Utah Breaks Record in Skier Visits
May 16, 2006
The Associated Press [Brock Vergakis]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah ski resorts have broken a record for the number of skiers visiting slopes for third straight year, ski industry officials said Tuesday.
That's a welcome sign for tourism officials, who kick off their statewide conference Wednesday, because skiers tend to stay longer and spend more per day than other tourists.
"If our goal is to bring tourism dollars to the state, the easy money is on skiing and snowboarding and bringing those customers from New York and California to spend on local restaurants and local resorts," said Nathan Rafferty, Ski Utah president.
In the 2005-2006 season, Utah's 13 ski resorts had more than 4 million skier visits. That's up more than 150,000 from the 2004-2005 season. And one resort _ Snowbird _ is still open this late in the season.
Tourism is a $5.45 billion industry in Utah that attracted more than 18.2 million visitors in 2005, an increase of 4 percent from the previous year. But Utah's domestic travel market share has declined from .86 percent to .75 percent in the past decade, even following the 2002 Winter Olympics. State leaders are determined to regain that market share and take in a bigger slice of the more than $550 billion tourists spend in the U.S. each year.
Luring more skiers to the state is crucial to their efforts.
Skiers spend about 176 percent more per trip, excluding travel costs, than the average Utah tourist, according to the Utah Office of Tourism.
"There's tremendous growth potential there," said Bob Bonar, general manager of Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and a Utah Office of Tourism Development board member.
In 2005, the Legislature appropriated about $10 million to market the state this year, an increase of about 1,000 percent from previous years.
Some of that money was spent on a cooperative marketing program between Salt Lake City International Airport and Utah ski areas to tout a tourist's ability to fly into Utah and be on a ski slope the same morning.
Restructuring by Delta Air Lines also added 29 new direct flights to its Salt Lake City hub in the past year and helped the airport reach pre-Sept. 11, 2001, passenger levels for the first time in 2005.
"It's an enormous advantage for us," Rafferty said. "Our calling card has always been the greatest snow on earth, but access is a close second."
The Utah Board of Tourism Development is expected to approve another $1 million in other cooperative marketing applications at its meeting Wednesday.
Nationwide, the ski industry has stagnated at about 57 million skier visits annually for the past three years. But Utah has seen its skier visits increase by about 29 percent in the same period, Rafferty said. Some of that can be attributed to record snowfall. Snowbird Ski Resort was open in July last year. It will stay open at least through Memorial Day this year, Bonar said.
A nationwide advertising campaign will add to the state's reputation for long seasons and the powdery snow that skiers crave, he said.
The state's new "Life Elevated" advertising campaign is designed to attract adventure travelers who earn more than $75,000 a year to take a vacation here.
State tourism officials will encourage local chambers of commerce and other partners to embrace the new slogan at the conference in Ogden this week.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah ski resorts have broken a record for the number of skiers visiting slopes for third straight year, ski industry officials said Tuesday.
That's a welcome sign for tourism officials, who kick off their statewide conference Wednesday, because skiers tend to stay longer and spend more per day than other tourists.
"If our goal is to bring tourism dollars to the state, the easy money is on skiing and snowboarding and bringing those customers from New York and California to spend on local restaurants and local resorts," said Nathan Rafferty, Ski Utah president.
In the 2005-2006 season, Utah's 13 ski resorts had more than 4 million skier visits. That's up more than 150,000 from the 2004-2005 season. And one resort _ Snowbird _ is still open this late in the season.
Tourism is a $5.45 billion industry in Utah that attracted more than 18.2 million visitors in 2005, an increase of 4 percent from the previous year. But Utah's domestic travel market share has declined from .86 percent to .75 percent in the past decade, even following the 2002 Winter Olympics. State leaders are determined to regain that market share and take in a bigger slice of the more than $550 billion tourists spend in the U.S. each year.
Luring more skiers to the state is crucial to their efforts.
Skiers spend about 176 percent more per trip, excluding travel costs, than the average Utah tourist, according to the Utah Office of Tourism.
"There's tremendous growth potential there," said Bob Bonar, general manager of Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and a Utah Office of Tourism Development board member.
In 2005, the Legislature appropriated about $10 million to market the state this year, an increase of about 1,000 percent from previous years.
Some of that money was spent on a cooperative marketing program between Salt Lake City International Airport and Utah ski areas to tout a tourist's ability to fly into Utah and be on a ski slope the same morning.
Restructuring by Delta Air Lines also added 29 new direct flights to its Salt Lake City hub in the past year and helped the airport reach pre-Sept. 11, 2001, passenger levels for the first time in 2005.
"It's an enormous advantage for us," Rafferty said. "Our calling card has always been the greatest snow on earth, but access is a close second."
The Utah Board of Tourism Development is expected to approve another $1 million in other cooperative marketing applications at its meeting Wednesday.
Nationwide, the ski industry has stagnated at about 57 million skier visits annually for the past three years. But Utah has seen its skier visits increase by about 29 percent in the same period, Rafferty said. Some of that can be attributed to record snowfall. Snowbird Ski Resort was open in July last year. It will stay open at least through Memorial Day this year, Bonar said.
A nationwide advertising campaign will add to the state's reputation for long seasons and the powdery snow that skiers crave, he said.
The state's new "Life Elevated" advertising campaign is designed to attract adventure travelers who earn more than $75,000 a year to take a vacation here.
State tourism officials will encourage local chambers of commerce and other partners to embrace the new slogan at the conference in Ogden this week.
