Winter Sport Tourism An Overview

Winter sport tourism falls under the umbrella of sport tourism, one of the fastest growth sectors of the tourism industry. Although sport tourism is a relatively new concept in contemporary vernacular, its scope of activity is far from a recent phenomenon. The notion of people traveling to participate in and watch sport dates back to the ancient Olympic Games, and the practice of stimulating tour- ism through sport has existed for over a century. Within the last few decades however, destinations have begun to recognize the significant potential of sport tourism, and they are now aggressively pursuing this attractive market niche.

The Winter Sport Tourism Product

Winter sport activities. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the focus of this book is on the winter sports of skiing and snowboarding, and as previously noted, there are approximately 120 million ski and snowboarders worldwide, with nearly a third of those coming from Western Europe. Figure 2.1 shows the distribution of skiers and boarders by region of origin. The share of international visitors is less than one sixth of partici- pants, with the international flow of skiers and boarders primarily restricted to Europe. Overseas visitors in the U.S., for example, represented just 3.8 per cent of total skier visits in 2012/13. Although some countries have very few ski areas, they are still, like the Netherlands and the U.K., significant outbound markets, sending around one million skiers and boarders each to the mountains every winter. France, Germany, Japan and the U.S. have the biggest domestic ski and snowboard markets, each numbering between 11.5 and 13 million people. In terms of inbound visits, Austria leads the way, with over 34 million, followed by France with 15 million and Switzerland with 13.8 million. Meanwhile, countries with a high level of participation rates amongst domestic populations include Switzerland (37%), Austria (36%), Norway (25%), and Finland (24%). Interestingly, only 4.3 per cent of the population in the U.S. takes to the mountains each winter. Table 2.1 lists the countries that receive over one million skier visits, along with participation rates as a percentage of their population.

The Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts

The unprecedented expansion of tourism has given rise to a number of economic, environmental and social impacts that tend to be concentrated in destination areas (Wall & Mathieson, 2006). Tourism research has typically emphasized the economic impacts and yet there are increasing concerns about the effects of tourism on host societies and their environments. A number of techniques have been developed to monitor these impacts. Common analytical frameworks include an environmental audit, environmental impact analysis, carrying capacity, and community assessment techniques. It is beyond the scope of this book to cover these techniques in detail, but the tourism manager needs to have knowledge of the most current models. Managers must also have an understanding of the principles of sustainable tourism, described as “tourism which is developed and maintained in an area in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an indefinite period and does not degrade or alter the environment (human and physical) in which it exists to such a degree that it prohibits the successful development and well-being of other activities and processes” (Butler, 1993, p. 29). As shown in the Spotlight above, Canadian Mountain Holidays is a good example of this. This increasing emphasis on sustainability has important implications for winter sport tourism, and this chapter focuses on the three pillars of sustainability – the economy, the environment and society. In the past, winter sport tourism was encouraged for its economic benefits with little consideration for the effects on the environment. But this is beginning to change. For tourism to be sustainable, it is vital that its impacts are understood, so that they can be incorporated into planning and management. Table 10.1 lists just some of the positive and negative impacts of winter sport tourism according to experts, many of which are covered in more detail throughout this chapter.

The Future of the Winter Sport Tourism Industry

The opening Spotlight focuses on Slovenia’s emerging ski industry, and Eastern Europe is one of the few parts of the world where the ski industry is growing. Countries like Bulgaria, Russia and Poland, have joined Slovenia in taking advantage of the increased interest in winter sports following the 2014 Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi. China, too, is rapidly expanding its ski industry (see the Case Study in Chapter 1), with plans to open up 250 new ski centers in Heilongjiang province alone in the next decade. Ski resorts are certainly popping up in some unlikely places. In 2014, the Masikryong Ski Resort in North Korea opened up, to the delight of young dictator Kim Jong Un. The winter wonderland is just one of Mr. Kim’s tourism projects, as he has instructed state companies to boost numbers of foreign tourists from 200,000 a year to 1 million by 2016 (The Economist, 2014). The 1,400-hectare Masikryong resort sits at an altitude of 768m, and is said to have cost the regime $35 million. The resort says it wants to attract 5,000 people daily, which might be a challenge, given that barely a few thousand North Koreans know how to ski. In North America, the industry remains in a phase of maturity, characterized by increased consolidation and diversification. But looking back on the last few decades, there have been some significant changes in the industry in that part of the world. Table 12.1 puts a spotlight on the U.S. winter sport tourism environment in the years 1994 and 2014, showing that while overall skier/rider visits have not changed in 20 years, the composition of those on the slopes has. The number of downhill skiers on the slopes has dropped, while that of snowboarders has more than doubled. More females are participating in both activities, and participants tend to be older than they were 20 years ago. Perhaps of concern is a substantial drop in the number of lessons being taken today compared to 20 years ago, implying there might be fewer beginners taking to the slopes. Certainly, in the U.K. there are concerns that the poor performance of the schools market will have a negative impact on the number of new entrants to the sport.

The Importance of Public Relations and Earned Media

The field of public relations (PR) is growing. In the U.S. alone, the PR industry is comprised of more than 7,000 companies bringing in estimated annual revenues of $11 billion, and offering a diverse range of services from media relations to event management (Pozin, 2014). There are many types of media available to PR specialists, and these fit into three broad categories: owned, paid, and earned media. Owned media is defined as communication channels that are within the organization’s control, such as websites, blogs, or email; while paid media refers mostly to traditional advertising, discussed in Chapter 6. Earned media, on the other hand, is generated when content receives recognition and a following outside of traditional paid advertising, often from publicity gained through editorial influence. Critically, earned media cannot be bought or owned, it can only be gained organically, hence the term ‘earned’. Since most of this earned media is gained through PR activities, this chapter will mainly focus on PR and its various techniques. PR is broader in scope than publicity, its goal being for an organization to achieve positive relationships with various audiences (publics) in order to manage effectively the organization’s image and reputation. Its publics may be external (customers, news media, the investment community, general public, government bodies) and internal (shareholders, employees). The three most important roles of PR and publicity in tourism and hospitality are maintaining a positive public presence, handling negative publicity, and enhancing the effectiveness of other promotional mix elements (Morrison, 2002). In this third role, PR paves the way for advertising, sales promotions, and personal selling by making customers more receptive to the persuasive messages of these elements. Ultimately, the difference between advertising and public relations is that public relations takes a longer, broader view of the importance of image and reputation as a corporate competitive asset and addresses more target audiences.

Design and Planning for Winter Sport Resorts

As mentioned already in this book, the ski industry has experienced considerable consolidation in the last few decades, particularly in North America, as larger operators buy up individual ski resorts or send small operators out of business. The industry is also highly vulnerable to climate change, which can have a devastating economic impact on ski resorts, requiring them to diversify their products and services and focus on alleviating the negative consequences of seasonality. If we factor in demographic shifts which are also dramatically affecting the ski industry landscape, then we have an environment of increasing uncertainty – where ski resort planning and development takes on a greater significance. The key stages in the design of ski resorts are gaining development approval, analyzing site feasibility, deciding on design guidelines, and choosing development styles. Each of these is examined in turn.

Management and Operations

The network of lifts at a ski resort can be arranged in several patterns depending on the size and topography of the area. A common pattern is where several lifts run outwardly from a common base area to top stations along surrounding peaks and ridges. Lifts might also run inwardly from several base stations to a common summit area. Ski areas located along the face of a long ridge may simply have numerous lifts running roughly parallel, and high-traffic areas may have two or more lifts in parallel for increased capacity. A small percentage of ski areas have lifts which cross one another, usually with an aerial lift crossing above a surface lift, and some have lifts connecting two mountains; the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola connecting Whistler and Blackomb mountains is a good example of such a lift. Needless to say, operating ski lifts is an important element of ski area opera- tions. In the U.S. alone, there are approximately 3,500 lifts, the vast majority being traditional double, triple and quad chair lifts (both fixed and detachable), as well as gondolas, surface lifts, rope tows and aerial tramways. Ski areas tend to adhere to rigorous and exacting inspections procedures for their lifts, and they tend to have an excellent safety record (NSAA, 2012). Ski area employees conduct their own individual inspection to their lifts on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. This maintenance regime is conducted pursuant to state agencies, lift manufacturer requirements, federal regulations, national safety standards and other inspection entities. It is not unusual for a ski area to close a lift due to adverse weather conditions and the decision to close lifts is usually determined by a select group of ski area managers, which may include the general manager, ski patrol director, the risk manager, and/or the manager of the lifts department.

The Impact of Technology on Winter Sport Tourism

We are witnessing a rapidly changing communications environment dominated by digital technology. To illustrate how quickly technology is advancing, take the example of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Minority Report. In 1999, the director convened a three-day think tank to gather insights from 23 top futurists for the making of the movie, which depicted the world of 2054. The goal was to create a realistic view of a plausible future 50 years ahead. Projecting out from the present day’s marketing and media technologies, Spielberg depicted an advertising-saturated society where billboards call out to passers-by on a first-name basis, cereal boxes broadcast animated commercials, newspapers deliver news instantly over a broadband wireless network, holographic hosts greet customers by name at retail stores, and where biometric retina scans deduct the cost of goods instantly from bank accounts (Mathieson, 2002). The technologies portrayed in the film were far from science fiction, and today many are in use or are in development – an indication of the rapid pace of technological change. Technology and the Internet have fundamentally altered the way the world interacts and communicates. Traditional approaches to branding that put emphasis on mass media techniques are less and less effective in a marketplace where customers have access to massive amounts of information about brands, product and companies and in which social networks have, in some cases, supplanted brand networks (Keller, 2009). In the new media environment, consumers are increasingly in control. Not only do they have more choices of media to use, they also have a choice about whether and how they want to receive commercial content. In response marketers are employing more varied marketing communications techniques than ever before – see the Powder Matt Snapshot above for examples. Table 1 summarizes some of the interactive marketing communication options that are now available.

Marketing and Intermediaries

Effective communication with target customers is carried out by a variety of methods, referred to as ‘marketing communications’, and the Spotlight above highlighted the importance of an integrated marketing communications campaign. In many people’s perception, marketing is promotion, for promotion is the highly visible, public face of marketing. However, promotion is only one element of the marketing mix, its role being to convince potential customers of the benefits of purchasing or using the products and services of a particular organization. Promotions decisions will be determined by the overall marketing plan, as illusurated in Figure 6.1. Marketing objectives are derived from the strategic tools of targeting and positioning. The marketing mix is then used to achieve these objectives, and promotions are just one part of this marketing mix. The blend of promotional elements outlined in Table 6.1 is known as the promo- tional mix, and promotional management involves coordinating all the elements, setting objectives and budgets, designing programs, evaluating performance, and taking corrective action. Advertising and sales promotion are covered in this chapter, whereas the remaining elements are discussed in other chapters of the book.

The Role of Events for Winter Sport Tourism

Events play a significant role in today’s society, and for tourism destinations they are important due to their tourist, social and cultural functions (Getz, 2007), as well as their role in local and regional development (Wood, 2005). First and foremost, events are a great anchor for attracting tourism, providing tourists with a prime opportunity to get to know the local culture and experience the essence of the place. During an event, visitors have a unique chance to interact with the local community, gaining a deeper experience of the ambience, customs and local culture. Events can also help in improving a place’s image, creating a window for positive media coverage. Finally, for the residents themselves, events are a unique occasion to celebrate the local culture and interact within the community – you can see examples of this in the opening Spotlight above. According to Jackson (2013), three industries in particular are shaping the growth of the events sector (see Figure 9.1). Firstly, the hospitality industry - be it hotels, restaurants or venues - has viewed events as a way of encouraging new clientele or increasing the yield of existing customers. This is the case for the World Ski and Snowboard Festival held in Whistler, Canada every April in order to increase occupancy rates at the end of the winter season. Hotel rooms are fully booked during the event, which spans two weekends in order to maximize occupancy rates.