Colorado’s tourism season usually fuels the state’s economy like wood on a campfire.

As the state climbs out of a COVID-19 pandemic-caused recession, 2021’s season looks to bounce back considerably from 2020, with most restrictions on restaurants, hotels and other tourism-related businesses relaxed or lifted entirely. The industry is expecting a resurgence in visitors arriving by road and air during the summer season that traditionally begins next weekend.

But the tourism recovery this year will remain a far cry from 2019’s high mark of 86.9 million visitors who spent an estimated $24.2 billion and supported more than 180,000 Colorado jobs, according to a 2019 Colorado Travel Impacts study by Dean Runyan Associates.

Hotel and convention center officials said they’re seeing an increase in bookings and room reservations, mostly coming from the leisure sector. Large-group gatherings and conventions that businesses typically bring are still struggling with continuing COVID-19 restrictions, but are getting creative this year and momentum is building for 2022 and beyond bookings.

“There’s finally an uptick in business,” said Gregory Leonard, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center. “We’ve had pockets here and there, and good success on weekends. The leisure traveler on weekends has been very strong. We’re recovering on the coattails of the leisure traveler.”

Leonard said the convention business outlook is good, as the Colorado Convention Center upgrades/expansion project gets underway this year and bookings appear to be picking up. A recent spate of dance and volleyball events started the recovery.

“We’ve got more groups coming in August – namely the Outdoor Retailer show – and throughout 2021,” he said. “Our property is so contingent on the Convention Center. Major conventions will be the last ramp up.”

Sage Hospitality Group’s CEO Walter Isenberg said after talking to many businesses, they don’t expect corporate travel back until more offices start opening after Memorial Day.

“Think about it, if you’re coming to Denver to visit clients and their offices are closed, it’s not worth it,” Isenberg said.

Sage owns 60 hotels in 20 states with more  than 11,000 rooms. In Denver, that includes The Crawford, The Curtis, The Oxford and JW Mariott Denver at Cherry Creek.

Isenberg agreed leisure travel will remain strong through 2021.

“We have a hotel in Savannah (Penny Lane) that’s a drive-to leisure product and we expect doing better this year than we did in 2019,” he said. “We’ve talked to all the lodging consultants and they project a full recovery in 2023/24, and I still think for a lot of markets that’s true. … Frankly, I think we’ll be very strong in 2022.”

Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center in Breckenridge’s General Manager Bob Barto agreed.

“We anticipate being busier than last summer, but not as busy as 2018-19,” Barto said. “There’s a huge amount of pent-up demand to go travel.”

While the resort’s 567 privately owned condos have stayed occupied for the most part – especially with driving tourists from states like Florida and Texas – Beaver Run’s 40,000 square feet of meeting space has been mostly empty for more than a year. Owners took the opportunity to push up a capital improvement project that was scheduled for 2022, and installed new roofs and an HVAC system in 2020.

Meeting groups are scheduled for June and July, but Barto said they’ll have to get creative for the Colorado Association of School Executives meeting in late July. It typically brings 1,000 school officials. Instead of 500 people in one room listening to keynote speakers, conference goers will be spread to different rooms and watch on a simulcast.

“I think on the group side, we’re still looking two-to-five years out for full recovery,” Barto said. “But we’re very optimistic it will return.”

STR, a Tennessee-based hotel industry research firm, and Tourism Economics, a Pennsylvania-based travel economics company, forecast that hotels won’t fully recover to 2019 levels until 2024. The forecast released earlier this month projects nationwide hotel occupancy rates to recover from 41.6% last year to 53.3% this year and 60.1% next year and reaching 2019 levels until 2023, but room rates and revenue per available room not fully recovering until the following year.

“The expectations for the upcoming summer months have been strong for some time, but the year got off to a better start than anticipated as vaccinations expanded and consumers flush with savings felt ready to jump back into the experiences that were put on hold over the past year,” STR President said Amanda Hite said in a news release.

“As we saw in late March and early April, leisure continues to be the primary source of demand although improving weekday occupancies indicate that some business travel is back in the marketplace. What remains furthest off from meaningful recovery is group business, but there is hope for upward movement in that segment as more events get back on the books,” Hite continued.

Colorado’s Tourism Office recently landed a $2.4 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant, with a $600,000 match from the state.

Grant implementation began this month with the Colorado Tourism Roadmap to Recovery, a five-year strategic plan.

“As free vaccines become readily available to all eligible residents, Colorado’s tourism industry is optimistic for the summer travel season ahead and is rolling up its sleeves to start the important work of building back a better and more sustainable tourism economy,” a CTO spokesperson said via email.

It started a new national marketing campaign “highlighting ‘wow’ Colorado moments from across the state.”

“Colorado’s natural beauty is a global attraction, and our messages will rightly need to balance attraction and public health,” according to the spokesperson.

2021 tourism highlights cited by the CTO include the new Summit Visitor Center opening on the top of Pikes Peak, with the return of the cog railway.

The cog railway had been closed since late 2017 for a $100 million project to rebuild the 8.9-mile track, add three new train cars, refurbish the four older units and renovate the cog’s depot, adding more restrooms.

Cog passengers won’t be able to see the new $65 million summit house for several more weeks as winter weather on Pikes Peak has delayed completion of construction and opening until at least mid-June, said Jack Glavan, manager of Pikes Peak — America’s Mountain.

The Palisade Plunge will open as “one of the longest singletrack downhill mountain bike trails in the U.S.” It’s 32 miles of track down 6,000 feet of elevation from the top of Grand Mesa to the town of Palisade. Arapahoe Basin will also launch the “highest ferrata climbing route in North America.”

In Denver, city officials are looking forward to the MLB All-Star game July 13, with events that whole weekend leading up to the game at Coors Field.

“That’s going to be huge for the city,” Hyatt’s Leonard said. “What a great boost with some great marketing. It’s almost free marketing for Denver.”

“We’re pretty optimistic about this summer,” said Isenberg. “With the All Star game, baseball back to 100% capacity, plus the Nuggets and the Avalance in the playoffs, everything’s super positive.”

Visit Denver is looking forward to the “Mile High Comeback” as events and festivals return, albeit some in a different format than during pre-pandemic years.

“Denver’s festivals and events are essential parts of our identity as a destination,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO, in a statement. “Witnessing the safe return of in-person events from sports to live music is just the beginning of Denver’s return to being the exciting, urban destination we were before the pandemic.”

Here’s a rundown of some of the larger events and festivals returning in 2021:

• The 30th Annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival, September 4-6
• Denver PrideFest 2021, Jun 26-27
• The University of Colorado Buffs vs. Texas A&M Aggies, September 11, at Empower Field at Mile High stadium
• Black Love Mural Festival, May 27 – August 2, the only black mural festival in the country, highlighting both local creatives and artists from around the country
• Juneteenth Music Festival, June 18-20, in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood
• Underground Music Showcase, August 27-29, south Broadway’s “premier music event” showcasing local bands and Denver venues
• The 38th annual Taste of Colorado festival is returning to Denver this Labor Day weekend, but in a different format not centered completely on Civic Center Park.