Not a week goes by that I’m not asked my take on our local economy. It’s a funny question, given that the folks asking typically have their fingers on the proverbial pulse of our community as much as I do.
In all fairness, in our role as the regional chamber of commerce and destination marketing organization, the Vail Valley Partnership talks to a variety of member businesses on an ongoing basis and we do work with various entities in both the private and public sector with regularity.
As the Partnership continues our outreach to various municipalities and other stakeholder groups, both locally and regionally via the Economic Council of Eagle County, one consistent theme holds true.
So my answer to the question of “What are you seeing in the economy?” is that, in many ways, we are facing the tale of two economies. To paraphrase the great Charles Dickens, it’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times.
So what in the world does that mean?
My take is that tourism-based businesses, those in the resort core and those most reliant on tourism, are seeing (close to) “the best of times”. Sales tax revenues continue to be strong and show growth, lodging occupancies continue to grow and event attendance for our signature events continues to maintain growth – with new events having had great success this winter (think Teva Winter Mountain Games) and last summer (think Tough Mudder or USA Pro Cycling Challenge).
We even heard from a number of businesses in Avon that had their best ever weekend during the Snowball Music Festival earlier this month. Many new events have been recruited by the Partnership for this summer and fall in addition to new events being developed by local entities in Vail, Avon and Beaver Creek.
Opportunities to capitalize on this success and to capture repeat visitation are abundant – and both Vail and Beaver Creek are working hard to do so. From the Vail Valley Partnership’s destination marketing efforts, we are seeing growth in both our group sales effort and our leisure sales opportunities as well as increased demand for our vacation planning guide and downloads of our iPad/iPhone vacation planning app.
On the flip side, the further away from tourism that your business might be, the closer it is to “the worst of times”. Certainly, construction and development are a fraction of their peak. It’s a tough, tough time out there and I would offer the view that our “development economy” has moved to a “redevelopment economy” – creating huge challenges (and opportunities) to this important part of our economy. Foreclosures, bank sales and other economic pressures continue to present challenges to our continued economic growth.
We’re seeing many small businesses continue to struggle throughout the valley and feedback from our member businesses (again, generally further removed from direct tourism industries) show that we still have a long way to go to reach a point where businesses across geographic and market segments are seeing equal successes.
What’s this all mean? I don’t have all the answers (not by a long stretch), but it’s important to continue the discussions and to continue to focus on both enhancing our tourism economy via the EGE Regional Airport and new events, while at the same time providing the business environment needed for businesses to succeed regardless of market segment.
What can your business do to help? If you are not a member and benefit from the Partnership’s recruitment of events, like Tough Mudder or USA Pro Cycling Challenge, or our business services such as the networking and other benefits offered to members, get off the sidelines and join the Partnership. If you are already a member, tell your neighbors to join to help us do even more here in the valley.
As always, I encourage all member businesses to get engaged with the Partnership and to contact us with any suggestions you may have to help us better serve you and for non-members to join the Partnership. Call us at (970) 476-1000 or stop by our offices in Avon at Traer Creek Plaza to share your feedback.