Skier visits up 8.5 per cent through holidays

January 8, 2010

If it snows, they will come. That could be Whistler’s new motto — at least so far for winter 2009 and the recent Christmas and New Year’s period.

While local hotels are showing a mix of results for late-December occupancy, Dave Brownlie, Whistler Blackcomb (WB) chief operating officer, was happy to report this week that skier visits were up compared to last year for the Dec. 19 through Jan. 3 period.

“Our visits were up 8.5 per cent over last year, which is tremendous,” he said Tuesday (Jan. 5). “We’re very, very pleased.”

Much of the increased traffic is being attributed to excellent snow conditions, and no shortage of fresh snow before and during the holiday season. According to whistlerblackcomb.com, 63 centimetres have fallen in the past seven days alone.


“Mother Nature certainly was a big support,” Brownlie said.

Though Tourism Whistler (TW) doesn’t have its holiday season resort occupancy stats yet, November’s record snowfall is being credited for much better results than forecast for that month. With the preseason forecast showing a decrease of four per cent, actual room nights increased 12 per cent over November 2008 and were on par with levels from two years ago, said Jeff McDonald, TW’s manager of corporate communications.


“November went significantly better than expected because of the snow,” he said.

The forecast for December was to be down 12 per cent from last year, but with the trend of last-minute bookings continuing, it’s expected the actual results will be more positive, McDonald said. Momentum was building as the Christmas period got closer, he added. TW’s holiday period data should be available in about two weeks.

One factor continuing to affect all tourism providers in Whistler is the continued trend of last-minute bookings. The inclination to book late was seen throughout 2009, McDonald said.

Late bookings from regional guests were certainly a strong factor for at least one local hotel. At the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, 187 room nights were booked during the month of December for Christmas/New Year’s stays, said Lynn Gervais, director of public relations. That’s compared to 78 last-minute bookings last December, she said.

For the Dec. 25 to 31 period, the Fairmont was at 80 per cent occupancy — down about one per cent compared to last year, Gervais said. Food and beverage sales were strong, however, with a 10 per cent increase from 2008.

The Mallard Lounge posted its biggest revenue day on Dec. 31 and more than 1,000 meals were served each day at the hotel, she said.

“This year was actually really successful for us both on the occupancy side and on the food and beverage side,” she said.

Sales at WB’s restaurants and pubs were “very, very good,” Brownlie said, though other areas such as ski lessons and retail sales didn’t fare as well on a revenue-per-visit basis. A lot of last-minute bookings mean more visitors continue to come to Whistler from regional markets, which typically leads to reduced spending on such extras, he said.


“The increased volume (of people) made up for any shortfall in spend,” Brownlie said.

Based on information from about 10 local member properties of the newly formed Hotel Association of Whistler (HAW), the international market continues to suffer in Whistler, said Mark Herron, HAW chair and general manager of the Four Seasons.

“The international market for all of us was down,” Herron said, referring to the hotels he collected holiday-season data from.

The hotels showed a mix of occupancy levels for Christmas/New Year’s, with some showing increases of as much as 20 per cent over last year, and others seeing declines of up to 21 per cent, he said. Perhaps what’s more telling is the RevPAR stats, which speak to a property’s profitability based on rate and occupancy, Herron said.

“RevPAR is down in every hotel,” he said.

While the great snow conditions likely added to the last-minute booking trend, they also likely contributed to a general feeling of happiness among guests this holiday season, Herron said.


Brownlie shared similar sentiments. “The guest feedback was just unbelievable,” he said.