Ski Utah predicts 3 percent growth in skier visits

By BROCK VERGAKIS (AP) - November 10, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY -- The number of skier visits in the state will
increase by an estimated 3 percent in the 2009-10 season to about
4.1 million, the president of industry group Ski Utah said Tuesday.

That would provide a boost to a struggling state economy
increasingly dependent on tourism, and mark a turnaround from last
year when the economic downturn hit.

Nathan Rafferty, Ski Utah president, said recent signs of economic
growth in the national economy should lead to more destination
travelers vacationing in the state than last year, when skier
visits declined by 6.5 percent from the record-setting previous
year.

"Last season was a little different for everybody," Rafferty said.
"The economic issues that we faced last year -- the timing couldn't
have been worse."

The trouble started when most people normally book vacations and
got worse as the season went on, he said.

Rafferty's comments come as most of Utah's 13 ski areas prepare to
open within the next two weeks...

...Early indications are that more people are willing to travel.
Rafferty said the Denver-based research group Mountain Travel
Research Project has reported that lodging reservations in
Colorado, Utah, California and British Columbia for January are up
17 percent from last year and 7 percent for February.

Ski Utah's Web site has also seen traffic increase 9 percent
compared with the same period last year.

At Powder Mountain Resort, which doesn't advertise nationally,
sales are strong and more interest is coming from outside Utah than
ever before, said resort spokeswoman Carolyn Daniels.

"It appears that our season pass sales are up once again, and last
year was our second-best year ever," she said. "A large portion of
it is the destination skiers who are starting to discover our area."