Consumer Show Strategies

Fewer but bigger tents, more booking agents and a more diversified product will greet attendees at this fall’s consumer ski shows. As merger mania continues to sweep the industry, more ski areas than ever will be crowded under single umbrellas. In Boston, all nine American Skiing Company resorts will be under the big ASC tent. Almost no one goes solo anymore. Even Jackson Hole, Wyo., one of the few big independent ski resorts left, often teams up with Big Sky, Mont. and Sun Valley, Idaho to exhibit; sometimes it pals up with Taos, N.M.

“We feel we get a bigger presence that way,” said Bill Lewkowitz, Jackson Hole sales director.