About this time, the “snow birds” are leaving the resorts of Colorado and heading home for the spring. The slopes out West will soon be shifting gear to end their busy season, while the summer resorts of New England and the Carolinas groom their beaches for summer. However, as an employee of a resort, where should you be headed if you want the largest paycheck? As an employee, it is not always possible to move from one resort to the next with the change of seasons, especially if you are in a senior management position. So we wanted to determine which seasonal resorts paid the most. The tables below depict base salary and bonuses at winter and summer resorts. While many resorts are “year-round” destinations, we classified each resort by their primary season. For example, we classified ski resorts in Vail as winter resorts, because the bulk of their revenues are generated during the winter season. Although the compensation results are quite comparable, those at summer resorts earned more on average than their counterparts at winter lodging facilities. For example, a summer-resort general manager earned an average of 4% more base salary than that of a winter-resort general manager. On average, all five positions earned more at summer lodging facilities, with summer-resort directors of sales & marketing earning $7,000 more than their winter-resort counterparts. In terms of bonuses, we see a similar pattern, with summer-resort executives earning more incentive dollars. On the other hand, bonuses as a percentage of base salary were almost identical. It also appears that resort executives are more likely to earn a larger paycheck in a summer destination as compared to their winter counterparts. We never thought someone would actually get paid more to work during the lazy days of summer. Viva la summer vacation!
