Industry News
Vail Resorts is honored to be recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Most Trustworthy Companies in 2023. Three main public pillars of trust were considered: customer trust, investor trust, and employee trust.
“As a values-driven company, we are always listening, learning, and adapting to the needs of our team members and guests. As a result, our team members trust us to care for them and their families, and our guests trust us to deliver a safe and memorable Experience of a Lifetime. This award is a reflection of the integrity of our team and our values-driven leaders – the heart of our company.”
– Vail Resorts Chief Public Affairs Officer Kenny Thompson, Jr.
Over the past year, Vail Resorts has invested in both the employee and guest experience while remaining responsible environmental stewards through our industry-leading sustainability efforts.
Caring for our Team
First, our CEO, Kirsten Lynch, shared a new direction for our company and announced a $175m annual incremental investment into the employee experience, including a new minimum wage of $20/hour across all of our North American resorts. For Patrol, Maintenance Technicians, and Certified Commercial Vehicle Drivers, the minimum wage is $21/hour, with higher wages for those with more time in the role and/or specialized skills.
We have also invested in a new frontline leadership development program, new affordable housing, new benefits, including a 40% discount for retail and rental gear, access to free and expanded mental health services for employees, dependents, and roommates, and expanded reproductive care.
Innovating the Guest Experience
Our company has a long history of innovation. We are continuously investing in lifts and technology to optimize, elevate, and enhance the experience for our guests. The company has announced a number of data-driven investments to improve the guest experience in future seasons, from Mobile Pass and Mobile Lift Ticket technology on a new My Epic app, to the recent announcement of My Epic Gear, designed to transform the quality, service, convenience and cost of one of the most critical parts of the mountain experience.
Over the course of the 2022-2023 ski and ride season, we celebrated multiple new projects across 14 resorts as part of Epic Lift Upgrade– projects designed to optimize our guests time on the mountain by getting them up faster and improving circulation on-mountain.
Industry-Leading Sustainability
We have a special responsibility to preserve and protect the outdoors. We are focused on mitigating the effect of climate change on our business and being good environmental stewards through our industry-leading sustainability efforts.
In 2017 Vail Resorts announced Commitment to Zero, the bold goal to reach a zero net operating impact by 2030. This year, we reached 100% renewable electricity across all of our North American mountain resorts and 96% worldwide. We made our largest single-year capital investment to date in energy efficiency projects, totaling $3.6 million, and we are ahead of schedule to meet our emissions and energy goals and on track to hit our goals in waste and mitigating forest impact. Read our full progress report for more detail on how we support our team members, communities, and the next generation of skiers and riders through our corporate social responsibility program, Epic Promise.
The award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. America’s 2023 Most Trustworthy Companies were identified in an independent survey based on a vast sample of approximately 25,000 U.S. residents. A total of 95,000 evaluations were submitted.
More details and the full list can be found here.
