Vail Resorts Inc. on Wednesday reported total skier visits up 12.5% for the season-to-date through Jan. 8, compared to the prior year period.
Vail also reported increases in lift ticket revenue, which rose 5.3%, ski school revenue, which was up 35.6%, dining revenue, which jumped 58%, and retail and rentals in North America, which saw growth of 34.4%.
“We are pleased to see the growth across the business,” CEO Kirsten Lynch said in a statement. “Increased staffing levels relative to the prior year period enabled our mountain resorts to deliver full operations of lifts and mountain terrain, and normal operations of important guest experiences such as our restaurants, lodging, ski and ride school, and rental and retail locations, which helped drive a return of ancillary spending.”
Vail Resorts CEO Kirsten Lynch
Lynch noted “improved conditions” at Vail’s Colorado, Utah, and Tahoe resorts along with the lifting of travel restrictions in Canada as helping drive the growth.
For the company’s western U.S. resorts, the season was hampered by bad weather that forced closures and caused flight cancellations or delays.
“Based on our significant base of pre-committed guests through advance commitment pass products, strong conditions across our western resorts, and current lodging booking trends, we believe that a portion of the visitation we originally expected over the holiday period will occur later in the season,” Lynch said.
The company, as a result of those delayed visits, said it now estimates resort earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to come in at the lower end of the guidance range it provided last year, which was $893 million to $947 million.
Shares of Vail stock were trading down 2.1% to $247.30 in afternoon trading Wednesday, for a market cap of $9.97 billion.
The company closed its fiscal year 2022, which ended July 31, with net income of $347.9 million on net revenue of $2.5 billion.
