Rolling into the holidays, the outlook for the ski season is grim. Resorts in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming are off to a slow start.
The situation for resorts looks bad right now, but it’s not yet a crisis, said Tom Foley, the director of business intelligence for Outside Interactive and Inntopia.
“A lack of snowfall across the western United States and the fact that only 11% of the runs are open as of November 30, that’s a double whammy that makes things very difficult,” Foley said.
Traditionally, 35 to 40% of ski trails are open at this time. The limited number of open trails hurt early bookings, which are down 6.9%, this year as guests have adopted a “wait and see” attitude.
According to Foley, winter resorts would do well to review rate reductions and include value-added programs like “kids stay free or extra night for free” to attract economy and moderate customers. Luxury customers are not typically affected by price variations.
Concerns about inflation, job security, and wages are exacerbating the situation, said Foley. And he said that pessimism is spread across all income, age, and political groups.
