Colorado sees another record year for tourism, despite slowing growth in spending and visitation

<img width="1024" height="642" src="https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C642&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="Mountain landscape with autumn trees reflected in a calm lake under a clear blue sky." decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=300%2C188&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=1200%2C752&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C481&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C963&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=2048%2C1283&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C642&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=2000%2C1253&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=780%2C489&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C251&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C642&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw – 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="460795" data-permalink="https://coloradosun.com/de900140/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DE900140-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1604&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1604" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"ILCE-9M2","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1759500692","copyright":"","focal_length":"46","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0015625","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="DE900140" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Early morning light illuminates the fall colors on Whetstone Mountain near Crested Butte Oct. 3, 2025. (Don Emmert, Special to The Colorado Sun)

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Two years of slight growth are a warning call the state’s $29.2 billion tourism economy is losing steam.