The California drought and a warm spring in Utah pinched visits to Vail Resorts’ ski areas, but season pass sales and targeted marketing to wealthy skiers pushed the resort operator’s revenues ahead of the previous season.
North America’s largest resort operator on Friday released results from its nine ski areas for the 2014-15 ski season showing lift revenue — including a portion of season pass sales — up 8.5 percent over the previous season.
Keeping with a common trend seen across the resort industry, visitors spent more. Vail Resorts’ ski school revenue climbed 3.4 percent, dining was up 3.3 percent and retail and rental revenue increased 3.8 percent.
“This was a challenging year, with snowfall in Tahoe at record lows and Utah experiencing abnormally warm and dry conditions this spring,” said Vail Resorts chief Rob Katz in a statement. “However, we were able to overcome these challenges through the strength of our season pass program and data-driven marketing efforts.”
The company does not break out individual resort performance, but the company’s Colorado resorts — Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone — certainly buoyed the resort operator’s bottom line.
Katz credited his company’s popular Epic Pass with floating lift ticket revenue despite a decline in visits. Vail Resort’s season pass program “secured significant revenue in advance of the season and mitigated the volatility of results,” Katz said.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
