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Big White hits record number of visitors

The resort welcomed 495 more Australian guests this year during the holiday period than last
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For the second year in a row, Big White Ski Resort is coming off of its busiest Christmas season in history.

This year, the success is due to international visitors from Australia who took advantage of new nonstop service from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne to Vancouver and onto Kelowna, according to Big White Ski Resort.

“Skier visits were up 4.1 per cent while food and beverage numbers were up 12.8 per cent over this traditional busy period,” said Trevor Hanna, vice president of hospitality.

According to Big White’s Central Reservations team, the resort welcomed 495 more Australian guests this year than during last year’s holiday period.

Big White Ski Resort employs more than 1,090 full-time team members during the winter season who worked over 90,000 man hours an increase of 3.5 per cent during the two-week holiday period. Wages paid was up 4.1 per cent during the same period and staff numbers overall increased by 2.3 per cent.

As Kelowna International Airport is breaking new passenger records, Big White’s Central airport shuttle handled 4,385 airport transfers between Big White Ski Resort and Kelowna breaking last year’s record by more than 800 passengers, said the resort.

The Big White Water and Sewer Company reported an increase of 2.2 per cent increase of water used during the holiday period which broke last year’s all-time record.

“It’s interesting to note that when the mountain is full of overnight guests (approximately 17,000) the water that comes out of your shower head was in our reservoir between six and 18 minutes earlier depending on where you’re staying on the mountain,” said senior vice president Michael J. Ballingall.

The Big White Ski & Board School taught more than 7,000 kids at the Kids Centre with 1,104 first time skiers and snowboarders attending lessons during this period, said the resort.

Contributing to Big White’s successful holiday period were two massive events was the largest Coast Capital Savings Cruz the Blues in event history with 1,567 participants and the Molson Canadian Olympic Team Send-Off, which was the largest event in Big White history and saw over 6,000 people in the Village during the concert.

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