A new study released this week shows this for Colorado, the ski industry is big business. For the first time in ten years, Vail Resorts and Colorado Ski Country teamed up to release an economic impact study that evaluated just how important skiing was to jobs, tourism, and the overall health of the state economy. The results? Ten years ago skiing's annual impact was about $2.5 billion. Now, that figure has nearly doubled.
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As Jason Blevins from the Denver Post reports, Colorado's ski industry contributes $4.8 billion in annual economic activity. That's a lot of cash. Here's how the other numbers from the study break down. Note: the study used figures from the 2013-2014 ski season.
1. Skiing and snowboarding supports 46,000 year-round jobs in Colorado.
2. Those same workers earn $1.9 billion every year.
3. About 500,000 Colorado residents skied in the 2013-2014 season. That's 9 percent of Colorado's estimated 5.2 million people.
4. Those 500,000 Colorado skiers account for about 5.6 million of the state's 12.6 million skier visits.
5. Out-of-state skiers contributed around 7 million skier visits in 2013-2014, and on average those skiers spent $300 per day.
6. According to the Denver Post, "skiing vacationers logged 588,000 deplanements at Denver International Airport, which is about 8 percent of all non-connecting arrivals at the airport."
7. Vail Resorts (and its properties in Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Keystone) accounts for more than a quarter of the state's ski business.
· Skiers' economic impact in Colorado adds up to $4.8 billion [Denver Post]
· Colorado Skier Visits Set New Season Record for 2013-2014 [Curbed Ski]
· Colorado Ski Towns Are Booming As Visitors Spend Big [Curbed Ski]