skier visits

• News

Ski Utah Predicts 3% Growth In Visits

“Recent signs of economic growth in the national economy should lead to more destination travelers vacationing in the state than last year.”

mike lewis

• November 11 2009 | 38 views | 1 comment

• Features

‘08/09 Ski Resort Visits Beat Ten Year Average

Ski resort visits fall 5% from last year’s record high, still come in above average. Industry CEO’s look to the future at NSAA’s annual meeting.

mike lewis

• May 18 2009 | 250 views | 1 comment

• News

Snow More Important Than Stocks For Rider Visits

According to an article in the Summit Daily News:

SUMMIT COUNTY — While the gloomy economic news doesn’t seem to end these days, ski industry experts are still optimistic about the upcoming season, provided there’s plenty of powder.

Looking at trends for the past 19 years, RRC Associates president Nolan Rosall said statistics show that skier and snowboard visits have been more dominated by snow quality, temperatures and timing of snowfall than by economic factors or consumer confidence.

Rosall’s Boulder-based research firm plotted four lines on a graph, overlaying recessionary periods with a national snowfall index, a consumer confidence measure and skier visit numbers.

The resulting picture suggests that, even when times are tough, skier visits can stay high in good snow years. The textbook case is the winter of 1981-1982, when skier visits soared to record levels despite a deep recession.

Poor snow this winter, however, could lead to a double whammy for ski resorts.
“It’s easy for people to cancel plans for a ski vacation if the snow and the economy are bad,” Rosall said. Poor snow becomes the scapegoat for canceling a ski trip, he said.

This season will represent a unique test in how effective the industry has been in creating dedicated participants, he said. The increasingly unstable world economy reinforces the need to build a strong domestic visitation base, he added.

The only big question is whether the current economic decline is in the same ballpark with past dips — or whether the current credit crisis and stock market crash will lead to unprecedented economic territory.

Rosall said that, based on tangible measures like unemployment figures and stock market values, the current economic situation is “within the realm of other recessions.”

The statistics released late last week in a special report for the National Ski Areas Association uses a consumer confidence yardstick as measure of the economy.
“It’s a psychological measure,” Rosall said. “But we can make a valid comparison.”
Breckenridge Ski Area vice president and chief operating officer Lucy Kay said the RRC report would help her plan for the upcoming season.

“We’re optimistic that people are still going to want to go on vacation and that they will find a way,” Kay said. Flexibility to respond to short-term changes, both in the economy and the weather, is the key to a successful season, she added.

Press Release

• October 15 2008 | 84 views

• News

Vermont Posts 4.3 Million Skier Visits for 2007-08 Season

Vermont ski areas recorded 4,354,621 skier visits for the 2007-08 season, announced the Vermont Ski Areas Association at its June 12 Annual Meeting held at Mount Snow Resort. This marked a 14% increase over the prior year’s tally, and was well ahead of the industry’s 10-year average.

Press Release

• June 12 2008 | 346 views | 1 comment