Skiing marketing

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Casa Alfredino 10 Oct 2016
Hoping some of you might have some ideas for me. I am looking to push our place in the Dolomites for this winter, but have come to realise that you need to be basically a full year in advance to get into any of the major skiing company's and for this season we are too late. So I need to try to find a way to ;get out directed marketing to the right places and am trying to work out different ways to do that. UKC has been extremely effective for us in terms of climbing, but the Dolomites are not so well known for winter climbing etc. - have done articles and I think that will naturally build with time as word gets about. But Skiing we need to work on.

Specifically we are trying to appeal to skiers who are more in to touring, going to lots of different resorts who aren't fussed about driving for half an hour to go somewhere where they have totally different runs from the day before - we are never going to win the "right on the slopes" crowd as we're not on the slopes!

So to that end I've been wondering if there is a similar system to the BMC who keeps a list of clubs etc. Who we can send information to. We haven't got fists full of readies so some how have to find good ways of doing this in unconventional ways. I'm already writing blogs etc which are linked to our page as a way of getting searched, but that is only going to be a small help - only every 4 in 40 hits will link through to look at the accommodation, and a smaller number will then book. So how do I get the right target audience to my page? Will most likely go to the ski show and try to drum up interest that way, but again, there's only so much you can do by wondering around stands and people are always very positive (because they have to be) but then it often doesn't lead to much. Any ideas?
 earlsdonwhu 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

Try contacting the Eagle ski club? They send out a newsletter...not sure if you could advertise in it.
In reply to earlsdonwhu: no, not really. Am a member but they like to keep their business separate from any advertising. I know there are some spots in the yearbook but that's just been and didn't know until I received my copy... doh!
 galpinos 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

Chalets Direct?
 summo 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

maybe just write on lots of related sports forums asking for advice on where advertise?
In reply to summo:

That is a superb idea. You sir are a genius
In reply to galpinos: Will take a look. Trouble is when ever I've booked skiing holidays I've always been going to my own place or somebody else has organised it so don't know where people are likely to look! Cheers for your suggestions.
 Postmanpat 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:
Another vote for contacting the Eagle ski Club. Also try the Ski Club of Great Britain. I think the most useful guy there may their media content guy, Chris Madoc Jones. At the very least you can get a listing on their site but he may have some additional suggestions.
And, of ourse, the Snowheads site although that is mainly downhillers I think.
Post edited at 14:35
 summo 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

Serious reply now, perhaps a prize of weeks stay etc... Depends how big an enterprise you are and if you can afford to give a week away.
In reply to Postmanpat: Yeah, I post a little bit on Snowheads already, although the set up is very different from here and no overt plugs are tolerated. So I have to be careful how I post and about what. Ski Club listings are pretty expensive - had a look at that, and the trouble is there are loads of things like this where you have no idea what the pay off will be. Its super tricky. Currently sat here preparing a mailing list of all the BMC affiliated climbing clubs e-mail addresses - its a loooooong list. Never knew there were so many climbing clubs!

In reply to summo: I did try that through Dicks Climbing and I think it maybe got us one booking. Maybe I should looking at doing it on here this year. Could certainly use it to generate a mailing list...

 summo 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

Perhaps 'exodus travels', but not sure if all their stuff are packages with a guide etc..
 Dogwatch 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:
Be careful with the word "touring" as you seem to mean driving to different areas which is not the usual meaning of "ski touring".
Post edited at 15:45
 summo 10 Oct 2016
In reply to Dogwatch:

> Be careful with the word "touring" as you seem to mean driving to different areas which is not the usual meaning of "ski touring".

Oops, that's what I took it for, envisaged local tracks etc..
In reply to Dogwatch: Well it does mean both. In that area there are numerous on-piste tours, but also many many off piste tours across the area - for example our local is Punta Penia on Marmolada - you can take it whichever way you like! In my info section I've just not got around to writing up information about the ski touring touring yet! Only so many hours in the day and I have another job. If only I could get paid to just go ski touring

 CathS 11 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:
I haven't had a chance to look at your website, but do you provide daily transport for your guests to the surrounding ski areas?

Whilst the idea of car hire and self-driving each day from somewhere slightly out on a limb might not appeal to so many people, if you were to offer a ski safari itinerary where you took your guests to a different ski area in the Dolomiti Superski each day (and maybe even showed them around and took them to a nice restaurant for lunch), you could be onto something much more marketable.

I had a fantastic 'ski safari' trip in the Dolomites with Colletts last season; albeit staying in different mountain refugios each night, but other than that aspect of it (which made it fairly pricey), a big part of the appeal of the trip was that it enabled us to ski many of the smaller, quieter corners of the Dolomiti Superski, that would otherwise have been difficult to visit over the course of a week on a traditional resort based holiday.

I've also been on some good 'safari' trips with Snoworks, which have been guided off piste trips using a single base but being transported by minibus to a different ski area each day.

It's something a bit different anyway for people who like to explore different areas and get a decent amount of mileage in over a week's trip.

Incidentally, Snoworks often use single chalets for the group accommodation for their trips. On this year's trip with them I stayed in a fabulous chalet in a tiny village a couple of miles down the road from Ste Foy, so definitely out on a limb, but great for getting to all sorts of places, and a refreshing change from staying in a big resort, with a standard of accommodation and dining that would have cost a lot more in a more mainstream resort. They have recently started doing off-piste weeks in the Dolomites (currently based at a rather expensive hotel in Corvara), so it might be worth having a chat with them.

What else does your chalet offer to market itself? A good in-house chef (maybe even offering the fabulous local cuisine - an essential part of a trip to the Dolomites for many people) and sauna/hot tub facilities will always appeal to people.
Post edited at 21:46
In reply to CathS:

Hey Cath, yes Safari's we are doing. They will be cheaper than Colletts as you won't have to pay the premium for staying in a new location each day and as we are very centrally located (even if it's not directly on the slopes) the maximum drive for the day is about half an hour. We can also organise off piste safari's through a guide we know very well, as well as ice climbing, rock climbing and general mountaineering. We have one of the best ice climbing spots in Europe just five minutes from our front door.

At the moment we don't have a spa or sauna as it was just a bridge too far in terms of current investment - we need to get the place going a bit first but the next plan is to develop our double floor garage into a usable area with a bouldering wall and communal area where larger groups can get together to eat and socialise. With time we might be able to make a sauna but for the moment we have an arrangement with a nice hotel around the corner to use their spa at cost.

As for chefs - that is a really tricky one - our aim was always to provide high quality self catering accomodation at a good cost. Our safaris include nightly meals at a local restaurant but an in house chef means you have to employ them full time which will not work that well if people don't want the chef. Its a tricky balance really - the same goes for baby sitting services - something we really want to do but we're in a bit of a catch 22...

Transport is a little tricky - whilst we are there we can offer it, so the ski safari's which I would come over for would definitely include transport each day. We are also in the process of arranging a daily transport deal with a local firm for the rest of the time when we are back in the UK.
 ben b 12 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

Would be worth talking to John Eames and Bonny Masson at the Telemark Ski Company: they do (excellent) on and off piste weeks for both AT skiers and telemarkers and tend to stick to 'favourite haunts' once established.

b
 Jim 1003 13 Oct 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

If your not near the slopes you need to be cheap or people will go elsewhere that is near the slopes....

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...