PARK CITY, Utah — It's no secret that the Park City area is heavily dependent on every ski season, and those in the service industry said this has been one of the strangest winters they can remember.
For many, this weekend's closures of parts of Park City and Deer Valley resorts are affecting their bottom line.
“We are a big, small business," said Helen Sideris with Park City Lodging. "We’re probably one of the biggest, family-owned, small businesses here in Park City.”
Park City Lodging has been helping visitors plan winter vacations since the 1980’s. Sideris said it has definitely not been business as usual this winter. They manage more than 230 area properties in the area, and many were less full than normal, due to the lack of snow.
“We’ve seen occupancy be affected, but the nightly rates, the value with which we can sell our properties for, is declining, and that compounds out into the community in multiple, different factors," said Sideris.
That means hiring seasonal workers later than normal and telling them their services are no longer needed earlier than normal. Many of those individuals juggle other employment as well.
“They’ve had challenges with their second job, not getting hours. Everybody is cutting back and penny pinching in every corner of the industry," Sideris explained.
The same goes for people who make a living transporting visitors to the Park City area.
“Yeah, not having that snow has been a real pain for us right now," shared Patrick Warburton with Utah Luxury Transportation.
Warburton has a small fleet of high-end vans and a handful of employees. Their bread and butter is taking visitors from the airport to their vacation destinations in Park City.
But this winter, those bookings are way down.
“Just today, I was looking at our numbers, and we’re down by 56% right now," he said. "So it’s a huge, huge portion for us that we’re missing.”
Warburton will now try to get the most out of spring and summer bookings, then start praying for a better winter next year.
“We’ll get it, it’ll come, so we’re gonna wait for it, and we will be ready," he said.
Dan Bullert admitted this season has been the strangest he's seen. He's been working at Stein Erickson‘s at Deer Valley for 30 Years. Despite the lack of snow, Bullert said some of their guests remain undeterred.
“We have a lot of guests who simply said, ‘You know what, I’m still coming! I want a vacation at Steins, skiing is secondary for me.' So they’re still coming out here next week,” Bullett said.
Those in the service industry in Park City hope the lack of snow doesn't keep people from visiting. There are still plenty of things to do, places to see, and places to eat. It’s just that for Park City and Deer Valley, skiing and snowboarding won’t be part of the agenda.
