As of February 29, most winter reservations are “on the books” and we have a good idea how our tourism industry will fair for the winter season.

The latest DestiMetrics reports were released today (March 9th), with February results showing lodging occupancy decreases in the core resort areas and moderate growth in outlying areas. February decreases can be attributed in part due to lack of snowfall to help drive last minute bookings (http://www.vaildaily.com/news/21020456-113/february-had-least-snowfall-in-30-years), a somewhat expected decline due to the World Championships last year, and macro economic issues such as the cost of the dollar which likely has impacted international visitation this winter.

Looking ahead, March occupancy varies quite a bit with Vail occupancy pacing down and Beaver Creek/Avon pacing ahead of last year. The key spring break week will be March 19-26 with large year-over-year increases this week due to the Easter holiday schedule. April occupancies are down across the board due to the shift in timing of the holiday. It is still early, but there is cause for optimism for the summer season as valley-wide occupancies are up year-over-year. With available data through February 29, summer booking strength can be attributed to group business as well as repeat visitation. Summer booking trends tend to be more “last minute” than winter and it’s too early to read too much into current increases in lodging occupancy.

Links of Interest:

• Strong dollar brings pain to Colorado mountain resorts (Denver Post)
• A look inside real AirBnB data (Hotel News Now)
• Reservations will not match last year (Vail Daily)
• Survey says once you try AirBnB, you don’t go back to hotels (The Motley Fool)

Data compiled by DestiMetrics