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INFORMATION UPDATE
August 13, 2024
5:00 PM,
I.Information Update
I.A July Destination Marketing Report
July2024_DMReport .pdf
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July 2024 Destination Marketing Report for Council
Destination Marketing: We are SO thrilled to announce that Aspen has been awarded Mountain IDEAL Certified status on July
10th. The Mountain IDEAL Standard is recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council as fully reflecting the GSTC-
Destination criteria. This was a large undertaking that ACRA led for the community, and we are very pleased to have received
the designation. The Destination Marketing team hosted Petal it Forward activations on June 27th and July 8th; the campaign
is being received positively by both community members and visitors. The next activation will be at the August 15th Summer
Arts & Culture Celebration. Both the summer content campaign and local campaign continue to be live with TwoSix Digital.
Our summer visitation campaign through BVK, which focuses on longer lead bookings, ended at the end of June. The team is
exploring ways to incorporate AI into the traveler booking cycle on the website. The June PR Report can be found here. The
Month at a Glance Data report is available here.
ACRA hosted a great client event in Chicago to see The Rolling Stones at Soldier Field. 11 clients joined for the concert with 10
hotel partners between Aspen and Snowmass. Everyone was thrilled with the experience and the clients really enjoyed
meeting with all our partners. Countdown to the wedding FAM August 26-28th. The itinerary, attendees, and participating
partners have all been finalized.
Special Events: The events team is rested up and starting to dive into all things Wintersköl. Just a reminder that the dates
have shifted to Dec. 13-15th, 2024. We are excited for the change and the opportunity to kick off winter with some fresh new
ideas (coming soon!). We are seeking Wintersköl committee help, sponsorships, and community events to add on the
calendar. Please reach out if you or someone you know is interested. We will be sending out a survey soon to capture
economic data from those who attended Wintersköl in January.
Airport Guest Services: The airport has been remarkably busy with 25 flights/day and an average of 200-250 people/day.
Transportation continues to be a challenge; however, we are working with several private limo companies to be more present
and offer similar rates to the taxi service. We have replaced the old furniture in the ACRA booth which was much needed. The
staff continues to work extremely hard to greet guests with a warm welcome to make ASE a pleasant place to fly into.
Visitor Centers: The Guest Services Department has collaborated with the Aspen Skiing Company to open a satellite visitor
center location in the Gondola Plaza from mid-July to the end of August. This will be an alternative location for when the
Cooper Mall pavilion is under renovation. This has been a joyous collaboration, and the questions are evenly divided between
gondola and overall inquiries. The Gondola Plaza has reported 50-60 people/day, and pavilion 150-200. An advertisement has
been placed to add more staff to the Destination Specialist Team and interviews are currently being conducted for part-time
seasonal help.
Sales Tax Reports: As of the May 2024 Consumption Tax Report, released in July, the 2024 Tourism Promotion Fund is
coming in 1% ahead of 2023 collections and 3% above projections.
Recent Press Coverage
Occupancy statistics and commentary, as well as visitor center counts, website data and air service information can now
be found on the following page in the Defy Ordinary Dashboard. All data points are sourced from our monthly report
with Blue Room Research and can be found in the Data Center on the website.
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HOTEL
OCCUPANCY
ASE
PASSENGER
DATA
VISITOR
CENTER
COUNTS
KEY
TAKEAWAYS
WEBSITE
STATS
ACRA's 4 Visitor Information Centers saw a
68% increase in traffic in June 2024 as
compared to June 2023. Staff assisted
10,762 individuals this year.
JULY 2024
In June 2024, Aspen's lodging properties reported the following:
•Occupancy grew 3.6% YOY to 63.9%
•Average Daily Rate decreased 1% YOY to $680
•Room Nights Available increased 8.7% YOY
•Room Nights Booked increased 12.6% YOY
Despite the unexpected runway closure for nearly two days in early June,
which resulted in the cancellation or diversion of 44 inbound and outbound
flights, Aspen still saw record passengers for June.
June load factor was 65.4% vs. 70.7% in 2023. This is reflective of last year's
aggressive capacity increases for the month of June.
Peak summer schedules with a total of up to 24 daily flights are scheduled to
continue for the next few weeks through August 5, after which American plans
to discontinue both Austin and LAX for the summer.
Aspen website top performing blogs and pages for May 2024
Blogs:
1.Top 5 Reasons to Visit Aspen This Summer (10,531
views)
2.Everything You Need to Know about Indy Pass (3,710
views)
3.Hiking Around the Maroon Bells (3,684 views)
4.What's New in Aspen This Summer (3,533 views)
5.Aspen After Dark - Group Activities (2,803 views)
Pages:
1.Maroon Bells Reservations (59,917 views)2.Events (14,217 views)3.Discover the Maroon Bells (14,041 views)4.Local's Tips (11,526 views)5.5 Reasons to Visit Aspen this Summer (10,529
views)
•“Room rates that came down in May have now settled into a range that’s clearly appealing to the still price-sensitive
consumer, and bookings, though not as strong as last month, were reliable and widespread. In fact, the current state
of the data is better than we’ve seen since reopening, with Supply and Demand both stable, rates gaining within a few
basis points of inflation, and revenue capture not depending solely on rate, as it has for much of the past two years.”
•“Booking lead times, or the number of days in advance that a reservation is made before a stay date, have been
shortening post-pandemic. This suggests that the eventual Demand growth may slightly exceed our prediction by
1-2%, as was the case for June.”
•"A notable price decline for travel this month is air fares, down -5.0% in June from May, making accessing destinations
more affordable. When combined with the moderated Average Daily Rate in many destinations, that will presumably
give boost to summer business. Lower CPI and national inflation rate are key to the Federal Reserve Bank lowering
interest rates, which will further open consumers’ wallets.”
Source: Destimetrics & Blue Room Research Report
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