SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo. Nov. 20, 2025—The 2025 summer season closed on Oct. 31 in better shape than it started and wrapped up with moderate gains in occupancy, rates, and seasonal revenue, according to the latest monthly Market Briefing from DestiMetrics, the business intelligence division of Inntopia. Winter bookings remain on a similar trajectory, though the economy and snowfall will have their usual impacts, DestiMetrics notes.

DestiMetrics data are drawn from lodging properties at 17 Western destinations across Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

The full summer season concluded with a 1.1 percent year-over-year increase in occupancy and daily rates up 2.7 percent. Revenue rose 3.8 percent, ahead of the annual inflation rate.

Bookings for arrivals in October through March were showing a very slight decline in booking pace of 0.1 percent for the whole period. Occupancy on-the-books for the full winter season, November through April, was down 0.4 percent compared to last winter, with ADR up 3.6 percent.

As of Oct. 31, the pre-Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas periods were looking strong, with a few exceptions. The Thanksgiving holiday period from Nov. 21 to Dec. 5 was up 1.6 percent, while pre-Christmas arrivals from Dec. 15-23 showed gains on all days. On the downside, arrivals on Dec. 26, 27, and 28 were down appreciably, with softness in the post-New Year's period as well.

While resorts are poised for "a good start," according to Tom Foley, director of business intelligence for Inntopia, "there is no question that the economic ‘wild card’ has the potential to be wilder than usual this season.”

Length of stay elongated during October to the longest for that month since 2021—up to 2.18 nights from 2.1 nights one year ago. Foley pointed out that “longer stays are not only a revenue win for properties but help the bottom line, as the interval between room cleaning and maintenance is longer.”

Another positive sign: Average daily rate strengthened over the last month, increasing from a modest 2.3 percent year-over-year gain at the end of September to the sturdier 3.6 percent gain as of Oct. 31.

International winter demand is mixed by market, as trade and political policies continue to have a negative impact on international bookings at mountain resorts. Bookings from Canada, the largest group of international visitors, were down 52.9 percent year-over-year as they have been for most of the last six months, with no sign of changing. Bookings from Mexico are up 35 percent and Western Europe 9.6 percent, while bookings from Australia and New Zealand are down 28.4 percent.