The Ski Resort Industry

Term Paper # 103790

This report characterizes the market for the ski resort industry and related products/services and assesses the attractiveness of this market to potential producers/marketers.

2,780 words () | 15 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although skiing is one of Americans' favorite sports and leisure activities, ski areas throughout North America are facing many problems. The author points out that fewer people visit U.S. ski areas now than ten or twenty years ago. The paper also relates that the high seasonality of demand, the potential negative effects of climate change and issues surrounding environmentally sustainable management practices present major challenges to the ski industry. The author underscores that the barriers to market entry include large amounts of initial capital, high maintenance costs, dependability on weather and human resources management. The paper reports that successful resorts respond to these challenges through continued diversification and effective customer relationship management programs. The author concludes that the ski resort industry is not an attractive candidate for potential market entrants.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures
Executive Summary
Purposes of the Report
Sources and Methods of Data Collection
Interpretations and Conclusions
Introduction
Industry Assessment
Industry Landscape
Market Demand
Seasonality of Demand
Factors Influencing Future Demand
Climate Change
Environmentally Sustainable Management
Barriers to Entry
Staying Ahead of the Competition
Summary

From the Paper:

"Seasonality of demand in the ski resort industry refers to the fluctuations in demand during different months of the year. Statistics reflecting the number of visits or the frequency of ski resort visitations per season is not readily available, making it difficult to quantify seasonality of demand. However, one can draw a parallel between the seasonality of demand in the ski resort industry and the seasonality of demand for skis and related equipment. According to AuctionBytes.com (2007), the independent trade publication for online merchants, demand for snow skis seems to concentrate around Christmas holidays."

Sample of Sources Used:

Abegg B., Burki, R., and Elsasser. (2003, April). Climate Change - Impacts on the Tourism Industry in Mountain Areas. Proceedings, 1st International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism, Djerba, 9-11 April 2003. Retrieved April 11, 2008 from The World Wide Web: http://www.breiling.org/snow/index.htm
AuctionBytes. (2007, April 27). Data Bytes: Capitalizing on Seasonal Demand on eBay. Auctionbytes.com. Retrieved April 11, 2008 from The World Wide Web: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m04/i27/s03
Clifford, H. (2003). Downhill Slide. Sierra, 88 (1), 34-39. Retrieved April 19, 2008 from the UNL library database Wilson Web portal.
Dickson, M. (2006). Investigating Skier Demand For Environmentally Sustainable Ski Hill Management. Simon Fraser University Institutional Repository. Retrieved April 11, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/retrieve/4280/etd2716.pdf
Hoovers. (2008). Industry Overview: Ski Facilities. Hoovers.com. Retrieved April 11, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hoovers.com/ski-facilities/--ID__261--/free-ind-fr-profile-basic.xhtml