What Colorado’s latest data says about the Western Slope’s outdoor recreation economy

Revenue and jobs generated by residents recreating in Colorado’s Western Slope, where outdoor tourism is king, pales in comparison to the Front Range, a new state report shows. 

The findings, part of a broader study on the state’s recreation economy commissioned by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, show that while both regions see a similar amount of visitor use for some of the most popular activities, the Front Range far outpaces rural resort communities in terms of labor income, tax revenue and jobs created. 

Officials say the main reason will always be the major population difference between the two regions, with the Front Range being home for the majority of Coloradans and thus the epicenter of the state’s job market and economy. 

Still, the gaps between the Western Slope and Front Range are far larger in terms of economic output than it is for sheer visitor volume. It means the Western Slope region is welcoming recreators at a rate closer to the Front Range despite seeing far lower returns in metrics such as workforce income. 

“I think it poses challenges, and I think it’s something that we should be monitoring as a region,” said Rachel Tuyn, Economic Development District Director for the Northwest Council of Governments. 

Tuyn’s organization represents Routt, Grand, Summit, Eagle and Pitkin counties, a region where 40% of all jobs are tourism industry related. 

She said it’s critical that rural resort areas see strong return on investment from visitors in terms of tax revenue. Those dollars, generated in the form of sales and lodging taxes, for example, are essential to delivering a swath of community initiatives, from maintaining roads to building below-market-rate workforce housing. 

Too many people but not enough tax dollars would equal a problem, Tuyn said. 

“Certainly, the number of visitors we see has an impact. They have a positive impact in that they fuel our economy but they also have a negative impact in that they have a strain on our resources,” Tuyn said. “The need to provide those services to the visitation economy requires a sustainable workforce.”

Conducted by research firm Southwick Associates in partnership with Colorado State University, the economic report released late last month is the sharpest look yet at the landscape of Colorado’s outdoor recreation sector. 

It divides the state into three regions: The Western Slope, Front Range and Eastern Plains. It shows the recreation economy in 2023 had a total economic output of $65.8 billion in 2023. When comparing regions, the Western Slope’s economic output was $17.8 billion while the Front Range was $36.3 billion — a difference of 68%. 

A closer look at the numbers shows where those regions stand in terms of different economic factors: 

• Number of jobs supported: Western Slope (127,639), Front Range (217,448)
• Labor income: Western Slope ($5.7 billion), Front Range ($12.2 billion)
• Gross domestic product value: Western Slope ($9.5 billion), Front Range ($20.2 billion)
• State and local taxes: Western Slope ($2 billion), Front Range ($3 billion)
• Federal taxes: Western Slope ($1.4 billion), Front Range ($2.9 billion)

The Front Range also saw the most recreation use overall of the three regions, with an estimated 3 million Coloradans engaging in an outdoor activity in that region, compared to 2.3 million in the Western Slope — a difference of 26%. 

The report provides a further breakdown of those activities: 

• Trail and road: Western Slope (1.9 million), Front Range (2.4 million) 
• Water-based: Western Slope (1.1 million), Front Range (1.5 million)
• Wildlife-related: Western Slope (1.5 million), Front Range (1.7 million)
• Winter: Western Slope (1 million), Front Range (629,000) 
• Other: Western Slope (1.5 million), Front Range (1.6 million)

The report only surveyed Colorado residents and does not contain data on out-of-state or international visitors. But another recent economic report from the Colorado Tourism Office signals that overseas visitation to Colorado has not rebounded from where it was pre-pandemic. 

Instead, day travel from in-state residents has surged, meaning resort communities are seeing more daytime traffic and fewer overnight stays. To Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO Chris Romer, that creates a problem. 

“We value all of our visitors, but the day visitors tax our infrastructure and our carrying capacity … in a way that our overnight visitor doesn’t,” Romer said, adding that out-of-state visitors who are inclined to book longer stays “carry more economic value — and international visitors carry even more economic value.” 

Longer stays translate to more spending, which means more tax revenue for those communities to use on essential infrastructure investments. 

Romer said resort communities are aware of the need to renew interest from these travelers in a bid to diversify their tourism market. In the Vail area, for example, Romer said tourism-aligned groups are pursuing several strategies to lure back long-haul travelers. 

Those include rolling out more multiday events, such as the concert series at Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre, and adding new, low-fare flights in and out of the Eagle County airport. And while ski resorts will always be these areas’ anchor destinations, Romer said it’s important to diversify the experiences offered in the High Country to keep a wide range of tourists interested year round. 

Looking at the economic data included in the recent recreation study, Romer said he feels good about where the Western Slope stands. 

“I’m not overly pie in the sky optimistic of double digit growth,” he said, “but we’re in a very stable growth mode, a very stable sales tax environment.”

The report also serves as an important reminder of the role outdoor recreation plays in the health of the state’s economy. At over $65 billion in economic output, the industry is larger than the state’s construction, finance/insurance, and education/healthcare/social assistance sectors. Creating over 404,000 jobs, outdoor recreation represents 12% of the entire labor force in Colorado and produces $22.2 billion dollars in total salaries and wages. 

Additionally, the vast majority of Colorado residents say they utilize the outdoors for recreation purposes, with the report estimating that 3.8 million adults — 85% of the state’s adult population — engaged in an outdoor activity last year. Seventy-two percent said they recreated outdoors once or more per week.

“It’s important for the economic side, but we of course need to conserve these special places,” said Fletcher Jacobs, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Assistant Director for Outdoor Recreation and Lands. “You can’t have one without the other” 

The data collected from the study will be used to help develop the park service’s latest Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, a guiding document for land management that is revised every five years. 

That effort comes on the heels of another statewide plan released by the state tourism office that is meant to provide a 10-year framework for how communities can balance tourism with environmental conservation. 

Romer said it represents an ongoing push to develop better responses to tourism growth in a way that upholds quality of life for local communities and protects natural amenities. A big part of that is about educating visitors to be good stewards of their areas.  

“We saw, obviously, a huge spike in visitation and impact coming out of the pandemic to the point that, economically speaking, the community was almost at capacity,” Romer said. “We had workforce challenges layered with record levels of visitation … and we found out pretty quickly at that point we weren’t built to necessarily support and maintain all of it.”

He added, “I think a focus on stewardship and experiential marketing, rather than (visitor) volume, is a really positive change that will benefit the Western Slope.”

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