Saturday, September 1, 1990
Global Warming
Problem of global warming. Who to believe? Is it safe to pretend the problem doesn't exist or should we take it seriously and implement a clear course of action. For sure recent snow making explosion hides somehow the problem. Solutions would be, first ascertain the truth of the matter, further improve snowmaking efficiency; look at alternative vegetation that can optimize snow retention, look at refrigerating lower slopes - using geothermal energy where possible?, look at ways of developing giant blankets that would enable areas to make and store snow in advance, look at developing new resorts at higher elevation,
Wednesday, August 1, 1990
Declining bookings
For ski industry factories, current spring orders are always a reflection of events that have shaped the preceding selling season. Since industry bookings for the 90/91 are showing a concerning decline, it is interesting to find out how this year's situation compare with 79/80 - another meager season, and why.
The drop of 1980, was mostly the result of a poor snow year combined with the beginning of a major recession. Unlike this season however, the drop in sales was limited to North America which, at the time, represented a third of the world market.
In contrast, today's crisis is taking global dimensions. With Europe enduring its third snowless winter in a row, it is reasonable to see a drop in units amounting to one-third of the volume we had a couple of years ago. At that time, Europe accounted for half of the world's business; today, it barely accounts for one third. The industry's saving grace has been the growing appetite exhibited by Japanese for ski goods, to the point that their country alone now consumes one third of the ski goods produced in the world.
A lot has already been written and discussed about what ails our business. Everyone seems to target one particular area that might need redress, but it is hard to grasp the multiple components in today's crisis. Over the next series of article, we will explore these many reasons, and propose solutions that should lessen or altogether eliminate their negative impact on the industry.
First and foremost is the availability of snow early in the season, and in sufficient quantity; that pivotal need is being haunted by the fear of global warming. How founded is that threat? Do we have to wait until our worst fears are realized to take some action or can we do something now to address the situation before it hits us?
Another challenge is the changing face of demographics. The baby-boomers, who put skiing on the map, are defecting as they are growing older, and in spite of their best efforts, are not leaving enough children behind to replenish their ranks... Leisure activities are also changing affecting skiing in many ways... How we can make the best out of a changing customer base, and find new ways to keep existing skiers involved, and entice more youth...
The high cost of skiing may be taboo to many of us, but we should not ignore it. Many non participants consider skiing to be a "rich man's sport" and hardly affordable. How can we best address that pervasive perception which affects business from Munich to Los Angeles? This might give us a wonderful opportunity to re-think and re-direct the industry's communication.
With the world becoming a global village, now is an opportunity for American ski areas to become more assertive about their product and start aggressively marketing it to both Europe and Japan. This may only benefit one segment of our industry, but again, every bit helps...
We should also take a very critical look at our industry and its fragmentation; in a small business like ours, can we continue to afford the plethora of brands and retail outlets that exist today. Are we condemned to continue competing into an overcrowded arena under the pretense that industry is a fun place to be in?
Unifying the many arms of skiing began with USIA. It should certainly go beyond whatever already exists, reach farther outside the narrow scope of skiing and emerge under a broader winter sports umbrella. It is now time to more formally incorporate USAA and PSIA within the new USIA. Together, these entities can performing their part and create the harmony needed to advancing our business.
For too long, North America has followed Europe's lead in terms of skiing. Today, it is time for us to assert our strengths in marketing, media and sports management and introduce those new approaches that will change the face of the winter sport industry as a new century approaches.
All these subjects and more will be debated in this column over the next months. Being aware of the challenges is one thing, gathering solutions however, can give our industry the resources it needs to muster the unavoidable change and re-energize itself.
The drop of 1980, was mostly the result of a poor snow year combined with the beginning of a major recession. Unlike this season however, the drop in sales was limited to North America which, at the time, represented a third of the world market.
In contrast, today's crisis is taking global dimensions. With Europe enduring its third snowless winter in a row, it is reasonable to see a drop in units amounting to one-third of the volume we had a couple of years ago. At that time, Europe accounted for half of the world's business; today, it barely accounts for one third. The industry's saving grace has been the growing appetite exhibited by Japanese for ski goods, to the point that their country alone now consumes one third of the ski goods produced in the world.
A lot has already been written and discussed about what ails our business. Everyone seems to target one particular area that might need redress, but it is hard to grasp the multiple components in today's crisis. Over the next series of article, we will explore these many reasons, and propose solutions that should lessen or altogether eliminate their negative impact on the industry.
First and foremost is the availability of snow early in the season, and in sufficient quantity; that pivotal need is being haunted by the fear of global warming. How founded is that threat? Do we have to wait until our worst fears are realized to take some action or can we do something now to address the situation before it hits us?
Another challenge is the changing face of demographics. The baby-boomers, who put skiing on the map, are defecting as they are growing older, and in spite of their best efforts, are not leaving enough children behind to replenish their ranks... Leisure activities are also changing affecting skiing in many ways... How we can make the best out of a changing customer base, and find new ways to keep existing skiers involved, and entice more youth...
The high cost of skiing may be taboo to many of us, but we should not ignore it. Many non participants consider skiing to be a "rich man's sport" and hardly affordable. How can we best address that pervasive perception which affects business from Munich to Los Angeles? This might give us a wonderful opportunity to re-think and re-direct the industry's communication.
With the world becoming a global village, now is an opportunity for American ski areas to become more assertive about their product and start aggressively marketing it to both Europe and Japan. This may only benefit one segment of our industry, but again, every bit helps...
We should also take a very critical look at our industry and its fragmentation; in a small business like ours, can we continue to afford the plethora of brands and retail outlets that exist today. Are we condemned to continue competing into an overcrowded arena under the pretense that industry is a fun place to be in?
Unifying the many arms of skiing began with USIA. It should certainly go beyond whatever already exists, reach farther outside the narrow scope of skiing and emerge under a broader winter sports umbrella. It is now time to more formally incorporate USAA and PSIA within the new USIA. Together, these entities can performing their part and create the harmony needed to advancing our business.
For too long, North America has followed Europe's lead in terms of skiing. Today, it is time for us to assert our strengths in marketing, media and sports management and introduce those new approaches that will change the face of the winter sport industry as a new century approaches.
All these subjects and more will be debated in this column over the next months. Being aware of the challenges is one thing, gathering solutions however, can give our industry the resources it needs to muster the unavoidable change and re-energize itself.
Declining bookings
For ski industry factories, current spring orders are always a reflection of events that have shaped the preceding selling season. Since industry bookings for the 90/91 are showing a concerning decline, it is interesting to find out how this year's situation compare with 79/80 - another meager season, and why.
The drop of 1980, was mostly the result of a poor snow year combined with the beginning of a major recession. Unlike this season however, the drop in sales was limited to North America which, at the time, represented a third of the world market.
In contrast, today's crisis is taking global dimensions. With Europe enduring its third snowless winter in a row, it is reasonable to see a drop in units amounting to one-third of the volume we had a couple of years ago. At that time, Europe accounted for half of the world's business; today, it barely accounts for one third. The industry's saving grace has been the growing appetite exhibited by Japanese for ski goods, to the point that their country alone now consumes one third of the ski goods produced in the world.
A lot has already been written and discussed about what ails our business. Everyone seems to target one particular area that might need redress, but it is hard to grasp the multiple components in today's crisis. Over the next series of article, we will explore these many reasons, and propose solutions that should lessen or altogether eliminate their negative impact on the industry.
First and foremost is the availability of snow early in the season, and in sufficient quantity; that pivotal need is being haunted by the fear of global warming. How founded is that threat? Do we have to wait until our worst fears are realized to take some action or can we do something now to address the situation before it hits us?
Another challenge is the changing face of demographics. The baby-boomers, who put skiing on the map, are defecting as they are growing older, and in spite of their best efforts, are not leaving enough children behind to replenish their ranks... Leisure activities are also changing affecting skiing in many ways... How we can make the best out of a changing customer base, and find new ways to keep existing skiers involved, and entice more youth...
The high cost of skiing may be taboo to many of us, but we should not ignore it. Many non participants consider skiing to be a "rich man's sport" and hardly affordable. How can we best address that pervasive perception which affects business from Munich to Los Angeles? This might give us a wonderful opportunity to re-think and re-direct the industry's communication.
With the world becoming a global village, now is an opportunity for American ski areas to become more assertive about their product and start aggressively marketing it to both Europe and Japan. This may only benefit one segment of our industry, but again, every bit helps...
We should also take a very critical look at our industry and its fragmentation; in a small business like ours, can we continue to afford the plethora of brands and retail outlets that exist today. Are we condemned to continue competing into an overcrowded arena under the pretense that industry is a fun place to be in?
Unifying the many arms of skiing began with USIA. It should certainly go beyond whatever already exists, reach farther outside the narrow scope of skiing and emerge under a broader winter sports umbrella. It is now time to more formally incorporate USAA and PSIA within the new USIA. Together, these entities can performing their part and create the harmony needed to advancing our business.
For too long, North America has followed Europe's lead in terms of skiing. Today, it is time for us to assert our strengths in marketing, media and sports management and introduce those new approaches that will change the face of the winter sport industry as a new century approaches.
All these subjects and more will be debated in this column over the next months. Being aware of the challenges is one thing, gathering solutions however, can give our industry the resources it needs to muster the unavoidable change and re-energize itself.
The drop of 1980, was mostly the result of a poor snow year combined with the beginning of a major recession. Unlike this season however, the drop in sales was limited to North America which, at the time, represented a third of the world market.
In contrast, today's crisis is taking global dimensions. With Europe enduring its third snowless winter in a row, it is reasonable to see a drop in units amounting to one-third of the volume we had a couple of years ago. At that time, Europe accounted for half of the world's business; today, it barely accounts for one third. The industry's saving grace has been the growing appetite exhibited by Japanese for ski goods, to the point that their country alone now consumes one third of the ski goods produced in the world.
A lot has already been written and discussed about what ails our business. Everyone seems to target one particular area that might need redress, but it is hard to grasp the multiple components in today's crisis. Over the next series of article, we will explore these many reasons, and propose solutions that should lessen or altogether eliminate their negative impact on the industry.
First and foremost is the availability of snow early in the season, and in sufficient quantity; that pivotal need is being haunted by the fear of global warming. How founded is that threat? Do we have to wait until our worst fears are realized to take some action or can we do something now to address the situation before it hits us?
Another challenge is the changing face of demographics. The baby-boomers, who put skiing on the map, are defecting as they are growing older, and in spite of their best efforts, are not leaving enough children behind to replenish their ranks... Leisure activities are also changing affecting skiing in many ways... How we can make the best out of a changing customer base, and find new ways to keep existing skiers involved, and entice more youth...
The high cost of skiing may be taboo to many of us, but we should not ignore it. Many non participants consider skiing to be a "rich man's sport" and hardly affordable. How can we best address that pervasive perception which affects business from Munich to Los Angeles? This might give us a wonderful opportunity to re-think and re-direct the industry's communication.
With the world becoming a global village, now is an opportunity for American ski areas to become more assertive about their product and start aggressively marketing it to both Europe and Japan. This may only benefit one segment of our industry, but again, every bit helps...
We should also take a very critical look at our industry and its fragmentation; in a small business like ours, can we continue to afford the plethora of brands and retail outlets that exist today. Are we condemned to continue competing into an overcrowded arena under the pretense that industry is a fun place to be in?
Unifying the many arms of skiing began with USIA. It should certainly go beyond whatever already exists, reach farther outside the narrow scope of skiing and emerge under a broader winter sports umbrella. It is now time to more formally incorporate USAA and PSIA within the new USIA. Together, these entities can performing their part and create the harmony needed to advancing our business.
For too long, North America has followed Europe's lead in terms of skiing. Today, it is time for us to assert our strengths in marketing, media and sports management and introduce those new approaches that will change the face of the winter sport industry as a new century approaches.
All these subjects and more will be debated in this column over the next months. Being aware of the challenges is one thing, gathering solutions however, can give our industry the resources it needs to muster the unavoidable change and re-energize itself.
Sunday, July 1, 1990
Euro Skiing
A third snowless winter has forced many Europeans to rethink their views about an industry, that until recently, had never faced such a drop in business. The facts that America wasn't able to pick up all of the slack, and that Japan's growth may be slowing down, are introducing concerns which are more than snow deep, and will undoubtably lead to some radical changes.
Europeans are not taking the recent warming trend too seriously and believe records snow falls may be right around the corner, yet ski areas are now gearing up for more snow making facilities and grooming every run with a fine-tooth comb so they can open under the most marginal conditions. Will that suffice? Probably not.
There is a growing feeling in the Alps that hard-core skiers are leaving the sports in large numbers. The attraction from sun and sea resorts seems to be the main reason for this alarming attrition. North African and Caribbean resorts along with cheaper group air fares have suddenly come of age and have become the number one competitors to skiing.
The benefits - especially during this past drought seasons - are obvious. Conditions in the tropics are more predictable than Europe's capricious weather, and the logistics - shorts and swimsuit - simply don't compare. Europeans who used to be enthusiastic skiers and are now approaching their 50's, feel their bones are getting weaker and no longer want to "kill" the mountain.
To make matters worse, they've failed to pass their passion for skiing to their children who are less avid as they are confronted with a host of recreational options. Winter sports may be fun, but they're no longer the only game in town... Monoski and snowboard have played a role in retaining more youth into the winter sport scene but they've failed to add new participants... Undeniably, there now is a "blase" attitude towards winter sports in Europe.
Until recently, the continent drop-out rate has been masked by the growth which came from Scandinavia, Germany, and Holland in the 70's, and one decade later by the explosion of skiing in the U.K. Once these trends stabilize, the drop could accelerate. Obviously, the evolution of the east block countries is watched with high hopes; however, some lag is to be expected between the moment these countries turn their economies around and the time they begin consuming western style...
On the retail front, a record numbers of failures are expected this year. Unlike here, European ski retailers are not as specialized and are all dealing in counter-seasonal sports. Even though that diversification shelters them against poor winters, their small volume is placing them in an awkward position against a mounting network of chains.
While ski areas shops used to do a significant retail business, they are gradually losing to city businesses and their sole strength remaining at rental. One significant fact concerns disappointing retail sales of snowboards compared to the rental volume they generate. If the trend goes on, rental may severely curtail retail sales of equipment.
Over-capacity is therefore a problem shared by all ski areas. This will force more and more European destination resorts to actively prospect in Japan and America. Without a question accommodations and general levels of service will have to fit the specific needs of non-Europeans, Alpine ski resorts know it and are gearing to go ahead with these adjustments. It is only a matter of time until that transatlantic competition will be felt at home.
Logistics are another negative often associated with skiing. The reason behind the successful development of alpine skiing in Scandinavia has been its integration into packaged tours, where everything is taken care of... To survive, the whole European skiing industry may have to accelerate that trend for all-inclusive pricing and pampered service. Upcoming airline deregulation, as well as an increasing network of high-speed trains over the continent will make travel easier and take some headaches out of skiing.
Is there something to be learn from these European woes? Most certainly. In this global day and age, trends are becoming more universal, and watching Europe's response to some trying times might provide us with some ideas we could just use at home.
Europeans are not taking the recent warming trend too seriously and believe records snow falls may be right around the corner, yet ski areas are now gearing up for more snow making facilities and grooming every run with a fine-tooth comb so they can open under the most marginal conditions. Will that suffice? Probably not.
There is a growing feeling in the Alps that hard-core skiers are leaving the sports in large numbers. The attraction from sun and sea resorts seems to be the main reason for this alarming attrition. North African and Caribbean resorts along with cheaper group air fares have suddenly come of age and have become the number one competitors to skiing.
The benefits - especially during this past drought seasons - are obvious. Conditions in the tropics are more predictable than Europe's capricious weather, and the logistics - shorts and swimsuit - simply don't compare. Europeans who used to be enthusiastic skiers and are now approaching their 50's, feel their bones are getting weaker and no longer want to "kill" the mountain.
To make matters worse, they've failed to pass their passion for skiing to their children who are less avid as they are confronted with a host of recreational options. Winter sports may be fun, but they're no longer the only game in town... Monoski and snowboard have played a role in retaining more youth into the winter sport scene but they've failed to add new participants... Undeniably, there now is a "blase" attitude towards winter sports in Europe.
Until recently, the continent drop-out rate has been masked by the growth which came from Scandinavia, Germany, and Holland in the 70's, and one decade later by the explosion of skiing in the U.K. Once these trends stabilize, the drop could accelerate. Obviously, the evolution of the east block countries is watched with high hopes; however, some lag is to be expected between the moment these countries turn their economies around and the time they begin consuming western style...
On the retail front, a record numbers of failures are expected this year. Unlike here, European ski retailers are not as specialized and are all dealing in counter-seasonal sports. Even though that diversification shelters them against poor winters, their small volume is placing them in an awkward position against a mounting network of chains.
While ski areas shops used to do a significant retail business, they are gradually losing to city businesses and their sole strength remaining at rental. One significant fact concerns disappointing retail sales of snowboards compared to the rental volume they generate. If the trend goes on, rental may severely curtail retail sales of equipment.
Over-capacity is therefore a problem shared by all ski areas. This will force more and more European destination resorts to actively prospect in Japan and America. Without a question accommodations and general levels of service will have to fit the specific needs of non-Europeans, Alpine ski resorts know it and are gearing to go ahead with these adjustments. It is only a matter of time until that transatlantic competition will be felt at home.
Logistics are another negative often associated with skiing. The reason behind the successful development of alpine skiing in Scandinavia has been its integration into packaged tours, where everything is taken care of... To survive, the whole European skiing industry may have to accelerate that trend for all-inclusive pricing and pampered service. Upcoming airline deregulation, as well as an increasing network of high-speed trains over the continent will make travel easier and take some headaches out of skiing.
Is there something to be learn from these European woes? Most certainly. In this global day and age, trends are becoming more universal, and watching Europe's response to some trying times might provide us with some ideas we could just use at home.
Thursday, October 1, 1987
Prescription For A Stronger Winter Sport Industry
Why this Prescription?
Most has been said about what works, and what does not in our "Ski Industry". As you will read on, the term "Ski Industry" is, in my view, a misnomer. A proper term should be wider, more encompassing, like "Winter Sports Industry".
The purpose of this document is to take a long, hard look at the way we promote, and sometimes fail to sell effectively the overall winter experience. The basic idea, though, is to come up with thoughts provoking ideas that will unveil simple, easy to implement and cost-effective opportunities.
The Issue at Hand
After experiencing some tremendous growth between the late 60's and the mid 70's, our Industry is today in a critical transition phase characterized by a lack of growth and an increased vulnerability to inclement weather and capricious economy. If do not eliminate some of its inefficiencies, we might be headed not for just stagnation, but possibly for a continuous down-slide in the years ahead. Without a question, our business today is badly in search for its second wind.
Heated competition has made things much more critical, reducing the possible margin of error, encouraging short term "fixes", and protracting a sound long term development policy. In other words, the acute pressures created by competition, currency exchange and plateauing market are probably turning our attention away from the real issue at hand: how can we give ski or winter sports activities a "shot in the arm", how can we foster growth in the business again?
Unless we, as a group of people having a stake in the future of winter sports activities, do something soon to address the present situation, we may see its strength gradually diminish and livelihood as well as the enjoyment we derive from it will slowly go away.
Who are we anyway? Well, certainly not as united as we could. For one thing, in a relatively small industry, we're awfully fragmented. In fact, we are too many isolated bodies trying to do each on our own what could be a lot more efficient if we were to present a united front, and work within the same general framework.
Let's take a look at the major players: SIA first, which has certainly earned the palm in running an exemplary trade show, and which, over the years, has made a genuine attempt to find "better ways of reaching that skier", NSAA of course represents the places without which nothing can take place, the ski areas, ASF seem to parallel the USSA and to me, don't seem to walk in total harmony, PSIA and NSPS are both looking after problems and opportunities pertaining to their respective professions. There are many more "mini-bodies" involved, from special programs such as Nastar, to independent racing tours whether they be alpine, freestyle, snowboarding, pro or amateur. There are also reps associations doing what they can to give a better sense of direction to our business.
Now, picture for a minute the cacophony, if not, the waste of energy that all these well meaning bodies do on their own, and contrast it with the symphony we could hear the day they play together...
Reaching the Market
Reaching skiers has always been a tough challenge to many a marketing manager. Where are the consumers? Do they pick-up and read ski magazines? Can we afford TV? Is radio cost-effective in this market? and it goes on, and on, and on.
One thing we've certainly failed to accomplish effectively beyond the ski publications "universe", was to successfully reaching the general media's attention.
Rock stars, tennis, golf, yachting, automobile racing, have done a much better job at marketing their trade than we have so far. Look at the newspapers: USA Today devotes virtually no space to skiing or winter related events!
There is no question we must sell the whole winter experience to the general mass-media, before selling it to the consumers. The good news also, is that selling the media can be extremely simple, cost-effective and be achieved within a focused program.
Let's take an example; go to Europe in the Winter and pick up a copy of Stern or Paris-Match. What do you see? The princes and princesses of Europe having fun in Gstaad or St. Moritz, this actor in Kitzbuehel or that anchorwoman vacationing in Courchevel. Conversely, on this side of the ocean, open People, Us or Life magazines and what do you see about winter sports? most probably nothing. This is sad, especially when we could tap into the likes of Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson or Chris Evert who are part of that overall winter sport experience...
The bottom line as an industry, is unless we do something exciting and different with the power-to-be within the general media, we'll never get there. Winter activities are exciting, glamorous and always are a ray of sunshine in the gloomiest season of all, winter. Selling that winter sport is an exciting alternative to winter blues shouldn't be that difficult! Besides, haven't skiing or winter sport activities some glamour left?
Need for Synergistic Action in a flat market
It becomes now clear that the above prescription can only be applied if we get all the fragmented parts of our Industry together. Without inventing anything new, we just create synergy by getting together smart and resourceful people who are part of these various associations.
Do we need a supreme body to make all those isolated group work together? I don't think so. What we need, is one single marketing arm for the entire business that would preclude the many single ones currently in existence. In other words, there is one single marketing body that would promote winter sports in America, more like fishing for instance.
This means SIA could continue to run its trade show, NSAA concern itself with ski area operations, PSIA regulate and unify ski instruction. Beyond that, a Winter Sports Association of sorts would see to it that the whole winter experience is properly promoted.
Learning from the Europeans
During almost 11 years spent in this country, I have learned a lot more from Americans than I have through my schooling and experience back in Europe. This is not to say however, there is nothing we can learn from Europeans either (the sad thing in this country, is that we let Europeans and Japanese learn from us, steal and perfect America's great ideas, but never seem to reciprocate...).
One of the promotional vehicles that always ranked high on my list has been France's way of getting kids on skis. From a population standpoint, and distances aside, France is not unlike the United States in that the major metro areas are sometimes fairly remote from winter resorts. A case in point is Paris, which is generally around 5 hours away from any good alpine ski area.
For about 20 years, urban school districts in France have sent kids to the snow, almost every year, in what they call "Classroom in the Snow" or Classes des Neiges. For about one month, school age kids spend half a day skiing, half a day learning. Depending on where they go, Jura mountains or Alps, low or high elevation, skiing can be cross-country or alpine. What is certain, is that kids have a great time, are properly initiated into the sport by certified instructors during the week, generally do not ski on week-ends, thus freeing the slopes and the ski school for the usual weekly rush.
What is more, and doesn't take a genius to figure out, kids get addicted to the Winter Sport experience. You can bet that when they get the time and the money, they'll come back, and that's what this program is all about.
Tort Law Reform
Another good reason for getting our Industry's fragmented parts together is to form a louder voice in lobbying for reform in liability law. I don't want to dwell on an issue that can be debated by more competent people than me, but just want to say that we can hope to win this one if we present a more united, powerful front.
Sports and Contemporary Media
Winter activities should be easy to promote through the sports they stand for, right? The answer is, I am not certain.
If ski jumping and ice skating are easy to grasp, I doubt the same can be said about alpine, World Cup type skiing. The truth of the matter is that for the non-skier, watching a slalom or a G.S. race is downright boring. Downhill could be okay as long as many spectacular falls happen to take place. At any rate, there is no way, for most people, to see a noticeable difference between one athlete to the next.
My point is that the FIS-concocted formula for World Cup ski racing is old, passe, and doesn't lend itself to modern days television. The only thing that ever could work for downhill or alpine skiing is Bob Beatty's dual slalom format. Along the same lines, free style competition (last year's World Championship in Tignes was quite entertaining), most possibly snowboard competition, cross-country racing, jumping and that's about it.
Any race organizer has to be able to sell continuous action, excitement, climatic crescendo if he or she want the event to be picked up by TV and find good sponsors for any length of time. On that subject, the Swiss-based FIS has some serious rethinking to do...
"Continental" Sports and Athletes
In order to arouse excitement and develop a fan base, a successful athlete must reside in the country where most of the sport promotion takes place. This is true for Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, or even Martina Navratilova in tennis.
Ask anyone in the street who Mario Andretti is, or Bobby Rahal, or F.J. Foydt; chances are they'll say they're Indy car racers, right? Now, ask the same people who Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet or Alain Prost are, they probably won't know they're all Formula One racers.
The point is that people only worship, or pay attention to their local heroes. They need to see them inside People magazine (here we go again), on TV talk shows, in the newspapers, etc. If they don't, these athletes mean nothing to them and have no following. What do Marc Girardelli and Erika Hess mean to the American public?
Bottom line is that athletes must live where they spend most time competing. To use racing as a valid promotional vehicle we need "continental", if not national athletes. We also need a tour or tours that spend most, if not all their time competing on the continent; this makes sense for sponsors, TV network, etc.
Winter Sport vs. Skiing Experience
All along, I have tried to substitute the word "Winter Sport" for "Skiing". I believe this is important. Even though many of us may only engage into selling skiing equipment, we're all part of that winter experience.
Let me explain; in winter we're competing again the Caribbean or the Hawaiian sun, and these are formidable alternatives to the whole winter snow experience. Not everyone may want to ski. Some may just want to stroll into Vail and do some shopping. They may just want to go ice skating, or at the other end of the spectrum, if they are just bored with skiing, they might want to get into snowboarding. Whatever happened to "apres-ski"? Sometimes, I wonder if under the pretense of being smart business people, we have not bored our ski customer to death with our new plastics, fabrics or composite resins?
One case in point: Why do the Winter Olympic seem so magic with the public? The reason, I believe, is that people are given to see a cornucopia of winter events that are both varied and entertaining. So much is going on that no one can get bored or stay too long on one single event...
The point there, is that the word skiing is a limiting indeed, and should be forgotten in favor of winter sports, because this is the essence of the experience; a week under the clear blue skies of Aspen or Park City makes a whole year of hard work worth it. I don't believe it's the shear mileage on skis that does that. It's the experience of waking up in the morning and seeing a wonderful winter landscape at your window, the experience of walking after dinner in a bitter cold night with - overhead - a sky full of stars... I know what I'm talking about, I live in a ski town!
Promoting the Winter Sport Experience effectively
After all this diatribe, it's now time to come up with some constructive ideas. Before we get into this prescription though, let's assume for a moment that all forces, factions and bodies involved in the business come together and decide to work out some effective ways to deal with the current situation.
The next order of things is to take a new, fresh look at racing and see in it a real promotional vehicle. Picture this for a minute: A North American circuit that would start say, in Killington, follow into Stowe/Sugarbush, go to the Laurentians, move over to Summit County, Colo., go the Utah Wasatch front, move back to Vail/Beaver Creek, go into Sun Valley or Jackson, work its way to Banff or Vancouver then go down to Mammoth/June and end in Lake Tahoe for a spring finale.
We are talking about 10 areas, that's all. This mean that the tour could start around Thanksgiving back East, move early January in the West, where it would take place every 2 weeks to last until March. The way this would work though, is that each area would host a circus-like mini Olympic event for an entire week.
Alpine skiing (dual format), Freestyle, Snowboarding, Ski Jumping, X-C Races, Ice Skating would all be represented. A field of professional athletes would travel that tour, yet in every town, through qualification procedures, any non-professional could measure him or herself against the best, thus merging "citizen" into "pro" racing. The qualification runs would take place in the early part of the week, with the finals of all events staggered - in short segments - over the week-end so they can be easily processed by the TV network buying the rights for the tour.
Morning TV shows would be hosted for the week at the resort(s) providing excellent coverage of the winter experience we'd want to sell the public. This would become a winter classic more like the Super Bowl.
Everybody would win; the equipment manufacturers would only have to invest money in relation to the representation they'd want for their product in North America, the area operators would get super exposure, PSIA could interject their latest techniques, and sell people on taking lessons, a then united Ski Federation could sell people on becoming active members...
If they'd want (and believe me, they would), the "Euro's" could do the same by restoring the "Classics" such as Chamonix, Wengen, St. Anton, Garmisch, Cortina, etc. and run the same type of tour with their own athletes.
Every one or two years, at the Olympics or the World Championships, the Old Continent would meet North America...
To me, this prescription makes a lot of sense because it is simple (we aren't talking about SDI); all the elements already exist, it's a matter of putting them in the right order. Let's become a strong winter Industry, let's do something for our future!
Most has been said about what works, and what does not in our "Ski Industry". As you will read on, the term "Ski Industry" is, in my view, a misnomer. A proper term should be wider, more encompassing, like "Winter Sports Industry".
The purpose of this document is to take a long, hard look at the way we promote, and sometimes fail to sell effectively the overall winter experience. The basic idea, though, is to come up with thoughts provoking ideas that will unveil simple, easy to implement and cost-effective opportunities.
The Issue at Hand
After experiencing some tremendous growth between the late 60's and the mid 70's, our Industry is today in a critical transition phase characterized by a lack of growth and an increased vulnerability to inclement weather and capricious economy. If do not eliminate some of its inefficiencies, we might be headed not for just stagnation, but possibly for a continuous down-slide in the years ahead. Without a question, our business today is badly in search for its second wind.
Heated competition has made things much more critical, reducing the possible margin of error, encouraging short term "fixes", and protracting a sound long term development policy. In other words, the acute pressures created by competition, currency exchange and plateauing market are probably turning our attention away from the real issue at hand: how can we give ski or winter sports activities a "shot in the arm", how can we foster growth in the business again?
Unless we, as a group of people having a stake in the future of winter sports activities, do something soon to address the present situation, we may see its strength gradually diminish and livelihood as well as the enjoyment we derive from it will slowly go away.
Who are we anyway? Well, certainly not as united as we could. For one thing, in a relatively small industry, we're awfully fragmented. In fact, we are too many isolated bodies trying to do each on our own what could be a lot more efficient if we were to present a united front, and work within the same general framework.
Let's take a look at the major players: SIA first, which has certainly earned the palm in running an exemplary trade show, and which, over the years, has made a genuine attempt to find "better ways of reaching that skier", NSAA of course represents the places without which nothing can take place, the ski areas, ASF seem to parallel the USSA and to me, don't seem to walk in total harmony, PSIA and NSPS are both looking after problems and opportunities pertaining to their respective professions. There are many more "mini-bodies" involved, from special programs such as Nastar, to independent racing tours whether they be alpine, freestyle, snowboarding, pro or amateur. There are also reps associations doing what they can to give a better sense of direction to our business.
Now, picture for a minute the cacophony, if not, the waste of energy that all these well meaning bodies do on their own, and contrast it with the symphony we could hear the day they play together...
Reaching the Market
Reaching skiers has always been a tough challenge to many a marketing manager. Where are the consumers? Do they pick-up and read ski magazines? Can we afford TV? Is radio cost-effective in this market? and it goes on, and on, and on.
One thing we've certainly failed to accomplish effectively beyond the ski publications "universe", was to successfully reaching the general media's attention.
Rock stars, tennis, golf, yachting, automobile racing, have done a much better job at marketing their trade than we have so far. Look at the newspapers: USA Today devotes virtually no space to skiing or winter related events!
There is no question we must sell the whole winter experience to the general mass-media, before selling it to the consumers. The good news also, is that selling the media can be extremely simple, cost-effective and be achieved within a focused program.
Let's take an example; go to Europe in the Winter and pick up a copy of Stern or Paris-Match. What do you see? The princes and princesses of Europe having fun in Gstaad or St. Moritz, this actor in Kitzbuehel or that anchorwoman vacationing in Courchevel. Conversely, on this side of the ocean, open People, Us or Life magazines and what do you see about winter sports? most probably nothing. This is sad, especially when we could tap into the likes of Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson or Chris Evert who are part of that overall winter sport experience...
The bottom line as an industry, is unless we do something exciting and different with the power-to-be within the general media, we'll never get there. Winter activities are exciting, glamorous and always are a ray of sunshine in the gloomiest season of all, winter. Selling that winter sport is an exciting alternative to winter blues shouldn't be that difficult! Besides, haven't skiing or winter sport activities some glamour left?
Need for Synergistic Action in a flat market
It becomes now clear that the above prescription can only be applied if we get all the fragmented parts of our Industry together. Without inventing anything new, we just create synergy by getting together smart and resourceful people who are part of these various associations.
Do we need a supreme body to make all those isolated group work together? I don't think so. What we need, is one single marketing arm for the entire business that would preclude the many single ones currently in existence. In other words, there is one single marketing body that would promote winter sports in America, more like fishing for instance.
This means SIA could continue to run its trade show, NSAA concern itself with ski area operations, PSIA regulate and unify ski instruction. Beyond that, a Winter Sports Association of sorts would see to it that the whole winter experience is properly promoted.
Learning from the Europeans
During almost 11 years spent in this country, I have learned a lot more from Americans than I have through my schooling and experience back in Europe. This is not to say however, there is nothing we can learn from Europeans either (the sad thing in this country, is that we let Europeans and Japanese learn from us, steal and perfect America's great ideas, but never seem to reciprocate...).
One of the promotional vehicles that always ranked high on my list has been France's way of getting kids on skis. From a population standpoint, and distances aside, France is not unlike the United States in that the major metro areas are sometimes fairly remote from winter resorts. A case in point is Paris, which is generally around 5 hours away from any good alpine ski area.
For about 20 years, urban school districts in France have sent kids to the snow, almost every year, in what they call "Classroom in the Snow" or Classes des Neiges. For about one month, school age kids spend half a day skiing, half a day learning. Depending on where they go, Jura mountains or Alps, low or high elevation, skiing can be cross-country or alpine. What is certain, is that kids have a great time, are properly initiated into the sport by certified instructors during the week, generally do not ski on week-ends, thus freeing the slopes and the ski school for the usual weekly rush.
What is more, and doesn't take a genius to figure out, kids get addicted to the Winter Sport experience. You can bet that when they get the time and the money, they'll come back, and that's what this program is all about.
Tort Law Reform
Another good reason for getting our Industry's fragmented parts together is to form a louder voice in lobbying for reform in liability law. I don't want to dwell on an issue that can be debated by more competent people than me, but just want to say that we can hope to win this one if we present a more united, powerful front.
Sports and Contemporary Media
Winter activities should be easy to promote through the sports they stand for, right? The answer is, I am not certain.
If ski jumping and ice skating are easy to grasp, I doubt the same can be said about alpine, World Cup type skiing. The truth of the matter is that for the non-skier, watching a slalom or a G.S. race is downright boring. Downhill could be okay as long as many spectacular falls happen to take place. At any rate, there is no way, for most people, to see a noticeable difference between one athlete to the next.
My point is that the FIS-concocted formula for World Cup ski racing is old, passe, and doesn't lend itself to modern days television. The only thing that ever could work for downhill or alpine skiing is Bob Beatty's dual slalom format. Along the same lines, free style competition (last year's World Championship in Tignes was quite entertaining), most possibly snowboard competition, cross-country racing, jumping and that's about it.
Any race organizer has to be able to sell continuous action, excitement, climatic crescendo if he or she want the event to be picked up by TV and find good sponsors for any length of time. On that subject, the Swiss-based FIS has some serious rethinking to do...
"Continental" Sports and Athletes
In order to arouse excitement and develop a fan base, a successful athlete must reside in the country where most of the sport promotion takes place. This is true for Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, or even Martina Navratilova in tennis.
Ask anyone in the street who Mario Andretti is, or Bobby Rahal, or F.J. Foydt; chances are they'll say they're Indy car racers, right? Now, ask the same people who Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet or Alain Prost are, they probably won't know they're all Formula One racers.
The point is that people only worship, or pay attention to their local heroes. They need to see them inside People magazine (here we go again), on TV talk shows, in the newspapers, etc. If they don't, these athletes mean nothing to them and have no following. What do Marc Girardelli and Erika Hess mean to the American public?
Bottom line is that athletes must live where they spend most time competing. To use racing as a valid promotional vehicle we need "continental", if not national athletes. We also need a tour or tours that spend most, if not all their time competing on the continent; this makes sense for sponsors, TV network, etc.
Winter Sport vs. Skiing Experience
All along, I have tried to substitute the word "Winter Sport" for "Skiing". I believe this is important. Even though many of us may only engage into selling skiing equipment, we're all part of that winter experience.
Let me explain; in winter we're competing again the Caribbean or the Hawaiian sun, and these are formidable alternatives to the whole winter snow experience. Not everyone may want to ski. Some may just want to stroll into Vail and do some shopping. They may just want to go ice skating, or at the other end of the spectrum, if they are just bored with skiing, they might want to get into snowboarding. Whatever happened to "apres-ski"? Sometimes, I wonder if under the pretense of being smart business people, we have not bored our ski customer to death with our new plastics, fabrics or composite resins?
One case in point: Why do the Winter Olympic seem so magic with the public? The reason, I believe, is that people are given to see a cornucopia of winter events that are both varied and entertaining. So much is going on that no one can get bored or stay too long on one single event...
The point there, is that the word skiing is a limiting indeed, and should be forgotten in favor of winter sports, because this is the essence of the experience; a week under the clear blue skies of Aspen or Park City makes a whole year of hard work worth it. I don't believe it's the shear mileage on skis that does that. It's the experience of waking up in the morning and seeing a wonderful winter landscape at your window, the experience of walking after dinner in a bitter cold night with - overhead - a sky full of stars... I know what I'm talking about, I live in a ski town!
Promoting the Winter Sport Experience effectively
After all this diatribe, it's now time to come up with some constructive ideas. Before we get into this prescription though, let's assume for a moment that all forces, factions and bodies involved in the business come together and decide to work out some effective ways to deal with the current situation.
The next order of things is to take a new, fresh look at racing and see in it a real promotional vehicle. Picture this for a minute: A North American circuit that would start say, in Killington, follow into Stowe/Sugarbush, go to the Laurentians, move over to Summit County, Colo., go the Utah Wasatch front, move back to Vail/Beaver Creek, go into Sun Valley or Jackson, work its way to Banff or Vancouver then go down to Mammoth/June and end in Lake Tahoe for a spring finale.
We are talking about 10 areas, that's all. This mean that the tour could start around Thanksgiving back East, move early January in the West, where it would take place every 2 weeks to last until March. The way this would work though, is that each area would host a circus-like mini Olympic event for an entire week.
Alpine skiing (dual format), Freestyle, Snowboarding, Ski Jumping, X-C Races, Ice Skating would all be represented. A field of professional athletes would travel that tour, yet in every town, through qualification procedures, any non-professional could measure him or herself against the best, thus merging "citizen" into "pro" racing. The qualification runs would take place in the early part of the week, with the finals of all events staggered - in short segments - over the week-end so they can be easily processed by the TV network buying the rights for the tour.
Morning TV shows would be hosted for the week at the resort(s) providing excellent coverage of the winter experience we'd want to sell the public. This would become a winter classic more like the Super Bowl.
Everybody would win; the equipment manufacturers would only have to invest money in relation to the representation they'd want for their product in North America, the area operators would get super exposure, PSIA could interject their latest techniques, and sell people on taking lessons, a then united Ski Federation could sell people on becoming active members...
If they'd want (and believe me, they would), the "Euro's" could do the same by restoring the "Classics" such as Chamonix, Wengen, St. Anton, Garmisch, Cortina, etc. and run the same type of tour with their own athletes.
Every one or two years, at the Olympics or the World Championships, the Old Continent would meet North America...
To me, this prescription makes a lot of sense because it is simple (we aren't talking about SDI); all the elements already exist, it's a matter of putting them in the right order. Let's become a strong winter Industry, let's do something for our future!
Thursday, April 30, 1987
Utah's Interconnect
My wife and myself have been involved at different levels in the Ski Industry, both share an obvious interest in the Interconnect. Prior to living in Park City, our home was Morzine-Avoriaz, France, the hub of what may be the largest Interconnect in Europe. We know what can be gained from networking ski areas; European resorts that are fortunate to be part of Interconnects are doing fine, other are struggling.
One reason is the addictive nature of Interconnects; once a skier has experienced them, single mountains feel like molehills. Another reason is because today's skiers are more fit and have better equipment so they can ski longer, go farther and enjoy the more diversified experience that Interconnects provide.
As far as Utah's Interconnect goes however, we must look at the competitive market place. For the past years, Colorado areas have waged marketing wars among themselves benefiting their visitors in many ways. Besides, and because of their sheer number and revenues, Colorado resorts have been able to afford high-powered marketing at the national level.
Last, but not least, Summit county which is relatively close to Stapleton airport has begun to erode Utah's reputation for easy access. In addition the heated competition that prevails in Denver between Continental and United has had a significant impact in driving down airfares. This, of course, stands in stark contrast with Salt Lake where Delta enjoys a de-facto monopoly.
At a time when skiing is no longer a growing sport, it becomes imperative to either compete aggressively with other ski regions in order to maintain market share, or start offering something that is truly unique. Since Ski Utah has less resources than Colorado to sell its product, we must take advantage of any feature that might make us desirable and different, and that where our interconnect comes into the picture.
When snow wasn't here for Christmas, many a visitor had to drive over the canyons to access some decent snow in Alta or Snowbird. Have we have the interconnect up and running that two-hour round-trip drive would be history. Thirty minutes would suffice to take skiers from Park City to Alta! Have we had the interconnect, Park City would have retained a great many winter visitors this season; instead, they'll go to Colorado next year. Bad snow years will unfortunately return and because of its lower elevation, Park City must rely on neighboring Cottonwood Canyon ski areas when this happens.
Let's face it, Utah's Interconnect has the potential to enhance the personality and the assets of every single resort involved; Alta offer great snow cover and a superb scenery, while Snowbird is – from a skiing standpoint – up to par with some of the best European resorts, and Park City rounds off the offering with the most charming mining town around, complete with a great choice of lodging, dining and entertainment. What could be more complementary?
While resorts like Sugarbush or Mammoth are contemplating connections with adjacent ski mountains and Colorado is making high-speed quads a standard in the business, Utah can no longer afford to wonder if the interconnect is a desirable asset in its tourism arsenal; it has instead become an urgent necessity.
One reason is the addictive nature of Interconnects; once a skier has experienced them, single mountains feel like molehills. Another reason is because today's skiers are more fit and have better equipment so they can ski longer, go farther and enjoy the more diversified experience that Interconnects provide.
As far as Utah's Interconnect goes however, we must look at the competitive market place. For the past years, Colorado areas have waged marketing wars among themselves benefiting their visitors in many ways. Besides, and because of their sheer number and revenues, Colorado resorts have been able to afford high-powered marketing at the national level.
Last, but not least, Summit county which is relatively close to Stapleton airport has begun to erode Utah's reputation for easy access. In addition the heated competition that prevails in Denver between Continental and United has had a significant impact in driving down airfares. This, of course, stands in stark contrast with Salt Lake where Delta enjoys a de-facto monopoly.
At a time when skiing is no longer a growing sport, it becomes imperative to either compete aggressively with other ski regions in order to maintain market share, or start offering something that is truly unique. Since Ski Utah has less resources than Colorado to sell its product, we must take advantage of any feature that might make us desirable and different, and that where our interconnect comes into the picture.
When snow wasn't here for Christmas, many a visitor had to drive over the canyons to access some decent snow in Alta or Snowbird. Have we have the interconnect up and running that two-hour round-trip drive would be history. Thirty minutes would suffice to take skiers from Park City to Alta! Have we had the interconnect, Park City would have retained a great many winter visitors this season; instead, they'll go to Colorado next year. Bad snow years will unfortunately return and because of its lower elevation, Park City must rely on neighboring Cottonwood Canyon ski areas when this happens.
Let's face it, Utah's Interconnect has the potential to enhance the personality and the assets of every single resort involved; Alta offer great snow cover and a superb scenery, while Snowbird is – from a skiing standpoint – up to par with some of the best European resorts, and Park City rounds off the offering with the most charming mining town around, complete with a great choice of lodging, dining and entertainment. What could be more complementary?
While resorts like Sugarbush or Mammoth are contemplating connections with adjacent ski mountains and Colorado is making high-speed quads a standard in the business, Utah can no longer afford to wonder if the interconnect is a desirable asset in its tourism arsenal; it has instead become an urgent necessity.
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