WHITEFISH — Thursday’s opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort means downtown Whitefish has entered another busy season as hotels, bars and restaurants see a spike in visitor numbers.
“We’re seen by many as a summer resort, certainly we’re going to hit the ground running then, the last few months have been what we call our off-season, you know our slow season, but things are picking up again this week,” said Kevin Gartland, Executive Director of the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce.
According to Gartland, seeing Whitefish Mountain Resort open for ski season is always a welcoming sight, drawing visitors from around the world.
“Our hotels, restaurants and retailers depend on all of the skiers who come to Whitefish to ski for two, three, four, seven days and we’re really looking forward to that this year,” added Gartland.
Edna White — director of sales and marketing for Averill Hospitalities, who works for both Whitefish Lake Lodge and Firebrand Hotel — says skiers and snowboarders make up the majority of guests during the winter months.
“Well the meaning of the first day of the ski season is really the start of winter and as we start to see a lot more visitors in the area we have a lot of skiers here at the lodge and we have a lot of visitors coming specifically for this one too purpose,” says White.
Gartland says a heavy snow season goes a long way in boosting the local economy and attracting visitors to enjoy downtown and stay overnight.
“They’re 20-30% occupancy in the shoulder season, 100% in the summer if we didn’t have the resort there to attract people to our area – if we didn’t have that attraction they would let me assure you “We’re running in the low range, so it’s crucial that we have a good snow season in terms of snow on the mountains and skiers as well,” Gartland said.
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