The role and value of discount card companies is a subject discussed many times. It seems that ski/snowboard resorts are destined to live with card-purveying middlemen the same way a dog lives with fleas. You just can’t seem to shake them.
But now is the most critical time for resort executives to revisit the discount card issue. In these times of a practically flat overall market we can ill afford to share resort revenue with companies that are simply parasites.
Since virtually every resort feels compelled to throw some sort of offer into the mix, the discount card companies are able to present a huge bundle of discounts. Since the resorts provide the value of the package, the card companies have virtually zero cost of goods. They simply wedge themselves between us and our customers.
The success enjoyed by the discount card companies is built on pitting the resorts against each other. It is the essential element of their business plan, and we have been naive enough to help them carry it out.
Helping propagate vermin in your brethren’s backyard is no way to show… solidarity They say their cards build loyalty, increase visits. But the only way to build loyalty amount discount card customers is to give them a discount every time they visit. But loyalty is built on the way a resort treats its guests. If pricing is one element of that mix, then the resort should offer it directly to the customer, not through a middleman.
And there is more a stake than tickets. We have given the discount card companies license to use our names in their solicitation of sponsors. The result is they compete against us for bringing outside partners into skiing and snowboarding, and they compete using the benefits we gave them.
What needs to be done? First, resort presidents need to get involved. Lay down the law with you marketing directors, and don’t accept the usual excuses:
• *“All the other resorts are involved, so we can’t be left out.”* You can be out. No one else is going to drop out unless someone takes a leadership role.
• *“Our resort’s exposure will be in distant markets, so we really have nothing to lose.”* Helping propagate vermin in your brethren’s backyard is no way to show industry solidarity.
• *“We’ll only offer obscure discounts, like 50 percent off on weekday rentals.”* Participating in any form is a license for the companies to use your name in selling their wares. Would you allow anyone else that right?
If we want to give guests a pricing break, let’s not do it through a middleman who simply dilutes revenue, but let’s do it through our own promotions or our own association. We have the talent and means within the NSAA and its member areas to organize and administrate our own broad-based program. A partnership with the U.S. Ski Team, particularly if it helps get kids into the sport, would be fine.
Our industry needs to be as concerned about the integrity of “membership programs” as we are about grooming and customer service. If we can’t work together on a project as simple as this, how can we expect to develop more grandiose programs for an industry that needs a boost.
Make a stand, holler at the top of your lungs. Just do it!
