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TWST: Would you give us a brief historical sketch of the company and the picture
of the things you're doing at the present time?
Mr. Jones: The company is a New York Stock Exchange traded publicly held
company. It is a company that has three segments: a mountain segment, a lodging
segment and a real estate segment. The mountain segment is where we operate our
five mountain ski resorts: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and
Heavenly, four of those resorts being in Colorado. All five resorts are in the
top 10 most visited resorts in North America and they're also rated, all five,
in the top 20 quality ski resorts in the latest Ski Magazine rankings, including
Vail at number one. Also within the mountain segment, we offer ski schools;
dining, with over 100 restaurants that we own and operate; retail rental;
commercial leasing; and many other ancillary businesses.
In our lodging business, we operate hotel properties both in and around our
mountain resorts and also outside of our mountain resorts including through the
RockResorts brand. We also, in the lodging segment, operate six golf courses. In
our real estate segment, we either develop real estate ourselves or we sell real
estate to third party developers, all for real estate development, generally
multi-units in and around our mountain resorts. The company went public in 1997.
The corporate headquarters are in Broomfield, Colorado, and during the ski
season, we have an employee base that reaches over 14,000. TWST: What are the specific measures that the company has taken over the years
to put its ski resorts into this very privileged position?
Mr. Jones: First and foremost, we have high quality assets and there is a very
high barrier to entry in the ski business, meaning the last major ski resort
that was open was our own ski resort, Beaver Creek, back in 1981. Therefore, the
ski resorts that are around are ones that have the best venues for skiing and
our resorts certainly are at the top level. So the quality of the assets is what
they are able to offer. They are the biggest and the best out there, as far as
the top 10 most visited. All five are in the top 10 most visited. There is a lot
of skiable acreage and a lot of offerings for every level of skiing ability.
What also sets us apart is that we are able to take advantage of that overall
vacation destination experience by offering tremendous experiences to all types
of visitors to our resorts and that includes what we're able to offer in our
base villages all the way through to our on-mountain experiences. Vail Resorts
prides ourselves on emphasizing an exceptional vacation experience. We have very
high and attractive guest demographics at our resorts. For example, the average
household income of our Beaver Creek resort guests is $310,000, which really
sets us apart in the travel and leisure business. The quality and the
demographics lead to premium pricing at our resorts and high margins and that
helps to set us apart as a very profitable venture.
Tickers included in this excerpt: THMD
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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