Aspen Snowboarding Co. initiatives tourism may enhance this spring | Information

As Aspen Snowmass approaches halfway through the ski season, Aspen Skiing Co. believes the latter part could look very different from a tourist standpoint.

That prediction that Aspen Snowmass will be busier this spring than it was at the start of the season is based on a number of reasons, from changing Pitkin County’s COVID-19 dial to a natural change in travel patterns.

“The second half of a ski season is more dependent on domestic travel than the first half of a ski season,” said Kristi Kavanaugh, Vice President Sales at SkiCo, in a recent telephone interview. “So in a successful second half of the ski season we have a better shot anyway, just because President’s Day is a very difficult domestic trip until Easter. And that’s good news for us. “

Kavanaugh said while locals and visitors take for granted or give little thought to the volume of international business Aspen Snowmass traditionally sees in January, tourism is indeed the by-product of a calculated and established strategy.

“The reason we have such a successful January is that for 30-40 years the [local] The tourism community has built visits from tourists to places traveling in January, ”she said. This target market consists mostly of people in the southern hemisphere – Brazil, Australia, New Zealand – who are on their summer break.

“We focused on these people and created a resilient January because the domestic traveler basically goes back to work after the Christmas break and only travels again on Presidential Day weekend and then on the spring break,” Kavanaugh said. “The community has spent decades building an appropriate platform for tourism.”

Of course, COVID-19 and subsequent travel restrictions have decimated international tourism. However, this isn’t the only pandemic restriction affecting occupancy at Aspen Snowmass.

Kavanaugh said Pitkin County’s one-budget rule, which will cease to apply Tuesday as the county shifted from red to orange restrictions on the state’s COVID-19 dial, was “the biggest problem for the lodging community.”

Simply put, the rule forbade gatherings outside a household. Aspen Snowmass as a travel destination caters to individuals and families traveling in groups because the Upper Valley condos inventory includes so many large, multi-room rentals.

“Since we are no longer able to let these people travel together or stay together, we have lost a lot of business. And it’s braked again [bookings]. I think it confuses the guest too – [they are] like “We all come with negative tests, why can’t we stay together?” said Kavanaugh last week. “Since the levels can change, we could see a very different second half of the season than the first.”

According to Pitkin County’s Orange-Level Guidelines, which now follow those of the state with no additional restrictions, the rule for public and private gathering sizes of up to 10 people from no more than two households, Laryssa Dandeneau, a preliminary planning, prevention and partnership manager for Pitkin County, clarified Thursday.

What is a household? According to Pitkin County, “A household is defined as a group of people living together in a single residence. People who are not currently living with you belong to different households. “

However, the budget rule does not apply to “regulated settings” or controlled environments with required security protocols, i.e. restaurants, gyms and fitness centers, schools, offices, personal services, and even scheduled events.

The allowed gathering sizes in regulated environments vary by sector. In restaurants, a group must be limited to 10 people, with a total occupancy of 25%. However, there are no restrictions on the number of households per group.

While the changes and nuances in public order may certainly seem confusing, Dandeneau noted that once Pitkin County steps onto the yellow and even blue COVID-19 dial, the above restrictions on households and collection sizes will remain the same.

Erica Robbie is editor-in-chief of Local Magazine and Local Weekly, and the arts and culture editor of the Aspen Daily News. She can be reached at erica@aspendailynews.com or on Twitter @Ericarobbie.