Drought doesn’t drain Vail Resorts revenues
By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
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.
