Skiers pump $15 million into local economy

Forty-six percent of Whitefish Mountain Resort’s guests last winter came from beyond Montana’s boundaries, a recent study about the state’s ski industry showed.

The percentage is the second highest among ski resorts in the state, just behind Big Sky Resort’s 57.7 percent, with those visitors pumping more than $15 million into the local economy.

The information comes from a recent report by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana.

Surveys supporting the findings were administered from the end of December to April last season at seven ski areas, including Big Sky Resort, Moonlight Basin, Bridger Bowl, Discovery Basin, Red Lodge Mountain, Showdown and Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Most of the out-of-state skiers came to Whitefish from Alberta and Washington, the report shows, with the two states combining to make up nearly 40 percent of the visiting skiers. Six-percent came from Minnesota. Nonresident visitors represented 44 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces and nine foreign countries.

Whitefish Mountain Resort spokesman Donnie Clapp said the resort advertises heavily in Minneapolis, Seattle and Calgary.

“Calgary is one of the areas we push the hardest and have increased our presence of the past three years,” he said.

Minneapolis and Seattle come in near the top likely due to a combination of daily direct flights from each city to Glacier Park International Airport and Amtrak’s Empire Builder train route, which stops in Whitefish twice daily. The reports shows 17 percent of Whitefish Mountain Resort visitors arrived on train and 32 percent flew here.

The No. 1 reason for visiting Whitefish among both residents and nonresidents was location, which is logical, the report said, because of the resort’s accessibility from Calgary, Seattle and Minneapolis.

“It makes sense when the majority of the visitors come from nearby states and provinces,” the report said. “These folks are used to driving in winter conditions and Montana is close. If they choose to fly from Minnesota or Washington, there are usually direct flights.”

Of the nonresidents visiting Whitefish Mountain Resort, 20 percent stayed in town for seven days, and nearly 75 percent stayed between three days and a week. Most lodge in rental homes and condos, or with a friend or relative. Eight percent reported staying in their second home.

Nine percent of nonresidents purchased some sort of travel and ski package, with most including lift tickets and accommodations. Clapp said the resort almost exclusively markets “stay and play” packages to the three major markets it targets. These packages include lift tickets and lodging in the winter, and zip-line passes or golf course vouchers and lodging in the summer.

The average expenditure by a nonresident visitor was $1,267, with nearly $600 of that going to lodging and lift tickets combined. Visitors spent about $240 eating out and $105 on retail goods. All told, the report suggests $15.4 million was directly contributed to the local economy by nonresidents skiing at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Residents spend on average $188 per trip to the resort, with most of that going toward lift tickets and restaurants.

Income demographics of skiers at the resort varied wildly between residents and nonresidents. Sixty-two percent of nonresidents said their household income was more than $100,000, with 15 percent indicating they made more than $200,000.

Sixty-six percent of residents, on the other hand, said their income was less than $100,000, with only 4 percent saying they made more than $200,000.