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Vail CEO Fights Off Economic Avalanche

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Jan 9, 2009 6:22 am US/Mountain

Vail CEO Fights Off Economic Avalanche

Written By Brooke Wagner
Reporting
Brooke Wagner
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) ― When the economy falters, it takes the tourism industry with it. In Colorado, even lush snowfall isn't enough to stabilize reservations. Ski giant Vail Resorts, Inc., is already forecasting losses in the tens of millions of dollars for 2009.

"A year ago today, the economy looked very strong, the travel industry was booming. A year later, it seems like we're at the low of lows," said Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts.

Katz is a believer in the Colorado lifestyle. Appointed to his first board of directors before the age of 25, the young multi-millionaire and his family left New York for Boulder after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Katz was associated with Vail Resorts for years, then In 2006, he became the company's CEO. Now, he is charged with making sure Vail lives up to its motto, "like no place on Earth."

"In these times, even the folks who can afford to come, they want something special so they realize that we understand how hard it is for them to make that decision," Katz said.

During our CBS4 interview at the Vail headquarters in Broomfield, Katz said reservations were down 23 percent in November. But, Katz added that the company took self-preservation measures before the economic downturn.

"Over the last four to five years, we've made some really smart decisions. We've paid down our debt, we invested huge amounts of money in our resorts. So, even though no one wants to have this environment, it positions us as good as anybody going into it," Katz said.

Since his tenure began, Katz has made a mountain of big decisions. He moved headquarters from Avon to Broomfield, pulled Vail Resorts' membership from Colorado Ski Country, USA, approved recent layoffs and the cutting of the company's 401K matching program.

"You do it with judgment, sensitivity, and you treat people with respect. When you do it that way, people know you have to make difficult decisions, but they respect them," said Katz.

Vail resorts has also positioned itself as an environmental leader, and the second-largest corporate purchaser of wind power in the nation. The company cut energy use by five percent this year and is going for another five percent next year.

"Not only is it bad for the environment to waste energy," said Katz, "It's also just burning cash."

And for Katz, getting through this financial crisis requires keeping as much cash as possible, without sacrificing the magic of the mountain.

"You can't get lost too much in the clouds, you can't get lost too much in the weeds," said Katz.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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