With a gorgeous Memorial Day 2026 weekend in the rearview mirror and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations on the horizon, Park City is feeling summery. Spring is still with us for a few weeks, and like green shoots emerging from once-frozen ground, May delivered the first hints of blossoms in our local economy after a challenging winter. A quick look back shows the headwinds we’ve faced. April proved especially tough, with hotel occupancy down 24% compared to the prior year and the average daily rate also declining by double digits. Over the past six months, occupancy lagged last year by about 13%. These numbers reflect the low-snow winter that kept some visitors away. Now, for the good news. May occupancy has rebounded, up 21% compared to May 2025. Advance bookings for the next six months — covering summer and into fall — are only modestly softer (down a little more than 3%), while the average daily rate has ticked up 1.4%. The market appears to be finding its footing, especially in the corporate and group market which is a major reason for this recovery. Importantly, even while occupancy was suffering in the six months before May, average daily rate held remarkably steady, declining just 1.7%. Visitors who did come this winter proved willing to pay premium rates. Local tax collections offer a broader economic snapshot and paint an even brighter picture at the moment. Summit County sales tax revenue jumped an attention-getting 10% in May (representing March spending) and is up 5% year-to-date, evidence that economic activity is expanding beyond lodging. Recreation, Arts, and Parks tax collections are up 2% year-to-date, signifying that visitors and locals continue to enjoy our trails, events and cultural offerings. And despite fewer visitors since January, restaurant tax collections are essentially flat (down just 0.7%) so far this year. Residents and guests clearly still savor Park City’s world-class dining scene, though they may be more value-conscious. The chamber is actively building on these green shoots, distinguishing Park City from our Mountain West competitors as a premiere year-round destination for spirited, responsible, affluent adventurers who embrace our Mountainkind ethos of community, stewardship, and authentic mountain living. These local economic trends align with the insights shared by Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and associate dean at the U of U Eccles School of Business, in her keynote at our May 11 Zions Bank Wasatch Back Economic Summit. Gochnour noted that Utah’s economy is holding its own, supported by solid job growth and reasonably stable consumer sentiment. She highlighted the Wasatch Back as a growth hotspot, with Wasatch County projected to be Utah’s fastest-growing county over the next 40 years. Our many ties to booming Utah County will only strengthen. Gochnour described a New Utah: no longer small, young, homogeneous, and inexpensive, but mid-sized, demographically and economically diversifying, older and more expensive, with new arrivals fueling much of the expansion. Just as our local data support cautious optimism for the coming six months, Gochnour pointed to Utah’s big-picture strengths, a rising national profile and our capability to host major global events, including the 2034 Olympic Games. Park City’s challenge remains familiar — to manage thoughtful, sustainable growth in a way that honors our authentic values of care for our environment and each other. From my view at the chamber, I’m confident we will meet the challenge, and hopeful that the blossoms we see today herald a season of resiliency ahead. Jennifer Wesselhoff is the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce Visitors Bureau. The post Park City Pulse: Summer biz looks different than winter’s appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less