The tourism forecast is looking good for Park City this winter as ski season begins.
Many people are feeling safe enough to go on vacation.
The ski resorts’ preseason sales have out-performed pre-pandemic numbers.
And advance bookings for lodging are up at 52% for December through February, compared to a 40% average last winter for the same period, the first full winter of the coronavirus era.
Jennifer Wesselhoff, the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, said lodging occupancy is a good indicator of overall tourism performance.
“We know that folks who are spending the night are generally spending more money in the community and they’re eating out and they’re shopping,” Wesselhoff said.
Occupancy for the entire winter season — which is considered to be November through April — was 48% in 2018-19, 41% in 2019-20 and 38% in 2020-21.
Average occupancy for this entire winter season on the books, as of Nov. 30, is 37%. That figure is likely to rise throughout the winter as more people secure new lodging reservations.
A recent survey shows travel could be increasing in 2022.
“Heading into the holiday travel season, one-third of American travelers are now are saying COVID-19 no longer has any influence on their travel plans,” Wesselhoff said of the survey. “Overall demand is still really strong with almost 90% of American travelers indicating that they plan to travel in the next six months.”
She said people are realizing that those who are vaccinated can have a relatively safe vacation, especially if a lot of the activities they pursue are done outside.
“We’re really lucky in that we are attracting visitors who can be outside participating in what can be perceived as a pretty safe activity related to the pandemic,” Wesselhoff said.
Another positive trend is that half of the travelers surveyed said they are unlikely or definitely not traveling internationally in the next 12 months, she said.
“This really opens up some opportunity for us to capture some of that market share of people who are now traveling domestically instead of internationally,” Wesselhoff said.
To help get that market share, the Chamber/Bureau is launching a marketing campaign with a slogan that bills Park City as “winter’s favorite town.”
Wesselhoff said the campaign is focusing closer to home by targeting the drive market, which includes California, Colorado, Dallas and Phoenix. It also expands out to Chicago and New York “because those are good markets for us,” she said.
The target audience is high-end, affluent visitors who are 25 and older with a household income of more than $150,000 and who are active travelers and either a skier or a snowboarder.
While many Americans appear eager to put the pandemic behind them, the Chamber/Bureau is remaining hypervigilant regarding the coronavirus, Wesselhoff said. The organization is monitoring COVID case numbers in its target markets.
“We developed a threshold model where if cases get higher than our threshold, we turn our marketing off in those communities,” she said.
It also remains unclear how the emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant, which has sparked concern among public health officials and spooked financial markets, will affect tourism in the U.S. and around the globe. The U.S., for instance, is now requiring travelers from abroad to provide proof of a negative COVID test.
While much is still unknown about the transmissibility and severity of the variant, tourists could become more cautious if omicron becomes widespread and presents increased health risks.
The Chamber/Bureau’s marketing materials include information on COVID protocols and how to visit safely, Wesselhoff said.
“We’re trying to communicate the importance of being a responsible visitor to protect not only themselves but also protect us and the community,” Wesselhoff said.