Park City’s 2024-25 ski season’s preliminary numbers are showing a winter of economic success.
Despite a dip in snowfall this year, the ski town had its highest revenue ever based on transient room tax, a value combining room rate and occupancy levels, according to Dan Howard, vice president of communications at the Park City Chamber.
“The two seasons before this one had exceptionally high snowfall levels that resulted in the top two skier day numbers in history,” said Howard. “Last year was the highest collection in Park City history until this year’s collection. So in brief summary, the past three years have seen exceptional economic performance in the tourism sector in Park City during the winter season.”
The Rocky Mountain region — Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho again led the nation in skier visits, accounting for 42.9% of the national total. Despite snow totals falling below the 10-year average, the region still recorded its third-strongest season on record, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Nationwide, ski areas logged 61.5 million skier visits, making 2024-25 the second-highest season on record, trailing only the 2022-23 post-COVID surge.
Preliminary numbers from Vail Resorts show a 3.1% decrease in total skier visits in season to date totals as of April 20 across the company’s 37 North American resorts, including Park City Mountain. Though passholder visitation improved from the second quarter as expected in March and April, lift ticket visitation fell short of expectations.
“Although visitation declined, lift revenue increased compared to the prior year period, driven by the growth in season pass revenue committed ahead of the season,” said Kirsten Lynch, CEO of Vail Resorts. “As a result of the lower than expected lift ticket visitation in the spring period, the company currently expects resort reported EBITDA for fiscal 2025 to be in the lower half of the guidance range issued on March 10, 2025.”
EBITDA is a short-hand for business performance that means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
With this season’s regional and national success, the National Ski Areas Association has declared a new standard for industry operations.
“The 2024-25 season may come to represent a new baseline for the industry. Even if ‘normal’ continues to evolve, this season gives us a strong point of reference for what steady, healthy growth looks like,” said Michael Reitzell, president and CEO of the association. “While weather will always be unpredictable, this year was less volatile overall, and nearly every region saw solid snowfall.”
With regional numbers reflecting a continued public interest and growth in industry success, Ski Utah expects state-specific values of skier visitation to be well aligned and demonstrative of regional trends.
“These numbers reflect a healthy and thriving ski industry, and we’re happy to play a role in continuing to grow snowsports in Utah. Especially with 2034 quickly approaching, skiing and snowboarding continue to remain pivotal to Utah’s economy and values,” said Alison Palmintere, director of communications at Ski Utah.
Looking ahead, following national and international economic conditions, the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau expects the town’s three-year streak of record highs and tourism success to flatten out, said Howard.
“Park City is budgeting a flat year versus this one, which would still be an exceptional result — but it would not represent a continued growth trend which we have seen for the last three years,” said Howard.
