Friday, August 18, 2006

Spring business up in Sun Valley

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By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Writer

Largely due to a successful spring for the Sun Valley Resort, third-quarter local option tax receipts for the city of Sun Valley are 14 percent higher than for the same period last year.

That far exceeds a goal of a 2-to-5 percent increase set by the Sun Valley Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau, chamber Executive Director Carol Waller told the Sun Valley City Council on Wednesday.

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Ketchum's LOT receipts for the same period—April through June—rose 5 percent.

Hotel occupancy for Sun Valley during the spring "slack" period was 60 percent, and condominium occupancy was 20 percent.

Waller told council members she was "bullish" about the future of the area's summer tourism business.

"Our off-season is going to be more of a struggle," she said. "So much of it comes down to access, access and access."

Waller said airlines do not plan any new routes to Sun Valley. She said negotiations to begin flights from Denver do not look promising.

Between October and the end of June, the chamber's Web site received almost 500,000 visits, up 64 percent from last year. Requests for printed materials during that period dropped by 30 percent to about 7,800.

"Ideally, we'd love everyone to get the information on line and save us money," Waller said.

A new Web site design is scheduled for November.