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Growing the Sport
THE SENIOR SKIER MARKET CONUNDRUM

Growing an Aging Demographic

BY MARC LIEBMAN

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF mining the senior skier market • Ski with friends and family
to grow the number of skiers? • Spend more time on the slopes than any other
A common misperception is that senior skiers don’t demographic
buy lift tickets and take up seats in the base lodge to wait • Have enough disposable income so they can
for their children and grandchildren. While that may be afford to ski
the case for many seniors, there are many more who ski
a full day. You already know how important it is to attract skiers of all
So, what if you looked at senior skiers as a group who ages to participate and stay engaged in the sport. But how
can bring skiers back to the sport as well as find net-new much of your area’s marketing budget is targeted toward
skiers? Now are you paying attention? connecting with senior skiers/boarders?
Studies show senior skiers are just over 13 percent So why is this important? One, the total number of
of the total of 9,230,000 American skiers. Using NSAA Americans of all ages participating in the sport has been
data, a total of 1,214,000 Baby Boomers (ages 54–72) either flat or declining since the 1990s. Worse, those in
and Pre-Boomers (age 73 and older) took to the slopes their peak earning years—Millennials (ages 21–37) and
last season. They represent almost 16 percent of the almost Gen X’rs (ages 38–53)—follow the same trend. The only
51 million skier visits. increase is in Gen Z (age 20 and younger).
As a group most senior skiers over the age of 65 are Two charts tell the story. Figure 1 shows the trends by
retired and their lifestyle should be attractive to ski areas age over time. Note that the number of senior skiers, i.e.,
because they: Baby Boomers and Pre-Boomers, are skiing more.
• Have time to ski Figure 2 shows the trends by age more clearly. Mother
• Visit ski areas during the week and between major Nature dictates that the number of senior skiers must
holiday weekends decline over time. However, Gen X’rs are moving into this

Figure 1 Share of Skier Visits by Age (US Residents)
20% 2004–05 2011–12
17.68% 2005–06 2012–13
18% 16.65% 2006–07 2013–14
16.16% 16.24% 15.62% 2007–08 2014–15

16% 15.44% 14.88% 14.61% 2008–09 2015–16
13.45% 13.33% 2009–10 2016–17
12.33%
14% 2010–11 2017–18

12%
Share 10% 9.47% 9.51%

6.83%
8%
5.08%
6%
2.73%
4%
2%

0%
12 & under 13–17 18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65+

12 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2019