Snowmass tourism effort promotes ties to Aspen

Snowmass Village is adopting an ad campaign that capitalizes on its proximity to the more recognized Aspen, the Aspen Daily News reports.
Snowmass Village Councilman John Wilkinson often draws blank stares at other ski resorts, even in Colorado, when he tells fellow skiers where he resides. But mention Aspen and it’s instant recognition, he said.
Snowmass tourism officials know the feeling. Last week, Susan Hamley, director of the town’s Snowmass Tourism office, unveiled a new advertising campaign that will tout the variety of activities not just in the village but also in Aspen and elsewhere in the valley. One potential ad Hamley displayed to Town Council on May 21 features a photo of the Belly Up, the popular concert venue in Aspen. The advert "plays up what we have here in Snowmass, what we have with our partners in Aspen and what you can get in the valley", Hamley said. "We mention Aspen in the copy as well, saying that the combination of these two neighbors is powerful". But Hamley said in an email that the effort should not be construed as the town "abandoning our own identity".
The town’s advisory board on marketing, events and group sales voted unanimously to establish a closer tie-in with its better-known neighbor, the board’s chairman, Robert Sinko, told Town Council. Sinko is general manager of the Crestwood Condominiums.
Hugh Templeman, general manager of the Viceroy Snowmass hotel, said positioning the resort with Aspen will be a strong step forward. "The board made a big decision in recent meetings to align ourselves much more tightly with Aspen, location-wise", said Templeman, who spoke before Town Council as a representative of the lodging industry on the marketing advisory board. "So you see that [result] in the advertising ... because we felt that was the smartest way to grow our process going forward".
The goal of the new campaign "is to give guests all the options they can enjoy while staying in Snowmass, which can even include a stop at the Hot Springs pool" in Glenwood Springs, Hamley said. "So when they weigh Snowmass against other Colorado resorts in their decision-making process, we have a far bigger offering".
Councilman Jason Haber said using the synergy between the two resorts is sensible. "In a way, Snowmass exists because of that relationship to Aspen", he said. "From a branding and marketing standpoint, it makes sense to tap into that recognition".
"What we were told is that it’s a no-brainer to partner with Aspen, but Snowmass is a unique place",  Wilkinson said. "It’s a family resort, easy to get to, has ski-in, ski-out [accommodation]. Aspen has the reputation, we have the skiing". Wilkinson said he understands tying Snowmass to Aspen (the ski area’s original name, in 1964, was Snowmass-at-Aspen) to alleviate those blank stares he usually gets around the state and elsewhere. "I get that part of it", he said. "I think it could work well with both resorts. There’s a synergistic effect there that, with the resort as a whole with Buttermilk and Highlands, once people realized that they’re all connected by one lift ticket, they’d say, ‘OK, I get it’".

I think tis is a valuable lesson to be learned by many ski resorts worlwide who live in the shadow of big ones.

Colorado ski visits down 11.4%

Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA), the state ski industry lobbying group that represents 22 resorts, reported at its annual meeting in Boulder today that its 22 member resorts hosted an estimated 6.16 million skier visits during the 2011-12 ski season. This represents a decrease of 11.4 percent, or approximately 790,000 skier visits, compared to last season, which was the fourth best season on record. Compared to the five year average, CSCUSA member resort skier visits are down 11.9 percent. The overall snow related decline interrupted the recovery resorts had been building since 2008/09.
In an indication of the extreme weather impacting Colorado resorts this season, Colorado’s western slope experienced its third driest and seventh warmest winter in records going back to 1895. Precipitation on the Western Slope this winter was 43 percent below average, and down every month of the winter. In Colorado overall, March 2012 was the driest in more than 100 years, and we experienced the second warmest March on record. President and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA Melanie Mills said: "Much of the ski industry in the US was confronted with weather challenges last year, but several of our resorts bucked the national trend and showed signs of resilience during what was clearly an uninspiring winter".
The diversity of ski resorts in Colorado saw some areas post increases and even records in visitation. Colorado Ski Country resorts also saw strength in both domestic and international destination visitors which helped soften the economic impacts to resort operators and resort communities of the overall decline in visitation.
Momentum going into the season was strong after seeing an uptick in visitation last year, and economic conditions generally improved during the season. Abundant amounts of snow came in the fall, allowing some resorts to open earlier than planned, but the uncharacteristic precipitation deficit brought that momentum to a standstill. Snow came in the middle of the season and several resorts broke single day snowfall totals, but perception of an underperforming winter was already set in skiers’ minds. "We’ve had dry years in the past, and we’ll have dry years again", Mills explained. "Not every year can be a record breaking year, and with nary a snowflake in what is normally our snowiest month in Colorado, season visitation numbers are disappointing, but not unexpected".
CSCUSA resorts upheld their dedication to providing guests with a quality product and superior service which sets Colorado apart from other ski destinations, and keeps the state’s appeal as the premiere place for winter travelers. "Our resorts have so much to offer visitors that in some cases the world class skiing is just one of a menu of activities. And for many people, the season was more about being outside and spending time with friends and family taking in the beautiful outdoors and wonderful amenities of our resorts".
With certain assumptions in place, statewide skier visits for Colorado are estimated at 11,010,584 million. This estimation shows Colorado being down 9.8 percent, or approximately 1,195,000 visits, compared to last season. On a national level, skier visits overall are down 15.7 percent with the Rocky Mountain region seeing a decrease of 7.2 percent.
These numbers are preliminary results and subject to final adjustments by CSCUSA members. The decision to release individual numbers is up to each individual resort.
The 2010-11 ski season was the fourth best ever after record snowfall at most Colorado resorts. The 2011-12 season saw record low snowfall totals as a major snow drought gripped most of the state and the nation.
Skier visits for the past 10 years can be downloaded here.