Rested and ready! After a solid ski season and a pause to refresh, Park City is set to welcome summer 2025, and indicators are trending positive.
Hotel occupancy, the most reliable indicator of local economic activity, is up 15 percent in June compared to last year, with the average daily room rate up by 1 percent to $374. July also looks promising, with occupancy up 5 percent and the average daily rate rising 2 percent to $392.
A few developments help explain why we’re an attractive destination this summer. Nationally, consumer confidence is skyrocketing. CNBC recently reported May’s Consumer Confidence Index leaped to 98.0, up 12.3 points from April. Travel and Tour World says the United States is “witnessing one of the busiest travel periods in years. … Tourism dollars are boosting local businesses, from boutique shops to restaurants.”
This recent shift in confidence and travel trends surprised me a bit, given the last few months of shifts and uncertainty.
Locally, Park City Mountain and Deer Valley are offering strong summer programs starting this month. Woodward is open year-round, and Utah Olympic Park is a local and visitor favorite in the warm-weather months, too. The chamber’s Mountainkind summer messaging is in full swing, using a light touch to put sustainable, responsible visitation squarely in the spotlight.
In breezy Park City style, travelers are gently merged with our values of kindness and respect, setting behavioral expectations and instilling the ethos for future visits. It’s the kind of lifestyle education that in our recent community survey, 85 percent of Parkites said is crucial.
Speaking of lifestyle, not all Parkites know the high-end amenities and public services we enjoy as a result of our $2.2 billion tourism industry are largely covered by taxes paid by our warm-weather guests and winter visitors. Visitor generated taxes help pay for our transit system, open space, local arts, culture and recreation opportunities — and much more.
Visitors pay 65 percent of the freight. Without their tax dollars, each Summit County household would face an additional $18,088 annual tax burden, according to last year’s Tourism Economic Impact Study by Tourism Economics (an Oxford Economics Company).
A strong summer season also helps Park City achieve a year-round sustainable economy benefiting workers and our businesses since most, including our resorts, no longer need to shut down for extended periods.
Even as we welcome summer, we’re looking ahead. Chamber partners are selecting new board members this month and setting new fiscal year 2026 goals. In an increasingly complex, interconnected landscape, we will continue building local pride and respect for the Park City experience (78 percent of Summit County residents say they are proud to live here, a higher percentage than the Western regional and national averages), equalize the benefits while managing the impacts of tourism, leverage our programs to accelerate sustainable tourism, and add value for our partners with expanded marketing, networking and professional education.
Park City, like the world, is dealing with economic dynamics, social pressures, growth imperatives, artificial intelligence and development choices at a level never before seen. We’ll be relying on our characteristic patience, vision, empathy, humor and cooperation as we navigate toward our goals together.
It’s the Mountainkind way, after all.
Jennifer Wesselhoff is the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.