Hope for the slopes: Ontario ski industry looking to bounce back after 2 difficult years
CBC
This week's snowfall has southern Ontario's skiers and snowboarders getting ready for a new season and experts say this could be a banner year on the province's slopes.
Paul Pinchbeck, president and CEO of the Canadian Ski Council (CSC), says he expects an exceptional season after the last three were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I've been in this industry for the last 22 years and haven't seen optimistic numbers like this before," Pinchbeck told CBC Toronto.
Pinchbeck estimates the industry likely lost around 35 per cent of its revenue over the first two years of COVID-19 as ski resorts faced temporary shutdowns, adjacent hotels, restaurants, rental facilities closed and few if any foreign visitors were seen on at Canadian ski hills.
He says he's anticipating a comeback for a number of reasons, including a trend towards outdoor sports that has emerged over the pandemic, a lack of restrictions on ski resorts this year and good weather.
And it's a welcome relief to the industry after the losses it has faced due to COVID-19.
"Certainly, the pandemic brought the 2020 season to a sharp and early close," said Pinchbeck.
Lodges like Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, Ont., about 147 kilometres north of Toronto, suffered heavy losses when they were forced to shut down.
"We laid off upwards of 800 employees on Christmas Eve two years ago and we were shut down until after Family Day weekend," said Jonathan Reid, the resort's vice president and general manager.
"Those were some challenging times for sure."
Ironically, the CSC reports more than 355,000 people took up skiing and snowboarding over the past year.
"We've seen a lot of people sort of gravitating towards outdoor activity through the pandemic," said Reid.
"What's great about it is 97 per cent of those people who were surveyed last year as new skiers and snowboarders said, 'Yeah, I want to come back.'"
He says there have been more early buys of lift tickets, season passes and lodging, while the Toronto Ski and Snowboard Show, seen as a harbinger for the season, was incredibly successful this year.
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