Pikes Peak region on record tourism pace

The Colorado Springs area is on a rising tourism trend that could break the one-year record for visits and spending.

Despite wildfires and floods between 2012 and 2015, officials said the area is on pace to set a tourism record previously established in 1997.

“That’s the year we had Western Pacific Airlines providing flights at the airport,” said Doug Price, president and CEO of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. “When you have that, it’s easier for people to get here for business, meetings and conventions or vacations. It improves the access to our region.”

Price said other factors in the success are that Colorado is among the top five U.S. states for tourist destinations, and the bureau received an additional $350,000 for marketing this year.

“We’re close to a 70 percent overall occupancy rate for hotels and motels,” he said. “That, along with the City for Champions projects, are spurring hotel development.”

Price said tourism can increase even more if the bureau has more money for marketing.

“We have around $1 million this year and would like to have $4 million,” he said. “We hope to put a question on the ballot next spring to raise the lodging and car rental taxes paid by tourists.”

Price said the bureau proposes increasing the taxes from 2 percent to 4 percent and from 1 percent to 2 percent, respectively.

“I think this tourism increase will be around for a while,” he said. “The bookings are very strong through 2018.”

The local success is in line with statewide tourism, which in 2015 broke a record for the fifth consecutive year with nearly 78 million visitors and $19 billion spent.

Officials said Colorado’s 31 percent improvement in tourism since the 2008 recession is almost twice the national recovery rate of 16 percent.

“We’ve been able to partner with the state, which has a bigger marketing budget of $19 million,” Price said. “In April, we were able to market our area in Chicago. It’s something we couldn’t have done with our own budget.”

Manitou Springs is on track to break its 2010 record for tourism, according to Leslie Lewis of the Visitors Bureau.

“We’re landlocked so we don’t have the space to build new hotels,” she said. “But the market for people who want to rent a room in their home or rent a secondary home is booming.”

Lewis said people who rent rooms as individuals must have a business license.

“We have around 25 renting now, and the City Council has authorized up to 52,” she said.

The tourism success has spread to Pueblo, where officials report a 4 percent increase in revenue from hotel rentals.

However, some tourists have mixed feelings about the region’s success. Mike and Phyllis Findley, who are visiting from Georgia, said traffic and congestion detract from the area’s positive aspects.

“We couldn’t find a place in Manitou Springs or Colorado Springs to park our RV,” Mike Findley said. “They were all full. We don’t know our way around. We finally found an opening at the state park in Pueblo. But that’s 50 miles away, and it’s a two-hour drive to visit our friends in Cripple Creek.”

“I was surprised,” said Phyllis Findley. “I thought Manitou Springs was a little town, and there wouldn’t be many people. I was amazed. There were too many people.”

But for most visitors, Colorado’s advantages far outweigh its disadvantages.

“Colorado is big in the picture for me because of the natural resources,” said Cynthia Donovan, of Michigan. “Because of all the parks, camping, hiking and skiing. I just love the outdoors and being in an environment where people respect them and provide facilities that enable people to be outside.”