Chamber reports tourism steady but warns of winter headwinds; group market and year‑round messaging highlighted
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Summary
The Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau updated the council on tourism figures showing a multi‑billion dollar economic impact, flat to slightly lower winter bookings and a 9% drop in TRT collections for 2025; the bureau said it is shifting marketing to higher‑value visitors, group sales and year‑round messaging.
The Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau presented its annual update to the Summit County Council on Jan. 28, summarizing 2023 economic impact data and a winter marketing outlook.
Jennifer Wesselhoff, the bureau’s executive director, told the council that tourism contributes more than $2 billion in local economic impact and supports nearly 15,000 jobs. "Our tourism industry generated almost 3.7 million overnight visitors and generated nearly $250 million in local and state taxes," she said, citing the bureau's most recent economic impact study.
Wesselhoff flagged an uncertain winter outlook driven by low snow and economic headwinds: research as of Dec. 31 showed reservations for January through March below year‑earlier levels, and transient room tax (TRT) collections for 2025 were down 9% year‑to‑date. The bureau plans a targeted marketing program — the "MountainKind" brand — focused on higher‑value outdoor and luxury visitors, adding group sales and select new feeder markets (Austin, Tampa, Houston) to diversify demand.
The bureau also emphasized workforce supports (seasonal worker guides, employer tools and a small‑business group‑health option) and sustainable tourism initiatives such as a lodging sustainability toolkit and partnerships with Recycle Utah. Council members asked about the lodging sample (40% of inventory reported into third‑party reservation tracking) and the bureau said that the dataset skews toward condominiumized and higher‑end properties.
Councilors thanked the chamber for the update and asked staff to follow up on TRT trends, the group‑sales strategy and the bureau’s contingency plans should snow and reservation trends remain weak later in the season.
