Ski Biz: Where's the growth?

The National Ski Area Association (NSAA) seems satisfied from its lackluster numbers as it tallies its skier visits for the 2017-2018 ski season, with an estimated 53.3 million skier and snowboarder visits, down 2.8 percent from last season’s 54.8 million total.

While both the Midwest and the Southeast regions experienced an impressive rebound, as skier visits respectively grew by 17 and 4 percent from 2016-17.

The Northeast region held steady while the entire Western regions were down, ranging between -5 and -14 percent.

In fact, only the Northern Western regions did well in places like Whitefish and Bridger Bowl in Montana; Stevens Pass in Washington; Jackson Hole in Wyoming; and Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho.

In contrast, California, Utah and Colorado were down significantly.

What does that mean?

Even if we acknowledge that snow remains the magic element that makes or break a season, over almost a quarter century, the number of skiers has stagnated in the USA and that unless the beefed-up Epic and Ikon pass stimulate the business, growth will have to come from abroad, from places like Australia and parts of Asia including, of course, China.

Have we started yet to even market to the Chinese?