The company behind one of the world's longest indoor ski slopes is eyeing Fairfax County for its first facility on the continent.
A subcommittee of the Fairfax County Sports Tourism Task Force released a report saying that SnowWorld USA, an affiliate of Netherlands-based SnowWorld, is "looking to partner" with the county "in the development of the first indoor ski and snow sports facility in North America," to perhaps include a 100-room hotel and restaurants. The task force is in the process of fielding proposals for this project.
The resort, according to the report, would use the elevation of the county-owned landfill in Lorton and land in the Occoquan Regional Park, near the Workhouse Arts Center.
SnowWorld owns two indoor ski resorts in Europe, with its Landgraaf location in the Netherlands billed as the continent's largest — with one slope in that facility running 500 meters, or five-plus football fields. Its resort in Zoetermeer, also in the Netherlands, features Europe's steeping indoor slope.
According to the Fairfax County report, which was quietly released in November, SnowWorld USA wants to build 10 facilities in the United States. While details on the size, design and cost of the potential Fairfax facility are unclear, the report said construction would take between 18 and 24 months.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors assembled the task force in June 2017 to understand the potential economic impact of the sports tourism market and how the county can take advantage of it. Members of the subcommittee include Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield; Visit Fairfax CEO Barry Biggar; and Rodney Lusk, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority's national marketing director.
"SnowWorld clearly expressed interest in doing this and they clearly have experience doing this around the world," said Herrity, who has spearheaded much of the task force's work. "Sports tourism is a great revenue generator and a way to diversify our tax base."
As a major tourist destination for the county, the facility could host nationally televised competitions and provide training for military, ski patrols and national athletes, per the report. With an estimated annual visitation of 350,000 to 400,000 people, SnowWorld would generate an estimated $750,000 in annual sales tax and hotel tax revenue, according to Visit Fairfax. Additionally, it's estimated to generate $25 million in direct economic impact with another $40 million of indirect impact for the county.
Visit Fairfax estimates 75 percent of visitors would be from Greater Washington, 10 percent from Baltimore and Richmond and the remaining 15 percent from outside those regions.
The project would generate lease revenue for the county from the land at the Lorton landfill site and for NOVA Parks, which operates Occoquan Regional Park. The report, however, does not include revenue estimates.
To fund and move forward with the project, the task force recommends the county enter an expedited public-private partnership while simultaneously starting the zoning and permitting processes.
The report said SnowWorld, which could not be reached for comment, was at the time conducting an independent market feasibility study and producing a video and visual rendering, as well as engineering and design studies.