Bookings to Colorado resorts reveal high-spending tourists are cutting back
Luxury consumers traveling to Colorado's mountain destinations are opting for lower-demand travel times and promotional offers as price sensitivity reaches the most affluent
Colorado’s luxury consumers are hungover from last year’s poor snow conditions and economic instability, tourism data shows. Now, they’re beating price sensitivity by hunting for bargains.
Bookings for the full summer season, stretching from May through October, held steady through July, according to the most recent market briefing from Inntopia. Healthy gains in occupancy, rates and revenue show some consumers are battling price sensitivity by opting to travel during low-demand times and capturing promotional offers.
As of July 31, summer occupancy at Colorado destinations tracked by Inntopia was up 3% compared to this time last year. September — traditionally one of the lower-priced months of the season — saw larger gains in bookings from customers seeking more budget-friendly travel options and accommodations.
“September and October (are) where the focus turned,” said Tom Foley, director of Business Intelligence for Inntopia. “That’s a summer traveller that’s still looking for a summer or fall experience, but doesn’t want to spend the full summer rate. So it’s very attractive as a travel option, particularly September, simply because … you’re not spending nearly as much as you would for a July or an August stay.”
Foley said travelers who target September and October vacations can save anywhere from 15% to 35% per night.
Booking data also shows early strength for December across Colorado’s mountain destinations — a product of vacationers jumping on early lodging offers for the upcoming ski season, Foley said. Some of the lodging promotions were below last season’s rates, as resorts look to capitalize on the potential of a snowier ski season and pent-up demand from last year’s poor snow conditions.
“There’s the emotional need to fulfil what you didn’t get last year, and a reduced rate helps with that,” Foley said.
Colorado’s average daily rate saw a modest 4% bump for July, though the increase was weaker than the 5.7% gain recorded across the seven western states tracked by Inntopia. Foley said this might prove to be an advantage, however, since price sensitivity among consumers means they’ll be looking for more affordable options to close out the summer.
“(Slower rate growth) is more typical for Colorado summers,” Foley said. “Whether or not the incidence of drought, which is particularly bad in Colorado and Utah this summer, is playing a role in that, is hard to say.”
Combined, the slight increases in rate and occupancy delivered a 6.4% gain in summer revenues compared to July 2025. Despite sitting lower than the 8.7% revenue increase recorded by the rest of Inntopia’s western market, Foley said Colorado’s performance is still close to double the national inflation rate of 3.4% — a sign that the market is performing well.
“That’s really, really good from the perspective of suppliers who have been largely underwater against inflation for the better part of a year after the tough winter,” Foley said. “So this makes up a little bit of ground for them, the bottom line looks a little better.”
Drops across international markets
The travel industry has had less success with the international market.
Despite a sharp drop off in new bookings from countries like Mexico (down 23.9%), Oceania (down 15.6%) and western Europe (down 9.3%), the seven western states tracked by Inntopia still posted overall gains, driven largely by a 16.6% gain in Canadian visits compared to last summer.
However, new tariff threats from the Trump administration dampened bookings from Canada, down from more than 20% at the beginning of July. Canadian travelers have also driven up trip cancellations following months of positive recovery.
Why are travelers spending less?
Lower-spending vacationers were the first to adjust travel plans to meet waning consumer confidence as early as January 2025. Now, moderate- and high-spending consumers are feeling the pinch.
The Consumer Confidence Index and the Consumer Sentiment Index — both referenced by travel markets to gauge how consumers feel about the economy and their personal finances — remain below historic averages as consumer negativity spreads to high spenders.
With gas prices remaining up a dramatic 24.6% nationally from July 2025 while airfares remain up 25.5%, Foley said the combination of rising travel expenses and inflated consumer prices is putting pressure on lodging rates.
“Even luxury consumers are pulling back, and economy-minded consumers remain tentative,” Foley said in the report.
Growing hesitancy from consumers in the luxury tier has partially manifested in the demand for different property types. While luxury properties still dominate the market across the western U.S., according to Inntopia’s data, some guests are trading down.
“Luxury consumers are the core of mountain travelers and they have been economically resilient until now,” Foley said in the report. “But they are changing their behavior, focusing on less-expensive products, off-season bargain hunting, and shorter stays in peak periods.”
The search for discounted early season pricing is also driving up booking lead times across the industry. July data shows that the time between when a booking is made and the arrival date has extended further in 2026 than at any time in the past.
Average bookings in July were made 51.1 days in advance — roughly 18 days longer than in 2019, according to an analysis of Inntopia’s 17 participating destinations. The extension in lead times first gained momentum in January 2026, when travelers were deferring winter bookings to the summer months following poor snow conditions. Now, later bookings are being driven by the search for more attractively priced fall months and discounted early winter trips.
“This [summer] is shaping up to be … better than expected given the extreme lack of precipitation for much of the past year and the challenges posed by some big wildfires and smoky conditions,” Foley said in the report. “But there are clues in the data that reveal that the reliable, high-end consumer is also feeling the economic pinch. … At this point, we’ll be watching closely to see if these trends continue since they could have a significant impact on the upcoming winter season.”
