If you were having a little trouble booking a Lake Tahoe room in January, it’s not surprising. According to Denver-based DestiMetrics, overall business at mountain destinations in the Rocky Mountain and Far West regions received a boost for winter bookings.
As of Jan. 31, actual aggregated occupancy from November through April is up 3.4 percent and revenues are up 4.7 percent compared to the same time last last winter.
“Although the uptick in business marks a turnaround for many of the destination ski resorts, economic volatility and weather shifts still have the potential to influence the remainder of the season,” explains Ralf Garrison, director of DestiMetrics and the Mountain Market Briefing report.
“The booking pace during the month of January for arrivals in January through the end of April was up 9.9 percent compared to last year and that big jump was likely driven primarily by local and regional visitors who tend to have shorter booking times than international and long-distance domestic visitors who seem to be experiencing some hesitancy based on global markets, currency exchange rates, and some dramatic weather across the US,” added Garrison
The month of January led the turnaround and finished with a 2.9 percent increase in occupancy for the month and a modest 1.8 percent increase in revenue compared to last year.
The Market Briefing also revealed that as of Jan. 31, 88.5 percent of the total nights booked for the 2014-15 winter season have already either been used or are “on-the-books” for the 2015-16 winter season. This is slightly ahead of the same time last year with seasonal revenue performing even better as 92.9 percent of the total revenue for the 2014-15 season is now booked.
The monthly Market Briefing monitors key economic indicators that have the potential to influence consumer spending. The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) moved up 1.8 points to 98.1 points despite negative news in the financial markets.
“Somewhat counter-intuitively, based on the CCI, consumers continue to feel good about the present economic situation and expressed greater confidence in the upcoming six months,” observes Tom Foley, director of operations for DestiMetrics. “Consumers don’t appear to be reacting negatively to recent financial market volatility as they are continuing to make discretionary spending purchases such as travel at the same pace as in recent months.”
DestiMetrics tracks resort performance in mountain destinations, compiling forward-looking reservation data on a monthly basis and aggregating and reporting the results to subscribers at participating resorts. Data for western resorts is derived from a sample of approximately 290 property management companies in 19 mountain destination communities, representing approximately 27,500 rooms across Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming and may not reflect the entire mountain destination travel industry. Results may vary significantly among/between resorts and participating properties.
Jeffrey Weidel can be reached at skiweidel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffweidel and visit his website at www.tahoeskiworld.com.
