It’s strange, but I’ve had a sneaking suspicion the past five seasons that I could sit back, wait for Mother Nature to grace us with some snow, and whatever I did before and after wouldn’t matter. I still worked my tail off, putting together emails, webpages and all our ‘traditional’ marketing tactics to try to get skiers and riders to the resort, but it really didn’t feel like I was necessarily making much of a difference.
This season is different, the ‘real’ snow didn’t come until later in December, the economy is cutting back on a lot of people’s vacation plans and many people are not going to take a ski or snowboard vacation whether there’s a foot of snow or ten times that. And while we can still generate some new business with a good strong snow message, it’s certainly not like it was in past years.
So, is it time to panic? I don’t think so. In fact, I think it’s an ideal time for ski resorts to try new ideas and ways to generate new revenues. It’s also great for interactive marketers like myself, as it’s an open door to implement social media strategies that we might not have had the opportunity to try just a year, or even a few months ago…exciting times, but I know that we must continue to press our efforts because now, just because it snows, doesn’t mean that they will come.
Resort Marketing - Don't Forget, It's All About Fun! 