Whereas Colorado’s tourism is on the rebound, 2021 received’t see full restoration | Information

Colorado’s tourism season usually powers the state’s economy like wood on a campfire.

As the state emerges from a recession caused by a COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season appears to be recovering significantly from 2020, with most restrictions on restaurants, hotels, and other tourism businesses being relaxed or removed altogether. The industry expects a revival in visitors who arrive on the road and in the air during the summer season, which traditionally starts next weekend.

However, according to a 2019 Colorado Travel Impacts study by Dean Runyan Associates, the tourism recovery this year will remain far from the 2019 peak of 86.9 million visitors, which is estimated to have spent $ 24.2 billion and supported more than 180,000 jobs in Colorado.

Hotel and Convention Center officials said bookings and room reservations are increasing, mainly from the leisure sector. Large group meetings and conventions that companies typically bring are still struggling with ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, but this year is getting creative and the momentum is picking up for 2022 and beyond.

“There’s finally a boom in business,” said Gregory Leonard, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center. “We had bags here and there and good results at the weekend. The weekend vacation traveler was very strong. We recover from the vacation traveller’s coattails. “

Leonard said the outlook for the convention business is good as the upgrade / expansion project for the Colorado Convention Center begins this year and bookings appear to be picking up. A recent spate of dance and volleyball events began the recovery.

“We have more groups in August and in the course of 2021 – namely the Outdoor Retailer Show,” he said. “Our property is so dependent on the convention center. Major conventions will be the final climb. “

Walter Isenberg, CEO of Sage Hospitality Group, said after speaking with many companies that they no longer expect business travel until more offices open after Memorial Day.

“Think about it, if you come to Denver to visit customers and their offices are closed, it’s not worth it,” Isenberg said.

Sage owns 60 hotels in 20 states with more than 11,000 rooms. In Denver, these include The Crawford, The Curtis, The Oxford and JW Mariott Denver on Cherry Creek.

Isenberg agreed that vacation travel will stay strong through 2021.

“We have a hotel in Savannah (Penny Lane) that is a recreational product and we expect it to do better this year than 2019,” he said. “We have spoken to all of the accommodation advisors and they expect a full recovery in 2023/24 and I still think that is the case for many markets. … Honestly, I think we will be very strong in 2022 become.”

The Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center in Breckenridge’s General Manager Bob Barto agreed.

“We assume that we are busier than last summer, but not as busy as 2018-19,” said Barto. “There is a great deal of pent up needs to go traveling.”

While the resort’s 567 private condominiums were mostly occupied – especially with tourists from states like Florida and Texas – Beaver Run’s 40,000 square feet of meeting space has been mostly empty for more than a year. The owners took the opportunity to advance a capital improvement project planned for 2022 and installed new roofs and an HVAC system in 2020.

Meeting groups are scheduled for June and July, but Barto said they need to get creative for the Colorado Association of School Executives meeting in late July. It typically brings in 1,000 school officials. Instead of 500 people in one room listening to the main speakers, the conference attendees are split into different rooms and watch a simulcast.

“I think on the group side we’re looking for another two to five years after a full recovery,” said Barto. “But we are very optimistic that it will return.”

STR, a Tennessee-based hotel research firm, and Tourism Economics, a Pennsylvania-based travel economics firm, predict that hotels will not fully recover to 2019 levels until 2024. The forecast published earlier this month assumes that nationwide hotel occupancy will recover from 41.6% last year to 53.3% this year and 60.1% next year, reaching the level from 2019 to 2023, but room rates and revenue per available room did not fully recover until the following year.

“Expectations for the coming summer months have been high for some time, but the year started better than expected as vaccinations increased and consumers, full of savings, felt ready to return to the experiences that were put on hold in the past year,” STR President Amanda Hite said in a press release.

“As we saw in late March and early April, leisure is still the main source of demand, although the improvement in weekday occupancy suggests some business travel is back on the market. The furthest thing from a major rebound is corporate business, but there is hope that this segment will move higher when more events are back on the books, ”Hite continued.

The Colorado Tourism Bureau recently received a CARES Act Recovery Assistance Grant of $ 2.4 million, which was endowed with $ 600,000 by the state.

Implementation of the grant began this month with the Colorado Tourism Roadmap to Recovery, a five-year strategic plan.

“With free vaccines available to all eligible residents, Colorado’s tourism industry is optimistic about the upcoming summer travel season and is rolling up its sleeves to begin the important work of building a better and more sustainable tourism economy,” a CTO spokesman said via email.

A new national marketing campaign has been launched to “highlight Colorado wow moments from across the state.”

“Colorado’s natural beauty is a global attraction and our messages must rightly balance attractiveness and public health,” said the spokesman.

One of the tourist highlights in 2021 named by the CTO is the opening of the new visitor center on the summit of Pikes Peak with the return of the cog railway.

The cog railway had been closed since late 2017 due to a $ 100 million project to rebuild the 8.9 mile route, add three new cars, renovate the four older units, and refurbish the cog depot and add more toilets .

Gear passengers won’t be able to see the new $ 65 million summit home for a few more weeks as winter weather on Pikes Peak has delayed completion and opening until at least mid-June, said Jack Glavan, manager of Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain.

The Palisade Plunge opens as “one of the longest single-track downhill mountain bike routes in the USA”. The Arapahoe Basin will also start the “highest via ferrata route in North America”.

In Denver, city officials are looking forward to the MLB All-Star Game on July 13th with events leading up to the game at Coors Field throughout the weekend.

“This is going to be huge for the city,” said Leonard of Hyatt. “What a great boost with great marketing. For Denver, it’s almost free marketing. “

“We are pretty optimistic for this summer,” said Isenberg. “With the All Star game, the baseball at 100% capacity, the nuggets and the avalance in the playoffs, everything is super positive.”

Visit Denver looks forward to the “Mile High Comeback” when events and festivals return, albeit in a different format than in the years before the pandemic.

“Denver festivals and events are an integral part of our identity as a travel destination,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO, in a statement. “Seeing the safe return of personal events from sports to live music is just the beginning of Denver’s return to the exciting, urban destination we were before the pandemic.”

Here’s a rundown of some of the bigger events and festivals returning in 2021:

• The 30th annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival September 4-6
• Denver PrideFest 2021, 26.-27. June
• The Rocky Mountain Showdown with the University of Colorado Buffs versus Texas A&M Aggies on September 11th at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium
• Black Love Mural Festival, May 27th – August 2nd, the country’s only Black Mural Festival, showcasing both local creatives and artists from across the country
• Juneteenth Music Festival, 18.-20. June, in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver
• Underground Music Showcase, 27.-29. August, South Broadway’s Premier Music Event featuring local bands and venues in Denver
• The 38th annual Taste of Colorado Festival returns to Denver this Labor Day weekend, but in a different format that isn’t entirely focused on Civic Center Park.