Colorado Springs hotels continued a gradual recovery in October from the COVID-19 pandemic, but still fell well short of the booming occupancy levels reached before the outbreak.

Occupancy rates in local hotels averaged 68.6% last month, up from 63.9% a year earlier but behind the 73.1% occupancy rate reached in October 2019, before the pandemic hit the state, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report. Colorado Springs hotels have sold nearly two-thirds of their rooms — 65.9% — in the first 10 months of the year. That is a major improvement from 51.9% during the same period last year, but down nearly 11 percentage points from the same 10-month period in 2019.

Colorado Springs hotels’ recovery still shy of pre-pandemic levels

“The industry is not completely recovered yet, especially when you compare the numbers with 2019. We are not there yet,” said Doug Price, CEO of Visit Colorado Springs. “Vaccinations and boosters have given people the confidence to travel and stay in hotels, but there are still companies and organizations that have travel restrictions in place. Until that changes, you won’t see a complete recovery.”

Colorado Springs hotel market ranked No. 2. in the U.S.

The industry’s recovery in Colorado Springs is still ahead of most other cities. Hotel occupancy rates in Colorado Springs ranked as the nation’s 12th highest among 165 cities and areas tracked by hotel research firm STR. The company uses different criteria to measure local occupancy than the Rocky Mountain report, which doesn’t include The Broadmoor or Cheyenne Mountain Resort in its Colorado Springs hotels; those hotels are listed in a separate category for resorts.

The Rocky Mountain report found the average room rate at local hotels in October was up 30.5% from a year ago and up 16.8% from October 2019 to $131.69. Average rates for the first 10 months of the year jumped 28.3% from the same period last year and 9% from the same period in 2019 to $133.76.

Colorado Springs hotels continue strong summer performance

Denver occupancy improved to 66.1% in October from 46.7% a year earlier, one of the strongest recoveries in Colorado, led by hotels near Denver International Airport. Occupancy in the Denver area during the first 10 months of the year was 59.1%, up from 43.5% during the same period last year. The average room rate in Denver hotels last month surged 55% from a year ago to $147.16 and for the first 10 months of the year was up 18.5% to $127.55.

Statewide, hotel occupancy rose to 63.1% in October from 50.5% a year ago, and for the first 10 months of the year is up to 59% from 46.1% a year ago. The average room rate in Colorado during October averaged $154.10, up nearly 40% from a year earlier and for the first 10 months of the year was up 13.8% to $153.54.

Nationwide hotel occupancy was 62.9% in October, a big recovery from 48.3% last year but still 8.8 percentage points behind October 2019, according to data compiled by STR. The average room rate jumped 38.8% during the same period to $134.78 and was 1.2% above the average room rate in October 2019.