The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Low snow and drought add up
by Katherine Nettles
In a Gunnison County Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP) update to county commissioners last month, TAPP leaders shared Local Marketing District (LMD) predictions, marketing updates and updates on its economic development collaborations around the valley.
First, TAPP executive director Andrew Sandstrom reviewed the winter tourism performance, summer projections and current focuses of TAPP’s marketing team.
Winter hangover, summer rebound potential
While the low snow year hadn’t appeared to make a big dent in visitation in early to mid-winter, that trend did not hold as the winter went on. LMD revenue declines from the year prior climbed from 2% in November, then 5.1% in December, 5.4% in January, and 6.9% in February. “In March we kind of fell out of bed,” said Sandstrom, reviewing that LMD revenues plummeted by 26.5% that month compared to 2025. TAPP is projecting LMD numbers will be down overall in 2026 by 3.5% to 7.5%. That would amount to between $140,000 and $285,000 less in collections.
With that in mind, TAPP identified goals to minimize impacts where possible. Sandstrom said this includes minimizing flight minimum revenue guarantees (MRGs) for Gunnison Crested Butte Airport (GUC), growing lodging revenues over last year, aiming to grow shoulder seasons “to ease the boom and bust of summer tourism,” and boosting visitation to the south end of the valley, while driving more visitors to use lodging over camping options.
Sandstrom said TAPP marketing will continue integrating environmental stewardship messaging into all outreach content.
TAPP marketing director Katie Mooney described the campaign TAPP launched in early spring for the non-snow seasons, which focuses on fishing, gravel biking adventures, events, brand/influencer partnerships and managing expectations around current drought conditions. The campaign to turn campers into lodging guests began in June.
WCU collaborations
Sandstrom said the Western Colorado University/Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) collaboration efforts have started to gain traction, with classroom integration from WCU to real world experience at RMBL. This supports recruitment efforts among both organizations and ongoing funding opportunities.
“At RMBL they are beginning to work with the Center for Public Lands using AI to count trail users,” he said. He also mentioned how RMBL researchers are teaching at Western, and Western students are working at RMBL. There is also a collaboration between WCU athletes and TAPP, as TAPP aims to incorporate WCU more into its marketing to help promote growth of the university and its economic impact on the valley.
Sandstrom said TAPP is trying to decide how to evolve the co-working space at ICELab, and to grow the Hub (which officially opened in March to give local businesses warehouse space) to a break-even point. Other ICELab goals are to continue building up its investor networks and building the Gunnison Valley brand and locally made goods through the outdoor industry and trade shows.
“What goes on here this summer will be very interesting,” said Sandstrom of overall LMD outlooks. He noted that many factors, from gas prices to the question of wildfire, could affect visitation.
