Winter tourism numbers up
TTB: Region poised for best year since 2007-08
By Heather Sackett
Associate Editor
Despite snowfall that is still lagging behind average, officials in Telluride’s tourism industry are reporting that winter numbers are up.
Although December was slow, owner and chef of Cosmopolitan Chad Scothorn said sales for the months of January, February and March are all up — by double digits.
“I know our biggest increase was January, so I don’t think you can blame the snow,” Scothorn said.
According to the Telluride Ski Resort website, the average yearly snowfall is 309 inches per year. As of Friday, the resort had accumulated 199 inches.
Although December was slow, owner and chef of Cosmopolitan Chad Scothorn said sales for the months of January, February and March are all up — by double digits.
“I know our biggest increase was January, so I don’t think you can blame the snow,” Scothorn said.
According to the Telluride Ski Resort website, the average yearly snowfall is 309 inches per year. As of Friday, the resort had accumulated 199 inches.
Part of the increase at Cosmo is attributed to an additional 10 seats the restaurant added this season, bumping the capacity up from 80 to 90. But Scothorn, who was part of the team that opened the restaurant 18 years ago, wouldn’t be adding seats if he wasn’t confident that business was good. He plans on adding another 20 seats before the summer season.
“Added seats means I’m very optimistic,” he said.
Kristin Holbrook, owner of Colorado Avenue women’s clothing boutique Two Skirts, said winter business has been up for her too, compared with last year. Unlike Scothorn, Holbrook said February’s snow played a role.
“It’s way up from last year because of our snow conditions,” Holbrook said. “Definitely February was up, and I’m blaming it on the snow. March is looking up as well.”
Numbers compiled by the Telluride Tourism Board corroborate the story. So far for 2013, total sales taxes in Mountain Village are up 36 percent over the same time frame in 2012, according to TTB CEO Michael Martelon. Telluride’s sales taxes on the year so far are up 15 percent over 2012.
With the stagnant economy of the Great Recession slowly creaking back to life, Martelon said the area is poised for its best winter season since 2007-08. And it’s not just the Telluride Ski Resort that is driving the trend, Martelon said.
“Another interesting tidbit is that we turned into a European destination when no one was looking,” Martelon said. “We are seeing a lot of visitors come to town and ski three days instead of five and bring people who don’t ski at all. People are choosing to go snowshoeing or Nordic skiing or just hanging out in town and that is the European way of life.”
Martelton said occupancy rates for February were up 12.5 percent over last year, March is pacing up about nine points and bookings for April are up about one point. TTB has set the goal of reaching 50 percent occupancy rates during the busy summer and winter seasons over the next three to five years. If future years keep growing like this one, it won’t take long.
“It’s possible we could end the season at 46 percent occupancy,” Martelon said. “We were at 41.5 percent last year. We are such a small destination that 4.5 points is huge … If we jumped the same amount of points next year as we did this year, we would be at 50 percent next year.”
Telluride Ski and Golf Executive Vice President Jim Mikula said this year has been tough, but still better than last year. While he did not have specific numbers, Mikula said this week especially is up over the same week in 2012. Season pass holder skier days were a little higher than were destination skier days, he said.
“As an aggregate, we are pacing a little ahead of last year,” Mikula said. “We are doing better but haven’t gotten over the hurdle to make all of our businesses more viable.”
According to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP), which compiles data from about 260 property management companies in 16 mountain destinations including some in Colorado, February 2013 occupancy was up 14.2 percent compared to last February.
“Added seats means I’m very optimistic,” he said.
Kristin Holbrook, owner of Colorado Avenue women’s clothing boutique Two Skirts, said winter business has been up for her too, compared with last year. Unlike Scothorn, Holbrook said February’s snow played a role.
“It’s way up from last year because of our snow conditions,” Holbrook said. “Definitely February was up, and I’m blaming it on the snow. March is looking up as well.”
Numbers compiled by the Telluride Tourism Board corroborate the story. So far for 2013, total sales taxes in Mountain Village are up 36 percent over the same time frame in 2012, according to TTB CEO Michael Martelon. Telluride’s sales taxes on the year so far are up 15 percent over 2012.
With the stagnant economy of the Great Recession slowly creaking back to life, Martelon said the area is poised for its best winter season since 2007-08. And it’s not just the Telluride Ski Resort that is driving the trend, Martelon said.
“Another interesting tidbit is that we turned into a European destination when no one was looking,” Martelon said. “We are seeing a lot of visitors come to town and ski three days instead of five and bring people who don’t ski at all. People are choosing to go snowshoeing or Nordic skiing or just hanging out in town and that is the European way of life.”
Martelton said occupancy rates for February were up 12.5 percent over last year, March is pacing up about nine points and bookings for April are up about one point. TTB has set the goal of reaching 50 percent occupancy rates during the busy summer and winter seasons over the next three to five years. If future years keep growing like this one, it won’t take long.
“It’s possible we could end the season at 46 percent occupancy,” Martelon said. “We were at 41.5 percent last year. We are such a small destination that 4.5 points is huge … If we jumped the same amount of points next year as we did this year, we would be at 50 percent next year.”
Telluride Ski and Golf Executive Vice President Jim Mikula said this year has been tough, but still better than last year. While he did not have specific numbers, Mikula said this week especially is up over the same week in 2012. Season pass holder skier days were a little higher than were destination skier days, he said.
“As an aggregate, we are pacing a little ahead of last year,” Mikula said. “We are doing better but haven’t gotten over the hurdle to make all of our businesses more viable.”
According to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP), which compiles data from about 260 property management companies in 16 mountain destinations including some in Colorado, February 2013 occupancy was up 14.2 percent compared to last February.
For more information on this or Telluride real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970-728-6655, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or visit www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.
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