Colorado Springs tourism leaders are eager for the arrival of the region’s peak travel season with many signs pointing to a robust year of visitation.

Despite elevated gas prices and rampant inflation that characterized much of summer 2022, the city continued to recuperate from pandemic-related setbacks. Colorado Springs generated a record $9.8 million from its Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax, an indicator of tourists’ spending.

New flights offered at the Colorado Springs Airport in 2023, high traffic on local attractions’ websites and unique events with global attraction bode well for a year of what Doug Price, president and CEO of Visit Colorado Springs, called continued recovery.

“We’ve started the year in pretty good shape,” Price said.

He noted that in February, when tourist activity is typically frigid, Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax, revenues rose, solidifying expectations that 2023 collections could slightly exceed the previous year.

“It’s not soaring in any way,” Price said. “But we’re optimistic that it’s going to be good.”

PK McPherson, executive director of Pikes Peak Region Attractions, an association of local attractions marketing the area’s tourism, has noticed a

surge of interest based on the association’s web traffic data.

“I think that people are more interested than ever in those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, which we have so many of here,” McPherson said.

Much of that interest was in indoor activities rather than outdoor attractions this spring, McPherson said.

“Obviously Pikes Peak ... that’s our anchor for everything,” McPherson said. “I think the snow has hurt them a little this first stretch of the year, but I know the Cog Railway is up. I think things really are looking good as far as the mountain itself goes.”

And up it is.

Ten trains a day are scheduled to ascend Pikes Peak throughout most of the summer from late May until early September to accommodate for the busy season, said Ted Johnston, general manager of the The Broadmoor Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

A big chunk of passengers comes from Colorado and surrounding states, but Johnston said he is curious to see if more visitors will come from farther away this year.

“With the increase in air service this summer that we’re getting at the airport,” Johnston said, “hopefully, that’ll help drive in some different markets.”

The Colorado Springs Airport will draw from new markets with the following nonstop routes:

Avelo Airlines flights to Los Angeles via Hollywood-Burbank; Delta Air Lines routes to Atlanta and Minneapolis-St. Paul; Sun Country Airlines seasonal service to Minneapolis-St. Paul; and Southwest Airlines’ daily flights between the Springs and Long Beach, Calif.

After a year of record traffic at the Colorado Springs Airport, Greg Phillips, director of aviation, said 2023 is likely to see more travelers.

“We’re averaging close to 80% load factors,” Phillips said about fullness of flights. “And we anticipate that the busy summer will see those increase.”

For tourism-oriented sites in town, attracting those out-ofstate vacationers is a key component of bolstering business.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo sees more than half of its annual visitors between May and September with 73% of out-of-state guests coming during that period, Rachel Wright, the zoo’s public relations manager, said via email, adding that many of those days sell out.

“We limit capacity and require advance timed e-tickets for our members and the general public,” Wright wrote, “which allows us to manage our on-site parking and preserve the peaceful experience we want our guests to have in the zoo.”

Zoo tickets are not the only admissions predicted to sell out.

Josh Middleton, director of ticket sales for Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, anticipates some games at Weidner Field to sell out including July 4 and Galactic Night, a “Star Wars”-themed game Friday with Lightsaber giveaways.

“What we’ve seen in terms of attendance this year has far exceeded attendance that we’ve had in seasons past,” Middleton said. “We’re anticipating high volume.”

Other events in town such as the International Jump Rope Union’s World Jump Rope Championship are likely to draw international travelers — a demographic of tourism that has not rebounded since the onset of COVID-19, Price said.

“International travel continues to lag behind pre-pandemic levels,” Price said. “And so, we’re hoping that we will see more international travel.”

He cautioned international travel could take a couple of more years for complete recovery.

Other complications that could impact tourism include elevated inflation, which local economist Tatiana Bailey, similar to other experts, expects to instigate a mild recession for the second half of 2023 and early 2024.

For McPherson, inflation and gas prices are important to watch but are overshadowed by climate risks.

“We’re always kind of keeping our eye on how the moisture is,” said McPherson, who added, “Fires are always a concern for everybody.”

Fires outside the Pikes Peak region can taint perceptions and hurt the peak travel season, she said, emphasizing the need to retain moisture and stave off drought.

Most of El Paso and Teller counties ranked as abnormally dry, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data released May 18.

While environmental and pricing threats lurk, McPherson, similar to other tourism leaders, is optimistic about the days ahead and glad that the pandemic is behind Colorado Springs.

“I feel like last year, we were ... 90% past COVID,” McPherson said. “I feel this year like it’s really in the rearview mirror.”

“I think that people are more interested than ever in those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, which we have so many of here.”

PK McPherson, executive director of Pikes Peak Region Attractions