BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 27, 2020 /CNW/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc.
(NYSE: MTN) today announced updates to its season pass program for
the 2020/2021 North American ski season.
Rob Katz, Chief Executive
Officer, said, "Following the difficult decision to close our North
American mountain resorts as a result of the unprecedented
circumstances surrounding COVID-19, we have been developing a
comprehensive plan to address our pass holders' concerns about the
early closure this past season and provide improved coverage for
the future. We are committed to providing the best passes in the
ski industry and are focused on both honoring the loyalty of our
guests and providing peace of mind for next season.
"To address last season, we are providing credits to 2019/2020
season pass holders to apply toward the purchase of a 2020/2021
season pass. Season pass holders will receive a minimum credit of
20% toward next season's pass. For season pass holders who used
their pass less than five days, they will be eligible for higher
credits up to a maximum of 80% for season pass holders who did not
use their season pass at all. For Epic Day Pass, Edge Card and
other frequency based products with unused days remaining, we will
be offering credits for each unused day up to a maximum of an 80%
credit. The credits will be available for our pass holders who
purchase 2020/2021 passes by September
7, 2020.
"Looking ahead to the 2020/2021 North American ski season, we
fully expect that we will all be enjoying a great ski and ride
season, but we also understand that many pass holders are nervous
about the future given the current uncertainty. As a result, we are
redefining how we will protect season passes through the launch of
'Epic Coverage.' Epic Coverage is free for all pass holders and
completely replaces the need to purchase pass insurance. Epic
Coverage provides refunds in the unlikely event of certain resort
closures (i.e. for COVID-19), giving pass holders a refund for any
portion of the season that is lost. Additionally, Epic
Coverage provides a refund for personal circumstances covered by
our pass insurance for eligible injuries, job losses and many other
personal events. In addition to these changes, in order to give our
pass holders the time they need to make decisions regarding next
season, we are extending the deadline for pass holders to receive
spring benefits (including Buddy Tickets) until September 7, 2020, and we are extending the
period for pass holders to lock in their purchase with only
$49 down for the next few months.
"As a result of the early closure this season and the meaningful
credits we are offering to 2019/2020 season pass holders, we will
be delaying the recognition of approximately $118 million of our deferred season pass revenue,
as well as approximately $3 million
of related deferred costs, that would have been recognized in the
remainder of fiscal 2020 and will now be recognized in the second
and third quarters of fiscal 2021. This will result in a
reduction in lift revenue and Resort Reported EBITDA in fiscal 2020
of approximately $118 million and
approximately $115 million,
respectively, which is incremental to the negative impact
previously disclosed on March 18,
2020. Fiscal 2021 lift revenue will increase by approximately
$118 million, partially or fully
offsetting the negative impact of the credits being offered to pass
holders, depending upon the final usage of such credits towards the
purchase of 2020/2021 season passes, and fiscal 2021 Resort
Reported EBITDA will increase by approximately $115 million.
"Our advanced commitment products continue to be our primary
focus by delivering value to our guests, resulting in increased
guest return rates and guest satisfaction to drive the long-term
stability and growth of our business. As we look further into the
future, we are well positioned to navigate these challenging times
and emerge with significant strength due to our outstanding owned
and operated network of destination, regional and local resorts,
the stability, loyalty and value offered through our advanced
commitment pass products, and our new Epic Coverage and Epic
Mountain Rewards programs. We are grateful for the continued
commitment of our employees, our community partners and our guests
in this challenging environment and look forward to safely getting
back to the mountains next season."
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading
global mountain resort operator. Vail Resorts' subsidiaries operate
37 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas, including
Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested
Butte in Colorado;
Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake
Tahoe area of California
and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in
British Columbia, Canada;
Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham
in Australia; Stowe, Mount
Snow, Okemo in Vermont;
Hunter Mountain in New York; Mount
Sunapee, Attitash, Wildcat and Crotched in New Hampshire; Stevens Pass in Washington; Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail,
Jack Frost and Big Boulder in
Pennsylvania; Alpine Valley,
Boston Mills, Brandywine and Mad
River in Ohio; Hidden Valley and Snow Creek in Missouri; Wilmot in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota; Mt. Brighton in Michigan; and Paoli Peaks in Indiana. Vail Resorts owns and/or manages a
collection of casually elegant hotels under the RockResorts brand,
as well as the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Vail Resorts
Development Company is the real estate planning and development
subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held
company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail
Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website
is www.snow.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements discussed in this press release, other than
statements of historical information, are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws,
including our expectations regarding our fiscal 2020 lift revenue
and Resort Reported EBITDA and our fiscal 2021 lift revenue and
Resort Reported EBITDA; and our expectations regarding the
2020/2021 North American ski season. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements
are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such
risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the ultimate
duration of COVID-19 and its short-term and long-term impacts on
consumer behaviors, the economy generally and our business and
results of operations; prolonged weakness in general economic
conditions, including adverse effects on the overall travel and
leisure related industries; willingness or ability of our guests to
travel due to terrorism, the uncertainty of military conflicts or
outbreaks of contagious diseases (such as the current outbreak of
COVID-19), and the cost and availability of travel options and
changing consumer preferences; unfavorable weather conditions or
the impact of natural disasters; risks related to our reliance on
information technology, including our failure to maintain the
integrity of our customer or employee data and our ability to adapt
to technological developments or industry trends; risks related to
cyber-attacks; the seasonality of our business combined with
adverse events that occur during our peak operating periods;
competition in our mountain and lodging businesses; high fixed cost
structure of our business; our ability to fund resort capital
expenditures; risks related to a disruption in our water supply
that would impact our snowmaking capabilities and operations; our
reliance on government permits or approvals for our use of public
land or to make operational and capital improvements; risks
associated with obtaining governmental or third party approvals;
risks related to federal, state, local and foreign government laws,
rules and regulations; risks related to changes in security and
privacy laws and regulations which could increase our operating
costs and adversely affect our ability to market our products and
services effectively; risks related to our workforce, including
increased labor costs; loss of key personnel and our ability to
hire and retain a sufficient seasonal workforce; adverse
consequences of current or future legal claims; a deterioration in
the quality or reputation of our brands, including our ability to
protect our intellectual property and the risk of accidents at our
mountain resorts; our ability to successfully integrate acquired
businesses, or that acquired businesses may fail to perform in
accordance with expectations, including Falls Creek, Hotham, Peak Resorts or future
acquisitions; our ability to satisfy the requirements of Section
404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, with respect to acquired
businesses; risks associated with international operations;
fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates where the Company
has foreign currency exposure, primarily the Canadian and
Australian dollars; changes in accounting judgments and estimates,
accounting principles, policies or guidelines or adverse
determinations by taxing authorities as well as risks associated
with uncertainty of the impact of tax reform legislation in
the United States; a materially
adverse change in our financial condition; and other risks detailed
in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2019, which was filed on September 26, 2019.
All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any persons
acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by
these cautionary statements. All guidance and forward-looking
statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof and
we do not undertake any obligation to update any forecast or
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Statement Concerning Non-GAAP Financial Measures
When reporting financial results, we use the terms Resort
Reported EBITDA, Total Reported EBITDA, and Net Debt, which are not
financial measures under accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States of America
("GAAP"). Resort Reported EBITDA, Total Reported EBITDA, and Net
Debt should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to,
or substitute for, measures of financial performance or liquidity
prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, we report segment
Reported EBITDA (i.e. Mountain, Lodging and Real Estate), the
measure of segment profit or loss required to be disclosed in
accordance with GAAP. Accordingly, these measures may not be
comparable to similarly-titled measures of other companies.
Additionally, with respect to discussion of impacts from currency,
the Company calculates the impact by applying current period
foreign exchange rates to the prior period results, as the Company
believes that comparing financial information using comparable
foreign exchange rates is a more objective and useful measure of
changes in operating performance.
Reported EBITDA (and its counterpart for each of our segments)
has been presented herein as a measure of the Company's
performance. The Company believes that Reported EBITDA is an
indicative measurement of the Company's operating performance, and
is similar to performance metrics generally used by investors to
evaluate other companies in the resort and lodging
industries. The Company believes that Net Debt is an
important measurement of liquidity as it is an indicator of the
Company's ability to obtain additional capital resources for its
future cash needs. See the tables provided in the release dated
March 9, 2019 for reconciliations of
our measures of segment profitability and non-GAAP financial
measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial
measures.
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SOURCE Vail Resorts, Inc.