the ski trade - issue 3
DESCRIPTION
FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis on the future of the industry, plus news updates and events from across the European winter sports industry.TRANSCRIPT
DEC
201
3 | I
SSU
E 03
The Federation’s Secretary Generalon Olympic success, industrytrends & participation levels.
theskitrade.com | @theskitrade
With so many official bodies, organisations,
and associations governing the winter
sports industry, it’s often hard to know who
is responsible for what, not to mention the
impact they might have on your winter
sports business. The FIS (International
Ski Federation) is the governing body for
international skiing and snowboarding, and
is the largest international winter sports
federation. Sarah Lewis is the Federation’s
Secretary General.
“There are more than 7000 FIS ski and
snowboard competitions staged annually
and the Federation is recognised by the
International Olympic Committee. We
manage the Olympic disciplines of alpine
skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping,
Nordic combined, freestyle skiing and
snowboarding, and we set the international
competition rules. Our role is to develop
specific initiatives to promote snow activities
as a healthy leisure recreation.”
That’s a very admirable goal and something that
all segments of the industry can buy into. It’s all
very well to have ”goals” and ”objectives”, but
what does the FIS do in practice to increase
levels of winter sports participation?
“We introduced World Snow Day in 2012
and 225,000 participants took part, with the
number nearly doubling to 430,000 in 2013.
660 World Snow Day events have been
planned for 2014 so far in 39 participating
countries, and you don’t need mountains
or snow to organise an event. There are
no rules, regulations or registration fees –
anything goes. Being part of the World Snow
Day family means events can be branded
with the recognised identity and publicised
on a global platform. All segments of the
winter sports industry should be involved in
World Snow Day.”
The FIS also takes an active role in
identifying industry patterns, and it’s fair to
say that many negative trends have come
from their research in previous years. If the
winter sports industry is shrinking globally,
what can we do to reverse this?
“There’s huge competition for everyone’s
time, both with other sports and activities,
but especially with computers, games and
television, which is more of a concern.
Additionally there’s a changing population in
many countries. Where winter sports were
a traditional family activity, this is no longer
the case. The traditional ski week or trip that
was part of a school’s curriculum has been
withdrawn, which has had a negative effect
on introducing youngsters to snow activities
at an early age. The FIS ‘Bring Children to
the Snow’ campaign is working to try to
reinvigorate enthusiasm for snow activities.”
Many argue that it’s during this Olympic
winter that the global industry as a whole
has its best opportunity to benefit from
professional sporting success.
“Ahead of the Games, the media will
focus heavily on the ‘road to Sochi’ and
the coverage in all forms of media will
reach new heights. It’s not just the ski and
snowboard media who follow the sport,
but news and features desks get involved
too. The Olympics are a huge opportunity
for the National Ski Associations to
capitalise on the media attention of the
Games. We’ve just launched a brand new
FIS website and an official FIS YouTube
channel which will feature all the FIS
disciplines (Alpine skiing, the Nordic
disciplines, freestyle events
and snowboarding), available free of
charge worldwide.”
Lewis herself skied at the highest level
during her own career, taking part in the 1987
Alpine World Championships and the 1988
Olympics. We wondered how the World Cup
circuit has changed since then.
“That was last century but every year when
the season begins, memories flood back
and it seems only a short while ago! The
World Cup circuit has changed significantly,
but the main change was the introduction
of prize money in the early nineties. There
were already sponsorship opportunities and
commercial partnerships for both teams
and athletes. Over the past 20 years the
commercial side, with opportunities for
exposure of a sponsor’s engagement and its
activation, has developed significantly.”
Lewis’ own professional career is testament
to the opportunities that the global winter
sports industry can provide for athletes,
once the competition days are over. What
opportunities exist for other athletes?
“The FIS Academy is part of the World
Academy of Sport, which delivers learning
programmes for athletes, managers,
administrators, officials and coaches. The FIS
Athlete Certificate covers a range of areas
including personal management, Olympism
and life after competition. The World
Academy of Sport will also be introducing
an International Baccalaureate, providing a
great opportunity for athletes who live much
of their lives on the road.”
Our Team GB athletes in Sochi this winter will
demonstrate how well a non-Alpine nation
can complete against Alpine countries on the
world stage. Does Lewis think we’ll ever be
able to compete at the same level?
“British skiers and snowboarders can certainly
achieve top results, including Olympic, World
Championship and World Cup medals – it’s
not easy, but the Aussies have done it, so why
not! There have been a number of successful
British snow sports athletes, beginning from
just before my era! Gina Hathorn narrowly
missed an Olympic medal in Grenoble 1968,
then Konrad Bartelski made the World Cup
podium in 1982. Shortly afterwards, Martin and
Graham Bell, Lesley Beck, and then Emma
Carrick-Anderson came along. Chemmy Alcott
and Dave Ryding are further examples. More
recently James Woods won the freestyle ski
slopestyle World Cup title last season, which
is a special achievement to show consistency
over the season. Team GB has every reason
to be confident in Sochi this winter.”
Staying on the subject of our non-Alpine
nation, how did a British woman come to
hold one of the most powerful positions in
international snow sports, and have you
faced any particular challenges?
“To be really honest, I don’t recall any
challenges I have faced that are especially
connected to being a Brit or a woman.
There are plenty to deal with without adding
obstacles! I grew up in a girls-only school
environment, while at the same time playing
and watching football with the boys, so I
feel at home wherever I land. Perhaps there
is one challenge to mention – packing for
business trips is more complex for women,
so men have it easy on that score! The major
competitions are the easiest, when we are in
FIS ski gear every day for a couple of weeks!”
Find out more about the work of the FIS on
its website – fis-ski.com.
02 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade 03theskitrade.com | @theskitradeDecember 2013 | Issue 03 Issue 03 | December 2013
FIS’SarahLewISHave you ever wondered how the work of the International
Ski Federation might affect your winter sports business?
Amie PostingsCo-Editor
If you haven’t already experienced your
first slide of the winter by now, then
hopefully it won’t be long until you do.
Here we are, ready to go, with five more
snowy months to look forward to. Initial
signs are positive. We’ve gone from trying
to sound upbeat, to seeing hard figures
suggesting that this winter could be
the best for a very long time in terms of
numbers.
There are very few people I know of that
work in the snow sports industry that
don’t participate themselves, because
they are absolutely passionate about
their sport. Often I hear the words, ”it’s
hard to make money in the ski industry”.
I say it’s hard to make money in any
industry, and to do so, you have to
work hard, be smart, and get a bit lucky
sometimes too.
But what we should all be asking ourselves
is how we can increase participation in
our sport. The Snowsports England’s
(SSE) Go Ski Go Board and Slide To Sochi
campaigns, supported by Snowsport
Industries Of Great Britain, are a fantastic
start, and could be the perfect opportunity
for everyone in the industry to think about
increasing the numbers once again.
Channel Four has commissioned a new
show called The Alpine Challenge, to be
screened in early 2014. Celebrity skiers
pitch themselves against each other in
various disciplines, including some form
of slalom race. There will be groans from
some quarters no doubt, but the fact is
that it will provide yet another platform
for our sport in an Olympic winter, and
if this helps to increase the public’s
awareness then surely this can only be a
good thing?
This is the time of year we should all
be excited, fingers crossed the snow
arrives, stays and produces another epic
winter. The reality for many, including tour
operators, overseas teams, ski schools,
retailers, and anyone in the hospitality
sector, is that the hard work starts here
and it goes on for a very long time.
The best thing about it though, is you get
to go out and play in the snow.
Rob Stewart Co-Editor
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Escape Events Ltd, creators of the original Daily
Mail Ski Show, and the Adventure Travel Show, is
launching the Mountain Life Show at Birmingham’s
NEC on 18–19 October 2014. Promoted as “the UK’s
only lifestyle event dedicated to adventures in the
mountains”, it promises to cover ski, snowboard,
climb, trek, and bike. Martin Anslow of Escape
Events explained, “we’ve identified an opportunity to
introduce an event that will appeal to a discerning,
high-spend core audience aged between 24 and 45,
with exciting new content covering adventures and
outdoor activities. Our team knows the industry well
and will bring a fresh, new approach to marketing,
with an emphasis on connecting exhibitors with new
clients.” More details at mountainlifeshow.com.
Another New Exhibition For Birmingham
Aside from the levels of snow, it’s the one thing
that can make or break your business success
this winter. You may have ticked every box on
your maintenance list, and have a killer marketing
strategy in place, but if your winter team isn’t up
to scratch, then your business won’t be either. As
this month’s Ski Trade recruitment survey shows,
87% of you have undertaken recruitment activity
in preparation for this winter season.
View the full results at theskitrade.com.
61% of survey respondents have recruited a
team that is the same size as last winter, while
37% have increased the size of their winter team.
Just 2% of the winter sports industry has reduced
the size of their team.
63% of this winter’s workers have been re-
employed from last season by the same employer
according to our survey. Other popular sources of
new employees include recommendations, social
media posts and websites, and blogs.
91% of this winter season’s workers will work
overseas in Europe, of these 61% have been
employed on a UK-based contract of employment.
34% of employers found the volume and
quality of available candidates to be the same
as in previous years, while 26% believed the
recruitment process has been more difficult than
in previous years.
Although many winter season positions are filled via
word-of-mouth, there’s no doubt that the recruitment
process has moved online. Spencer Collingwood
at AlpJob.com told us, “both new and experienced
season workers typically weigh up their winter job
options online. From there they can compare roles,
and perhaps more importantly, employers. Sites such
as AlpJob.com enable employers and seasonaires
to connect directly, which is especially cost-effective
when filling those last-minute vacancies.”
Meanwhile, over in Bourg St Maurice, Cool Bus airport
transfers serve the resorts of Tignes, Val d’Isère, La
Plagne, and Les Arcs, amongst others. Owner Rob
Forbes explains, “We have 15 new members of staff
this winter, five were hired at the end of last season.
We never offer anyone a job without meeting up with
them face-to-face and seeing them drive one of our
vans. We don’t advertise our vacancies and most
applicants come via word-of-mouth. On the whole it’s
been easier to recruit this season and the quality of
applicants has been much higher.”
The quality and accuracy of pre-employment
information provided, and the thoroughness
of the induction process will often determine
employee retention. “I provide pre-interview job
descriptions and my own guide to working a
season for successful candidates. Our induction
and training process is 2 weeks long and I plan
regular performance appraisals during the course
of the season” one large Val d’Isère-based chalet
operator told us. “Sometimes employees have a
very unrealistic idea about how their season will
go, and despite the preparation, I’ll still have a
dropout rate this winter.”
Rather than examine the rates of pay offered to
season workers this winter, Ski Trade looked at
employment package benefits. A season lift pass,
return flights, shared season accommodation,
uniform, and ski or snowboard equipment rental
are the top five package benefits offered to season
workers this winter, while other ideas to improve
staff retention rates include team trips, staff drinks,
transport outside working hours, and family and
friend discounts.
Do Winter Festivals Increase The Market Size?
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04 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade 05theskitrade.com | @theskitrade
There’s now been a clear focus on being
environmentally-friendly at the world’s ski
areas for the best part of a decade, but of
course it’s a never-ending battle.
Initially the big thing ski resorts did was to
retrofit traditional power-hungry lighting
with low-energy systems, with sensor
controls so that they only worked when
they were required.
Then they worked (and continued to do
so) on bigger capital projects – replacing
old-fashioned snowmaking and grooming
equipment with far more energy-efficient
models. Using their integrated computer
management systems that sense when
the equipment needs to be operated
or not, based on fractional complex
environmental condition calculations,
significant efficiency savings can be
made. Some have sought to generate
their own clean power or buy in green
energy, and others look at ways of
encouraging people to travel to and from
their resorts in as eco-friendly a manner
as possible. Most have looked at all
these things, and many more.
But at ski resorts around the world there
are more unique ideas that push the
envelope.
Step forward the Ecorider Ski School
of Chamonix (ecorider.org). Established
a year ago with the philosophy “be
green, dream white”, it’s a ski school
that supports sustainable development
and offers ”eco-tourists” – or indeed
anyone looking for a green-tinted time
on the slopes of the Chamonix valley –
an environmentally-friendly experience
on the piste. What separates it from
a normal ski school? Well, apart from
teaching its green philosophy, this winter
Ecorider is offering its customers the use
of an eco-designed Dynastar pilot park,
with a new range of skis made with bio-
sourced materials, including their very
own “Cham-Ecorider” model.
In addition, each instructor wears recycled
and bio-sourced skiing gear, and promises
to calculate his/her carbon footprint and try
to reduce it.
The organisation also takes part in a
carbon offset programme by donating to a
reforestation project in Asia with “Pur Projet”.
Fellow French resort Les Gets, widely
regarded as one of the world‘s leading ski
destinations for its environmental initiatives,
is battling to do everything imaginable to
be green too. Beyond big initiatives, such
as a community biomass heating plant
using re-claimed wood, which heats 12
municipal buildings via a heating network
over 1km-long beneath the village, and
ISO 14001 Environmental Management
Certifications for the tourist office and the
local golf club (the first in France to obtain
this Certification), there are some original
and unique ideas too.
These include: using organic products
for ski maintenance, and biodegradable
oil for piste bashers; speed regularisation
of certain lifts to avoid frequent stops
by moving slowly thus reducing energy
consumption; and using solar panels to
power the Chery Nord radio repeater.
It’s not always easy, as evidenced in
one major resort where considerable
energy is used on refrigeration in an
environment generally operating in
sub-zero temperatures, but where no
easy alternatives have been found.
Nevertheless, resorts will keep trying to be
ever-greener, coming up with evermore
creative solutions, and they should be
proud for leading the world in that at least.
Patrick ThorneColumnist
How GreenCan You Go?
Amie PostingsCo-Editor
They certainly do, according to Aidan Byrne
of Altitude Comedy Festival, Europe’s
largest comedy festival on snow. “As Altitude
hosts some of the world’s best and biggest
comedians, comedy fans make the journey to
Mayrhofen simply for the chance to see them
in smaller venues than they’d ever play in the
UK. Comedy fans that have never tried skiing
or snowboarding before come to the festival
and have a go for the first time. We genuinely
believe that Altitude inspires many comedy
lovers to try a winter sports holiday, and a lot
of our audience return every year.” Find out
more about the Altitude Comedy Festival at
altitudefestival.com.
Winter sports accommodation providers, ski schools,
or any industry segment looking to attract the
valuable groups market, should take a look at start-
up Make It Social. It’s essentially a social booking
platform that begins with a simple ”Make It Social”
button on your own website. Your customers then
invite their friends to join their booking via social
media channels, and, perhaps most importantly,
make payments direct to you individually. Payment
gateways are easily integrated, and enquiries are
quickly converted to sales. “While only 10% of
customers trust ads on websites, 70% trust peer
recommendations,” the founders told us. The
platform also has a number of useful features too.
Find out more at makeitsocial.com/business.
Special Offer On Winter Season Insurance
As you’ll discover in our article on page 7, a
comprehensive winter season insurance policy
has never been so important. It’s even more
important if you’re relying on your winter team
to provide their own policies. The Ski Trade has
joined forces with MPI Brokers, providers of
overseas resort staff insurance, to offer trade
readers a 5% discount on their Part A policy. Part
A insurance has been specifically designed for
responsible employers, to provide cover for all
team members, and includes emergency medical
expenses, mountain rescue, and personal liability.
Quote ”Ski Trade” when you make an enquiry to
claim your discount. For more information visit
mpibrokers.com.
63% Re-employed from last season
45% Recommended by previous sta
13% Referrals from other operators
9% Client base
35% Own website / blog
35% Social media
13% Natives
7% AlpJob.com
26% Ski-Jobs.co.uk
17% Seasonworkers.com
21% Other
Recruit, Retain, Re-hireWhere Does Your Winter Team Come From?
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December 2013 | Issue 03
There’s not much room left in the Alps for new ski
resorts. Even without the possible ecological issues,
finding suitable terrain isn’t easy, and there seems
little point when skier numbers are flat at best.
But you can’t stand still in business. Remaining
stationary doesn’t make good reading for
investors or visitors alike. So, neighbouring
Alpine resorts are increasingly looking to engage,
creating a larger marketing platform to compete
with the bigger players.
We’ve seen several announcements for this
winter, including: Warth-Schröcken linking
with Lech-Zürs, in Austria; and in Switzerland,
Grimentz and Zinal are installing a new cable car
providing easier access, and Arosa is linking with
nearby Lenzerheide.
The Ski Amadé region in Austria is a good
example of a large number of small villages,
28 in total, forming a marketing affiliation to
create what’s now the second largest ski area
in Europe. Although not all the separate areas
link up by ski lift, the Amadé brand means the
smaller towns have more chance of survival,
as they can offer so much more than just a few
ski lifts.
We spoke to Marlen Rogenmoser of the
Lenzerheide tourist office and asked why the
CHF40m (£27.5m) investment for the new ski
lifts was worthwhile. Rogenmoser said, ”The
most important opportunity is for a larger
resort with 225km of ski slopes. With it we
gain in attractiveness and reputation. Arosa
Lenzerheide will be the largest contiguous ski
region of Grisons and will be one of the top 10
ski resorts in Switzerland.”
This investment provides what is now a key
driver of revenue for the established ski markets
in Europe – ”attractiveness and reputation” as
Rogenmoser puts it, or as we might also say ”the
USP”. Creating a larger ski resort means it has
more to say, adding value to the product.
Over in Grimentz and Zinal, the construction of a
single cable car has cost CHF28.6m (£19.6m). The
area already has a good reputation amongst the
ski touring and freeride community, and whilst the
new lift will increase accessible off-piste terrain,
it will bring in more visitors, slowly changing the
dynamics of the resort.
Pascal Bourquin from the Grimentz-Zinal
lift company said ”the cable car connection
between the two areas guarantees a critical
mass for the long-term development of the
resorts. Our liaison project aims to increase the
loyalty of our holiday clientele and to capture a
larger share of this market.’
Ultimately, if resorts are confident of growing their
share in a flat market, there will surely be losers.
Small, family, village resorts will fight on price
and perhaps survive by offering good value for
money. We’re therefore likely to see a polarisation
in the industry, where on one side you go big,
spend more, and get a lot for your money. On the
other side you go small, spend less, but get value.
Anyone caught in the middle of that might find
things get increasingly difficult in the future.
06 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade
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Only 23% of respondents in the Ski Trade
recruitment survey (page 4) plan to provide
seasonal insurance within their employee
benefits package this winter. It’s a statistic that
sends shivers down the spine of Michael Pettifer,
MD and Founder of the specialist ski insurance
provider MPI Brokers. “Many winter sports
companies risk endangering their seasonal staff
– and themselves – by failing to provide suitable
insurance for their staff on a corporate basis”
says Pettifer. “Employers have a general duty of
care to ensure their staff members are properly
covered and leaving this to them is fraught with
complications and exposes the company to
potential claims from employees.”
Government and insurance industry estimates
suggest that at least 20–30% of seasonal staff
working in winter resorts do not have adequate
insurance, if any at all, to cover their in-resort
activities. “They should have insurance for loss and
injury for the duration of their employment, and
while travelling to and from their ski resort. They
also need personal liability cover for damage to
property and injury to others” explains Pettifer.
Should a member of staff be involved in a serious
accident, the costs of Alpine rescue, specialist
medical treatment, and repatriation are huge.
Insurance against these costs seems like a small
price to pay. MPI’s overseas resort staff insurance
covers off-piste skiing and snowboarding, with or
without a guide, in addition to ski racing and snow
parks. Cover also includes private physiotherapy
treatment in-resort or in the UK.
“We’ve made it much easier for employers to
manage insurance for this winter with our online
register, where employers can manage leavers
and replacements in their team, swapping leavers
for new starters at no extra cost, providing the
original staff member has not made a claim. Staff
can also have access to their own policy through
our online portal. It couldn’t be easier to manage
your staff insurance requirements this winter.”
MPI Brokers has also responded to the ski
hosting ban by providing liability insurance for
staff ”hosting” – skiing with guests, in a personal
capacity during their free time.
For more information on MPI Brokers, visit
mpibrokers.com or call Michael Pettifer on +44
(0)1428 664265.
LISTEX Growth Proves Industry Value
Still Time ForA Challenge
Rob Stewart Co-Editor
wHY Ski reSortS are JoininG ForCeS
LISTEX proved to be a success in its second year,
with a 60% increase in overall attendance, and a
45% increase in the number of trade exchange
participants. The Ski Trade attended to make
a presentation about emerging markets, and
network with some key industry insiders. Apart
from the meetings between travel providers and
industry buyers, there was plenty to listen to during
the forum sessions, which concluded with ”How to
Grow the Market”. James Gambrill, LISTEX Director,
commented, ”LISTEX is now firmly on the map as a
key part of the UK snowsports calendar and gives
an opportunity for professional meetings for both
buyers and suppliers, whilst the forum revealed
the passion within our industry with some heated
debate.“ listex.co.uk
Go Ski Go Board Campaign Well Under Way
The campaign to encourage more people to get into
snow sports is well under way, so far around 9300
have attended Slide to Sochi roadshows around the
country, while 1420 people have taken a GO SKI GO
BOARD taster session at various slopes in England.
”Everyone in the industry should engage in GO
SKI GO BOARD in the lead up to Sochi 2014,” says
Betony Garner, Snowsport Industries of Great Britain
Snowsports Media Officer. ”By getting more people
into snowsports, it can only help build our Industry.“
Get involved by linking to the GO SKI GO BOARD
website, or follow @SnowsportEng on Twitter.
Slide to Sochi roadshows are scheduled for slopes
in Rossendale, Telford, Aldershot, Southampton,
Bracknell, Silksworth, Snowtrax and The Snow
Centre at Hemel Hempstead. goskigoboard.org.uk
Twenty teams have signed up for the 2014
Alpine Challenge, organised by youth charity
Snow-Camp, from 16–19 January. ”There’s still
space for more teams,“ says Dan Charlish,
Snow-Camp’s Director. ”If you’d like to combine
a two day ski and snowboard-a-thon in Morzine,
raise some money for a great cause and have
the time of your life, then get in touch.“ Some
of the teams already involved include Morzine
Source Magazine, EA Sports, Mountain Mavericks,
DHO, Skills Active, and Norton Rose. Ebay has
also entered a team, making it an eclectic mix of
companies with a variety of ski and snowboard
levels. Teams are made up of four people,
and everyone must ride together through the
challenge. snow-camp.org.uk/alpinechallenge.
International Ski Travel Market Event Shapes Up
Reed Travel Exhibitions will stage the inaugural
International Ski Travel Market (ISTM) from 17–18
March 2014. The forum will bring together around
80 European tourist boards and inbound ski
travel suppliers, with 80 leading outbound tour
operators, at pre-arranged appointments. Major tour
operators such as Crystal are signed up to attend,
as well as niche operators such as Ski Unlimited
and Art De Vivre Voyage-Boutique. ”There is
a tremendous buzz surrounding ISTM and it’s
generating excitement right across the European
ski travel industry. Not only is it the ideal opportunity
to promote and attract business, but it’s also the
perfect way for everyone involved to share ideas
and give an overall boost to the sector,” says Peter
Grimster, Exhibition Manager. istm.co.uk
Amie PostingsCo-Editor
DutY oF Care
Issue 03 | December 2013
The Ski Trade has recently returned from
a trip to Kazakhstan, where we covered
the United Nations World Tourism
Conference on emerging ski destinations
in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Apart from the opportunity to look at
a country not widely understood by
outsiders, it was also a chance to learn
from experts about the management
of ski resorts, and the challenges they
face when it comes to making money
from them.
In Kazakhstan alone, there are currently
nine ski resort development projects
underway. This looks very ambitious,
and realistically, in the next 10 years, we’ll
probably see only half of those succeed
at the most. Even if they complete two of
these, it will more than double the existing
ski infrastructure currently in place.
There are many other destinations
looking at expanding their mountain
tourism, including Georgia,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and
even North Korea.
But where are the skiers going to
come from? There are around 6000
ski areas worldwide ranging from one
ski lift upwards. Only 100 of these are
considered to be international resorts
that attract foreign visitors. All other areas
rely completely on local and domestic
tourism for their business.
The emerging nations, therefore,
have to invest in creating a ski
culture within the region and beyond.
Crucial to this will be programmes in
schools that are government-funded,
allowing children to start skiing and,
hopefully, they’ll want to continue
into adulthood. Perhaps countries
like Georgia, which gets a lot of snow
and, therefore, can attract a freeride,
heli-ski fraternity, will be able to entice
foreign skiers, but they will still be
relatively small in number.
South Korea is an interesting example
of how to grow a snow sports market.
Before 1975 there were no ski areas
and few skiers, but they invested
heavily and created a widespread
schools programme. It has also created
resorts that have a theme-park feel,
catering for the demands of the public.
Night skiing is very popular, and some
areas open until 4am. It’s also worth
noting that 70% of visitors to the ski
areas are snowboarders, reflecting
the success of attracting a younger
generation to the sport.
Today it’s crucial to invest in a year-
round resort providing summer
activities. When French purpose-built
resorts first sprung up in the 1960s
and 70s, there was no requirement to
ensure a summer trade too. This will
not be the case for any emerging ski
resort destination, where both summer
and winter activities must be available
to guarantee survival.
If we look at the case of China then we
can see large growth in skier numbers
during the previous decade, with 16m
skier days last winter. However, there is
only a 20% return rate on this because
the experience is not always a good one.
In many cases the 523 ski areas within
China (there are only 11 with over 300m
of vertical) are too far from the main
populations, and the ones that are closer
are not always the best.
For countries looking at expanding their
mountain resorts, bearing in mind that
creating a local ski culture is crucial for
success, proximity to large conurbations
is important.
Perhaps creating these new markets will
start to help increase overall worldwide
skier numbers again, and then who
knows? We might see them heading to
the slopes of Europe one day too.
We started with a single 12-bed
chalet in Les Coches, La Plagne, in
France. Eleven years ago we added
a 16-bedroom chalet hotel to our
collection, sleeping up to 56 guests in
the Dolomites, and Mountainsun was
born. We had a data system developed
for us to manage our reservation
process, but eventually it couldn’t keep
up with our rate of expansion.
Winter 2013–14 sees Mountainsun grow
to six properties, and more than 200
beds in five different resorts across two
different countries. Our reservations
office is based in the UK, and our ground
staff in-resort need a lot of information
on a daily and weekly basis in order for
our holidays to run efficiently.
Growing an accommodation business
of this size, while making sure that
guests remain at the centre of
everything we do, has been very
tricky. The flow of information was at
times very tough and time-consuming.
We knew we needed to invest in a
professional system to help us manage
our expansion.
This is our second winter using the
ChaletManager system, and my
advice to similar businesses would
be to research data system options
thoroughly before deciding where to
invest. It’s a big job to change the way
your business communicates!
The ChaletManager ”Admin” function
means that within a couple of clicks,
we can provide guests with all of
their holiday information in a very
professional way. The time-saving
implication of this means that we’ve
never been so up to date with
receiving guests’ balance payments,
which in turn greatly improves the
company’s cash flow ahead of the
new winter season. If you have
multiple properties, you’ll know how
important this is! We find the ”My
Booking” function invaluable as it gives
guests access to their own holiday
information, and reduces the number
of pre-holiday questions that used to
fill up our email inbox every day!
My colleague and I communicate with
our teams on the ground in resorts
every day, but they are also able to
access their own property and guest
information using ChaletManager.
This reduces the margin for error, and
enhances our professionalism. The
ChaletManager “Reports” function
means our teams can quickly view
guest, finance, lift pass, equipment
hire, and transfer information, without
waiting for our reservations office to
send reports, and ChaletManager
has also been fantastic at making
tweaks to our reporting functions
very quickly.
ChaletManager
www.chaletmanager.com
MountainSun:
mountainsunltd.com
Multiple Properties, Multipleresorts, Multiple CountriesJude Lamb, Mountainsun
build Them, But Will They Come?
08 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade
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December 2013 | Issue 03