Experts Predict a Hot Summer Season
Trevor Phipps
As the weather warms up, the amount of traffic sweeping across the Ute Pass region has visibly increased.
A surge of rainy days in May and the first part of June put a slight damper on the usual start to the tourist season. But the lull is now over as the entire Pikes Peak region prepares for big events this summer.
Experts across the state are mostly optimistic about how the 2025 summer tourist season will pan out. After a slower-than-usual winter season, tourism industry experts believe this summer could be slightly better for tourism than previous years.
According to an article published by North Forty News, tourism numbers are already up for the year and they are expected to keep increasing. “Colorado’s tourism industry surged to unprecedented heights in 2025, shattering previous records and establishing new benchmarks for visitor numbers, revenue generation, and economic impact across the state,” the article reported. “As 2025 continues to unfold, preliminary forecasts suggest that the final visitor statistics will exceed initial projections by a considerable margin.”
However, other industry experts say that there are a number of factors that could slow down tourism numbers this summer. Last winter due to low moisture and snow levels, occupancy rates across the state were down, but only by less than one percent.
According to Bankrate’s 2025 Summer travel survey released in April, only 46 percent of U.S. adults plan to travel this summer, which is a drop from 53 percent last year. Others factors specifically facing Colorado could also deter tourism traffic.
Multiple experts have mentioned that recent uncertainty surrounding tariffs could cause a decrease in tourism across the country. The World Travel and Tourism Council reported that the country is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year.
Another factor that could affect tourism across Colorado is weather conditions during the summer. Two months ago, the state snowpack was 93 percent of what it normally is. But then after a dry month of April, the snowpack levels were only 57 percent of the average.
Some more moisture came in May and early June, but water levels in the state’s lakes and rivers are expected to be lower than average. And preliminary weather forecasts show that the summer could be relatively dry for most of the state. This could deter travelers looking for watersports.
The forecast also shows that most of the state will see higher temperatures than normal. This could cause drought conditions and an increase in wildfire activity that could also deter tourists. However, emergency mitigation experts have reported that they only expected an average wildfire season.
Local Experts Optimistic About Tourism Season
According to Doug Price, the CEO of Visit Colorado Springs, the Pikes Peak region saw a brief spike in tourism numbers starting in March. And with a number of big events coming to the region this summer, Price expects a good summer season for tourism.
Later this month the U.S. Senior Open will be coming to the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and bring an estimated 130,000, will attend the tournament. Other big upcoming events for southern Colorado as a whole include the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on July 12 and the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo that takes place July 8-12
Locally, most business experts agree that the tourist season had a slow start this year. Most businesses in the Ute Pass region have reported a slow year for traffic so far. And then during most of May and the first part of June, the rainy weather slowed traffic down. In fact, the numbers for Memorial Day weekend were down compared to recent years.
“It’s a slow year if we base it on the metrics compared to the past few years,” the Greater Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Miller said. “We are kicking off slow. Our Memorial Day Weekend was slow traffic. We are seeing that our hotels have open reservations on some weekends, and we don’t necessarily like to see that. We like to see them booked up.”
But Miller did agree that once the weather warmed up in mid-June, the traffic started to drastically increase. Over the last week or two, traffic on Hwy. 24 appears to be reaching normal summertime levels.
Miller did say that she thinks the tourism traffic will continue to increase. “I believe that our July 4th weekend throughout Teller County will be huge because it is a weekend,” Miller said. “I know ticket sales are going well for the concert (America’s Mountain Music Festival) on July 5. I know Cripple Creek has a lot of July 4th stuff going and they are really pushing it. Woodland Park has also been pushing their 4th of July festival and the Symphony Above the Clouds.”
Another plus that could attract visitors for the nation’s birthday, is the addition of fireworks. According to Miller, if weather conditions stay the same of the next few weeks, the city of Woodland Park will be putting on a fireworks show at the Woodland Park High School football field for the first time in several years.
