Last Thursday, the Park City Board of REALTORS hosted a luncheon and invited Bill Rock from Park City Mountain Resort, Steve Issowits from Deer Valley Resort and Nathan Rafferty from Ski Utah (a ski trade organization in Utah) to give us an update for 2017. I took a few notes to share with my blog readers.
Updates from PCMR
Bill Rock stated that lodging reservations for the holidays are stronger than last year. He expects that Park City will continue to experience momentum from last year’s $50 million dollar investment and connecting the two resorts via the gondola. He talked about Vail’s international marketing, and how he expects Perisher, the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere, to attract skiers to Park City who want to take advantage of their Epic passes.
He also mentioned that Vail’s purchase of smaller resorts in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, will serve as feeder markets to bring visitors to Park City. Most of you know that Vail purchased Whistler Resort in Vancouver earlier this year. Bill said that Whistler attracts many Asian skiers and he hopes that both Asian and Canadian skiers will be attracted to Park City. Affluent visitors help our local economy, rent condos from my client-owners and sometimes choose to buy real estate in Park City.
Bill also announced the Epic Mix app will show lift wait times on smart phones and on signs strategically posted in the resort. This is especially great news for locals who will download the app and instantly know how to avoid the bottlenecks on the mountain.
Updates from Deer Valley
Steve Issowits didn’t have too much to say about Deer Valley, except that they are still waiting for development approvals on the Deer Crest side of the mountain. They hope to break ground next spring. Someone asked him about the lower parking lots at Snow Park. He said the lots are a frequent topic of discussion, but at this time, Deer Valley is not ready to develop them.
Updates from Ski Utah
Nathan Rafferty told us that last season Utah skier days were up 13 percent over the year before and 5 percent over the previous high, with 4.5 million skier days. In Utah, there was over $100 million dollars invested in resort improvements, with $50 million at Park City and $35 million at Snowbird. The Utah Office of Tourism spent $21 million last season to bring visitors to our state and Ski Utah is hoping that number will increase in 2017.
Nathan updated us on Powder Mountain, which added 1,000 ski acres and 2 chairs, which makes it the largest ski resort in the US, passing Park City. Whisper Ridge, is a new 6,000 acre resort north of Powder Mountain which features cat skiing, for a different skier experience. Brighton is celebrating its 80-year anniversary this year. There is a lot going on at all of Utah’s ski resorts and skiutah.com is a great resource for information.
Nathan also announced that Delta will be starting a new non-stop service to Miami. I know this will be welcome news to my many clients who live in South Florida (and those of us who may want to escape the snow for a little sunshine).
I look forward to seeing all of my friends on the slopes this season. If you’re coming out to ski, make sure to give your ski legs a rest and stop by my office to discuss real estate opportunities.