SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo. Dec. 16, 2024—Bookings for the winter months surged during November at Western resorts, according to the monthly Market Briefing from DestiMetrics, the business intelligence division of Inntopia. For participating properties in 17 mountain destinations across seven western U.S. states the combination of occupancy in-the-bank and on-the-books for November through April is up a slight 1.8 percent, a reversal of the 1.6 percent seasonal decline reported last month.

While aggregated daily rates have been mostly flat, with only minor fluctuations up and down for the past year, the November booking surge was not tied to lower rates. For the first time in months, price sensitivity among consumers appeared to ease.

The month of November illustrated the change. As of Oct. 31, occupancy for November was down 8.9 percent compared to the previous year. But thanks to just-in-time reservations, aggregated occupancy for November finished the month down only 1.1 percent. The average daily rate (ADR) edged up 1.9 percent to deliver a 0.8 percent increase in revenue. 

Widespread snowfall enabled most destination resorts to open in the past few weeks, and with consumers displaying a bit more confidence, bookings are ticking up in most, but not all the winter months. There is a split between early- and-late season numbers. November through January are down, including a 3.3 percent drop in December. But there are gains on-the-books for February (6.5 percent), March (7.4 percent), and April (9.9 percent).

Aggregated daily rates slipped very slightly from the end of October, but as of Nov. 30, ADR is up 1.2 percent for the full winter season with increases being posted in four of the six months. The growth in both occupancy and rates is delivering a seasonal increase in revenue of three percent.

“During presidential election years, we typically see a slowing in bookings during October and then a return to a slight pickup in November once the election is over; we saw that this year but with an even stronger post-election rebound than usual—bookings were up 16 percent during November compared to last year, helping with a critical flip in seasonal occupancy from a negative to a positive position,” reported Tom Foley, senior vice president of business intelligence for Inntopia. “Of course, good snowfall and the upticks in consumer optimism that we saw last month also played a crucial role in the eagerness of skiers and riders to book a mountain vacation.”

Foley noted that holiday timing is still posing challenges due to school break scheduling, but November’s booking pace moved the needle appreciably for both December and January. December moved from a 7.6 percent decline to a more moderate 3.3 percent decline, while January improved from a 4.2 percent deficit to a 1.6 percent deficit. The Thanksgiving holiday saw occupancy down 4.8 percent compared to last year.