Will Vail Valley Fourth of July visitors hang around through the weekend?
Holidays such as the Fourth, Christmas or New Year's Day falling in the middle of the week impact bookings
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
Vail will be filled to the brim on the Fourth of July, as will much of the Vail Valley. After that, it’s kind of hard to tell how many visitors will stick around.
Midweek holidays, especially in the summer, are always tricky for the lodging community.
Park Hyatt Beaver Creek General Manager Herb Rackliff said that the property isn’t full this week.
“It’s good, but not great,” Rackliff said. “We’re pacing ahead of last year.”
Rackliff noted that a Thursday holiday will often see guests come in Wednesday, and then leave Friday or Saturday. If a holiday falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, though, “Forget about it.”
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At the Four Seasons in Vail, Jonathan Reap, the director of sales and marketing, said that the property avoided problems with leisure travel bookings this week by hosting a large private event.
That event “has kind of taken over the house,” Reap said, noting that part of the reason hotel management decided to take the event booking was due to where the holiday fell in the week.
Reap echoed Rackliff’s comments about holidays that fall on Tuesday or Wednesday, calling those days “much tougher” for bookings than a Thursday.
The Fourth of July is one of only a few major holidays on the tourism calendar tied to specific dates, the others being Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Those holidays are usually primarily “leisure travel,” meaning private parties instead of groups are booking rooms.
Reap said the days of the week when the winter holidays fall affect the entire booking picture. Even with those holidays, when people tend to book longer stays, there are still ebbs and flows in the booking pattern.
And, Reap, said “I don’t think there’s a solution to it.”
Town of Vail Economic Development Director Mia Vlaar agreed that it’s a challenge to get guests to engage with midweek holidays and events.
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And, she added, as the shift to remote work is beginning to fall back into more people being in the office, fewer people combine business and leisure travel.
While the last weekend of June was “super strong” from a lodging standpoint, Vlaar acknowledged that the first few days of July haven’t been particularly robust.
On the other hand, July in Vail looks like a strong one, and local tourism officials are looking into August, which is when many schools kick off their academic years.
