The tourism-driven economy struggled during the critical month of March, as the winter’s warm, dry weather persisted, Park City officials said in a report covering sales-tax collections. The municipal government said sales-tax collections dropped sharply in March from the previous year and com pared to what had been budgeted. The drop was 19.9% compared to March of 2025 and 18.9% from the budgeted figure for March 2026. March is one of the key months of the year in the tourism industry, with spring break crowds typically arriving in large numbers. The report also showed a decline in the first quarter of the calendar year, covering January, February and March. The number was off 9.2% from the previous year and 10.8% from the budgeted number. The first quarter has outsized importance to the overall year, with it being the core of the ski season. The Sundance Film Festival and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday are in January, Presidents Day is in February and March follows with spring break. Sales-tax numbers are a key gauge of economic activity since they are charged on such a wide range of purchases by Parkites and visitors. There has appeared to be more attention in the community on the numbers since the economic convulsions of the pandemic, when there was a precipitous fall in the tourism industry, followed just months later by an extraordinary comeback. The drop in March was recorded as the ski season struggled during its final weeks. Skiing conditions suffered with the weather and seemed to thin the crowds at a time when Park City is usually buzzing. There would have been anticipated impacts in the broad tourism industry, including the lodging, restaurant and transportation sectors, alongside the ski industry itself. Another municipal revenue stream, charged in the lodging industry and known as the transient room tax, also dropped in March. The collections were down 17.3% from the previous March and 20.2% from what was budgeted. The January-to-March quarter was also down — 8.8% from the previous year and 12.1% from the budgeted figure. “March’s sales tax distribution reflects the cumulative effect of a notably weak winter becoming more visible in the final month of the season. Earlier winter distributions showed more resilience than expected, but by March, limited snowpack and weaker late-season conditions were no longer sufficient to support typical levels of activity and spending,” the municipal government’s budget team said in a report drafted in anticipation of a Park City Council meeting scheduled on Thursday. Two other important passages from the report include: “While the local economy held up better than expected through much of the winter, March appears to be the point where the cumulative effect of weak winter conditions translated more directly into sales tax collections.” “The clearest area of pressure remains resort-driven overnight visitor spending. Recent lodging data indicated declining occupancy and lower revenue per available room through the winter, even as average daily rates held relatively firm. That pattern points to softer demand rather than broad discounting and remains consistent with weaker tourism-related activity, particularly in lodging and visitor-dependent spending categories.” The post Park City’s tourism-driven economy struggled in March, a key month of the ski season appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less