Vail Resorts, Inc. has released early ski season metrics for the company’s North American destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas, excluding the results of the Australian and European resorts and ski areas for the current season through January 5, 2025, and for the prior-year season-to-date period through January 7, 2024.
- Season-to-date (STD) total skier visits were down 0.3 percent year-over-year compared to the prior-year STD period.
- STD total lift ticket revenue, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 4.5 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.
- STD ski school revenue was up 1.1 percent and dining revenue was up 6.6 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.
- STD Retail/rental revenue for North American resort and ski area store locations was down 5.4 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.
“We are pleased with our season-to-date results, which reflect the stability provided by our season pass program, our investments in the guest experience, and the execution of our mountain operations teams across all of our mountain resorts,” commented Kirsten Lynch, CEO, Vail Resorts, Inc. “Season-to-date results benefited from improved weather conditions, and were impacted by the continued industry demand normalization and the late timing of the Thanksgiving holiday in the current year as expected, along with a shift of destination guest behavior to later in the season.”
Lynch went on to say that early season conditions enabled a strong terrain offering and guest experience, which drove improved local visitation relative to the prior year.
“Through the holiday period, destination guest visitation at our western North American destination mountain resorts was below prior year levels, which we believe was driven by a continued shift in visitation patterns across the ski industry to later in the ski season that increased after challenging early season conditions in the prior year,” she said.
Ancillary spend per destination guest visit was said to be strong across the ski school and dining businesses, with overall performance reflecting the higher mix of local visitation during the period.”
Lynch said the company is expecting improved performance compared to the season-to-date period, with a shift in destination guest visitation, based on significant base of pre-committed guests, current lodging booking trends, and historical guest behavior patterns.
“We expect to achieve full year performance within the Resort Reported EBITDA guidance range we reiterated on December 9, 2024,” Lynch noted. “Our guidance assumes a continuation of the current economic environment, industry normalization to pre-COVID guest behavior, normal weather conditions for the remainder of the 2024/2025 North American and European ski season and the 2025 Australian ski season, and the foreign currency exchange rates provided in our original September 26, 2024 guidance.”
The CEO also addressed the ski patrol union strike issues that plagued the company’s Park City location during the holidays and the subsequent settlement agreement with the Park City Mountain patrol union.
“In addition to the strong start to the winter season, we are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Park City Mountain patrol union that is consistent with the wage structure across all of our mountain resorts,” Lynch said. “We deeply regret the disruptions caused to our guests during the patrol union strike and are committed to delivering an exceptional and safe experience for our guests, and rebuilding their trust and loyalty.”
The select reported ski season metrics include growth for season pass revenue based on estimated fiscal 2025 North American season pass revenue compared to fiscal 2024 North American season pass revenue. The metrics include all North American destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas, and are adjusted to eliminate the impact of foreign currency by applying current period exchange rates to the prior period for Whistler Blackcomb’s results.
Image courtesy Park City/Vail Resorts, Inc.
