What Boulder Can Expect from Hosting the Sundance Film Festival in 2027

When the Sundance Film Festival relocates to Boulder, Colorado in 2027, it won’t just be a cultural milestone, it will be an economic catalyst. Insights from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, show just how transformative this type of large-scale event can be, especially when local tourism leaders and destination marketers leverage data strategically.

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How Sundance Transformed Park City’s Lodging Landscape

During the 2025 festival in Park City, lodging performance surged across every key metric:

• Adjusted Paid Occupancy: up 18% week-over-week to 59%
• Average Daily Rate (ADR): climbed 17% to $810
• Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR): jumped a remarkable 72%
• Booking Windows: expanded 28% year-over-year, but were 4 days shorter than the prior week, showing more last-minute bookings as travelers finalized festival plans
  
• Average Length of Stay (ALOS): steady at 4 days, consistent with prior years and adjacent weeks
  
  

These numbers tell a powerful story: when major events align with effective demand and pricing strategies, the results ripple far beyond hotel and short-term rentals. Events like the Sundance film festival are driving local spend, occupancy stability, and year-round destination visibility.

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What This Means for Boulder

Boulder’s lodging market differs from Park City’s, but the lessons are directly applicable. Based on these insights, DMOs and hoteliers can anticipate:

1. A surge in short-term demand. Expect occupancy and rates to spike in the week of the festival, especially among premium accommodations and boutique properties.
   
   
2. Compressed booking behavior. While bookings may begin earlier than usual, a meaningful portion of travelers will still wait until the final weeks to confirm.
   
   
3. Consistent stay patterns. Visitors are likely to average around four nights per trip, meaning packages and promotions should align with 3–5-night stays.
   
   
4. Media and influencer presence. Beyond leisure travelers, the influx of press and industry professionals will amplify Boulder’s national profile. This presents a prime opportunity for long-term brand storytelling.
   
   

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How Boulder Can Maximize Event Impact

Large events like Sundance can’t just be experienced; they must be measured. Here’s how Boulder’s destination marketers and partners can turn the 2027 festival into a case study in data-driven success:

1. Benchmark performance across metrics. Use tools like Key Data to compare occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR before, during, and after the festival. This data can be used in event planning and post-event reporting. 
2. Track booking windows and pace. Monitor how far in advance visitors book. Identifying lead-time trends helps optimize marketing cadence and rate strategy.
   
   
3. Analyze visitor segmentation. Understanding who came — and from where — informs future event targeting and partnership opportunities.
   
   
4. Evaluate community-wide impact. Extend measurement beyond lodging to include STR occupancy, restaurant sales, and mobility trends for a holistic view of economic lift.
   
   
5. Run post-event debriefs. A data-informed recap with hotels, short-term rental partners, and local businesses ensures every stakeholder can refine pricing, staffing, and marketing strategies for next time.
   
   

The Big Picture

Boulder’s 2027 Sundance will be more than a festival. It’s an opportunity to establish a repeatable framework for event-driven growth. By benchmarking success like Park City and letting data guide decisions, Boulder can ensure that the spotlight shines not only on the screens, but across its entire visitor economy.

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