Vail Resorts Reports Certain Ski Season Metrics for the Season to Date through January 6, 2010
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Vail Resorts Reports Certain Ski Season Metrics for the Season to Date through January 6, 2010
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Category: Worldwide - Industry economy -
Figures / Studies
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2010-01-11
Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) today reported certain ski season metrics for the comparative periods from the beginning of the ski season through January 6, 2010, and for the prior year period through January 7, 2009, with both periods including the holiday period through the first Wednesday after New Year's Day. The data mentioned in this release is interim period data and subject to fiscal quarter end review and adjustments.
Highlights
-- Season to date total lift ticket revenue through January 6, 2010, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was down approximately 0.4% compared to the prior year season to date period ended January 7, 2009.
-- Season to date total skier visits for the Company's five mountain resorts were down approximately 2.7% for the season to date period through January 6, 2010, compared to the prior year season to date period ended January 7, 2009.
Commenting on the ski season metrics season to date, Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer said, "We are pleased with our early season metrics, particularly given the current state of the economy and since snowfall came late to our Colorado resorts this year. Below average snowfall at our Colorado resorts leading up to the holiday season limited the amount of terrain open, which negatively impacted skier visits, including pass visits, during the early season and the beginning of the holiday season. Fortunately, recent winter storms brought significant snowfall to our resorts, which allowed us to open the vast majority of our lift serviced terrain at our five resorts. For example, Vail Mountain on December 18, 2009, had only 19 of its lifts and 28% of its terrain open, whereas Vail Mountain now has 30 lifts open and 95% of its terrain open, including all of the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. While skier visits were down 2.7%, our total lift ticket revenue was essentially flat, reflecting the stability of our operating model, even during periods of more challenging conditions, as season pass revenue was up despite lower visitation from season pass holders during this period. Ski school and retail/rental revenue declined only 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively, in line with total lift ticket revenue, despite the higher visitation decline, partly reflecting improvement from a number of our newly launched programs. Dining revenue tracked more closely to the decline in total skier visits, with improvements from our new initiatives more than offset by the lack of facilities being open in the early season with limited terrain available. As of December 31, 2009, our lodging booking trend remained consistent with what we reported as of November 30, 2009. As evidenced by our mountain metric results to date, we continue to believe these booking trends are much more of a reflection of a shorter booking window than necessarily an indication of lower future visitation."
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