Vail Resorts released their results for season pass sales as a part of an update to investors, detailing a 2% decrease in pass sales headed into the 2024/2025 ski season. According to the report, sales dropped around 2% in units through December 3, but increased in sales dollars by approximately 4% as compared to a similar period last year.
“Over the last four years, pass product sales for the 2024/2025 North American ski season have grown 59% in units and 47% in sales dollars. For the upcoming 2024/2025 North American ski season, pass product sales through December 3, 2024 decreased approximately 2% in units and increased approximately 4% in sales dollars as compared to the period in the prior year through December 4, 2023. This year’s results benefited from an 8% price increase, partially offset by unit growth among lower priced Epic Day Pass products.” – Kirsten Lynch, Chief Executive Officer
According to CEO Kristen Lynch, the decline is believed to be due to the challenging weather seen throughout last season, leading to a decrease in both completely new guests and guests who purchased lift tickets in the past season. They expect to have around 2.3 millions guests committed to the 42 North American, Australian, and European resorts ahead of the season in non-refundable advance commitment products.
“Our North American pass sales highlight strong loyalty with growth among renewing pass holders across all geographies. For the full selling season, the Company acquired a substantial number of new pass holders, however the absolute number of new guests was smaller compared to the prior year, driving the overall unit decline for the full selling season. New pass holders come from lapsed guests, prior year lift ticket guests, and new guests to our database.” – Kristen Lynch