Jay Peak, VT Takes Bold Stand Against Inflation
Of all the buzzwords that have been injected into our lexicon since the days of COVID-19, 'inflation' has been one of the most potent.
The rising cost of goods and services is putting a strain on Americans from the grocery store to the ski lifts, but Jay Peak, Vermont isn't standing idle any longer.
Photo: Andrew Lanoue/Jay Peak Resort
General Manager Steve Wright announced on June 14th, 2024 that the resort is actively working to freeze or reduce the price of a variety of products citing the "inflationary environment" of the US economy over the last few years.
Wright confirmed via email exchange with POWDER that price freezes and reductions have already been implemented for daily ski lift tickets (next season), daily golf greens fees, golf season passes, Tram rides, some menu items, and more.
The reductions won't stop there. Jay is now looking into implementing price freezes across all of their food and beverage items, movie tickets, and access to their Climbing Center. "...we’re going to look at literally everything.", said Wright.
The move is risky as there's a possibility that Jay won't hit their targeted revenue goals, but that's a risk Wright and the resort are willing to take.
Wright broke down their reasoning, "...we feel the bigger risk is, by far, alienating our core group of guests who are feeling pinched by economic factors beyond their control."
Photo: Andrew Lanoue/Jay Peak Resort
Wright then explained how the idea originated amongst the team at Jay Peak:
"We all started to look at the cost of things hitting our own household bottom lines and thought if we don’t try and do something, folks are going to simply either stop coming, or visit less frequently. Like I said, we’re not under some delusion that we’re going to fix a hyperbolic economy, but we felt we had to try and do something."
Jay Peak has always done things a bit differently, and while freezing or reducing lift ticket prices wasn't on my personal BINGO card for this year, it's not entirely surprising. When the industry zigs, Jay tends to zag.
It was even less surprising that Wright didn't seem to care what his ski industry colleagues and peers thought about freezing prices, "I’m not entirely sure, but they probably think we’re nuts. That’s ok. There’s room for multiple perspectives in this business."
Photo: Andrew Lanoue/Jay Peak Resort
Ultimately, Jay Peak and Wright acknowledge that freezing prices likely won't encourage a widespread movement across the industry or elsewhere, but that was never the goal. Wright explains:
"I hope people still decide to come out and ski and ride and stay with us for sure. Maybe it won’t be as big of a financial hit for them, and maybe they won’t have to tie themselves into knots looking for good deals and affordable access. At the very least, they’ll understand that we understand them and their financial realities."
At this time, Jay Peak has not provided specific details regarding which lift ticket prices will be frozen or reduced, or how long the measures will be implemented.
Stay tuned in here at POWDER as we track how Jay's bold price freezing strategy plays out, and if it encourages change across the industry.
Related: Hunter Mountain Begins "Major" Lift Investment Project
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