BRECKENRIDGE, color (CBS4) – The Holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr. is typically one of the busiest for skiing communities. For one of Colorado’s most popular destinations, the numbers for accommodation are starting to show a downward trend.
Room night data for the MLK weekend isn’t available yet, but the Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays are down nearly 17%, according to Lucy Kay, CEO and President of the Breckenridge Tourism Office.
“That’s about 4,000 room nights,” said Kay.
Kay updated Breckenridge City Council at a Jan. 12 meeting:
“Most of that drop in pre-vacation room nights came in the last two weeks of December,” she said. “The last two weeks of December there were many cancellations. There were also a lot of bookings, but obviously a lot more cancellations than bookings, and with the loss of the Lifestyle Group, I think a lot has happened in that period. “
Summit County had a strong summer and a busy fall, but things on the ski slopes also felt calmer.
“I really felt that even with the capacity they have, the crowds are pretty good,” said Denver resident Scott Cain.
Fox came to Breckenridge for the weekend skiing with his family friends and didn’t have much to wait in lines until Sunday.
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“The lines looked big, but they are spread out so optically that it looked like there were a lot of people here, but there really weren’t,” he said.
Cain was very disappointed when he went to the base area on Sunday and saw that the crowds had increased significantly.
“We just literally went up the slope and this is a bit ridiculous. It’s a lot of people, ”said Cain’s friend, Dan Fox.
‘We have children up there, so we’ll probably have to go find them and see if the crowds leave here. It’s getting a little bit, ”added Cain.
Cain and Fox believed that along with the constantly changing restrictions, the reservation system might have put some people off, the price they thought could be another price.
While it’s typical for ticket prices to go up during the holidays, it caused a shock from the sticker from Cain and Fox.
“I estimated $ 180, and I think I was way off,” said Cain.
The price for a single day on a Sunday was $ 209.
“This is such a beautiful place to visit and it is getting too expensive,” he said.
Vail Resorts says guests are encouraged to purchase online at least a week in advance for the lowest guaranteed price on lift tickets. Especially since COVID’s safety is a priority this season, all lift tickets must be purchased online to limit the number of contact points.
Steamboat Resort is another area with comparable vacation prices. It says it’s one of many ways to protect customers and minimize crowds.
“It is a measure for Steamboat to limit capacity without requiring Ikon Pass holders or anyone who purchased a package to make a reservation,” said Loryn Duke, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. spokesperson.
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While the price didn’t seem to deter crowds on Breckenridge Sunday, there are still capacity constraints and the more ground that opens up, the more crowds will be scattered.
Not only are bookings for overnight stays lower, but weekend holiday travel appears to be slightly less than at this time last year. The Colorado Department of Transportation says that despite a slightly lower number of drivers this year, people should still be prepared for longer than usual travel times, especially with incoming snow.
“In terms of traffic, it’s hard to say with the ongoing pandemic and the ski resort reservation system, but we still expect heavy traffic eastbound today and tomorrow afternoon and then of course the morning hours west. Visitor numbers for holiday weekends in 2020 were still comparable to holiday weekends in recent years, but sometimes a bit lower. The difference we are seeing now is that the heavy traffic is not always on weekends because we can work remotely, ”said Presley Fowler, communications coordinator for the CDOT.
Make sure to check cotrip.org for the latest road and weather conditions before your trip.