Down 5.5% from 2007-08's record year, but up modestly over the 10-year average:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/News/2 ... n-2008-09/
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/News/2 ... n-2008-09/
If you look at that Kottke data, you'll see that national skier visits rarely deviate by as much as 10% from the trend of recent years. The exceptions are in unusually bad snow years (PNW in 2004-05 being the most recent example). As in my data, in most years good regions offset bad ones and the national total is smoother. You have to go back to 1980-81 to see a year where bad conditions were so widespread as to put a big dent in the total numbers. I can't see any economic effect in that past data. Not saying it won't be different this time. I will say that the recession will have to be very severe in order to move the skier visit numbers noticeably. I'd say the "normal" number is around 57M. That number might be spun as economic because last year was 60M, but the record high 60M was due to snow. I'd say less than 55M would be a clear sign of economy if snow is average or better.
Tony Crocker":5m00qfqp said:This would be particularly true as an economic indicator in Utah and Colorado, which were the strongest regions snow-wise this season.
Admin":1lyydwjh said:Tony Crocker":1lyydwjh said:This would be particularly true as an economic indicator in Utah and Colorado, which were the strongest regions snow-wise this season.
According to the NSAA data released today snowfall the Rocky Mountain region as a whole (not just CO and UT) was down 14.2 percent this year.
Admin":u6xvca8k said:See the original link, for it's all in there. In the Rocky Mountain Region as a whole, visits were up 1.3% and snowfall down 14.2%, both from 10-year averages.
rfarren":37rj3341 said:Where, in particular, was the snowfall lower than average?
Admin":97i38vlp said:rfarren":97i38vlp said:Where, in particular, was the snowfall lower than average?
According to the NSAA, "in the Rocky Mountain Region as a whole."
Admin":9l6ir0dc said:The Northern Rockies had a very slow start to the season.
Katz confirmed that total skier visits at the company's five ski resorts -- Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, and Heavenly Resort in California/Nevada -- declined 5.3% for the 2008-09 ski season and total lift ticket revenue declined 8.4%. Katz estimates that out-of-state and international destination visitation fell 15% for the 2008-09 ski season, as the mix of destination to in-state guest visits for the 2008-09 ski season was approximately 57% to 43%, respectively, compared to approximately 63% to 37%, respectively, in the prior ski season. A 12.2% increase in season pass sales drove a 17.0% increase in passholder visits. Remove season pass visitation, however, and skier visits at the company's five ski resorts fell 21.1%, resulting in a 18.8% decrease in lift ticket revenue once season passholders are removed from the mix.
Looking at Colorado alone, skier visits declined 3.5%, which compared favorably with a 6.9% drop in Colorado as a whole. An 8.3% increase in effective pass price helped to drive a 21.7% increase in season pass revenue, which in fiscal 2009 represented 34% of total lift ticket revenue, up from 26% in 2008-09.
Ski school revenue decreased $16.0 million, or 19.7%, in fiscal 2009 compared to fiscal 2008, as ski school revenue is primarily driven by destination guests. Dining revenue decreased $10.2 million, or 16.4%, due to an approximate 11% decrease in the number of total on-mountain food and beverage transactions, coupled with an even greater decline in fine dining. Revenue from retail/rental operations decreased $21.4 million, or 12.7%. For fiscal 2009, other revenue increased $2.1 million, or 2.9%, favorably impacted by private club operations (which revenue increased $4.1 million) resulting from the opening of the Vail Mountain Club in November 2008, which partially offset other revenue declines.
jamesdeluxe":12wry8bf said:I'm sure it fluctuates from ski area to ski area , but I was always curious what percentage of overall resort revenues are actually comprised of lift tickets... and is it more effective to low-ball daily tickets and/or season passes so that people (theoretically) spend more on F&B and lessons?
Geoff":qbc9csdd said:The Colorado season pass prices are structured so people doing a week trip will spend pretty much the same whether they buy day tickets or buy the season pass product.