Another record summer for Telluride occupancy
September occupancy down, average daily rate up
By Heather Sackett
Associate Editor
Telluride had another record summer lodging season, with the June through September core season inching ever closer to the 50 percent occupancy goal set by Telluride Tourism Board CEO Michael Martelon.
The data, compiled by DestiMetrics, shows a 2.7 percent occupancy rate increase over last summer, bringing the 2013 occupancy rate to 49.7 percent. June was up five points (12 percent), probably due to the Ride the Rockies event starting in Telluride, Martelon said. July was up four points (7 percent) and August was up one point (2 percent).
Had September’s occupancy not been down compared with last year, the region surely would have surpassed 50 percent occupancy for the core summer season. Martelon attributed the 2.3 percent decrease to the disastrous flooding on Colorado’s Front Range, which is a feeder market for the Telluride region. September 2013 occupancy was down from 44.3 percent to 41 percent. But September revenue was roughly the same as 2012 because the average daily rate that lodging properties charged was up about $13.
“When you are dealing with tragedy, the last thing you want to do is get in your car and drive to Telluride,” Martelon said. “And it stretched beyond because it was national news so it affected September.”
The data, compiled by DestiMetrics, shows a 2.7 percent occupancy rate increase over last summer, bringing the 2013 occupancy rate to 49.7 percent. June was up five points (12 percent), probably due to the Ride the Rockies event starting in Telluride, Martelon said. July was up four points (7 percent) and August was up one point (2 percent).
Had September’s occupancy not been down compared with last year, the region surely would have surpassed 50 percent occupancy for the core summer season. Martelon attributed the 2.3 percent decrease to the disastrous flooding on Colorado’s Front Range, which is a feeder market for the Telluride region. September 2013 occupancy was down from 44.3 percent to 41 percent. But September revenue was roughly the same as 2012 because the average daily rate that lodging properties charged was up about $13.
“When you are dealing with tragedy, the last thing you want to do is get in your car and drive to Telluride,” Martelon said. “And it stretched beyond because it was national news so it affected September.”
But occupancy rates don’t tell the whole story.
“If everyone comes here and fills the rooms, what does it do for food and beverage and what does it do for retail?” Martelon said.
According to Town of Telluride tax data, a 2.7 percent occupancy increase equals about $684,783 in money spent on lodging. Lodging represents about 34 percent of what people spend on a trip to Telluride, restaurants equal about 40 percent and retail and other is about 26 percent. That translates to about $2 million in growth across all segments for summer 2013, Martelon said.
“For me it’s a little bit of a beautiful thing,” Martelon said.
The results of the TTB’s fall Gold Season marketing campaign, which ended last week, are not yet known. But the all-digital effort had a click-through rate of .58 percent on its top-performing ad, well above the industry average of .1 percent.
The TTB is now gearing up to launch its winter marketing campaign this week. A deal inked last month between the TTB, Telluride Ski & Golf Company and Colorado Flights Alliance made Carbondale’s Backbone Media responsible for the placement of all three organizations’ advertisements for the winter season.
Martelon estimates the three-way merger of marketing dollars means the organizations will spend about three times as much on winter marketing as they do on summer marketing. Martelon said Colorado Flights Alliance has also added about 5 percent more seats this winter on their legacy carriers (American, United and Delta) between Montrose and major markets like Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. Allegiant Air will also offer flights between Montrose and Los Angeles for the first time.
According to DestiMetrics, winter bookings so far are flat to down 2 points. But travel industry experts are predicting that people will travel more this winter, so Telluride’s job is to grab more of that market, Martelon said.
“There’s no alarm to be sounded, but we are down a couple of points,” he said. “The hope is that the marketing plan is going to solve that. And of course snow.”
“If everyone comes here and fills the rooms, what does it do for food and beverage and what does it do for retail?” Martelon said.
According to Town of Telluride tax data, a 2.7 percent occupancy increase equals about $684,783 in money spent on lodging. Lodging represents about 34 percent of what people spend on a trip to Telluride, restaurants equal about 40 percent and retail and other is about 26 percent. That translates to about $2 million in growth across all segments for summer 2013, Martelon said.
“For me it’s a little bit of a beautiful thing,” Martelon said.
The results of the TTB’s fall Gold Season marketing campaign, which ended last week, are not yet known. But the all-digital effort had a click-through rate of .58 percent on its top-performing ad, well above the industry average of .1 percent.
The TTB is now gearing up to launch its winter marketing campaign this week. A deal inked last month between the TTB, Telluride Ski & Golf Company and Colorado Flights Alliance made Carbondale’s Backbone Media responsible for the placement of all three organizations’ advertisements for the winter season.
Martelon estimates the three-way merger of marketing dollars means the organizations will spend about three times as much on winter marketing as they do on summer marketing. Martelon said Colorado Flights Alliance has also added about 5 percent more seats this winter on their legacy carriers (American, United and Delta) between Montrose and major markets like Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. Allegiant Air will also offer flights between Montrose and Los Angeles for the first time.
According to DestiMetrics, winter bookings so far are flat to down 2 points. But travel industry experts are predicting that people will travel more this winter, so Telluride’s job is to grab more of that market, Martelon said.
“There’s no alarm to be sounded, but we are down a couple of points,” he said. “The hope is that the marketing plan is going to solve that. And of course snow.”
For more information on Telluride area real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at www.telluriderealestatecorp.com, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or call 970-728-6655.
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