Last-minute bookings saved what looked like a declining tourism economy in the valley this winter.
Occupancy fell just 1.9 percent from last year’s record-breaking winter season in Aspen and Snowmass.
For much of the dry winter, visitor numbers were well below previous seasons, but bookings in late March picked up enough to close the gap.
Aspen’s occupancy rate was the highest of other mountain resort communities, according to the data firm Destimetrics, which tracks the hospitality industry; Snowmass came in third.
April's bookings are already ahead of 2017, with Snowmass Village getting a nearly 50-percent boost due to the later dates of the Disabled American Veterans week.
