SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., July 15, 2024—Stable rates helped fuel a continued uptick in occupancy at Western mountain destinations in June, according to the monthly Market Briefing from DestiMetrics, the business intelligence division of Inntopia. The growth comes as lodging properties have bowed to consumer pricing concerns and travel patterns return to pre-pandemic form. 

DestiMetrics data come from approximately 28,000 lodging units in 17 mountain destination communities across Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and represent 55 percent of all available rental units in those regions.

Occupancy for the month of June was up three percent over June 2023 and the average daily rate (ADR) rose 3.3 percent. Revenues consequently rose 6.4 percent for the month.

Occupancy for the summer season, from May through October, is on pace to climb five percent year-over-year, and is up an additional 1.2 percent from one month ago. With an ADR of $401, rates are up 2.1 percent compared to last summer. However, rates are down from the aggregated 4.3 percent increases that were being advertised at the end of April, and that modest dip in rates coincides with the rise in occupancy. The combination of occupancy and rate, if the trend holds, will deliver a 7.3 percent increase in summer revenues.

The booking pace was up a strong 13.6 percent compared to last June. “Bookings during June were reliable and widespread, although not quite as strong as they were during May,” said Tom Foley, senior vice president for business intelligence at Inntopia. “Rates seem to have settled into a range that is comfortable for consumers.”

Two other noteworthy trends:

Room nights available for rent has varied considerably through the pandemic and post-pandemic period. During the pandemic, rooms were taken out of the rental pool; some of these have returned in the past 18 months, but inventory remains down sharply. In the DestiMetrics realm, summer of 2024 is down 155,379 available room nights compared to the summer of 2019.

Lead time for bookings remains extended. In the first six months of 2019, the lead time from booking date to arrival date was just over 43 days. During the pandemic, lead times reached up to 120 days, as people deferred travel due to infection concerns. By 2021, those advance bookings had shrunk back to 51 days, and are now at 52.6 days—22 percent further in advance than before the pandemic.