A great year for touring in Pikes Peak region
An improving economy, low gas prices, beautiful weather and a lack of natural disasters have the local tourism industry declaring the summer of 2016 as one of the best seasons in recent memory.
“It has been a fantastic season for us and Garden of the Gods in general,” said Tim Haas, owner of the Garden of the Gods Trading Post, along with a few gift and clothing shops in Manitou Springs. “We’re up in the number of people visiting, and folks who are coming in are spending a bit more money as well, which is fantastic.”
This past summer hasn’t just felt like a great tourism season; tourism data prove that tourists have been pouring into the region this year, said Doug Price, CEO of the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The city’s Lodgers and Auto Rental Tax through June was up 14.5 percent through the same time in 2015, he said. The hotels in the city had a 91.3 percent occupancy rate in July – the highest since August 1996, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report.
What’s more, Price said, the occupancy rate was higher than that of Denver, which was 87.7 percent.
“This was the first time in history that anybody can remember our occupancy being higher than Denver,” he said. “Not only are people feeling like tourism is up, but it’s being documented. The demand is really really strong.”
PK Knickerbocker, executive director for Pikes Peak Country Attractions, a marketing group for several tourist destinations in the region, called 2016 the best of at least the past five years.
She said the most popular destinations, like always, tend to be the scenic ones. She called the number of people driving the Pikes Peak Highway “crazy” and said the organization can’t keep fliers in stock for Seven Falls.
“The stuff that I get the most questions about are the natural beauty places, but that’s what we are known for,” she said.
While families still dominate the number of travelers, she has been seeing more young adults and others without children coming here.
“It used to be that we were hyper-focused on families. Now it seems like younger couples that don’t have kids who are doing more of the traveling,” she said. “It feels like kind of a shift of what people are wanting. People are looking for that one great experience. They are looking for that one-thing-I-will-remember-for-the-rest-of-my-life moment.”
Leslie Lewis, executive director of the Manitou Chamber of Commerce, said she didn’t have specific numbers but can say from word of mouth that business is up this year. The small city at the base of Pikes Peak depends on tourists for a large chunk of its sales tax revenue, and the nearby Waldo Canyon fire and subsequent flooding that damaged several Manitou businesses had hobbled the town for a few years, she said. This year, those weren’t issues and the city did well, she said.
“The economy has been better, the weather is beautiful, and it’s a great place to sightsee and shop,” she said. “I think (the disasters) are in the past. I think people have forgotten.”
The city’s two recreational marijuana shops – the only two in El Paso County – haven’t hurt, either.
“People do come here because we have the recreational stores in town, and hopefully the people making those purchases are then coming to downtown,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s the sole reason for the uptick. We have seen a lot of families here, and those stores aren’t even on their radar.”
Haas said the low gas prices are a big contributor to the summer business. The region is one that is primarily visited by car, so when people can save at the pumps, they can spend more on vacation, he said.
“When gas is $2 a gallon compared to $4 to $5 a gallon, there’s an extra sweatshirt that can purchased,” he said.
Also key, he said, is the lack of terrible news in the form of natural disasters that have plagued the region in past summers.
“The Waldo Canyon fire and the floods after it were devastating,” he said. “We’re fortunate now to enjoy several years without disaster.”
While the summer has been safe for the region, tourists can still have the perception that disaster is imminent, Knickerbocker said. She said she had tourists in Colorado Springs worried about the Hayden Pass fire near Coaldale – about 85 miles away.
“I had people asking if they could get up Pikes Peak because of the fire,” she said. “I think the perception is that if there is a wildfire somewhere in Colorado, it must always be close.”
Still, she added, the perception of disasters is still much better than the actual disasters. “I think we’re past the brunt of that locally – knock on wood,” she said. “I think we all have a little bit of PTSD from that.”
To keep up the pace, or even surpass it, Price hopes that someday the Colorado Springs Airport can bring more flights into the Springs. Then fliers, not just drivers, could be adding more to the tourism industry.
“One of the things that will keep us from being the very best is that we just don’t have as many airline seats coming into Colorado Springs as we have in the past,” he said. “We are not where we need to be in having our regional airport as competitive as it once was.”
Still, he said, there’s also a lot to look forward to. The Great Wolf Lodge and Hilton Garden Inn – two hotels under construction – will add 500 more hotel rooms in Colorado Springs. Other attractions, like the planned Olympic Museum, may attract more, he said.
“These are great demand generators,” he said. “We have a lot to look forward to.”
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Visitors to Garden of the Gods Park Park gather at the entryway sign off 30th Street for photographs Thursday, August 25, 2016 in Colorado Springs. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette
Tracy Jones (front) and his wife, Angela, board a sold-out Broadmoor Pikes Peak Cog Railway Thursday, August 25, 2016 in Manitou Springs. The couple, from Kansas City, Kansas, said they love the area. It was their first time up Pikes Peak on the train. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette
Visitors to Manitou Springs fill the northside of Canon Avenue, Thursday, August 25, 2016. The area has reported a healthy 2016 summer tourist season. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette
Tourists from Illinois, Florida and Califormia take a segway tour in Garden of the Gods from Adventures Out West guide Mark Burski (left),Thursday, August 25, 2016. They all agreed it was a fun way to see the park. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette