This year’s winter season in Sun Peaks saw a decrease in skier visitation from the previous year, but brought in more overnight visitors.
Chief operating officer for Sun Peaks Resort LLP (SPR), Amy Blakeney told SPIN while skier visitation was down 8.7 per cent from last year, it was still their second highest in history.
The number of season passes sold going into the season was comparable to the previous season and of the 40 per cent of visitors who purchased day passes, 54 per cent were out of province or international.
Visitors and overnight guests
Since they joined the Ikon Pass two years ago, SPR has seen a 83 per cent increase in Ikon visitation according to Blakeney.
Purchasing an Ikon Pass grants someone access to over fifty ski destinations worldwide, including SPR.
“About 50 per cent of our Ikon visitors were actually from Washington state,” she said. “And why that’s important too, is that they’re traditionally spending more as destination guests [and] they’re staying overnight.”
Naomi Kerchinsky, executive director for Tourism Sun Peaks said there was a 13 per cent improvement of nights sold in hotels, although together with an eight per cent decrease in vacation rental numbers, the rise in accommodation totaled a four per cent increase.
The lower-than-average snowpack this year affected the local market more than anything, Kerchinsky explained. SPR did not get the same amount of Kamloops day pass holders as the previous year, but the tourism market wasn’t as affected.
Independent business owners in the village selling food, drinks and beyond reported no notable change in business from the previous year Kerchinsky added.
Notable months in the 2023/2024 ski season
November stood out to Blakeney as the mountain opened as planned on Nov. 18, though with limited runs open.
“This was probably the busiest November I have ever seen,” Blakeney said. She’s been with SPR since 2015.
Each month had different success rates. For example, Blakeney said February was their strongest month this season.
“It wasn’t record breaking for us on the ski hill side, but it actually came pretty close.”
As usual, Blakeney said the last two weeks after the March break period got a bit quieter. To try and offset this, the resort did a promotion for anyone who held a ski pass such as Ikon or Epic at resorts worldwide to get a 50 per cent discount.
“For the worldwide pass promotion for the final two weeks of the season, we saw an increase of 136 per cent in reciprocal day ticket sales compared to the same period last year,” she said.
Additionally, the accommodation numbers for March were actually up 30 per cent according to Kerchinsky.
“We’re always going to see lower traffic at the beginning of December and the end of March,” she said. “So that’s why we put our efforts in the Sip, Savour and Ski festival to try to add in late season events.”
While SPR was lower in revenue for that period than was expected or budgeted for according to Blakeney, she said it aligned with the lower skier visitation.
“Our NPS for this year was 88 per cent for winter, which is very, very strong,” she said, however. An NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is based on a question the resort asks guests on their likelihood to recommend SPR to family, friends and colleagues.
“All in all, with the snowpack as it was this year, we had a pretty solid year for occupancy and a very strong winter,” Kerchinsky said.
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