Thread: DEN Leads Country in Hotel Occupancy..Is Cannibis the Attraction?

What is not in question is the fact that during the first quarter, Denver was by far the fastest-growing U.S. hotel market in terms of room demand.

What is open to debate is how much of that phenomenal growth was cannabis-related.

Stakeholders ranging from specialized tour operators to Expedia’s Hotels.com division have asserted that the surge is largely attributable to the fact that recreational use of marijuana became legal in Colorado on Jan. 1, resulting in an influx of out-of-state visitors looking to use the drug without fear of arrest.

But Denver’s tourism bureau and traditional hoteliers insisted last week that the real reasons for the jump in room demand were developments unrelated to marijuana, primarily a surge in convention business, a bountiful ski season that drove more tourists through the city to nearby ski resorts, and the Denver Broncos’ two NFL playoff games at their home stadium in January.

“We’ve had a very good convention year,” said Rich Grant, communications director for Visit Denver, the city’s tourism bureau. “We’ve had the best snow we’ve had in a long time, and we had two playoff games. It’s very difficult for us to believe it has been driven by marijuana.”