BOULDER, Colo. — How does Boulder's hotel space stack up to Park City, Utah, the Sundance Film Festival's home for the last four decades? Denver7 crunched the numbers.
Boulder Chamber President & CEO John Tayer said Sundance 2027 is officially starting to sink after Thursday's announcement outside the Boulder Theater.
"We were celebrating last night and then we said, 'Okay, see you on Monday,'" laughed Tayer, referring to the amount of work that will go into the planning process.
Tayer said the shift to strategizing for a successful film festival starts now.
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While Boulder is no stranger to big events — from University of Colorado football games to BOLDERBoulder — it will take a lot of coordination.
"What makes Sundance special is the international focus of it," Tayer said.
Lucky for Boulder, David LaTessa, general manager of Boulder's Marriott has been through it before.
"We've got a little bit of time, but it's going to happen fast," said LaTessa.
Prior to his job managing the Marriott, LaTessa was at a hotel in Provo, Utah, which saw a surge in Sundance Film Festival visitors every January.
"Our hotel was about 45 minutes from Park City itself," said LaTessa. "Everybody welcomed the business, welcomed the people, welcomed the travel, and welcomed the economic impact it had on all of us."
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Nearly 73,000 people attended Sundance in 2024 in Park City, a place with a population of just over 8,300 compared to Boulder's population of around 108,000 people.
Despite its smaller size, Visit Park City estimates there are 4,000 hotel rooms in Park City. The Boulder Chamber said there are just over 2,900 in the Boulder area.
Here's what's working to Boulder's advantage: There are 74,000 rooms within 40 miles of Boulder, according to the Boulder Chamber, far more than Park City's neighbor, Salt Lake City, can offer with 20,000 rooms.
"I think it’s going to head down the 36 corridor and into Denver. I see it going as far south as Colorado Springs and as far north as Fort Collins and then everything in between," said LaTessa.
While the festival may be a couple of years away, LaTessa knows from experience rooms will fill up fast. He plans to open reservations about a year ahead of time.
"I think the buzz is now released around the world," said LaTessa.
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