Vail reports boost in lift-ticket revenue at ski resorts

BROOMFIELD — Revenue from lift tickets at Vail Resorts Inc.’s nine mountain resorts is up 9.3 percent this season compared with the same period a year ago, the Broomfield-based company announced Wednesday.

Season-to-date total skier visits at the nine resorts were up 1.8 percent compared to the prior year. The company (NYSE: MTN) did not release the number of visits or dollar amount of revenue.

Season-to-date ski school revenue was up 9.2 percent and dining revenue was up 6.8 percent. Retail/rental revenue for resort store locations was up 10.4 percent.

Rob Katz, Vail Resorts’ chief executive, said resorts in Colorado had “particularly strong results with very strong destination visitation and consistent conditions.

“Most importantly, we saw strong guest spending and increased yields at all of our resorts that significantly outpaced visitation, an indication of the strength of the economy and the experience we provide guests across our resorts,” Katz said.

He said resorts in Utah had a slower start to the holiday period but picked up following Christmas, and that early season conditions in Tahoe resulted in lower growth than anticipated.

Vail Resorts’ subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Park City and Canyons in Utah.

Vail Resorts’ urban ski areas, Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan, were not included in the report.

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