Americans’ preference for shorter, one-tank, rubber-tire trips and more family-oriented outings and vacations in the wake of last fall’s terrorist attacks has played right into the summer marketing plans at many ski areas. But the convention and meetings business, some of which was postponed from last fall to this summer in the wake of 9/11, has in many instances dried up along with the economy.
On the plus side, ski area water parks, which cater to daytrippers and families, have seen significant increases in attendance this summer. At Camelbeach, Penn., the five-year-old water park operated by Camelback ski area, attendance this summer may exceed winter visitors for the first time.
“Our clientele is definitely families with children,” said Dave Kulis, marketing director.
At Mountain Creek, New Jersey’s largest water park, visitors are up between 10 and 15 percent.
“Business at water parks is up all over the country,” said Scott Hostutler, Mountain Creek water park marketing director. “People are staying closer to home and taking more day trips than they used to. That’s our market. There are very few destination water parks.”
The Family that Plays Together…
Other ski areas that have also long marketed to families are likewise seeing big increases in business this summer. At Smugglers’ Notch, Vt., rated the nation’s number one family ski resort, 40 percent of visitors come in the summer. This summer is on a par with two years ago, the resort’s best previous summer.
“Families are paying more attention to spending time with each other than they used to,” said Barbara Thomke, marketing director. “We’re in a very good spot for tuning into that trend.”
Many ski areas, including Smugglers’, Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Mt. Hood, Ore., are reporting more family reunions this summer than in past years.
“We’re jammin’ busy,” said Cathy Wiedemer, public relations manager at Steamboat, which added several new attractions this summer, including frisbee golf, a climbing wall and bungee jumping, to its gondola rides and hiking and mountain biking activities. “The family business is huge. We’re more dependent on the drive market in the summer and people do seem to be staying closer to home.”
The trend toward shorter stays that many ski areas reported last winter does not seem to have translated over to the summer season. Many resorts, such as Smugglers’, continued to successfully market five-day, weeklong and two-weeklong stays. “Stays are not any shorter,” Thomke said.
Scott van Pelt, marketing director at Ascutney, Vt., also said stays do not seem shorter, although booking times are.
“People seem to be making their final vacation decisions this summer later than usual,” he said. “Historically, May and June are the peak months for summer inquiries. This summer we’re getting just as many summer inquiries the end of July as we did in May and June.”
With children out of school, summer business is also much more evenly spread out during the week.
“The nice thing about summer compared to winter is that business levels are pretty much constant throughout the week,” Kulis said.
Corporate Downturn
If family vacation visits are up this summer at ski resorts, corporate business is definitely down. At Mt. Hood, Ore., which does about 200,000 summer visitors, corporate sales—meetings, picnics and other outings—business is off 20 percent this summer.
“Due to all the layoffs here resulting from 9/11 and the economy, many corporations don’t have money in their budgets for picnics this summer,” said Karen Norton, marketing director. “Even if it’s in the budget, many companies feel they shouldn’t be offering a picnic when they’re laying off.”
At Shanty Creek, Mich., which has 72 holes of golf and 35,000 square feet of meeting space, corporate golf outings and meetings are also down this summer.
“I think it’s the economy,” said marketing director Barry Godwin. “Our social business, on the other hand, is doing great.”
Corporate meeting business is also down at Alpine Valley, Minn., which offers 27 holes of golf. The good news is that this dip, as at other areas, has been offset by more visits from families and independent travelers.
“We’ve had a few more families and family reunions than in the past,” said Diane Semmerling, spokeswoman.
Destination areas have also seen dips in business. Since 9/11, Mammoth, Calif. has lost much of its bus tour market—international visitors who stop at the resort for a night or two on their way to and from Yosemite and Los Angeles.
“That market has dropped 30 percent since 9/11,” said Joani Lynch, media relations manager.
Despite that drop, overall summer business is up 10 to 15 percent at the resort this summer thanks to the family drive market.
Many ski areas have also been successful this summer marketing themselves in conjunction with other local family-oriented events.
“Half of our business is Ascutney-specific—the pool, children’s camps, tennis,” van Pelt said. “The other half, which is huge and which we encourage, are here for all of the other things they can do in our backyard—golf, canoe rentals, horseback riding, museums. We’ve also been very successful in marketing ourselves as the bed base for spectators and participants attending special events in the area.”
Joe Stevens, communications director at Snowshoe, WV., said visitors coming to Snowshoe to attend some summer events in the area rivals a “heavy winter weekend.”
“What’s really driving room nights is special events,” Stevens said. “We’ve even had some conferences scheduling around special events in the area.”
Like many other ski areas contacted, Snowshoe is on track for its busiest summer ever. “We’re going gangbusters,” Stevens said.
