Industry News
Amidst reports of slowing Epic Pass sales, Rob Katz, who recently returned to the top job at Vail Resorts, has announced that the company will be focusing more on day ticket pricing this year. With six of their resorts at over $300 per day, many skiers will wonder what “a focus on day ticket prices” exactly means.
For years, Vail Resorts’ central strategy has been to drive more and more skiers towards the ‘subscription model’ of locking into an Epic season pass more than half a year ahead of the next season. Separating lift ticket revenue from skiing conditions by selling passes before the snow falls has led to more consistent revenues and unlocked the ability to make long-term investments—such as large acquisitions and expansion projects—with more confidence. Part of that strategy has been hiking up day ticket prices, making the price of an Epic Pass look more reasonable.
A slowing of Epic Pass sales after years of intense growth has triggered a rethinking of some aspects of this plan. “Now, we’re kind of re-pivoting to lift tickets and getting more people into our company, into our resorts, and into the sport, and then converting them to a pass,” Katz told the Denver Business Journal. “I think you’ll see us take a more aggressive and maybe more variable approach to pricing around lift tickets than we have in the past.”
Variable pricing could bring cheaper lift tickets during off-peak times, like weekdays and spring skiing, but it also has the potential to deliver the first $400 per day ticket price. Arizona Snow Bowl sold the first $300 per day ticket in January 2024 because of a surge in its dynamic pricing model.
Vail Resorts also recently announced that Epic Pass holders will be able to give out a small number of half-price day tickets to friends and family, a move likely designed to draw in new potential pass buyers. Vail Resorts has not announced any further details on changes to day ticket pricing for this season. Snow guns are on at several of their resorts, with Keystone targeting an October opening, and Breckenridge looking at an early November opening.
Attracting new skiers and snowboarders is key to the survival of the ski industry, which is struggling with a ‘succession problem.’ As Baby Boomers are retiring from the sport, there are not enough Millennials or Gen Z to replace them in the same numbers or with the same spending habits. This is due to factors affecting these generations, such as a lower disposable income because of the rising cost of living, while the cost of entry-level ski experiences is increasing, making it harder to attract new, young customers. As a result, resorts face a significant decline in revenue, as one departing Boomer must be replaced by two Millennials to generate the same income. Bringing new generations to the sport with special day pass prices would go a long way in attracting younger generations to the sport.
Rob Katz and his Wall Street POS buddies are a disease to the Resort Business. Wall to wall bean counters in their 2nd rate suburb of Denver called Broomfield, hardly a Mountain environment. I mean executives from Pepsi… seriously… eking out the last penny on everything, including their sad, sad food offerings. Filthy Gondola cabins, chairs, tables, windows, lift stations, bathrooms and anything touched by a guest. Staff that stand around on their phones and ignore their guests, its really a study in complacency and incompetence. Great infrastructure operators but complete and total failures at hospitality. They should farm that out 100% because they have no idea what they’re doing. No one wants to pay $25 for a re-cooked sad hamburger with wilted lettuce and dried out tomatoes and cold fries. Clearing out Katz the entire executives ranks would be a great start. Stop the greed….
i remember paying $30/day, i am glad i got over it in the ‘90s!
The fail lives
Money money money. Shareholders shareholders shareholders. This is all they care about. Pack as many people on the hill so you run into each other. I am getting tired of corporate America ruining everything out there.
Ski Europe, 2 weeks for the cost of 3 days in corporate profit america.
I used to be a regular at a local ski resort.
For 25+ years in fact!
But when Vail bought the resort- they did away with the 4 hour flex pass.
I am self employed- but I cannot- AND WILL NOT- pay for 8 hours of skiing when I clearly don’t have 8 f*** hours to a lot to “ skiing “!
WTF are these people thinking?!??!?!?
You literally zapped 30-40% of your customer base!
Talk about dumb!