New Data Suggests Potential Record Year in West

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18 November 2013

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., November 18, 2013--Bookings and occupancy figures continue their summer and fall growth patterns and with nearly half of all bookings already made for the upcoming winter, the mountain lodging industry in the western U.S. is in a position to post record-breaking numbers according to the most recent data released by DestiMetrics.

On-the-books occupancy for November through April is up 8.7 percent compared to the same time last year and revenues are up 14 percent. According to the monthly data that represents reservation activity through October 31, 47 percent of all of last year's total room nights are already on the books for the 2013-14 season—taken before the majority of destination resorts had opened. Increases are being posted in each of the ski season months beginning in November with a 7.1 percent increase in on-the-books occupancy compared to last November.

Although optimism for the coming season is high, the DestriMetrics team still offers a cautionary note, acknowledging that despite the good early pace for bookings, it is still very early in the season with snowfall and political squabbles over the debt ceiling debate in Washington D.C. in January having the potential to impact the travel plans of destination skiers and snowboarders.

Results from the forward-looking data are aggregated from mountain lodging properties in six western states to track the impact of destination visitors on tourism economies.

“Both the past summer and forthcoming winter show gains on both occupancy and rate in every month; good individually and consistently better than the past. Only recently have we seen this kind of consistent growth of the overall western mountain resort aggregated,” explains Ralf Garrison, DestiMetrics' director. “More importantly, that strong summer finish surpasses previous record highs initially set during the pre-recession summer of 2008 and surpassed in 2012 at many destinations. And, winter business is currently on pace for the previous highs posted in 2007-08,” he adds.