Exhausted but happy participants departed South Lake Tahoe over the weekend after several intense days of buying, selling, learning, schmoozing and skiing at the 43rd Mountain Travel Symposium.
Trade Exchange Floor – Mountain Travel Symposium, Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe.
More than 1,100 participants representing 24 countries took part. Fresh snow and bright sunshine capped the week of events, and those who were there to do business said they had full schedules and lots of deals got done. Most also got in a few runs on the slopes of Heavenly Resort as well.
Virginie Koulibaly from Valais Matterhorn Region addresses with Nick Turnell and Pascal Prinz of Switzerland Tourism the invited tour operators for the Switzerland Tourism evening with raclette at Mountain Travel Symposium.
The newly launched IKON season pass from the Alterra Mountain Company has its lowest available rate until May 1st. On that date, rates will increase by USD 100.
Sportpass Top4 goes into the second season. Adelboden-Lenk, Gstaad, the Jungfrau Ski Region and Meiringen-Hasliberg have launched the Top4 Sportpass this winter. Following a successful launch with 36,200 sold subscriptions in advance sales, the offer will continue unchanged in the upcoming winter sports season 2018/2019.
In the fiercely contested winter sports market, the four largest Bernese ski resorts have decided on a common forward strategy and in autumn 2017 launched the new season subscription Top4. The winter sports pass with access to 666 km of piste was sold in advance for 666 francs. 36’200 times the subscription to the advance sale discount went over the counter, which clearly exceeded the target of 20’000. The responsible persons have decided to continue the offer after the successful premiere.
Top4 Ski Pass – Kleine Scheidegg Lauberhorn – Starthuesi – Photo by Jungfrau Ski Region.
Big Ski Resort in Montana will join the Mountain Collective Pass for the 2018/19 ski season. This pass offer is on top of being part of the IKON Pass deal.
Big Sky Resort in Montana, last addition to the Mountain Collective Pass for the 2018-19 ski season.
Big Sky Resort is bigger than your imagination. Located in Montana, United States, and with more than 5,800 acres of contiguous skiable terrain and a vertical of 4,350 feet, Big Sky Resort offers unmatched skiing. From the chutes of Headwater’s Ridge to 300 degrees of skiing off of Lone Peak, which stands at 11,166 feet. With an average of 400 inches of annual snowfall, Bit Sky Resort offers lots of powder pockets.
The crowdfunding for the WinterCARD of the Saastal Bergbahnen AG (“That’ll blow you over!”) is considered one of the most spectacular marketing campaigns of recent years. And has now been honoured with the Marketing Trophy 2018 in the field of SMEs.
No wonder: with an innovative marketing campaign, the cable cars sold more than 90,000 season tickets from October to December 2016, generating revenues in excess of CHF 20 million. The action was developed by matter + gretener and was based on the crowd funding principle: because more than 90,000 skiers and snowboarders wanted a season pass for 222 francs, the “Hammer Deal” became reality. And the European record in crowd funding was set up.
Saas-Fee beautiful scenery at night- Saas-Fee won the Marketing Trophy thanks to its crowdfunding campaign – Photo: Matterhorn Region AG- Saas-Fee
Crested Butte, Okemo and Mount Sunapee join the Epic Pass beginning with the 2018-19 winter season in a long-term alliance.
Epic, Epic Local and Epic Australia pass holders will receive seven days of skiing and snowboarding at each of the three resorts with no blackout dates for a total of 21 days.
Epic 7-Day pass holders can use any or all of their seven days and Epic 4-Day pass holders can use any or all of their four days of skiing and snowboarding with no blackout dates at the three resorts.
Epic, Epic Local, Epic Australia, Epic 7-Day and Epic 4-Day pass holders will receive 50 percent off lift tickets after their respective days have been redeemed.
Crested Butte Peak Pass Plus and Peak Pass holders; Okemo Ultimate, Classic and Gold Pass holders; and Mount Sunapee Full Ride and Skiing Is For Life Pass holders will receive 50 percent off lift tickets at all Vail Resorts owned mountain resorts.
Vail Resorts, Inc. announced today that Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont and Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire will join the industry-leading Epic Pass in a long-term alliance beginning in the 2018-19 winter season, bringing the total to 64 mountain resorts in 11 states and provinces and eight countries for skiers and snowboarders. Epic, Epic Local and Epic Australia will receive seven days of skiing and snowboarding with no blackout dates at each of the three resorts for a total of 21 days. Epic 7-Day pass holders can use any or all seven of their total days and Epic 4-Day pass holders can use any or all four of their total days of skiing and snowboarding with no blackout dates at the three resorts.
The Mountain Collective is still alive and kicking after the announcement of the IKON Pass and the disappearance of the MAX pass – as many of the resorts that were in the latter, where absorbed by Alterra Mtn Co with its IKON pass.
Mountain Collective Pass – Niseko United.16 destinations- 2 days per resort.
Each 2018-19 pass-holder will receive 2 days at the Collective destinations for a total of 32 days, plus a third day at the destination of their choice.
$555 Million Budgeted at 12 Mountain Destinations Over the Next Five Years $130 Million Budgeted for 2018/2019 Including New Gondola and Three New Chairlifts
Alterra Mountain Company reinforces its commitment to growth and investment in its family of 12 mountain destinations by announcing its initial capital improvements, with an investment plan totalling more than half a billion dollars over the next five years, spending $130 million for winter 2018/2019.
Alterra Mountain Company, created in 2017, is comprised of 12 mountain destinations spread throughout five states and three Canadian provinces: Steamboat and Winter Park Resort in Colorado; Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, Mammoth Mountain, June Mountain and Big Bear Mountain Resort in California; Stratton in Vermont; Snowshoe in West Virginia; Tremblant in Quebec, Blue Mountain in Ontario; Deer Valley Resort in Utah; and CMH Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures in British Columbia.
The EPIC pass offers access to 61 ski areas in 8 countries. The IKON Pass, its contender, goes now head to head with the EPIC Pass.
What is new this year with the EPIC Pass:
• New for 2018-19, Epic Pass holders receive limited access to Telluride in Colorado, Hakuba Valley in Japan and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies across Canada, bringing the worldwide resort access total to 61.
• In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Epic Pass, Vail Resorts is honouring its heritage with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division with a $99 Military Epic Pass and a $1 donation for every 2018-19 season pass sold to Wounded Warrior Project.
• Vail Resorts season passes offer a number of unique advantages over other industry passes, from direct to lift access to discounted tickets for family and friends
United States. Canada. Australia. Japan. France. Switzerland. Italy. Austria. No other season pass gives skiers and snowboarders access to so many celebrated resorts around the world than the Epic Pass, including unlimited, unrestricted access to 15 mountain resorts and limited access to 46 more. Priced at $899 for the 2018-19 winter season, the Epic Pass remains unmatched in the mountain resort industry for the variety and value it offers skiers and snowboarders.
New for next winter, the Epic Pass will feature access to Telluride in Colorado; Hakuba Valley’s nine ski resorts in Japan; and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies across Canada, including Fernie Alpine Resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and Kimberley Alpine Resort in British Columbia, Nakiska in Alberta, and Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham in Quebec, all in a long-term alliance.
The Magic Pass, this multi-area ski resort pass launched in the Swiss French regions last year – with 25 ski resorts of all sizes, attracted by the end of February 2018, 2.177 million skier-days which brought a 30% increase in visitor numbers compared to the previous season on the same date. In terms of turnover, an increase of 10% was achieved by the end of February compared to the season total from 2016/17.
Magic Pass is on sale for the 2nd year in the row with more ski areas, with some also usable for summer.
These results were very encouraging, from very small resorts such as Rathvel, which got 220%, increase in visits, to larger resorts, such as Crans-Montana, that their numbers rose more than 30%.
This spirit of cooperation amongst ski areas has guaranteed an appreciable level of stability for the smaller, less well-known ski areas.
Now looking to the 2018-19 ski season, the Magic Mountains Cooperation is launching the MAGIC Pass with more ski areas- The new areas waiting to be discovered by pass holders are: the Espace Dent Blanche (Evolène – La Forclas – Arolla), the Vallée de Joux (L’Abbaye, – L’Orient – Le Brassus), and the Riviera (Les Pléiades- Rochers-de-Naye). In total, Magic Pass 2018/19 includes more than 30 ski areas of all shapes and sizes.
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