I will just cut and paste this here from another thread, quite a bit of it relates to growing and sustaining the sport:
I’ll give my opinion being nobody asked
I have only skied two areas, Deer Valley and Andalo-Paganella in Italy
My first skiing was DV in ‘15 and I took 3 hour privates (I do not do group lessons). The instruction was very good and I learned a lot, maybe confirmed a lot as I had watched a lot of YouTube prior to getting on the snow and knew what to expect, and I think this made my actual lesson comprehension much faster. The instructor actually commented something along those lines too. $$$$$$$
This year in Italy the cost was a fraction of the DV lesson, and the Italian methodology was VERY different to the US style of teaching. The same movements were taught, but for my brain it did not work as well. The three hour lessons were not super expensive. $$
You can say you get what you pay for, but that is not comparing apples to apples. The two regions have different styles of teaching, I actually confirmed this later.
Now that I have the above off my chest.....
I think that the mega resorts are being short sighted in their instruction program designs. The new skiers (including adults like me that are potentially patrons for the next 15-20 years) are the future of the sport and the future lifeblood of the resort/industry. While it would be a terrible business plan to give lessons for a break even price, it is short sighted to not look at the long term cost benefit of skiers improving and creating long term clientele (vastly different from a customer).
IF I was in management at a mega resort and looking long term, I would essentially subsidize kids group/clinics. I would set the price at a break even/slight loss for the resort. Why? Glad you asked! Firstly, those kids did not arrive alone! The parents are out skiing while their kids are being given instruction. Glorified babysitting? Quite possibly. But it is good business, those parents ski experience is greatly enhanced... AND you are at the same time creating future clientele for the resort with the understanding those kids will be lifelong skiers, or at least some of them. Is this idea the long game? Sure, but it is the recipe for success both long and short term.
Then there is the old guy, like me who is a beginner and I am sure the instructor hates. But I am the guy to make a profit on for sure. I show up at DV for a week, likely I can afford a couple of 3 hour private lessons. But at $605 +Tip? That is $700 in my book. I am sorry, but that is out of line for beginner instruction. I am super easy to teach, I mean it is just the basics and trying to find a way to communicate to me (the student) in a manner that clicks. Teaching is only slightly about the information, teaching is about the communication. Especially for a “level 4” or below like me. And yes, I do know a hell of a lot about instruction, but not in skiing. From a pricing stand point, I would say (just picking numbers out here) $250 for 90-120 minutes, and it is $400 for two of those sessions, and $575 for three of those sessions......... Something like that would make it “affordable” and set up a good plan where I would take a lesson every other day during my 7 day stay. This would give me the ‘tweener” days to practice what I had been taught the previous day.
The better for people like me ski, the more enjoyment we get out of the sport the more likely we are to return to the resort. The more likely we are to stay engaged in the sport. And the longer we stay engaged, the more prosperous the resort is long term.
So there you go! Being you didn’t ask