Memories of winter 2010/11’s epic snow conditions appear to have helped carry North American ski resorts through this winter with relatively mild declines in occupancy, according to preliminary end-of-season data released by Denver-based Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP).
MTRiP reported below average snowfall and snowpack combined with record-breaking warm temperatures led to a 3.9 percent decline in actual occupancy at western mountain destinations during March compared to the same month last year. Similar declines were recorded for the season-to-date as of March 31.
“With fresh memories of last year’s exceptional snow conditions and the overall improvements in the economy, many guests made advance reservations creating strong early season momentum that held through December, but then lost pace,” explained Ralf Garrison, director of MTRiP. “Pure destination guests, led by international visitors held up the best while the local and regional skiers and boarders were more fickle and made fewer trips to the slopes.
“As a result,” Garrison continued, “destinations catering to multi-night visitors who book well in advance fared better than the resorts that are more dependent on regional and short-stay guests and the disparity among the various resorts is more pronounced this year.”
In his presentation during the Mountain Travel Symposium in Squaw Valley last week, Garrison said that MTRiP’s lodging data point toward solid growth in bookings for the spring and summer season. As of March 31, on-the-books occupancy is up 10.1 percent for arrivals in April-September with every month but April up compared to the same time last year. Those numbers could decline as guests cancel reservations.
MTRiP data is derived from a sample of 265 property management companies in 16 mountain destination communities representing 24,000 rooms across Colorado, Utah, California and Oregon and may not reflect the entire mountain destination travel industry.
