Even with Christmas and New Years falling on a Sunday, hotel operators still experienced a strong two week period over, New Year’s week especially. Don’t wait to book your next telluride visit and let me help if I can. Dan Henschel, Real Estate, Telluride….. Enjoy the read:
Occupancy rates, hotel prices higher than last year
Ski season expected bring in more revenue
Posted: Friday, January 27, 2017 5:32 pm | By Jessica Kutz, Staff Reporter
There was plenty of reason to jeer and cheer at hotel occupancy rates this year.
With two of the biggest holidays of the year, Christmas and New Year’s falling on a Sunday, hotels saw a dip and then a spike in occupancy.
Tom Foley, the director of operations for DestiMetrics — a Denver-based company that tracks western resort trends — said although occupancy rates tend to be lower when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, “New Year’s is the exact opposite.”
In Telluride, occupancy was at about 65-75 percent on Christmas Eve, and between 90-100 percent for New Year’s Eve, according to Michael Martelon, President and CEO of the Telluride Tourism Board. Martelon said those numbers only reflect managed bookings and do not include sites like Airbnb.
“New Year’s Eve was up very strongly over last year and it was the strongest New Year’s in quite some time.” Foley said. “That really is the weekend coming into play.”
Foley added: “People can go out Saturday night and then recover Sunday or Monday if they have the day off.”
“(It is) a slightly evil twist of fate that those two holidays are not likely to both perform strongly in the same year,” he said.
Foley said when Christmas day falls on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, it is historically better for bookings.
“Christmas can be a boom or bust depending on when it falls,” he added.
Overall for the month of December, occupancy rates only increased 1-2 percent across western resorts, Foley said.
“Occupancy is gaining at a slower rate than it did last year,” he said.
Telluride managed bookings were at 40 percent occupancy rates compared to 39 percent last year, Martelon said.
Despite the slim percentage increase, Foley said resorts are projected to have a reasonable revenue gain over last year, thanks to an increase in the average daily room rates in December.
“Rates have been rising faster than occupancies for some time, creating overall higher revenues for lodging properties, but not many more visitors,” Ralf Garrison, Director of DestiMetrics, said in a news release.
In Telluride, the average daily rate increased by 7 percent from $556 to $596 for the month of December, Martelon said.
In comparison, Aspen had an average daily rate of $775 a night, according to a recent article in The Aspen Times.
Foley said the next big spikes in occupancy will occur around President’s Day weekend in February. He added that snowfall will likely play a factor in occupancy levels.
Overall, Martelon said, the 2016-17 ski season continues to be a unique one.
The late opening, the daily impact of the political climate on markets, the fact that Christmas and New Year’s fell on Sundays, the peculiarity of the winter storms, and the strong first half of December, he said, “have made it an exciting ride.”
Martelon said he anticipates that this season could be better than last year’s record.
When it comes to future occupancy rates, the company will be monitoring economic indicators “very closely” with “the uncertainty of a new administration in Washington D.C.,” according to a DestiMetrics news release.
“Concerns of an immediate post-election downturn appear to be unfounded for now,” the company added.