How to sell skiing the American way

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html

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How to sell skiing the American way

swissinfo February 20, 2006 8:59 AM

The answer to overcoming the malaise affecting European - and Swiss
- ski resorts could be found in the United States.

Tourism experts tell swissinfo that ski resorts in the Alps will have
to introduce radical reforms if they are to remain competitive, and the
American industry could serve as a model.

The recent International Tourism Symposium held in Zermatt started with
a sobering statistic: there are more charter flights out of London
taking British skiers to North American resorts than the Alps.

The experts cited many reasons for Europe's declining competitiveness
including: high costs, indifferent service, inflexibility, outdated
marketing techniques, and a lack of government support.
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Beloved Leader wrote:

The experts cited many reasons for Europe's declining competitiveness
including: high costs, indifferent service, inflexibility, outdated
marketing techniques, and a lack of government support.

Hey! Mercan skiing matches them in all those categories ...

Beloved Leader wrote:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html

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How to sell skiing the American way

swissinfo February 20, 2006 8:59 AM

The answer to overcoming the malaise affecting European - and Swiss
- ski resorts could be found in the United States.

Tourism experts tell swissinfo that ski resorts in the Alps will have
to introduce radical reforms if they are to remain competitive, and the
American industry could serve as a model.

The recent International Tourism Symposium held in Zermatt started with
a sobering statistic: there are more charter flights out of London
taking British skiers to North American resorts than the Alps.

The experts cited many reasons for Europe's declining competitiveness
including: high costs, indifferent service, inflexibility, outdated
marketing techniques, and a lack of government support.
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Yes, the Brits who come here (Killington) find
costs much less than going to the resorts in the
alps. We also seem to be giving them an adequate
experience for their money.

As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.

VtSkier wrote:

As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.

All sorts of stuff, from road improvements and cops to direct traffic on
big WEs, to such things as the Truckee-North Tahoe Winter Carnival. I
think ski towns are heavily involved (maybe even more so than they
should be) in supporting their local ski "industry."

lal_truckee wrote:
VtSkier wrote:

As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.


All sorts of stuff, from road improvements and cops to direct traffic on
big WEs, to such things as the Truckee-North Tahoe Winter Carnival. I
think ski towns are heavily involved (maybe even more so than they
should be) in supporting their local ski "industry."

Most of the western resorts are on federal land. Not sure what the
payment arrangements are.

We have a government owned ski resort here in MI (the Porkys), although
they've recently outsourced the management to a private company.

//Walt

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 07:59:32 -0500, VtSkier
wrote:

Yes, the Brits who come here (Killington) find
costs much less than going to the resorts in the
alps. We also seem to be giving them an adequate
experience for their money.

As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.

Not the Feds as much, but some states do find indirect ways to help,
such as improved highway access, statewide marketing efforts,
favorable laws and zoning, support of condo construction, building of
infrastructure, legal support of ski areas in liability cases by
specific wording in liability laws and with "reckless skier" laws.

The Feds do help in terms of good long-term leases for a number of ski
areas located on Forest Service land. NH has Loon, Wildcat, Waterville
Valley, and Bretton Woods all located at least partially on WMNF
lands.

Some states even own ski areas. I can't speak to VT, but certainly NH,
NY, CO and others do.
Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
--
At the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

"government support for skiing destinations"

May be something along the lines of ease with which a ski area could
obtain permits from the National Forest Service, or how long it takes
to get approval from the NFS. Just guessing.

lal_truckee wrote:
VtSkier wrote:


As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.


All sorts of stuff, from road improvements and cops to direct traffic on
big WEs, to such things as the Truckee-North Tahoe Winter Carnival. I
think ski towns are heavily involved (maybe even more so than they
should be) in supporting their local ski "industry."

....and then there's the whole "national forest" shuck-and-jive...

lal_truckee wrote:
VtSkier wrote:

As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.

All sorts of stuff, from road improvements and cops to direct traffic
on big WEs, to such things as the Truckee-North Tahoe Winter
Carnival. I think ski towns are heavily involved (maybe even more so
than they should be) in supporting their local ski "industry."

US gov't supports any money-making business enterprise in the US. Back home,
businesses are expected to pay for disruptions etc. Here in the US, the
gov't helps them, as the view is that anything that generates commerce is
GOOD.

--
ant

"ant" wrote in message
...
lal_truckee wrote:
VtSkier wrote:

As for government support for skiing destinations,
I certainly haven't experienced this in the US.

All sorts of stuff, from road improvements and cops to direct traffic
on big WEs, to such things as the Truckee-North Tahoe Winter
Carnival. I think ski towns are heavily involved (maybe even more so
than they should be) in supporting their local ski "industry."

US gov't supports any money-making business enterprise in the US. Back
home, businesses are expected to pay for disruptions etc. Here in the US,
the gov't helps them, as the view is that anything that generates commerce
is GOOD.

--
ant

Where do you get your info.? The US government does not support any
money-making
business in the US, it may very well support big business but the small,
real small business
must pay their own way. Get your information right before spilling it out
as fact or at least
qualify it as your opinion.

JQ
Dancing on the edge