At the 2012 IAAPA (International Association of Amusements Parks and Attractions) Expo in Orlando, Fla., in mid November, we gained some valuable insights into trends that can benefit summer and year-round business at resorts. Many of these trends play to the inherent strengths of mountain resorts, while some will require new ways of understanding customer service. Some also signal growing competition between resorts and summer parks, as the latter try to mimic our key asset: the natural environment.

just add water
Water features have seen tremendous innovation, and now extend way beyond traditional water slides and features. And there are now plenty of inexpensive options: water decks, splash pads, table top water features, water toys that don't require electricity/or pumps, and ropes courses with water features mixed in for the ultimate experience. Check out the article on page 56 for more on this trend.

Buzzword Alert
“Edutainment.” This concept is simply defined as learning through amusement. And "edutainment parks" are emerging, perhaps because they offer more than mere amusement. Each successful example has a reason, goal, or idea used to teach, in obvious or subtle ways. In the best parks, every aspect of each attraction is geared toward the educational goal. In particular, eco-edutainment parks are cropping up in Latin America, and they are headed here. Hey, it worked with ziplines.

CLIMBING WALLS
The standard faux rock-climbing walls were not where the crowds were queuing to have a go. Now it's all about color, lights, speed challenges, modular systems with interchangeable panels, stepping blocks that pop in and out (or that you can place yourself) and individually-themed challenges for all ages and abilities. Just check out some of the names of these new climbing walls: “Stairway to Heaven,” “Skyscraper,” “Leap of Faith” and “Spaghetti.”

YOU’re it!
Laser tag and all of its current manifestations (think paintball without the mess and with fewer injuries) are super hot and experienced a banner year. Projections are for big future growth. Variations on this theme are showing up all over pop culture and enjoy the "cool factor." You might think that this is just for gaming centers, but we saw several outdoor applications that take guests into the woods, and even make it a learning experience about the environment.

STRIKE A POSE
Photo and video booths and on-demand photo/video sharing services accounted for almost 30 vendors on the tradeshow floor. Cameras can be mounted on your mountain coasters, in your aerial challenge courses, in your base lodge, etc. Photo booths have become the must-have trend at gatherings (think weddings) and amusement parks are developing ways to expand on this trend, given how quickly social media gets your pictures out there.

Food & Bev Trends
Fried foods are hot. The advice experts gave to seminar attendees was, "visit your local fair and see what they are frying up!" On the trade show floor, food on a stick was everywhere—from waffles to a "Tatostix" and funnel cake. Self-serve yogurt vendors drew sizable crowds by offering new and interesting flavors and toppings. There were several variations on the very popular Dippin Dots ice cream concept—kids still scream for ice cream. The takeaway for ski areas: summer guests may not be as health-oriented as your winter guests! Summer food is seen as one of the attractions and all about fun.

Birthday parties
Birthday parties can be a huge money maker, and the trend is growing. There are now scads of products feeding into it, and they help create attractive pricing for party
packages. And this is a sales opportunity that could work for resorts year-round. Speaking of groups, there were lots of examples and ideas on how to attract school groups, scout groups, etc. One idea was to use fundraising—a portion of each ticket sale goes to the organization. In turn, you get future potential customers, mostly families, at your resort.

Zips & ropes Courses
Mountain resorts are a few years ahead in this area, but ziplines and challenge courses have become a hot ticket for the amusement and attractions industry—and this could mean increasing competition for nearby resorts. Amusement parks can't compete with the natural setting at resorts, but you might be surprised at the lengths parks go to in their efforts to simulate the real-world "treetop aerial adventure."