Tanzi Propst/Park Record
The Park City lodging industry in recent weeks experienced an uptick in projected occupancy numbers during the dates of the Sundance Film Festival, but the figures remain depressed from a typical year during the largest special event on the city’s calendar.
The Park City Chamber/Bureau reading, dated Jan. 15, showed rising numbers from a report a month earlier. The projection for Jan. 28 the opening day of Sundance showed occupancy at 39%, up from 23% from the Dec. 15 report. But the number is off sharply from the actual figure from opening day of Sundance in 2020, when occupancy topped 90%.
Tanzi Propst/Park Record
Winter in Park City has typically brought with it a recurring problem for area employers. With low unemployment rates and a high cost of living, finding seasonal workers to help staff up during the busiest time of the year has been difficult. Some employers paid a higher salary, while others got creative, offering flexible schedules so workers could hit the slopes every morning or afternoon.
This year, COVID-19 turned that reality on its head. Now, with the unemployment rate still elevated due to the pandemic, finding workers isn’t an issue. But all the other headaches still exist.
Park Record file photo
Lodging occupancy in the Park City area is projected to crater during the Sundance Film Festival in January and early February, a mid-December reading released by the Park City Chamber/Bureau shows, an especially gloomy outlook for what is typically one of the best stretches of the year for the industry.
The numbers were compiled on Dec. 15 and are based on a survey of 16 properties representing a range of traditional lodging options like economy hotels, luxury hotels and short-term vacation rentals. Bookings or cancellations since Dec. 15 are not reflected in the report.
Occupancy on Jan. 28, the opening day of Sundance, is projected to hit 23%. The number is expected to reach a festival high on Feb. 3, the last day, at 28%.
COVID-19 may unravel progress
COVID-19 has had an impact worldwide, and working women are far from immune to the effects. Women are overrepresented in fields at a high risk of being disrupted, and most essential workers are women in service-related careers. While women in all lines of work are vulnerable to job loss, those in professional fields are particularly susceptible to the changes brought on by the virus particularly because they have the most to lose.
We’ve made huge advancements in workplace gender equality in the last several decades, but COVID-19 has the potential to undo those positive changes by causing professional women to leave their careers to care for their families.
Park Record columnist Amy Roberts.
For months there’s been a back-and-forth concern about lodging numbers and what a drop in tourism would mean for our local economy. At the beginning of this pandemic, our tourism-based economy seemed to be on the brink of collapse. No doubt, some small businesses, nonprofits, restaurants and Parkites are still struggling. But the fear that visitors would stop visiting Park City turned out to be more anxiety than reality. There are opening night of Sundance levels of humans in town at the moment. And they all go to the grocery store at the same time.