‘A decent summer’ underway for Durango-Silverton tourism economy (2024)

Pandemic-era rapid growth is starting to decrease, business and travel experts say

From the mountains to the restaurants to the train, Southwest Colorado’s tourism industry is in decent shape – not particularly good, but not bad either – so far this summer.

Ridership on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad fluctuated about 2% up and down in May and June, and is, so far, up about 2% in July compared with last year, said American Heritage Railways General Manager John Harper.

According to statistics based off cellphone tracking and credit card usage data available on Visit Durango’s dashboard, June overnight stays in the area were down by 10% compared with last June, and down 13% for the last 12 months overall.

Silverton, which thrives on a summertime tourism economy fueled by a steady deposition of train passengers into the heart of the small town, is having “an incredibly healthy summer,” said Silverton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director DeAnne Gallegos.

But that doesn’t mean the town’s tourism numbers are breaking records. Visitation to the town boomed during the pandemic, and is now seeing a slow come down from then.

“We’re kind of starting to see that gluttonous pandemic bubble slowly trend down, but not like a dramatic shift,” she said. “When I go downtown and talk to businesses, it’s really hit and miss.”

(One business owner, upset that off-highway vehicles have been banned inside Silverton town limits, recently told The Durango Herald that their business was “deader than a doornail.”)

The summer was off to a slow start, Harper said, after a rockslide covered the tracks, blocking the route to Silverton for seven days.

About 7,000 passengers were impacted by the slide, which likely contributed to June’s lower numbers. In a ripple effect, the railway-owned Grand Imperial Hotel in Silverton also saw about a 10% drop in revenues, Harper said, although not all of that can be attributed to the rockslide.

From Durango to Silverton, across industries, tourism experts report that 2021 and 2022 were both years of growth, but that things have begun to flatten out beginning in 2023 and may be starting to decline this year.

Across seven visitor spending categories – transportation, accommodations, outdoor recreation, attractions, food, retail, and gas and service stations – visitors are on average, spending less in every category other than two, according to Visit Durango statistics.

Visitors are spending significantly more on outdoor recreation – $259 on average this year, up from $209 last year – and just $4 more on food.

Given inflationary pressures, having slowed significantly in recent months according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, people are less inclined to open their wallets at a restaurant and would rather go on a hike.

Kris Oyler, CEO of Peak Food & Beverage, which operates Steamworks Brewing Co., El Moro Spirits & Tavern and HomeSlice Pizza, said “it’s a decent summer.”

However, he has noticed changing habits that have resulted in a declining patronage at his businesses.

“Particularly at Steamworks, we’ve seen the number of people coming through the door, the actual customer count has been down a little bit,” he said. “Because of inflationary pressures and wage pressures, we’ve had to raise some prices, so that offset it a little bit, so it’s a little bit like treading water.”

Gallegos said the trend holds in Silverton as well.

“People are traveling, but they’re not spending as much, they’re not parting with their money,” she said. “And some of the first businesses that are experiencing that are restaurants.”

On the flip side, the outdoors are busier than ever.

Despite having fewer forest ambassadors in the field than last year, San Juan Mountains Association Executive Director Stephanie Weber said ambassadors are encountering, on average, 20 more people each day than 2023.

“Since July Fourth holiday, our team has just been hammered,” she said.

In a hopeful anecdote that could indicate that Visit Durango’s sustainable tourism approach is working, Weber reports that forest ambassadors hauled out 1,200 pounds of trash in 2023, down from 1,700 pounds the year before.

Some of the areas on the destination management and marketing organization’s “do not promote” list – crowded trails such as Ice Lakes – continue to see increasingly heavy use.

To that end, Weber is urging visitors to create contingency plans and destinations.

“Come up with a couple of different options as you head out, just in case you get somewhere and it’s just packed,” she said. “You’ll have a better experience, the landscape will be better off and it’s still going to be amazing.”

rschafir@durangoherald.com