Record-level season-pass sales coupled with strong advance lodging bookings are pointing toward a banner season for the U.S. ski industry, provided, of course, that the snow is cooperative.
“For any of the resorts with a destination component, [travelers] should book now to make sure they can go when they want to go and to get the most favorable price,” said Rusty Gregory, CEO of Alterra Mountain Co., which owns or operates 14 North American ski areas.
Reservation demand at Alterra-owned lodges, plus others lodges that service skiers at Alterra resorts, Gregory said, is up approximately 20% compared with 2019-2020, the season before the pandemic hit.
The story is similar throughout western ski towns, as the industry seeks to build on a surprisingly strong 2020-2021 season now that domestic leisure travel has resumed in force and borders have reopened to key international markets, including Canada, Brazil, the U.K. and the EU.
According to the business intelligence platform DesiMetrics, which tracks bookings in 18 western U.S. mountain resort towns, occupancy for the November-through-April season already on the books was up 18.9% as of Oct. 31 compared with the same date in 2019. (DesiMetrics is a division of Inntopia, a sister company of Travel Weekly.)
That strength is visible in the Aspen area, where Aspen Snowmass spokesman Jeff Hanle said that bookings are ahead of 2019, which was on pace to be a banner year before it was cut short by the pandemic.
Ski areas like Jay Peak in Vermont are gearing up for the season. The resort will be helped by the reopening of the U.S. Canada border, though testing requirements could still be a headwind. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jay Peak Resort
The trend also extends to the Northeast, including Vermont, where the destination ski market was especially hampered last year by a mandatory quarantine of at least a week for all out-of-state visitors.
“I have been hearing from all or our member areas that season-pass sales and…