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NSAA ECONOMIC 618985 54654
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ANALYSIS RESULTS: 76854 18498
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A QUICK OVERVIEW OF 681814
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THE 2015/16 SEASON 165168
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61354 BY DAVE BELIN, RRC ASSOCIATES
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s the 2016/17 ski season gets underway across the coun- results, including the Rocky Mountain, Pacific Southwest,
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try, it is instructive to look back at the financial per- and Pacific Northwest regions. On the whole, however, the
Aformance of the prior winter (2015/16). The NSAA industry financial performance was strong.
Economic Analysis of US Ski Areas study documents the health Some overall summary information from the 2015/16
of the industry from the perspective of revenues, expenses, fiscal year includes the following:
profits, departmental margins, number of employees, and a • Average gross revenue increased to $32.7 million per
variety of other measures. This important study is available resort, up 8.6 percent.
from NSAA, and we will provide a more in-depth report in • Operating profit margin was up 2.8 percentage points
the next issue of the Journal, but here are some key highlights. to a 30.2 percent margin.
The 2015/16 Economic Analysis preliminary results • Total revenue per visit increased by 5.1 percent to
show that the US ski resort industry had a solid year finan- $106.03; ticket revenue per visit increased by 5.7 per-
cially, though the performance varied somewhat by region. cent to $50.33; and ticket yield ratio rose to 61.2 per-
Recall that the 2015/16 season showed dramatically differ- cent from 58.6 percent.
ent snowsports visits results in various regions of the country,
as documented in the Kottke End of Season Study; that report A total of 103 ski areas across the country submitted surveys
showed an overall decline in snowsports visits of 1.5 percent for both the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. The results of the
to 52.8 million nationally. study are presented in six geographic regions and in four dif-
Similarly, financial outcomes diverged in different parts ferent size groups, as well as in 15 distinct region/size break-
of the country. The regions with the most difficult sea- outs. This level of detail allows ski areas to benchmark their
sons from a snowsports visit perspective—the Northeast, own performance against their closest peer group, making
Southeast, and Midwest—also struggled in terms of reve- the report an invaluable resource to ski area managers, CFOs,
nues and expenses. Other geographic regions posted better lenders, appraisers, and other interested parties.

28 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2017