Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Festival success is our success

Ahhh, the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival. For a multitude of reasons it is one of my favourite things about Whistler.

Ahhh, the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

For a multitude of reasons it is one of my favourite things about Whistler.

What's not to love about ten days of great free concerts, an abundance of amazing industry movies and photo displays, crazy fashion shows, pooch mania and, of course, all the wacky give-aways, from yoghurt drinks to lip balm?

Rarely a night goes by without my 10-year-old son begging to skip school so he can see the gravity defying Superpipe and Big Air or enjoy the Moguls Mash. Like so many kids in Whistler, young and old, he'll fall asleep imagining that's him slaying the event.

In the past the town has been animated and vibrant. There is an ecstasy that comes with celebrating the culture of snow while getting ready to turn our thoughts to spring and summer.

Visitors and residents alike swarm around in foul weather and fair - the festival a sort of right of passage to the rest of the year.

Some moan about how hard it is to get into local eateries thanks to the crowds, most are thankful they are here.

For in Whistler, as a friend commented to me recently, we don't chat about the weather for small talk, we ask, "how's business?"

So while we are all enjoying the World Ski and Snowboard Festival for what it brings in the way of entertainment there needs to be a very serious understanding of its significance to the resort.

Just on the face of it the often imitated, but never duplicated, festival boosts overnight visitors, injects millions into the local economy and keeps the resort in the spotlight of mountain culture and tourism. It also gives generously to local charities.

In a Pique article last year Sue Eckersley, president of Watermark Communications Inc. said: "For the past three years, roughly 100,000 to 110,000 unique visitors have attended the festival each year and in the last report done by a third party the festival was directly responsible for $30 million in economic impact.

"If you go back to the early years, I will quote a good friend who describes Whistler in the spring by saying, 'Before the festival you could have shot a cannonball down the middle of the village in mid-April without fear of hitting anyone.'

"I think people that have been around for a long time will acknowledge that the festival played a key part in shining a bright light on spring skiing in Whistler, and not just for the 10 days of the festival."

There is no doubt the festival was impacted by the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games last year and it is estimated that occupancy for the TWSSF was down about 10 per cent over previous years. But this year the numbers look to be about 20 per cent higher than in 2009.

While media come from far and wide to showcase the festival and its events it is really driven by the regional visitors who come to enjoy it. Looking out from this realization one could argue that this year Whistler has been saved by incredible snow and our faithful regional customer. But the stated goal is still to get average occupancy from 55 per cent to 65 per cent in a time when U.S. visitors account for only about 20 per cent of visitors - down from 40 per cent in the early 2000s.

Events such as the TWSSF play a significant role in this. According to a 2010 Enigma Research Corporation study of 15 events similar or larger than the TWSSF across Canada, more than $1 billion in new spending is generated, with an estimated $780 million spent by visiting tourists.

Yes, the recession has had a profound impact on how festivals are paid for, hosted and attended, but they are still a valid part of any equation, which adds up to tourists.

Predicting impact is a dicey game however - and that can make planning more like roulette than poker.

Consider the 2010 Games and accommodation. It didn't take a crystal ball to predict that occupancy would be high. But a new Stats BC Infoline report puts it in perspective. While hotels in Whistler were at 85.1 per cent occupancy in February 2010, this level was still not enough to boost the overall annual rate for the year. The annual rate actually went down two per cent.

"...The increase in February marked the peak for that year and occupancy rates in Whistler during the summer season were not strong enough to offset lulls in the spring and fall seasons," states the report.

Added to this are the oft mentioned stand-by explanations as to why times are challenging - the dollar, the recession, price of gas and so on. (Just as a sidenote, an economist said this week that people are still spending money on gas - they are just eating out less to pay for it!)

But there are other more complicated factors, such as the impact of the deals offered by the accommodation sector, which may boost room nights but bring in less money overall. And, festivals like TWSSF may draw a crowd with little spending money.

It's the devil in the details.

So Whistler, as you enjoy the festival, spare a thought for all the businesses, sponsors, volunteers, artists, athletes and planners behind making sure that it's a success.

Because its success is our success.