GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Two of the town's signature businesses these days are the venerable Glenwood Hot Springs and a relative newcomer, the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

The management of each business says that the summer of 2009 was not their best but that it was not a disaster, either.

Between them during the height of the summer season, the two businesses employ some 400 people, and both said they kept their full roster of employees last summer.

Phrases such as “flat” and “acceptable” peppered conversations between the businessmen and the Post Independent this week.

Along with that, though, came the occasional use of the word “optimistic.”

Hot Springs and Spa

“Pool visitation this last summer, this last year, was basically flat, which we consider a success based on the kind of economy that we've had,” said Kjell Mitchell, a Glenwood Springs native who has been general manager at the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool since 1989.

The business, located along I-70 to the east of the Grand Avenue Bridge, boasts the world's largest hot springs pool, an athletic club and an almost new spa, along with shops and a small restaurant. It employs approximately 250 people, some 50 of whom work at the new spa.

Although he declined to reveal exactly how many people visited the complex of businesses he oversees, Mitchell said that room revenues were “flat with a slight increase,” the vacancy rate in the rooms was “flat as well,” and retail sales in the facility's shops were “down around 15 percent, which sort of follows a national trend.”

This fall, when things typically slow down, he said there has been no sign of an economic recovery that might bring more people to town.

“We are not off substantially, a few percentage points, but ... the tide has not turned yet,” he said with a slight smile.

While the business did not change its marketing much for the summer trade, or adjust its room rates or admission to the pool, Mitchell noted that most of the marketing effort had to do with the opening in October 2008 of the new Spa of the Rockies.

Situated in the historic sandstone building at the pool's western end, the spa was five years in the planning stages and 14 months under construction.

“This summer was the first opportunity to ... communicate the presence of the spa to our many long-standing guests that come here for the summer,” Mitchell said, adding that special “launching package” deals were offered, including meals, pool time and different spa treatments.

As for the target audience, he said, “We have always focused our marketing on the Denver metropolitan area and the rest of Colorado,” adding later that some 75 to 80 percent of the facility's business comes from the Front Range.

Concerning last summer, he said, “Strategically, Glenwood Springs specifically, and our property as well, benefited to some degree from the close proximity to the Denver metropolitan area.”

Surveys of Hot Springs guests, Mitchell explained, revealed that even if they had been planning to vacation, say, in the Black Hills of South Dakota or the theme parks of Disney World in Florida, “Our results showed that there are enough travelers that decided to take the three-hour trip to Glenwood Springs ... versus going elsewhere.”

Adventure Park

At the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, owner Steve Beckley concurred with Mitchell's assessment of the summer — “It was ... acceptable.”

He said business was “very similar to the year before, so I would say we were maybe flat with a little bit up.”

The Caverns features a gondola ride up the mountain face to the north of town, to the site of what once were known as the Fairy Caves — a series of caverns worn by time and water deep in the ground.

But Beckley has added numerous attractions, including three new “attractions” installed last year at a cost of approximately $750,000. The activities include a climbing wall, a “sluice box” like gold miners once used, a shooting gallery, a western-style fort and maze, and a theater. Oh, and a restaurant, The Lookout Grille, with views up the Colorado and Roaring Fork valleys.

Beckley said that the business typically draws about 130,000 customers over the course of a year, more than 100,000 of whom come in the summer months.

To keep things humming, he employs about 150 people in the summer, which drops to 30 in the winter.

As did Mitchell at the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool, Beckley kept his entire workforce on the job last summer.

Beckley has hopes to install more activities at the mountain top, and he also is expanding what he calls the “educational tours” that feature discounts to area schoolchildren.

Last year, he said, the park accommodated more than 3,000 students, mostly in the spring and fall when the kids got a day off of school to take advantage of the $6 tickets.

Aside from the educational tours, Beckley said he changed his business plan last summer to direct more marketing money at the Western Slope.

“In the past we've really focused on the Front Range,” he explained. “Now, what we're doing is focusing on the local market. The way we look at it is, between Aspen, Vail, Grand Junction, Summit County and Glenwood, there's probably 6 million tourists a year. Why spend the money to try to get them to come here, when they're already here?”

He said he is offering locals specials to augment what he feels is a “reasonable” range of prices for different levels of activities, and promised that the day-pass price will stay at the current $37 level in 2010.

Looking back at the summer of 2009, Beckley remarked that it was “acceptable. I'm excited that we held our own and stayed even. It's not a summer to jump up and down about, but, when you hear about Aspen being down 20 percent, and Vail being down 20 percent, I'm very happy with where we're at, very happy that we'll be open next summer.”

jcolson@postindependent.com