SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — January, which is typically one of Summit County’s biggest tourism months, was tough on the lodging industry with occupancy down year-over-year and staffing difficulties. The upside is that room nights reserved in January were up, according to DestiMetrics data for Breckenridge, and so far, room nights are up year-over-year for the spring break period.
Breckenridge Tourism Office spokesperson Austyn Dineen wrote in an email that the DestiMetrics data released Jan. 31 shows Breckenridge’s January occupancy was down 13% in 2021 compared with the same month in 2020. However, room nights that were reserved in January, which have an arrival date between Jan. 1 and April 30, were up about 23%.
Tourism Office Director of Operations Bill Wishowski wrote in his occupancy forecast notes that Breckenridge’s total room nights for the winter season as a whole are down about 9% compared to last year.
While January shows low occupancy data, Presidents Day weekend was pacing to match 2020 at the time the DestiMetrics report was released, with an average of 80% daily occupancy. Looking ahead to the spring break period of March 6 to April 3, Wishowski said the average occupancy on the books for this period is 48%. Dineen noted in an email that room nights are up 1% for this period when comparing bookings as of Jan. 31, 2021, versus the same date last year.
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