Solid snowpack and a slow runoff delivered Colorado’s rafting industry a return to normal in 2014, with healthy annual increases in visitation and revenues.
The state’s commercial rafting outfitters hosted 504,400 rafters on 29 sections of river across Colorado last year, an 8.1 percent increase over 2013.
Those rubber-riding tourists stirred a record $160.1 million impact, according to . That’s a 9 percent increase over the economic impact from 2013 and the largest ever tallied by the association.
Once again, the Arkansas River was the state’s workhorse, hosting 191,307 visitors who spent $23.7 million. The association used the widely accepted multiplier of 2.56 to gauge the total economic impact, which means how far that dollar reaches into the community, to determine an economic impact of $60.7 million in the communities along the Arkansas River, from Leadville to Cañon City.
Similar to nearly every other aspect of Colorado’s robust tourism economy, rafting visitors are not only returning, but they are spending more. Visitors are spending more on shopping, dining and lodging, .
The scene is no different for rafting-dependent communities. In Cañon City, for example, the .
“We are definitely seeing that growth on per-capita basis. I think people are a little more comfortable with their financial situation and their dollars,” said Andy Neinas, who owns Cañon City’s Echo Canyon River Expeditions, noting strong lunch sales at his restaurant and a surprising surge in retail sales. “I sold everything very quickly. I ended up with thinner shelves than I should have and denied myself dollars I could have made if I had prepared better.”
Lower gas prices bode well for rafting in 2015, especially for outfitters along the Arkansas River, which lures many drive-up families.
The opening this summer of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, which burned in 2013, heralds a banner year for the Cañon City area with the return of the renovated 360-acre park that regularly hosts more than 300,000 visitors.
“That’s going to really help us down here,” Neinas said.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
Colorado commercial rafting / economic impact*
2004 — 434,447 / $113.1 million
2005 — 499,582 / $133.6 million
2006 — 509,050 / $138.8 million
2007 — 534,864 / $151.8 million
2008 — 507,607 / $144.2 million
2009 — 483,751 / $141.2 million 2010 — 498,654 / $147.7 million
2011 — 504,830 / $154 million
2012 — 414,560 / $128.6 million
2013 — 466,584 / $147 million
2014 — 504,400 / $160.1 million
*Economic impact is determined by multiplying direct spending by 2.56
