Maybe it’s too cold outside?
A new note from Truist, citing STR data, showed Colorado ski resorts in November going downhill, with RevPAR in the month down 6.6% year-over-year and down from +2.9% YOY in October. Occupancy was down 8.2% YOY compared to -0.6% YOY in October, whereas average daily rate was +1.7% YOY vs. +3.5% YOY in October.
Against 2019, RevPAR was +34.6% (driven by 32.7% ADR growth and occupancy up 1.5%), down from +58.7% in October.
By comparison, overall U.S. RevPAR was +15.8% YOY in November (+11.4% compared to November 2019) and overall U.S. resort RevPAR was approximately +12.6% YOY (+20.7% vs. November 2019) for the month.
Whistler Blackcomb RevPAR was +10.3% YOY for November, down from +13.5% YOY in October. Versus 2019, RevPAR was +31.9%, below the +49.0% in October.
Truist chalks up a few things for the dip in overall occupancy and RevPAR. “We see new competitive supply from short-term rentals, the re-opening of international markets such as Europe, the Caribbean, and Canada combined with favorable FX for American travelers, and the return of cruising as a value-priced vacation alternative putting some pressure on domestic resort hotel occupancy,” the note said.
Regarding the data set: Sixty hotels were surveyed for the Colorado hotels at ski resorts set, most of which are located in Vail. For Whistler Blackcomb, the survey included 13 hotels and approximately 2,500 rooms).