Families and Australians are the targets of a move to discount by 40% earlybird season ski passes for NZSki's fields at Queenstown and Mt Hutt, the company says.
Season passes at $599 were released to the market this week by NZSki.
The move was aimed at making skiiing more affordable, introducing new people to snow sports, attracting more Australians and "celebrating significant investment", the company said in a statement this morning.
The same earlybird three-peak (Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt) passes last year retailed at $999.
NZSki had invested heavily in its world-class facilities and its people at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables, most recently with its $45m investment at The Remarkables in a new base building, Curvey Basin chairlift, extended car parking, new terrain and trails and road sealing, the statement said.
Other passes were also significantly cheaper than usual, with the pricing programme developed to "provide an affordable way in to skiing and riding for locals and visitors".
The offer was also open to Australian skiers and snowboarders - "helping drive business for the resort town across the board".
NZSki Chairman Sir John Davies said that since acquiring The Remarkables and Coronet Peak ski areas about 12 years ago, the company's long-term plan had been to offer the best possible ski product by investing heavily in comprehensive upgrades.
"Over the last decade we've given local children very competitive prices through the schools programme, but our research shows that lots of families with these children haven't been able to afford family skiing.
"We hope the new prices will stimulate the local family market so we can share our great products with our local communities."
Sir John said the recent development of The Remarkables had also increased capacity.
"Our new prices are also aimed at the Australian market where the New Zealand dollar remains relatively high.
"If we can stimulate this market too, it will benefit all of the wider Queenstown business community."
NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said the change most importantly made a season pass affordable for skiers who might have stopped due to cost constraints.
"We know there are lots of families who have moved to Queenstown over the past few years and we want to do everything we can to make sure they can experience what living here is all about."
