San
Diego, CA � June 2003 � The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)
announced twelve winners of its 2002/03 Sales and Marketing Awards recently
at a luncheon at NSAA�s National Convention and Trade Show in San Diego,
Calif. The awards are presented annually to ski resorts across the country
for marketing programs that have proven success in growing the sports of
skiing and snowboarding.
This
year�s awards were presented in three categories: Best program to grow
the sport to new participants; Best program to increase frequency of core
participants; and Best program to convert new participants to core participants.
Four winners were chosen in each category based on resort size. The winning
programs are as follows:
Best
Program To Grow The Sport To New Participants
Whitetail,
Liberty and Roundtop, Pa. (500,000-plus skier/snowboarder visits)
The
interchangeable Bounceback Program was good at all three Snow Time resorts.
Resort guests who participated in the learn to ski or snowboard program
at any of the three resorts received discounts on an All Mountain Package
and frequent skier card for their next visit.
Arapahoe
Basin, Colo. (250,000 � 500,000 visits)
The
Bookin� at the Basin ski school program offered a season pass to each Summit
County middle school student that read 34 hours during a twelve-week period.
150 students out of a total of 600 students completed the program.
Mad
River Mountain, Ohio (100,000 � 250,000 visits)
Mad
River�s Online Group Sales Program (OGS) offered a completely automated
group season pass sales process and rewarded participants with cost savings
and efficiency. Mad River experienced a 30 percent increase in program
numbers and had more than 10,000 people participate this season.
Hidden
Valley Ski Area, Mo. (0 � 100,000 visits)
The
Master of the Mountain program encourages groups to try skiing or snowboarding
for a fraction of the regular season pass cost. The program utilized current
customers to capture first time skiers.
Best
Program To Increase Frequency of Core Participants
Mountain
High Resort, Calif. (500,000-plus skier/snowboarder visits)
Mountain
High�s The Quad program capitalized on the resort�s easy access and promoted
visitation in the evenings by offering four adult night lift tickets for
a low cost. The Quad program represents an estimated 12,000 skier visits
and has increased sales by 227 percent over the initial season.
Sierra-at-Tahoe
Snowsport Resort, Calif. (250,000 � 500,000 visits)
Through
the Vertical Plus and Season Pass Frequent Snowsporting Program the resort
kept track of the total vertical feet accomplished by each participant.
Participants were able to redeem their vertical feet for discounts at the
resort. The number of season pass holders that upgraded to Vertical Plus
increased by 29 percent.
Perfect
North Slopes, Ind. (100,000 � 250,000 visits)
The
Time Is On Your Side program introduced the �flex ticket.� Perfect North
Slopes changed their pass program to better suit their customers. The total
number of pass holders increased by 30 percent and pass revenue grew by
32 percent.
Mount
Bohemia, Mich. (0 � 100,000 visits)
Through
its Ladies Ski Free Program, what began as a very low female audience is
now 33 percent of the resorts total audience. The male audience has increased
by 20 percent.
Best
Program To Convert New Participants to Core Participants
Holiday
Valley, N.Y. (500,000-plus skier/snowboarder visits)
Creekside
Lodge offered an adult learning center for beginner participants and put
several amenities in one place, including lessons and rental equipment.
The learning center also enabled the resort to track return visits by giving
each beginner a discount card for their return trip.
Windham
Mountain, N.Y. (250,000 � 500,000 visits)
Windham�s
First Class program provided contact with new participants from the time
they reached the entrance of the resort. It provided the customer with
personal service every step of the way.
Angel
Fire Resort, N.M. (100,000 � 250,000 visits)
In
the You Keep The Gear program, guests learned how to ski or snowboard on
brand new equipment and then kept the gear at the end of the lesson. The
package also included half-price lift tickets for the guest�s return visit.
Mad
River Glen, Vt. (0 � 100,000 visits)
Mad
River�s Kids Free Pass Program focused on kids by encouraging parents to
purchase a pass and receive a free pass for their child. Total resort revenues
and the number of adult passes sold both increased dramatically.
The
National Ski Areas Association serves as the trade association for ski
area owners and operators. NSAA began in 1962 and is located in Lakewood,
Colo. For more information regarding these winning programs visit www.nsaa.org,
�Sales and Marketing Awards.�
Contact:
Keri Hone
khone@nsaa.org
NSAA
Director of Events & Projects
(720)
963-4214 |