UK spends big, stays long A breakdown of the who, what, why of Whistler's visitors shows that Brits tend to spend the big bucks. They stay a little less than 10 days on average, spending $4,179 per party per stay, say Whistler Resort Association statistics. The only nationals who stay longer on average are Australians and New Zealanders, who stay closer to 10 days per visit. Because they live closer, Lower Mainlanders tend to stay only a couple nights at a time, spending $516 per stay on average. Ontarians rank with Americans for length of stay at about six nights. But the Central Canadians spend $2,101 per stay, compared to Washingtonians' average of $1,769 per stay (although visitors from that state also stay only four days on average). Snowboarders make up a steady 16 per cent of all slopeside visitors. But WRA stats show that almost half of teens now snowboard, compared to 13 per cent of adults. If they are a snowboarding visitor, they are likely to be Australian or Japanese. They make up 30+ and 25+ per cent of all out-of-town snowboarders, respectively. Lower Mainlanders, by comparison, are closer to 20 per cent of boarding visitors. If their faces look familiar, travellers to Whistler probably are. More than half (55 per cent) of visits from all markets are repeat business, WRA stats say. Lower Mainlanders are almost all repeaters (98 per cent), followed by 75 per cent Ontarians and 78 per cent Washingtonians. Other Americans, the British and Japanese fall into the 30-26 per cent frequent skier/boarder zone. Skiing and service bring smiles to just about everyone, indicates the satisfaction ratings collected by the WRA at 92 and 90 per cent happiness. Satisfaction with Whistler's nightlife falls to a 68 per cent rating, to 68 for shopping, and to 57 and 53 per cent for family activities and non-skiing activities. While mountain terrain, friendly staff and general ambience were write-in candidates for good things about Whistler; being expensive, over-developed and hard to get to were frownable write-ins.
