Pandemic Tourism Boost to Less-Crowded Locations Is Slowing Down
Photo Credit: Rural and outdoor destinations are facing a slowdown in their visitor growth rates. Unsplash / Patrick Henry
Skift Take
Rural and outdoor destinations were banking on the brand awareness they built during the years that major urban destinations were out of the competition. But return-to-normal may be eroding the visitor numbers from the pandemic years as tourists return to more crowded locations. Still, out-of-the-way places are confident travelers will still seek that breath of fresh air.
Rural and outdoor destinations are contending with slower growth rates compared to their pandemic boom as big cities become competitive again and Americans travel internationally.
During the pandemic, people deserted cities for rural and outdoor destinations to get away from densely populated cities, a 2022 Skift Megatrend. Smaller destinations saw massive jumps from their pre-pandemic levels.
Lake City, Colorado, a town of 400, for example, saw a 50 percent jump in lodging stays in 2021 compared to 2019, according to Hinsdale County/Lake City Chamber of Commerce Director and Event Coordinator Kate Hopson. The remote town received over 400,000 visitors in 2020. “We saw a lot of folks come out here and get away from it all to a place that was safe,” she said.
Destinations with outdoor attractions absorbed traffic from bigger cities as tourists went on road trips. Vacaville, California, a city of 100,000, received an influx fr
