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Poor economy threatens the Colorado ski industry
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Vail Resort
Skiing is an expensive sport. $90/day lift tickets or a $400 season pass; $30/day ski rentals or buy your own for $600 (plus another $400 for boots); $500 snow apparel – and that’s just the basics; the bare minimum it costs for a mountain-dwelling local. Add another $1,000 if you want any extras or heaven forbid you have to travel to get to a ski town.
As the economy tanks how can people still afford it?
Apparently people everywhere are asking themselves the same thing. Skier visits and overnight lodging occupancies (along with room rates) have dropped significantly in Colorado. Though the season is not quite over and totals are not yet available, the Mountain Travel Research Program estimates at least a 5 percent drop in skier visits from last year. Worse, occupancy for the 2008-09 season is down 16.3 percent, even though accommodations have slashed rates by nearly 9 percent. Ouch.
However this slide in skier visits seems to be limited to the western slopes. Ironically the ski industry on the east coast appears to be profiting from the slumping economy. Although international and destination markets suffer, smaller resorts benefit because they are more affordable and often closer to home. High travel expenses and increasingly inconvenient airline situations deter skiers from visiting Colorado, but it appears that nothing will stop them from skiing. Determined to keep within their budget, skiers of every kind are conserving where they can. More than ever, people are ‘brown-bagging it’ in order to spend less while on the slopes. PB& J sandwiches and cans of PBR in a brown paper bag may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it sure beats $12 burgers and $10 après-ski drinks during the great recession.
This drop in ski vacations has prompted ski resorts to rethink their plans for the future. What can resorts do to inspire travelers to make the trip back to their favorite destinations? Although locals are still determined to get their fix, how can resorts convince tourists to return? Vail chief executive Rob Katz believes that the ski industry must innovate the business to give guests more value. But how?
I know many of you (myself included) are grateful to the recession for shrinking the hoards of unstylish, uncoordinated, and uneducated skiers on the mountain. After all, a drop in skier visits means less crowded slopes and longer lasting powder. Still, we must understand that without tourists the ski industry would fail and thus winter would lose its purpose. So for that, I say bring on the Texans (after which so many rookie moves have been named) and let’s win those tourists back!
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