Silver Star Mountain Resort is taking charge.
After four seasons of declining numbers, the Okanagan ski resort has launched an assertive marketing campaign that will increase its visibility in California and Ontario.
Its entire campaign, according to Silver Star’s resort services manager Robin Baycroft, will revolve around its new My1Pass – the first all-inclusive ski pass of its kind in Canada.
Available in both a season and a day pass, Silver Star’s My1Pass provides access to all areas of the mountain, including alpine, Nordic, snowshoeing and tubing trails, for the cost of one ticket.
Baycroft said he hopes this will give Silver Star the leg up it needs to attract out-of-province visitors – particularly the Australian visitors, who make up most of B.C.’s overseas ski tourists – when they’re choosing ski destinations for their vacations.
“You can imagine someone planning their holiday to Silver Star,” he said, “and they’re saying, ‘Skating? Tubing? Snowshoeing? And all the stuff’s included?’ It gives us an advantage over other resort destinations.”
Silver Star’s campaign is just one of the boisterous efforts taken on by B.C. ski resorts to generate buzz and boost business before the season begins. Big White is offering free skiing days. Revelstoke is offering weighty discounts on lift tickets well into December. Whistler has launched the marketing strategy #WhistlerUnfiltered, which draws on user-submitted Instagram photos to build anticipation through social networking.
These efforts have followed four years of stagnant or declining numbers for ski hills across the province. Since 2008, ski resorts have seen U.S. ski visits – by far the greatest number of out-of-province ski visits to B.C. resorts – drastically decline as the American economy struggles to recover.
But a recent Statistics Canada survey indicates that international visitors to B.C. are growing, a sure sign that the tourism sector is recovering after four years of stagnant or declining numbers throughout the province. Overnight visits in B.C. from the U.S. were up 7.2% in August over the same month in 2011. Total overnight international visits were up 6% from August 2011.
Pat Bell, minister of jobs, tourism and innovation, has said anecdotal reports from all 13 resorts across the province indicate that early-season bookings for the ski season are between five and 25% ahead of last year, with Ontario leading the bookings.
While some say this paints a good picture for the coming winter season, Louise Walker, Tourism Whistler’s vice-president of marketing and strategic planning, said there’s no math to indicate that this will be the case in reality.
“I’d like to say that a strong summer means a strong winter, but obviously in the summer we’re looking more at a regional market,” Walker said. “In the winter, we’re looking at more of a destination market, people are coming here for a longer length of time and they’re booking further in advance.”
Tourism Whistler’s official forecast for the coming season has yet to be completed, but Walker said she’s optimistic that the coming season will see increased visits.
The mountain is on track to do so. In August, Whistler Blackcomb reported a 32% increase in revenue between October 2011 and June 2012 over that same nine-month period the year before. Skier visits also increased 5% from the year before, driven by a 20% increase in destination visits.
According to Bell, B.C.’s ski industry is the “third or fourth” largest economic generator for the province’s tourism industry and the single largest subsector for winter tourism. Last year, it generated $1.1 billion in economic activity and 6.4 million ski days – a little more than half of which were from outside B.C., including the U.S., Ontario, Australia and the U.K. – for the province.
Since launching its strategic five-year tourism plan Gaining the Edge in 2011, Tourism BC has invested $2.55 million into marketing the ski sector.
To do so more effectively, Tourism BC brought together all 13 resorts to initiate a marketing strategy aimed at markets in Ontario, the U.S. and overseas that would have them working together in their individual marketing plans.
This resulted in the Toronto Ski Show last month, where Bell said all the resorts worked together to market a consolidated industry rather than a group of disparate locations.
The plan was intended to drive consumers to the Tourism BC website, and from there let each resort vie for business.
“Every one of the 13 resorts has a unique feature, so the principle was to drive the skier who is likely to travel for their experience during the winter to the generic B.C. website, and from there let each of the B.C. ski resorts compete for the business,” Bell said. •
