Occupancy at Western Mountain Destinations is softening but remains strong

Winter Park, Colo. — Bookings made in June for arrivals in June through November edged up one percent at western mountain destinations, but there was more action for the more attractively priced months of September through November compared to the pricier months of June through August. And even though seasonal occupancy, rates, and revenue dipped during June, all three categories remain ahead of last summer at this time.  The most recent results from DestiMetrics, released by Inntopia* in their monthly Market Briefing with data from 17 mountain destinations through June 30, revealed summer is still very strong. But consumer price-sensitivity is emerging across the data set with changes to the preferred months for bookings, length-of-stay, arrival day of the week, and even performance at Luxury properties—the bedrock of the industry for more than a year--pointing to pressure on consumers. 

 

June occupancy was up 2.4 percent compared to last June, with the Average Daily Rate (ADR) up 4.9 percent and the combined growth in both metrics delivered a 7.4 percent gain in monthly revenue.

 

Once again, there was a slight easing in all three metrics during June, but the full summer continues to pace ahead of Summer 2025. Full summer occupancy is now up a solid 2.8 percent—compared to 3.7 percent as of one month ago. Four of the six months from May through October are posting gains with only August and October each showing scant 0.5 percent declines—and September is up a healthy 7.9 percent. ADR is up 5.5 percent, down from 6.4 percent as of May 31 but is still up year-over-year for all six months. The modest uptick in occupancy coupled with the increase in daily rates is currently delivering an 8.5 percent increase in aggregated summer revenues. 

 

“Early season momentum that started back in February and continued through mid-May established a very strong foundation for occupancy, rates, and revenue for almost the entire summer and really locked in visitation,” explained Tom Foley, director of Business Intelligence for Inntopia. “And with a variety of headwinds ranging from wildfire smoke to economic pressure on consumers, this strong foundation will be crucial to staying ahead of last year as we move through the remainder of the summer.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) posted another strong month during June, rising another 2.5 percent to reach 52,319.20 points. This is the third consecutive month of strong growth on Wall Street with the DJIA surging more than 6,000 points, or 12.9 percent, since the Iran war triggered a selloff in March. “For mountain destinations, a strong DJIA is typically a good indicator that wealthier, invested consumers will travel and tolerate higher rates, which is one reason we’re watching the decline in the Luxury tercile so closely,” offered Foley. 

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) tracked by the Conference Board and the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) from the University of Michigan both moved up in June with the CCI inching up a slight 0.6 points and marking the fourth gain this calendar year—but it is only 2.2 points higher than Dec. 31. However, the CSI jumped 4.7 points—10.5 percent—for its largest increase since June 2025. However, despite the surge, the CSI remains in historically low territory and is down 18.5 percent from last June. “Weak consumer confidence is reflected largely in how Economy--and to a lesser extent--Moderate properties are performing year-over-year, as well as the softening ADR since the beginning of the season.  Fortunately, visitors to Luxury properties are more confident than their less affluent counterparts, keeping the industry looking good overall—even with recent cracks appearing in the veneer,” noted Foley.

The National Unemployment Rate dipped from 4.3 to 4.2 percent during June as employers added 57,000 new jobs during the month. With the unemployment rate at or below 4.5 percent since October 2021, the longest streak since the late 1960s, economists see this recent report as evidence that employment is mostly unaffected by tariffs or the war with Iran. Foley reported that “the industry specific data was considerably less positive in June with the Leisure & Hospitality sector overall losing 61,000 jobs, with the Accommodations sub-sector losing 21,700 of those positions, and the Food & Beverage category shedding 32,900.”

Short-lead bookings struggle as late season surges: In a year-over-year comparison, reservations made in June for arrival in June were down 1.7 percent, bookings for July arrivals were down 13.1 percent, and August was down 12.6 percent. In a potential quest for better rates and fewer crowds, bookings for September were up 27.2 percent, they were up 22.9 percent for October, and for an early look at the winter season, November was up 22.5 percent.

Wildfire and smoke appear to have impacted bookings in June:  Utah and Colorado both grappled with devastating and widespread wildfires across both states that had a significant impact on air quality across wide areas of both states--likely deterring visitation.

International bookings improving, mostly Canadian: Although international bookings for the 2026 calendar year are down 51.5 percent from 2024, some of that deficit is being attributed to the poor snow conditions from January through April, particularly in Colorado and Utah, while Canada had considerably better snow conditions during that time period--  keeping skiers and riders at home. Summer is looking somewhat better as overall international visits from the four primary markets (Canada, Mexico, Western Europe, and Oceania) have improved from earlier in the year—with Canada, the largest of those markets, up 20.1 percent. Canada is currently the only one of these markets showing a year-over-year increase. 

Length-of-Stay slipped slightly during June after two months of gains during April and May. Overall stays between May 1 through Oct. 31are an aggregated average of 2.7 nights—a scant .05 nights less than last year at this time when it was 2.75 nights. Saturday arrivals, which are the most expensive, are showing the most extension with an average of 2.28 nights this summer compared to 2.02 in 2025. But these longer length-of-stay guests arriving on Saturdays include the comparatively value-priced Sunday night—and one-third of these visitors are also adding a Monday night—another inexpensive night. Length-of-stay for Monday arrivals shrunk the most—down from 3.26 nights last summer to just three nights this summer. Tuesdays through Thursdays have increased slightly and Friday arrivals are flat. “We may be seeing a hybrid response to higher daily rates with these Saturday arrivals—spending one peak night but then staying for an additional night or two at a more attractive rate,” observed Foley.

Day-of-week arrival is shifting: But when looking at pure arrival day, Friday arrivals as a percentage of all arrivals has moved from 29.1 percent last year to 31.8 percent this summer—but is still down notably from the pre-pandemic summer of 2019 when Fridays accounted for 34.3 percent of all arrivals. Saturday arrivals have also dropped from 20.4 percent in Summer 2019 to 16.2 percent last summer, and down again to 15.2 percent this summer. Aggregated results show midweek arrivals with stays at the lowest available rates are essentially flat to last year, but up considerably compared to 2019.  “The significant drop in Saturday arrivals over the past couple of years, and the increases in Tuesday and Wednesday arrivals isn’t obvious on its own--but as part of the larger data set where we are seeing that length-of-stay, booking pace, and rate are all softening--indicates that travelers are looking for value,” Foley clarified.

Luxury properties slip, Moderates gain, Economy continues to struggle: Even though the Luxury category at $401/night and above is still strong and dominates the pricing categories, they lost ground during June in a month-over-month comparison, losing 1.6 percent in occupancy, and 0.8 percent in ADR for a 2.5 percent decrease in revenue. Meanwhile, the moderate tercile at $251 to $400/night captured some slight gains in June—up 0.8 percent in occupancy, 0.3 percent in ADR, and managed a 1.1 percent increase in revenues. The economy-priced category up to $250/night continues to struggle significantly with a 2.5 drop in month-over-month occupancy and a 0.6 drop in ADR for a three percent decline in revenue. “At this point, it isn’t clear if high-end consumers are booking fewer trips or if they are opting for lower-priced options when they do book,” mused Foley. “Luxury properties typically attract guests less sensitive to high prices, so we’ll be watching to see if the back-to-back easing of strength in the Luxury tercile is an anomaly or signals price-sensitivity starting to affect affluent consumers.”

“The summer still looks very strong for western mountain resorts with appreciable increases in occupancy, daily rates, and revenue along with a slight uptick in booking pace and hints of improvement from Canadian visitors,” Foley confirmed. “But there has also been some softening in all three of those metrics during June and that positive booking pace is primarily due to visitors booking the less expensive months of September through November,” he continued. “We think these booking trends, which have been emerging slowly over the last couple of months, indicate increasing price-sensitivity as these trends have been going on for several months and are becoming too consistent to ignore. In short, we are still optimistic about this summer but monitoring these new trends closely,” he concluded.