Park City's tourism marketing arm slashed more than $1 million from its budget after the worst snow year in Utah's recorded history hammered lodging revenue and forced the organization to scale back programs, Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff said Monday, Aug. 24, on KPCW's Local News Hour.

The cuts hit funding for visitor education, destination management and stewardship programs. Wesselhoff said the chamber protected its visitor-attraction spending. No staff were laid off.

The numbers behind the cut tell the story: lodging occupancy over the past six months fell about 11% compared to the prior year, driven by weak snow conditions that shut Park City Mountain's lifts on April 5, weeks ahead of schedule. Comparing roughly seven months of 2026 data to 2025, Wesselhoff reported transient room taxes down about 8%, restaurant taxes down about 5% and sales tax collections up about 4%.

July offered a mixed picture. Occupancy dipped about 2% to roughly 43%, while the average daily room rate climbed about 6% to approximately $400 per night, according to Smith Travel Research data Wesselhoff cited. That data also showed visitors shifting toward more affordable lodging, with economy hotel properties posting softer occupancy and rates.

Statewide damage concentrated in Summit County

A University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute report published Aug. 21 quantified the broader damage. Utah skier days fell 26.5% to 4.8 million in the 2025-26 season, and skier spending dropped 17.8% to $2.1 billion statewide. Summit County absorbed the state's largest room tax decline, losing approximately $968,000 in transient room tax revenue.

The stakes are outsized for Park City. Chamber research with Ski Utah shows Summit County accounts for more than $1.3 billion of Utah's ski economy, and many local businesses earn 60% to 75% of their annual revenue during winter.

Still, not every indicator pointed down. Spending per visitor in Summit County hit a record $392 in 2025, up 12%, and leisure and hospitality employment in the county grew about 3%, roughly double the statewide sector average.

City Manager Adam Lenhard offered a similar assessment on KPCW on Aug. 12, saying citywide fiscal year 2026 sales taxes were down about 4.2% year-to-date while noting May's transient room tax was among the highest the city has seen in years, according to KPCW.

In April, as resorts closed early, Wesselhoff told TownLift that "the winter conditions that caused early resort closings give Park City an opportunity to attract spring and summer recreation earlier than we traditionally can." Four months later, July data shows occupancy and tax revenue still trailing the prior year.

The chamber has not announced a timeline for restoring the cut programs.