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Monitor Your Area For Signs of "Resort Alzheimer's"

By
April 14, 2006

Perry says mature resorts would do well to follow Aspen's lead and reinvent themselves before they forget what brought people to their mountains in the first place.

"Aspen was created, in large part, from a gathering of youthful-minded, irreverent people who congregated here in the seventies," he says. "However, what I call 'resort Alzheimer's' disease crept in over the next fifteen or twenty years. Resort Alzheimer's is defined as gradually forgetting what made you great in the first place."

In short, Aspen was in danger of following "the 'sleepy old country club' model" -- but it woke up, he contends.

The cure for resort Alzheimer's? Inject "youthful energy" as "an attitude," not as a marketing slogan. "Here at Aspen/Snowmass we created events, music and marketing materials in order to lead the way," says Perry. "This represented our true roots – and we all started rowing in the same direction. Even the elderly set have enthusiastically embraced the renewed energy of the place...because youthful energy is incredibly attractive to everyone, especially older people."

Could your resort be on route to becoming a sleepy country club? What are you doing about it?

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Comments

	Good job! Although it's an odd way of putting it, I think you hit the nail on the head. Too many ski area managers are stuck in a time-warp when it comes to marketing. Most either do what they have always done or copy what another ski area has done. It's progressive Resorts that understand customer needs have changed as well as how they will receive and react to marketing. So what's the cure?
	Posted by: Samantha Rufo | May 2, 2006 06:19 AM

	thank you very much for your help. You guys rock, thanks again.
	Posted by: Tuki Medaber www.ups.com | October 3, 2006 12:33 PM