Cool temperatures, grey skies have mixed impact on resort business
By Andrew Mitchell
There's no question that it's been colder and greyer than usual in Whistler - up until Tuesday, July 26, the month of July 2011 is the coldest the resort has experienced since 1986, according to Environment Canada weather records.
With visitors to the resort booking later than ever - days or sometimes hours ahead of arrival rather than weeks or months out as they have in the past - weather does play a role in travellers' decisions. How big a role is debatable.
Despite the cold and grey, the summer is on pace to be one of Whistler's best ever - third best at this point by a few percentage points. Crankworx was a huge draw in recent weeks, and last weekend's unexpected sun probably helped convince some of our visitors to make last minute plans.
"The resort was literally buzzing (on the weekend)," said Breton Murphy, senior manager of communications at Tourism Whistler. "Definitely it was great for the resort and for the general morale in the community because we got great weather and a surge in visitation. But the interesting thing is that when we look at May (room nights) were down slightly, June was busier than normal and up nearly 20 per cent over last year. And now we're pacing in July and August to be stronger than the same months last summer... the pace of bookings is definitely looking a few percentage points above what we saw last summer."
