Visitors Bureau Forecasts a Bright Tourism Future at Annual Meeting
Colorado Springs, CO – May 3, 2018 – Wednesday afternoon, the Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau held its annual business meeting at the newly $9 million renovated DoubleTree by Hilton. Speakers included STR Assistant Director of Financial Performance, Raquel Ortiz, who gave a positive tourism growth prediction, as well as CVB President and CEO, Doug Price.
Price noted the importance of taking paid time off, highlighting the 662 million days of paid vacation that Americans leave on the table each year. He also reiterated the banner 2017 tourism year that welcomed 23 million visitors to the Pikes Peak region. “The amount of dollars that comes into our community from travelers breaks down to $71 per second and saves the average family of four $835 in annual taxes,” stated Price. He also showcased big-picture projects like the CVB’s Destination Master Plan and the Colorado Tourism Office’s regional branding efforts. “Consumers are demanding authentic, unique experiences. Our destination is set-up perfectly to take advantage of this type of traveler.” Final reports and action plans for both projects will be available this summer.
As the keynote presenter, Ortiz spoke to sunny trends from national and regional STR research. “Our forecast is that U.S. Travel will see an increase throughout 2018 and 2019. March saw the highest room demand in the country for any March prior with 110 million room nights sold in the country.” Ortiz also highlighted that group room bookings have declined 16.1 percent, while transient (non-group) room bookings have increased 7.4 percent. Other takeaways from STR’s research through March:
- Colorado Springs hotel occupancy is up three percent
- Colorado Springs average daily hotel rate is up more than six percent
- Colorado Springs revenue per available room is up nearly seven percent
- Demand for hotel rooms is outpacing supply
- Colorado Springs is outpacing other state markets: Grand Junction, Pueblo, Aurora and Fort Collins
- Three hotel projects are currently under construction with a total of 354 rooms
Sponsors DoubleTree by Hilton Colorado Springs, Ent Business Banking, Presidential Worldwide Transportation and PSAV all helped make the event possible.
The 2017 CVB Annual Report can be downloaded here.
The full STR presentation can be downloaded here.
