The Colorado ski industry hoped to be reveling today over another successful ski season. Instead, some resorts are working hard to salvage summer operations and all are striving to convince consumers to plan trips and purchase passes for next season.<\/p>\n
Colorado Ski Country USA, a trade association for many of the state\u2019s ski areas, holds its annual business conference during the first week of June. A highlight of the gathering is releasing the percentage increase or decrease over the prior season\u2019s performance. <\/p>\n
This year\u2019s conference was canceled due to the coronavirus threat, and no business metrics have been released yet for last season.<\/p>\n
Colorado Ski Country President and CEO Melanie Mills said in a statement that the focus of its member resorts is on summer and next ski season.<\/p>\n
\u201cColorado\u2019s ski industry and the ski industry in general is about the most optimistic, forward-looking industry there is,\u201d Mills said. \u201cWe\u2019re a \u2018glass half full\u2019 bunch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The member resorts with summer operations are working with local public health authorities to prepare for the summer. They are also looking at policies and practices to protect employees and guests next winter in \u201cour new socially-distanced reality,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re learning a lot as we go, just as all reopening businesses are right now,\u201d Mills said. \u201cSummer operations will give ski areas an opportunity to learn and improve as we head into winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a normal year, Aspen Skiing Co. follows the state association\u2019s lead and announces its performance in skier visits, on a percentage basis. The company is still crunching the numbers, spokesman Jeff Hanle said Thursday.<\/p>\n
By any measure, 2019-20 was a brutal season, cut short as the coronavirus threat swept through the state. Gov. Jared Polis ordered ski areas to shut down<\/a> on March 14.<\/p>\n While the majority of the season was completed, the forced closure came at a particularly busy and lucrative time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe economic cost to our business has been massive,\u201d Aspen Skiing Co. President and CEO Mike Kaplan told The Aspen Times on April 1<\/a>. \u201cMarch typically accounts for more than one-third of our annual revenue. This year, because of an earlier Easter, the bulk of March business was going to come in the second half of the month, so this is worse than a bad snow year or a typical recession.\u201d<\/p>\n Skico and the Colorado ski industry set a record<\/a> for skier visits in 2018-19. Skico topped 1.55 million visits at Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk. That topped the previous high mark, set 21 seasons earlier. Skico officials said they were tracking close to the record numbers until the coronavirus crisis knocked out the season. <\/p>\n Occupancy in Aspen and Snowmass Village fell about 22.5% for the winter, according to data released last month. If Skico\u2019s business took a similar hit, that means 350,000 fewer visits for the season or a total of around 1.2 million.<\/p>\n A skier visit is the purchase of a lift ticket for any part of the day. It factors in season pass use.<\/p>\n Colorado ski resorts totaled about 13.8 million visits in 2018-19, according to Colorado Ski Country.<\/p>\n Nationally, the ski industry logged about 59.34 million skier visits in 2018-19. National figures are usually released this time of year, but the National Ski Areas Association moved back the deadline for submitting statistics because of all the planning occurring with the coronavirus crisis. A figure is expected before the end of June.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, ski resorts are faced with a preseason like they\u2019ve never faced before. Instead of coming up with marketing campaigns designed to tout advantages over the competition, resorts will have to find a way to convince skiers and riders it is safe to return next winter.<\/p>\n \u201cSki areas have worked to build guest confidence for both summer and future winter operations by creating and sharing operating plans, and communicating clearly to guests what they can expect when they visit,\u201d said Adrienne Saia Isaac, director, marketing and communications for NSAA. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some really solid pre-arrival communication about social distancing and capacity requirements, as well as expectations for behavior for both staff and guests. We\u2019ve also seen ski areas coordinate with local agencies, which is critical for those businesses looking to resume their operations, especially as local ordinances may be stricter than state guidance.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for next winter \u2014 we\u2019re learning a lot from the ski areas which have reopened for spring skiing. There are talks about how we can scale these procedures for operation at greater capacity,\u201d Saia Isaac added. \u201cOperators are planning for multiple scenarios, gathering best practices and sharing advice on how to tailor these practices to their unique operations.\u201d<\/p>\n