SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Feb. 18, 2025—In a notable change from December, Western mountain destinations saw bookings cool down in January, and occupancy and revenue margins shrunk for the 2024-25 ski and snowboard season. The latest DestiMetrics monthly Market Briefing, released last week, cited uneven snowfall, erratic economic news, slipping consumer confidence, and renewed resistance to rate increases for the drop-off. It noted a sluggish booking pace for arrivals—both in-the-month and for the remainder of the season—that resulted in fewer actual and on-the-books reservations than during January 2024.

The report, prepared by the business intelligence division of Inntopia, aggregates data from 17 mountain destinations across seven Western states.

In a year-over-year comparison to last January, the average daily rate (ADR) moved up 3.7 percent. But as rates moved up, occupancy edged down 1.7 percent, delivering a 1.9 percent increase in revenue for the month.

Bookings made in January for that month as well as the five months ahead declined 11.3 percent compared to January 2024. Only arrivals for April posted an uptick, surging 16.9 percent, while the other five months were all down—including a decline of 4.6 percent in March. 

At the season’s midpoint, data for the full winter, including both in-the-bank for the first half on the season (November through January) and on-the-books for the second half (from February through April), showed a scant 0.8 percent increase in occupancy over last winter. Decreases in November through January are currently offset by gains for February through April. Coupled with a modestly higher ADR, revenue is posting a slim 1.9 percent increase. 

 “After a pretty lively final week of December and the start of January, bolstered by widespread snowfall during that time, we saw a marked cooling in bookings during January,” said Tom Foley, senior vice president of business intelligence for Inntopia. “Adequate but not spectacular snowfall played a role in the softening bookings, but so did a shakeup in economic stability and consumer confidence.” Price sensitivity returned, he added, as “broader price and employment concerns caused some skiers and riders to hit the pause button on their mountain bookings.”

The DestiMetrics report noted that consumers cited concerns about prices, wages, job availability, and higher inflation as the primary reasons for their shrinking confidence. “Optimism on Wall Street during January didn’t fully transfer to consumers, and the stagnation we’ve seen in confidence figures for the past few months can keep consumer markets, including travel purchases, from growing,” said Foley. 

Foley also noted that “airfares, dining out, and gasoline prices all rose during January, and consumers reacted.  After several months of easing price-sensitivity at mountain resorts, there is evidence that it is returning,” he continued.

One metric to watch, Foley said, is length of stay. “The pick-up in the length of a visitor’s stay over the past few months was one of our indicators of easing rate resistance,” he explained. “But when consumers are hesitant or uncomfortable with rates, they often book shorter stays rather than giving up the trip entirely.”

On a positive note, Foley observed, “There is still half a season to go, and a late-April Easter holiday offers an excellent opportunity to extend occupancy and revenue for the season. And although things have slowed down, all the metrics are still on the positive side of the ledger.”