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The new BASI chairman tells us where he thinks the industry should be heading 03

theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

Winter Sports Industry News

SKITRADEIS HERE

Welcome to the first issue of The Ski

Trade, a monthly magazine for the

snow sports industry and community

in the UK and further afield. The

magazine will cover everything that’s

important and relevant to you.

Since announcing our new title,

we’ve had a constant stream of

industry insiders identifying with a

publication that will reach everyone

from corporate CEOs to first season

chalet hosts. We’ve also teamed

up with the biggest hitters in the

industry to ensure our new magazine

lives up to your expectations. Whilst

InTheSnow is providing a great trade

distribution channel for us, it doesn’t

end there. Skier and Snowboarder

magazine will be feeding our content

digitally to their large database. Our

editorial team will be at all the winter

sports trade and consumer shows

and events, reporting on the issues

that matter most to you, the trade.

We’re also excited to be working

with Patrick Thorne, a well-renowned

ski journalist with over 20 years

experience, and a knowledge of

resorts that’s second to none. Patrick

will be providing regular features on

what is possibly the most important

topic affecting our industry at the

moment – the environment.

Amie Postings, snowboarder,

Morzine resident, and an

experienced hotelier, writer and

publisher, brings a strong travel

and accommodation angle to our

magazine, providing an insight into

an essential part of our industry. We’ll

also have regular contributions from

a variety of operators, who will share

their challenges, aspirations and

expectations for their ”dream” snow

sports businesses.

Rob Stewart is a qualified ski

instructor for over 20 years, working

in several countries both with ski

schools and tour operators. He’s

been writing about snow sports

for over 7 years, as well as topics

related to equipment, destinations

and ski technique.

We’re passionate about a fantastic

industry, which combines both travel

and sport, where opportunities

for growth continue. At the same

time we’re all relying on increasing

participation levels to survive in the

face of economic, environmental

and social challenges.

We’d like to invite you, the industry, to

get in touch. Let’s share our collective

experiences, knowledge and ideas.

Contributions in all sections of The

Ski Trade are welcome, and we’ve

already persuaded some to take up

the opportunity.

Although our magazine is called

The Ski Trade, we’ll be covering

everything that encompasses winter

mountain travel and all associated

sports. We hope you enjoy the read.

Check out The Ski Trade website too!

At theskitrade.com you’ll not only

find the digital version of The Ski

Trade magazine, but also updated

information, news and events from

the four corners of the European ski

trade. Updated regularly with useful

industry knowledge, theskitrade.com

is where you can have your say too.

You’ll also find The Ski Trade

available to download from the

Apple Newsstand.

rob@theskitrade.com

amie@theskitrade.com

Welcome to the first issue of The Ski Trade, a monthly magazine for the snow sports industry and community in the UK and further afield. The magazine will cover everything that’s important and relevant to you.

THE

Rob Stewart + Amie PostingsCo-Editors

02 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade October 2013 | Issue 01

“You’re Mr Olympics!” Not my words, but those of Mr Franz Klammer

Sir Steve started skiing before

he’d stopped rowing ”… when I

used to slip off occasionally during

the winter”. In the modern-day

this would surely mean changing

his passport and donning a false

moustache. Perhaps it was those

sneaky trips to the mountains that

made the difference between

silver and gold? Maybe all Olympic

hopefuls should take a ski break

in January as an addition to their

training programme. Don’t worry

about the highly unlikely chance of

injury, and the results are stunning.

During the years following Sir

Steve’s retirement he started to get

involved in more organised ski trips

like the Crystal Ski Fest, an end-of-

season event that involves coaching

from top instructors, ski racing

competitions, and a bit of après-ski

thrown in for good measure. This is

where Sir Steve met Gareth Roberts,

now BASI Chairman, who started

to persuade him that he should

qualify as a ski instructor. Sir Steve

now has a BASI Level 1 ski instructor

qualification, and has ambitions to

continue further through the system.

Roberts eventually approached Sir

Steve with a proposal to become

BASI’s President and he accepted

on two conditions: ”that they help

me reach my BASI Level 2, and they

start to ensure all instructors wear

helmets when teaching.”

”In the US all ski instructors wear

helmets while instructing,” says Sir

Steve. ”At first, not wearing one was

like an ego thing, but cycling would be

crazy without a helmet now. We made

a family decision to all wear helmets.”

It will be interesting to see where

Sir Steve and BASI take this issue

and if all instructors in Europe will

be mandated to wear helmets

when teaching. Go to theskitrade.

com to take our survey and share

your opinion.

Olympic Glory, can we achieve winter sports success?

”Responding with my head rather

than my heart, I know that it’s a

numbers game and it would take a

very special person, with the right

structure and people behind them,

to achieve the kind of success we’re

talking about.

The achievements that our ski

racers have made are special,

even without winning a gold medal.

Children in Austria have to ski as

part of their curriculum, we can

never match that, and again it’s a

numbers game.

Skiing is not on our doorstep and

the travelling makes it harder. One

of my passions is rugby and there

is an ease of access here, just like

rowing too. There are around half of

Winter Olympic sports that can be

practiced in the UK, and these are

the ones we can focus on achieving

medals in.

We have also been left behind

in sports like short track speed

skating. We were once one of the

best countries in the world, and

with a crossover from cycling we

could potentially become successful

again. Investing in short track speed

skating, and maybe long track,

makes a lot of sense to me.”

From tourists to teachers

”More people ski in this country

(UK) than in any other country

without large Alpine mountains,

and I’m very passionate about that.

Crystal was at the heart of cheap

ski holidays back in the 1980s and

they helped change the face of

skiing in the UK. Also, the ski shows

are bigger here than any other

‘non-Alpine’ nation. Now almost

everybody has the opportunity to

ski and BASI are great at taking

people, training them to instruct,

and encouraging them to pass that

knowledge onto others.”

BASI as an organisation has

certainly achieved the result of

turning ”ordinary” holiday skiers

into paid-up members of the snow

sports industry.

Sir Steve has recently been

heading out to Mürren to take

part in the famous endurance

challenge, The Inferno, a popular

event with many snow sports

industry participants. ”I should

be doing some extra training! It’s

the uphill bits that make all the

difference. You can lose lots of

time uphill and those sections are

very tough. My body weight helps

on the flatter downhill sections but

not on the uphill ones!”

I was intrigued to know what Sir

Steve thought about the chances

of him being a successful

downhill Alpine ski racer

in another life. Would he

have been any good? ”If I

was brought up in the mountains,

yes,” came the definitive answer.

”I like to go fast and I think I could

have been a downhill ski racer,

not in the technical disciplines, but

downhill, yes.” I then mentioned

the great Franz Klammer and

thought about how winning five

gold medals in a Winter Games

would have been quite something.

It turns out that Sir Steve had skied

with Klammer a few years ago near

Salt Lake City on a trip organised

by VISA. They were introduced to

each other at the bottom of the ski

run as they were being split into

groups, and when Franz Klammer

realised who his companion for

the day would be, shook his hands

and simply said, ”ah, so you’re

Mr Olympics!” The way Sir Steve

told me about this moment made

me wonder if it meant as much as

actually winning one of his gold

medals. Perhaps Mr Klammer was

hoping to put some false sense of

security into Sir Steve, a cunning

ploy to ensure he at least had the

upper hand on the ski slopes, if not

on the Olympic medal table.

SIR STEvE REDgRAvE TAlKS SKIThe Ski Trade talks to the British rowing legend, keen skier and BASI (British Association of Snowsports Instructors) President about the Olympics and how he likes to go as fast as possible on skis.

03theskitrade.com | @theskitradeIssue 01 | October 2013

Youth charity Snow-Camp has space on their

annual Morzine-based, 150km, GPS-tracked Alpine

Challenge from 16–19 January 2014. With the help

of sponsor Ellis Brigham, its aim is to raise over

£50,000 to give children from underprivileged

backgrounds the opportunity to experience snow

sports and potentially gain qualifications. The

Challenge, including flights, accommodation, ski

hire and lift pass costs £1000 per team, and the

fundraising target per team is £5000. Snow-Camp is

well supported by the UK winter sports industry and

the Alpine Challenge is becoming a fun, mid-season

opportunity to catch-up with industry peers. The Ski

Club GB, World Snowboard Guide and Snowboard

Club UK have all previously entered teams. To enter

visit snow-camp.org.uk

Fraser Wilkin, ski journalist and Founder of weather

and snowfall site weathertoski.co.uk, has launched

a new bespoke tour operator specialising in the

high-end hotel market. Wilkin is joined by another ski

industry stalwart, Richard Visick, who takes on the

role of Operations Director. Snow-wise will operate in

70 hotels over 35 resorts, combining big names with

a number of “original and unique” offerings, including

Hintertux, Kappl and Warth-Schrocken – the snowiest

resort in the Alps! Wilkin told us, ”The skiing industry

might be having a tough time, but we’ve identified

a gap in the market to provide a tour operator that

prides itself on quality, flexibility, knowledge and

service.” Wilkin and Visick have personally visited all

the hotels they offer to ensure they meet the criteria

required for the Snow-wise experience.

Claire Collins, Group PR and Marketing Manager

at Snow+Rock for the last 7 years has left the

company for a new roll at the clothing retailer

Primark. The Ski Trade spoke to Collins shortly

after her final day, and she told us she was

looking forward to her new job but was sad

to be leaving the snow sports industry. Collins

also said that she’d been "looking for a while"

to find something new, and believed that there

was a vacancy for her old position available

at the company. Snow+Rock has also recently

announced the opening of a new concession in

Selfridges, London, this October where they will

showcase their favourite brand partners, as well

as re-opening the newly-renovated High Street

Kensington store, first opened in 1982.

In response to requests from chalet owners, tour

operators and winter accommodation providers

across the Alps for eco-friendly guest amenities,

Linge des Alpes, the French distributor for ”best

of British” Mitre linen, has added the Bamboo

range of towels and bathrobes to its collection

of chalet and guest supplies for accommodation

providers across the Alps. The Bamboo range

accompanies Linge des Alpes luxury, comfort

and essentials product ranges, which include the

Cow Hide range of furnishings, H2K of Harrogate

skincare and Vogue Beds, in addition to Mitre

bed linen, towels and soft furnishings. Delivery is

available across the Alps in time for the coming

winter season. Visit the Linge des Alps website

for further information (lingedesalpes.com).

As chalet owners and operators across the Alps

enjoyed some well-earned downtime this summer,

we questioned a cross-section on their use of

accommodation listings websites. Our survey

uncovered a huge reliance on directory websites

to generate bookings. What does this mean for the

future of independent chalet operators?

View the full results at theskitrade.com

• On average, accommodation providers will

feature their property on two or three websites.

Almost 30% list on up to seven.

• Over 50% of chalets rely on directories for over

50% of their total winter enquiries. Also, over 50%

of operators spend £500+ per year on listings.

• Online booking facilities were the most important

feature, followed by collecting guest reviews.

• Find out which listings sites are favoured by the

ski accommodation industry on theskitrade.com.

There’s been phenomenal growth in the number

of small, owner-operated chalets across Europe

over the last decade. ”I need to feature on directory

websites, simply because my competitors do,” an

operator in Méribel told us.

Building and maintaining a stand-alone website can

also be expensive. ”If it costs me £350 to list on a

directory website, this gives me an online presence

for far less than building my own website,” explains a

property owner in Verbier.

Many European chalets are lifestyle businesses

for their owners. Time is precious in this industry,

and some directories offer useful tools to help

manage payments and guest profiles, easing

some of the burden.

A further opinion from the industry was the leveling

of the playing field. ”I can’t compete with the big tour

operators with huge SEO budgets. Being listed on a

website means my chalet is more likely to be seen,”

believes a La Plagne chalet operator.

For most, the ski accommodation industry runs on

narrow profit margins and high levels of taxation,

especially when employing staff. To help you decide

whether to invest, here are a few industry opinions

on the future of accommodation websites.

”Holidaymakers now have less time on their

hands. They’re also more aware of using the

internet to get better value for money, and

more choice,“ believes Gerry Lovick of White

Blancmange, a luxury travel website featuring

over 100 high-end European ski chalets.

”We have 16 chalets and apartments, I list about

half of them on a selection of websites,” explains

Sam Dredge of More Mountain in Morzine. ”They’re

a great source of new business. I find that the

following season, clients who previously found us

on a directory website will book directly with us.”

”Our site takes a different approach to traditional

chalet directories,” says Alex Narracott, Co-Founder

of MuchBetterChalets. ”It’s free for chalets to reply

to enquiries that come through our site, and they’ll

pay a smaller than average commission, should a

booking result.”

”January each year sees the highest traffic to

our website, which features 1150 European ski

properties,“ Daniel Harrison of ChaletFinder tells us.

”We’ve completely redesigned the front end, we’re

improving the owners administration area, and we’re

placing more emphasis on summer, with our new

ChaletFinder Cycle site, coming soon.”

It’s clear that accommodation directories are here

to stay, and unique ways are being developed to

better serve the market and the chalet owner. That’s

a good thing for us all surely?

TO lIST or Not To List

Spaces Still Available For The Snow-Camp Challenge

New Tour Op Launches Despite Tough Conditions

Snow+Rock's Claire Collins Leaves For Primark

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04 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade October 2013 | Issue 01

05theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

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When I first started writing about ski resorts

nearly 30 years ago we were, although I didn’t

know it then, still in a period of growth in Europe

and North America. New resorts, such as Beaver

Creek and Valmorel, were still opening and

the news each winter was always of new lifts,

new runs. The environment was sometimes

mentioned, but usually in the context of some

long-haired environmentalists having the audacity

to slow the development of one ski slope or

another – curse them.

By the 1990s the expansion was over, the news

was not of new runs, but of better lifts on existing

routes, and always more and more snowmaking.

Then in 2005 the world’s media cottoned onto

climate change. Somehow ski resorts became

not the victims of it, but the epitome of all that

was wrong with mankind’s excess, destroying

our own planet. Suddenly resorts became

very environmentally aware, not exploiters but

stewards of their local patch.

I realise I have included an awful lot of

generalisations for which I apologise; there are

many ski resorts that have always had a green

ethos, most of which were ahead of increasing

media coverage on the global warming

issue, but I wanted to give this context as a

background to how things have changed, and

continue to change.

Around the time of that explosion in media

interest I had been building a database of the

world’s top 250 resorts, and what they were each

doing on the environment (you can still see the

Green Resort Guide online in the resorts section

of skiclub.co.uk, although it hasn’t been updated

for a few years), and I did have to cut through an

awful lot of guff about ”ethos” and ”principles”

in some cases to find any hard facts about what

some resorts were doing about the environment.

Sometimes it boiled down to zero.

But in the 8 years since, things have changed.

Although the credit crunch and the lack of an

instant catastrophe has pushed climate change

down the public agenda, the subject and, most

importantly, the attitude has visibly become

a part of ski resort DNA. No new project is

announced now without a preamble about the

environmental aspects.

More importantly, some major capital investment

by ski resorts, and the travel companies

that serve them, has helped our industry to

become world-leading, if we weren’t before, in

environmental responsibility.

Examples? In Aspen a new waste gas recycling

scheme from an old coal mine both generates

power and cuts CO2 emissions, which dwarf

energy consumption by the resort, so it can claim

to save more CO2 than it generates. At Whistler

a new hydroelectric scheme also generates

more electricity than is needed by the resort, and

on the US east coast giant new wind turbines

produce all, or nearly all, the power requirements

of a few smaller ski areas you may not have heard

of: Berkshire East and Jiminy Peak.

They’re not all in North America either; a giant

photovoltaic solar array at the Austrian resort of

Werfenweng (it’s in the Crystal brochure!) is part

of a comprehensive project to make the resort

carbon-neutral. There are many more examples.

And more important still, for each of these big capital

projects there have been 1000 smaller initiatives.

The growing snowmaking systems, and the new

replacement lifts, are invariably far more efficient than

those they replace – so newer is happily greener. The

recently announced massive snowmaking system

at Lech in Austria uses the same amount of green

energy in a season as a single 100-bed, 3 hotel.

And remember, hotels in ski resorts use less energy

on heating than equivalent buildings by the Med do

on their air con, and in most cases you produce less

CO2 reaching them too as they’re closer – especially

if you go by Eurostar.

More new projects are being announced for

2013–14 too, including a carbon-neutral ski

resort that is being developed at the site of the

old Kobla ski area, near Bled in Slovenia (2864.

si/en), continuing the trend for ”green” to be

”mainstream”, rather than something first fought

against, and then grudgingly accepted and added

on as an afterthought.

Patrick ThorneColumnist

GOInG FOr GrEEn

Issue 01 | October 2013

EurOstarOpEratOrs Of thE ski train

“We’re expecting our French ski service to

have similar sales results this year as last,”

a Eurostar spokesperson told us. “Initial

sales results have been very positive, and

we're expecting another spike in bookings in

September and October when we'll launch our

station adverts to promote ski.”

ski-Lifts airpOrt transfErsaLps-widE airpOrt transfEr cOmpany

“Our advance bookings are significantly up on

this time last year. The trend of booking earlier

continues, and we’re about 2 months ahead of

the curve for last year,” Managing Director Richard

Smith explains.

snOw ExprEssski cOachEs tO 40+ frEnch rEsOrts

“Our ski coach seats went on sale 6 weeks earlier

than usual this year, on 1 August. There hasn’t been

an overwhelming uptake in the intervening time, but

we’re considering the sales that we have had as very

encouraging for this coming winter season,” David

Manley, Snow Express Director told us.

crystaL ski & snOwbOardthE uk’s biggEst ski tOur OpEratOr

“We’ve increased our capacity for this coming

season by a few percentage points,” said Marion

Telsnig, Head of Public Relations at Crystal Ski. “As

we stand at the moment, we’re ahead of last year’s

bookings for peak dates, while all other dates are on

a par with last year.”

ski famiLLEski chaLEt OpEratOrs acrOss 5 rEsOrts

“Our committed capacity in terms of chalet

beds has remained the same, however we’re

working with two new hotels and a self-catering

residence,” Chris Thompson, Managing Director,

told us. “Our bookings are slightly up on last year

right now, and we expect to see modest growth

on the back of great conditions last winter.”

ELLis brigham mOuntain spOrts24 stOrEs acrOss thE uk

“We are one of the first retailers in the UK

to receive new winter product in August,

and we’ve seen a lot of interest in new

skis and boots – there’s a real buzz about

skis specifically at the moment,” explained

Managing Director Mark Brigham. “We like to

always be optimistic and plan for growth and

given last winter’s fantastic snow conditions

we think this is achievable this winter.”

ski cLub Of grEat britaincOnsumEr rEsEarch survEy pubLishEr

“In the new 2013 Ski Club Consumer Research

91% of people said they were planning to increase

or maintain their skiing habits in the next five

years and 71.5% said they were planning to go

next year’ Frank McCusker, CEO of the Ski Club of

Great Britain told us. ‘We expect to see continued

growth in the wintersports market. Snow

conditions have been fantastic in recent seasons,

the economy continues to stabilize and the Winter

Olympics and a nationwide initiative to increase

participation in skiing are on the horizon. All these

factors will contribute to people's confidence

to book and inspiration to ski. More people are

booking six months or more before they travel

and frewer are booking one to three months

before. The late Easter may be a challenge but

fantastic April snow conditions in recent seasons

will help the perception of Spring skiing.”

Have your say at theskitrade.com

THE STATE OfTHE InDuSTRy

The Crystal Ski report told us that the industry grew by 1% last year. How are things looking for this winter season?

06 October 2013 | Issue 01theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

Once again, Henry Schniewind of Henry’s Avalanche

Talks (HAT) will be embarking on a tour to bring his

expert knowledge of mountain and snow safety to

UK skiers. Often seen as an opportunity to meet with

industry peers, as well as getting that all important

safety briefing before the start of the season, the

talks will take place in several Ellis Brigham stores.

Anyone who takes their mountain safety seriously,

and is considering skiing off-piste this winter,

including instructors, should consider attending one

of Schniewind’s talks to learn or refresh their snow

safety knowledge. Head to theskitrade.com for talk

dates and venues.

Avalanche Talks With HAT To Be Held In Several Ellis Brigham Stores

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Gavin Kerr Hunter. Director, SnowPerformance

The Ski Trade attended the recent launch of the new

Go Ski Go Board initiative at The Snow Centre, Hemel

Hempstead. The campaign, orchestrated by Snowsports

England (SSE), is the largest ever to entice people to either

learn to ski for the first time, or return to the sport after

a long break. For the snow sports industry, we think this

campaign could prove to be the spark that encourages

growth once again, after several years of declining

numbers. School ski trips, in particular, have seen the

biggest drop in numbers, down over 11% in the last 3 years.

We’ll be watching the events, including the Slide2Sochi

Roadshow that compliments the Go Ski Go Board

campaign, with interest and there will be further coverage

of the initiative in our second edition, including comments

from Tim Falke of SSE and other industry members.

Go Ski Go Board Initiative Launches

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Issue 01 | October 2013 07theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to walk

around the offices and factories of Atomic, Rossignol

and Head. Every year, these three companies alone

produce over 2m pairs of skis, and anyone who

loves snow sports can’t help but get excited by the

piles of wood that sit around waiting to be crafted

into our favourite tools to slide on.

But during the last few years, they’ve all seen

a decline in production as fewer skis get sold,

and smaller ski manufacturers spring up around

them. Despite this fact, we continue to witness the

launch of yet more ”exciting” innovations in ski

technology. The big manufacturers invest millions in

R&D, constantly pushing the boundaries to create

equipment that improve our on-snow experiences.

So how can these manufacturers innovate when

the hardware sales continue to decrease? When

fewer people are buying skis, but there are more ski

brands in the market, how can any brand survive and

grow in that environment?

Focusing on what was a niche area in the market,

but is now the fastest growing sector – freeskiing

– companies like Scott Sports has targeted

aspirational skiers and found themselves at the heart

of what’s now a mainstream area. A recent report

from the SnowSports Industries America showed the

category of freeski has grown by nearly double since

the 2008–09 winter ski season, to over half a million

participants in North America. Every other category,

with the exception of telemark, has shrunk during

the same period.

InTheSnow asked Herve Maneint, Chief Product

Manager at Scott Sports how it manages to invest

in innovation, whilst predicting what the consumer

wants. ”You must stay specific in the market and then

consumers will put trust in you. A brand cannot play

one day here and then the next over there, the online

community generation have already accelerated the

trends process with faster communication.”

”The sport drives the lifestyle choices of consumers

today and skiing or snowboarding reflects their

identity. Styles change, but what’s really important

for people passionate about their sport are

the technology benefits and today that means

weight, mobility and forgiveness. But it’s not hard

to innovate, you just need to get close to your

environment and have passion.“

Equipped For BusinessHow hard is it to innovate in this challenging climate?

Alpine Ski Snowboard Cross-Country Ski Freeski Snowshoe Telemark Ski

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2K

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6K

8K

10K

12K

No.

of S

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Par

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ants 2008/09

2009/10

2011/12

2010/11

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There have never been more

opportunities for the winter sports trade

to meet and do business. The Ski Trade

will be at all of these events, get in touch

if you’d like to meet us.

tELEgraph ski shOw nOrthEvEntcity, manchEstEr25 – 27 October 2013

Open to members of the public, snowsports community and industry

Kicking off this winter’s round of

events, there are high expectations

for the first Ski and Snowboard Show

North, organised by VOS Media.

A consumer show this

may be, but a lot of business-to-

business networking is expected to

take place with involvement from

industry-wide exhibitors.

skiandsnowboard.co.uk/manchester

ListEx (LOndOn int ski travEL ExchangE)LOndOn rOwing cLub28 – 29 October 2013

Open to tour operators, travel agents and other buyers meet resort reps, hotels and other suppliersLISTEX launched last year to positive

reviews and we’re looking forward to see

how this event develops in year two. The

organisers tell us there’ll be more buyers,

extended forum sessions, and social

events too.

listex.co.uk

tELEgraph ski shOw LOndOnEarLs cOurt 2, LOndOn30 October – 3 November 2013

Open to members of the public, snowsports community and industryLong-established as the UK’s largest

and most visited ski show, the

London event offers trade networking

opportunities on the exhibition floor,

particularly at quieter times such as

press day. Organiser VOS Media

recognise that the London ski show lost

its way in recent years, but feel it put

the buzz back into the event last year.

skiandsnowboard.co.uk

wOrLd travEL markEtExcEL LOndOn4 – 7 November 2013

Open to global travel operators, destination marketers and tourism organisations from the global winter sports industryOrganiser Reed Travel Exhibitions tells

us that £2bn worth of travel industry

deals are done at WTM, and ski

contracting is a significant percentage

of this. You’ll find destination marketing

agencies and large ski tour operators.

There’s a lot of ground to cover at

WTM, so spend time working out who

you want to visit in advance.

wtmlondon.com

istm (intErnatiOnaL ski travEL markEt)a-rOsa hOtEL, kitzbÜhEL, austria17 – 18 March 2014

Open to suppliers - hotels, resorts and tourist offices. Buyers - tour operators and agents A new winter sports trade event

organised by Reed Exhibitions, buyers

pre-schedule appointments with suppliers

and vice versa. We’re told several buyer

and supplier brands are already on board,

and we’re looking forward to seeing how

this new event develops.

istm.co.uk

ispOmEssE mÜnchEn, munich26 – 29 January 2014

Open to winter sports equipment manufacturers, clothing brands, agents, distributors and buyersPretty much every global winter sports

brand exhibits to the trade at ISPO, making

the show your opportunity to check out

who is innovating and developing. 80,000

visitors from 100 countries pass through

the event each year.

ispo.com/munich

sLidEtELfOrd intErnatiOnaL cEntrE18 – 20 February 2013

Open to action sports and streetwear retailers, distributors and buyersThis is the UK’s only winter sports product

trade exhibition. Slide offers a unique

opportunity to catch up with industry

contacts, and to learn about new products

and brands launching in the industry.

slide.uk.co.uk

Time is precious out here in the

Alps. We moved to Morzine to

start our chalet business in 2006,

and we hoped that the pace of life

would be somewhat more relaxed

than back in the UK. In reality,

we’ve taken on more and more

accommodation as new properties

have become available, and at the

start of last winter we added Hotel

L’Aubergade, a 1954, 17-bedroom

hotel to our business.

Staying on top of reservations admin,

while growing your business and

training new staff, can be a juggling

act. Many of our guests return to our

chalets year after year, and we get to

know everything from their children’s

birthdays to their favourite après tipple.

I really didn’t want to lose that personal

touch as we grew our business.

ChaletManager is a web-hosted

management system that has helped us

run our business in so many ways. We

started using it in 2011, and I really can’t

remember a time without it. As is usually

the case with many chalet operators,

our winter team changes each year.

We love the ChaletManager ”guest”

function, which enables us to record

all the various likes and dislikes of our

guests. It means that when they come to

stay with us they have the most perfect

holiday possible, because we make sure

everything is just as they desire.

Back when we had a few smaller

chalets, I’d use a spreadsheet

to manage our reservations.

The ChaletManager ”calendar”

function now means that I can

check availability in an instant, and

take bookings very quickly. Our

reservations team has grown with

us, and we’re now really efficient

at recording enquiries and better

managing our availability. The time

saving really is phenomenal. It gives

me more opportunities to get to

know our guests and make them feel

really welcome.

Knowing that our reservation

information is stored in one central

point also gives me enormous

peace of mind. As we were opening

L’Aubergade at the beginning of last

winter, I’d be taking reservations in

between moving furniture, and all

details were stored safely in one

central place.

I’ve also found ChaletManager to be

very responsive as a company. They

listen to our ideas and requests for

new developments and modifications,

and they’ll then make system

improvements that are rolled out

to all users. Every growing chalet

business will save time by using

ChaletManager.

ChaletManager

www.chaletmanager.com

Mountain Mavericks

www.mountainmavericks.com

How my business grew …Emma Lambourne, Mountain Mavericks

Meet the trade at these great shows …

Emma Lambourne at Hotel L’Aubergade

08 October 2013 | Issue 01theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

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