Visitor demographic as different from the norm as the weather
The official end-of-season numbers are not in yet but by all accounts, business in Whistler was not bad this past winter despite sub-standard snow conditions.
While it wasn’t a banner year, Whistler-Blackcomb expects to comfortably exceed the two million skier visit mark for the third season in a row and merchants report that hotel room nights were up over last winter.
"I think everybody was pretty happy with the season," said Rick Clare who is chair of Whistler’s Core Commercial Committee and a Tourism Whistler board member.
The unseasonal weather did, however, alter the shopping patterns of some guests and while room nights may have been up through the winter, the cash didn’t necessarily trickle all the way down into the retail sector.
Clare suspects that more rooms may have been rented to fewer people. So while hotel occupancy was up, there may actually have been less bodies in the resort.
"Right now, from Tourism Whistler’s perspective, what we are trying to do is track how many people are in the rooms," he said.
The hotel guests may have been high-end, noted Clare, but they were not necessarily high-yield from a retail perspective. He said some guests seemed to be going from their rooms straight to dinner and back without strolling or shopping. They have been dubbed by merchants as the "rich, famous and paranoid."
"There is a change in demographic for sure." Clare said the market will have to adjust in order to tap into this spending potential.
For restaurateur John Grills, business was up this season over the previous winter. He too felt there were generally fewer people coming through his two restaurants but those who did come spent more, particularly over the Easter period.
Bob Adams, chamber of commerce president, thinks guests may be shelling out so much for hotel rooms they could be skimping on the shopping and dining experience. "I have heard that some people didn’t have as good a year as they expected," noted Adams of chamber members. "Some of the comments were that the price of accommodation was so high that there were not a lot of expendable dollars around. That is the main thing I have heard."
However, Adams said his Grocery Store business was up over last winter. "I think perhaps people weren’t going out that often for dinner and they were buying more groceries," he said. "Secondly, the Westin was full on stream and that put more people in our local proximity.
The sunshine also kept skiers on the mountains longer in the day, which meant less shopping time in the village.
"I think for the average destination guest, the skiing was probably better this year than in the last couple of years," noted Clare. Traditionally, skiers come down from the hills and hit the shops around 2 p.m. But Clare said this winter, the balmy weather kept skiers on the mountain, relaxing in the sun, and the rush in the stores came around 3:30 p.m.
"We certainly had more sunshine this year than people are used to here," noted Stuart Rempel, Whistler-Blackcomb’s director of sales and marketing. "And because of the-less-than-average snowfall we were able to do a great job in grooming," said Rempel. "We had just wonderful sunny cruising days that we don’t normally see here."
Although the mountains were blessed with early-season snow storms, Whistler-Blackcomb suffered from negative publicity accorded the North-West in general. "Early in the season the word in the market was that the North-West U.S. and B.C. and Alberta had low snow," noted Rempel. "So we were painted by the same brush. We did as much as we could to try and communicate otherwise."
But Rempel said those who did come enjoyed a superb experience. The late snow is also drawing out the winter. Rempel said on Saturday, May 6, "We had a greater snow depth at our snow station than we had all year."
He said ski school revenue was well up over last winter’s results and regional products – like express card and seasons pass sales – were up over last year.
However, the excellent snow enjoyed in America’s East, Midwest and in Southern California did keep some destination skiers closer to home.
While skier visits throughout North America may be up for the first time in years this season, the business was driven by regional skiers.
"In Colorado, their destination visits may be off significantly whereas this is not the case here," said Rempel. "We were able, for the most part, to maintain our destination visits."
Rempel said he is waiting for Tourism Whistler’s origin report to get a better picture of what transpired over Easter but he feels the British and Mexican market that is now driving that period in Whistler is booming. "It’s a significant growth area for us. In particular our ski school experienced quite a significant growth in the Latin American market this year. Our ski school overall had a fabulous year and significantly exceeded last year’s result," said Rempel. "It is part of our overall mission here to develop new skiers and snowboarders,"
Grills said he also saw an increase in British and Mexican clientele in the first two weeks of April. "The dollars being spent on wine and things sold were above normal," he said.
"I think the Mexican market and Easter is looking better every year. It really is picking up. It is definitely a higher yield market," said Clare.
While business came early this year, a week before Christmas, things flattened out in the middle of the season before picking up again in early April.
Grills said he feels people may be holding off for the good shoulder season rates and staying away during the pricey peak periods. "People may be saying, look, I can go in April and have just as much fun with the festival for better rates. People may also be getting to know we have good late snow and maybe they are not rushing to get here in March."
Clare said usually there are some special rates offered in January but he didn’t see that happening this season. He felt this may account for a flat mid-season.
But all agree business came to an abrupt halt the day after the Whistler Ski and Snowboard Festival ended.
"A day after the festival ended, so did the season," said Grills. "I don't think anyone will tell you the past week of April was good. April is quite key to our business. It finishes off the busy season and dramatically shortens the slow season."
Adams said the festival is an excellent anchor and Rempel said, although Eater will fall at the end of March next year, the festival, slated for April 12-21, will continue to draw guests well into April.
