Squaw Valley, CA – Below average snowfall and snowpack combined with record-breaking warm temperatures led to a 3.9 percent decline in actual occupancy at ski resort destinations across Colorado, Utah, California and Oregon during March compared to the same month last year. Similar declines were recorded for the season-to-date as of March 31. Overall occupancy for the past winter posted a 2.3 decrease. The Average Daily Rate (ADR) was up 1.7 percent in March compared to last year and is currently up 4.8 percent for winter 2011-12 (November through April) compared to the previous season.
The results were released today during the 37th annual Mountain Travel Symposium at Squaw Valley by the Denver-based Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). The organization tracks reservations and occupancy at lodging properties in 16 western mountain destinations.
“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, 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,” he added.
MTRiP also collects data on the upcoming six months of lodging data. This month’s report revealed that early booking patterns for the next six months look promising for mountain destinations. As of March 31, on-the-books occupancy is up 10.1 percent for arrivals in April-September with every month but April currently up compared to the same time last year.
The report provides a review of key economic indicators and an assessment of their impact on mountain lodging. As of March 31, the Dow Jones was up for the sixth consecutive month and remained near but above 13,000 points for the second half of the month. An Unemployment Rate of 8.2 percent was pegged as both good and bad news because although the rate declined slightly for the sixth consecutive month, fewer jobs than expected were added to payrolls. The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) declined two percent from February but remained 10 percent higher than one year ago. The monthly briefing cited a 0.4 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index and a 2.6 rise in the Travel Price Index (TPI) with rising fuel prices cited as the primary culprit.
“Although increased prices in the travel industry are outpacing increases in the cost of living, the real economic focus this month is the decline in the number of new jobs created,” noted Tom Foley, operations director for MTRiP. “With consumer confidence tied so closely to the job market, we look for more job creation and further declines in unemployment to solidify the CCI above the 70 point level.”
The report acknowledges that the ADR increases were supported by a “snow hangover” from last season and a steadily improving economy that mitigated the financial impact of fewer mountain visitors this season.
“One of the notable features of this month’s briefing is the consistent gain in rate across a majority of MTRiP’s destinations this winter season, despite occupancy losses due to less-than-optimal conditions,” said Garrison. “Those figures are a nod to the quality of mountain lodging products and some savvy marketing but mountain destinations cannot depend on the return of this year’s winter guests so destinations will need to have some strategic discussions about their offerings for next year,” he cautioned.