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STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK The word for the tourism outlook in Sun Valley this coming summer is “uncertainty.” So says Ray Gadd, executive director of Visit Sun Valley. Gadd said that the level of uncertainty driven by the ever-changing threats of tariffs is weighing heavy on consumers and may lead to a reduction in spending on leisure travel. It doesn’t help to have late summer wildfires and kids going back to school in August, he added.
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Visit Sun Valley provided a look at the expected occupancy rate and the average daily rate for lodging from May through October as of May 7.
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“While early summer lodging bookings look strong for June and July, we see more hesitation building in August in terms of advanced reservations. Shorter lengths of stay are also trending. Fortunately, the Governor’s Cup (golf tournament) is coming back in September,” he said. Gadd and his staff held a community gathering last week at Whiskey’s looking back at winter tourism in Sun Valley and ahead at summer and fall. Visit Sun Valley, a marketing agency, is advertising on Google Digital, in Mountain Gazette Wildsam and Ori to try to bolster visitation during slower times, he said. The community banded together admirably to put on the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Alpine Finals in March, Gadd said. But it’s possible the national and international coverage of Sun Valley during the races may be mitigated by the uncertainty of the economy and backlash from Europeans against Americans.
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Direct connections to six cities, including Chicago, can be made from SUN at Hailey's Friedman Memorial Airport.
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Some lodging owners raised their rates significantly and imposed minimum time stays during the event, which may have scared off some prospects. Some would-be visitors mistakenly believed there was no way to watch the races after grandstand sold out. And concerts and other programs were announced too late to give people time to plan their trips, Gadd said. Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw acknowledged that World Cup visitors didn’t spend as much at retail outlets as had been hoped, but he noted that lodging was up 40 percent. Things were looking bleak at the beginning of December 2024 thanks to the previous year’s skimpy snowfall, Gadd said. Having Christmas and New Year’s Day landing in mid-week cut into visitations and lengths of stay. But the snows came, and December ended down only 6 percent in lodging occupancy. It was up 7 percent in January. Increased lodging rates aided local option tax collections.
Lodging occupancy was up 9 percent in February, thanks to ample snowfall. Seventy-five to 90 percent of local occupancy or LOT taxes, assessed on tourist-related amenities like lodging, are paid by visitors, according to 2022 Zartico Data, Gadd said Having the Sun Valley Film Festival shift to December will be a boon for early December while skiing is still gearing up, he added.
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