Summer Whistler Accommodation Rentals in Jeopardy?
Weakened U.S. economy seen as key obstacle to summer growth in resort.
After significant growth in summer visitation to Whistler over the past two summers, Tourism Whistler (TW) officials are predicting that numbers in summer 2008 will be the same as last year — largely because of the weakened U.S. economy.
While rising gas prices and possible negative impacts from last summer’s cool, rainy weather are other potential reasons for the stalled summer momentum, visitation from the U.S. has been dropping in recent months and is expected to remain lower than in recent years.
“We think the U.S. market will be a challenge for… probably the next year, realistically,” Barrett Fisher, TW president, said Tuesday (May 13) at the organization’s annual general meeting.
U.S. bookings began to dampen in January and February, and they dropped off further in March and April, she said. Final numbers for the 2007-’08 season are still being tallied, but the anticipated results are for room nights to be flat or down one per cent when compared to the previous winter, she said.
Whistler accommodation rentals by owners directly may also be affected by this down turn in the US economy, only making it more challenging to fill their vacanies. More and more owners who rent their accommodations directly, or use a management agency may be look for new places to advertise to attract renters this summer.
December was the busiest on record and visitation from the United Kingdom was strong this winter, which helped to counterbalance the U.S. decline. While day trips were likely up for visitors from around B.C., there was also a bit of a decline in room nights from that sector, she said.
“The biggest decline is absolutely out of the U.S. and out of the Washington (state) and California markets,” Fisher said.
Whistler has been gaining momentum as a summer destination in recent years, with a 14 per cent increase in room nights in 2006, followed by another six per cent growth in 2007 — the busiest summer on record. While some growth is anticipated in the shoulder months this summer, the typically busy months are expected to be down slightly, resulting in similar numbers as last year expected for summer 2008, Fisher said.
“We’re not anticipating growth again this summer,” she said.
In addition to the weak U.S. economy, ongoing challenges include the parity of the Canadian and U.S. dollars, construction at border crossings, confusion over passport requirements and a shrinking labour pool, Fisher said.
While last summer’s cool, rainy weather didn’t seem to affect visitation at the time, there is some worry that some backlash could be felt this summer — similar to the way that a bad snow season can affect bookings for the following winter.
However, the Farmer’s Almanac shows summer 2008 to be a more typical summer for weather in Whistler, she said.
When it comes to rising gas prices, research shows the “breaking point” in the U.S. to be around $3.50 a gallon, Fisher said. Seattle-area gas prices were around $3.85 this week.
“That’s a concern, absolutely. Any barrier to travel is a concern of ours,” she said. “People will be cognizant of the higher cost of travel.”
How much gas prices will affect summer travel is yet to be seen, but research also shows that travel is quite important to people, she said. The result could be instead of not travelling, people will choose to stay a little closer to home and take shorter trips.
In an effort to try to appeal to U.S. visitors in the Washington state and California markets, TW plans to craft vacation packages to meet the demand for affordability and shorter stays, Fisher said.
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