their rates compared to 2022.
“Compared to this same time last year occupancy numbers look to be up about 14%. Most of that at the moment is focused on June and July while August and September reservations look lean compared to a year ago. That is where we are pacing behind,” he said. “Generally, we expect to see more people but experience a decrease in lodging tax of about 3% when all is said and done.”
Sandstrom explained that between 2019 and 2022 the average daily rate for a room rental increased 52%. Compared to last year, the rates have been lowered about 15% so it is cheaper to rent a room in the valley now than it was a year ago.
“Compared to other mountain towns in the Rockies, our lodges have dropped their rates the most,” he explained. “There has been some decrease in other resort communities, but most are under 10% while ours is averaging 15%.”
“Lodges everywhere, including here, are trying to hold the rates from the pandemic when we all saw a major increase in visitors, but price impacts the number of rooms that get filled and area rooms are more affordable this year than last,” said Sandstrom.
Another trend that seems to be on the rise is that the booking window is shortening. People seem more willing to make last minute plans. Sandstrom said in 2022 people planned ahead and settled their plans. At the same time, the drive market slowed down as people in Denver, for example, chose to stay closer to home with more things opening up such as Red Rocks concerts and Colorado Rockies ball games.
“It is our hope that we can reverse the trend from last year where the last minute bookings didn’t happen,” he said. “We hope more people will drive up here to the mountains from places like the Front Range.”
As for flights coming into the Gunnison-Crested Butte airport, Sandstrom explained that there are fewer seats coming in this summer compared to last. “Total capacity has decreased so while the load factors are increasing, the total number of passengers flying in will be less,” he said. “We are currently down about 1,200 air passengers this summer compared to last. So given all the data, the logical conclusion is that we will see more people here this summer than last, and many more will be driving here than flying.”
The start of summer is ramping up with more people heading into the valley. The urban landscape will soon change for summer as outdoor seating parklets on Elk Avenue are being set this week and will open for dining on Thursday, June 15. Here we go…
