HOW TO SELL WINTER SPORTS
Long Haul
ON THE PISTE
BY LAURA GELDER With the winter sports season just
around the corner the time is right to look at what's up and what’s down on slopes further afield – with the help of two top long haul ski tour operators. Following last year’s Winter Olympics
in Canada, long haul ski destinations have had their profile raised. Russia (on the long haul cusp) will host the Games for the first time in 2014 and Korea will follow in 2018. Russia's host, Sochi, will organise its Games in two 'clusters': a coastal one for ice events in Sochi and one located in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains. Crystal Ski is already featuring Sochi.
Says senior product manager Michael Brabin: “It’s a little closer to home and offers phenomenal snowfalls. Sochi is developing into a world-class ski resort and it is in our 2011/12 programme." Meanwhile Korea hopes that a main
legacy of hosting the Games in 2018 in PyeongChang will be a rise in winter sports tourism to the country. Ski Independence managing
director Michael Bennett says forward winter sales for Japan are strong despite the difficulties the country has endured this year. “Beyond North America, Japan remains,
in my view, the only long haul destination UK skiers will travel to in any serious numbers,” he said. Although late bookings continue to dominate the general travel scene, long haul ski destinations suffer less from this trend. “North America and Japan don’t tend to be late-selling destinations,” said Brabin. “Ski clients usually decide early on if they are going to travel far and the resorts encourage this with aggressive early booking deals, such as 40 to 50 per cent off resorts like Breckenridge, Vail and Lake Tahoe in the USA and Whistler, Banff and Lake Louise in Canada. On a positive note, Brabin noted that despite the rising cost of long haul flights over the last few years “skiers and snowboarders know that you can’t get the abundance of snow and reliability anywhere other than countries like the USA, Canada and Japan,” he said. “Although some customers aren’t visiting as often, many will choose long haul every other year or every third year." Early bookings are also up for Ski
Independence, said Bennett. “We’ve been surprised by the early demand. Perhaps people are encouraged by North America’s staggering levels of snowfall last season or the attractive early- booking offers, particularly in Whistler, at five-star hotels like The Westin and Fairmont Chateau Whistler.” Long haul winter sports destinations
are also seeing more adventurous clientele, according to Brabin. “Clients choosing to ski long haul are getting more adventurous and looking for the next thrill – whether that’s back- country skiing with a resort guide or cat/ heli skiing.”
What’s New? SkiJapan has a ‘safe slopes guarantee’ this winter, after the Tsunami and nuclear disaster more than 600km away from Hokkaido Island resort, Niseko. The 100 per cent money-back guarantee pays out if the UK government raises its travel advisory to Hokkaido to ‘Do Not Travel’ and clients are forced to cancel between 30 and seven days prior to arrival. Crystal Ski launched a new agent bookable website last month, which lets agents book online rather than using viewdata, which will be switched off in six months. Each booking made before October 12 on the new website will be
WINTER SPORTS Top Selling Tips...
• “Why fly all the way to North America to ski? Because it’s there, as George Mallory said of Everest in the 1920s"
"Any curious skier will want to try the Rockies at some point. Not because the likes of Colorado, Utah, California or British Columbia are better than the Alps, but because they're different: superb grooming, orderly liftlines, English-speaking locals"
" I've visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming for 25 years. It’s a gorgeous and remote spot, the skiing is exhilarating, and the wild west town of Jackson is straight out of the movies!"
"My favourite mountains apart from the Tetons are the Andes. There are almost 50 resorts in Chile and Argentina, do some research" ARNIE WILSON, Editor of Ski + Board
eligible for a £10 Love2Shop voucher, claimed by emailing tradesupport@
specialistholidays.com. Bookers will also go into a draw to win a £500 Specialist Holiday Group holiday voucher. Canadian Affair launched its winter 2011/12 programme with prices held from last year on all bookings made before December 15. Packages start from £569pp, with flights to Calgary and Vancouver from Gatwick and Manchester. Resorts in California have invested
heavily this winter: there's a new high- speed quad chairlift and mountain-top restaurant at Northstar; new boxes, rails and jumps at Squaw, plus three new magic carpet lifts, rental equipment and a refreshed lesson plan for its Snowsports School; widened trails and a kids’ adventure zone at Heavenly; new on-slope accommodation at Kirkwood Mountain Resort, with two-bedroom condos, dining and massage facilities; and a new high-speed quad chairlift and enhanced features to half pipes at Mammoth Mountain. Funway Holidays has launched an
online ski brochure featuring Colorado, Utah, California and Western Canada.
Clockwise from left: Skiing in Japan; Sochi, Russia has 'phenomenal snowfall'; Accommodation in Winter Olympics' host Sochi
www.sellinglonghaul.com • October 2011 55
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