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May 20, 2009

Summer Lodging Declines Follow Winter's 'Unparalleled Decrease'

May 18, 2009

Does Travel Matter? Tahoe Tourism Conference Looks For Answers

Relieved Europe Survives 2008-09

Gunstock Sees Private Partnership As Path To Its Future

May 15, 2009

"Keep The Boomers Happy," Ski Industry Leaders Are Told

"You're all looking at your demographic getting older, and you're getting nervous," Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, told a packed house on the second day of the National Ski Areas Association 2009 National Convention and Trade Show held May 13 to 16 on Marco Island, Fla.

"You actually own the relationship with part of the boomer generation that everyone else wishes they had," Coughlin said.

May 14, 2009

Ski Industry Leaders Discuss The Lessons of 2008-09

May 04, 2009

NSAA 2009: All About Those Boomers And The Snow In Their Hair

"For better or worse, our core customers are made up of baby boomers," National Ski Areas Association President Michael Berry told The Industry Report on the eve of the May 13-16, 2009 NSAA National Convention and Trade Show on Marco Island, Fla. "In a few years, we'll see the leading edge baby boomers move past 65 and the likelihood of them participating in significant numbers start to diminish."

Berry said the conference will focus on the aging of the baby boomers and what it means for the ski industry.

The convention follows a winter season that saw about 57 million skier/rider visits, in line with the industry's five-year average, and that sits on the cusp of the aging of the baby boomers into their mid-60s.

Where Are They Now? Former Pro Racer Cory Carlson: 'Don't Mess With Sales Incentives'

(Editor's Note: This is the first in an occasional series of features that will answer the question perhaps you've asked: "Where are they now?")

Cory Carlson's biggest concern these days is not beating the guy next to him down the bruising dual race courses of the memorable World Pro Ski Tour. His focus is squarely on getting his chunk of market share as Associate Director of Sales for the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino at Incline Village.

"We're in the same predicament as everyone else," he told The Industry Report during a break from the sales intention that marked the Mountain Travel Symposium in Keystone last month. "We have to be reactive to what drives business in times like these - value, price and service levels. There's less market to capture so we each have to get as much of it as possible."

Mountain Travel And Dodging Bullets: 'We're Getting Really Good At It'

Dodging bullets has become a way of life for the travel industry in general, and largely because of seasonal timing, the mountain resort piece of it all. We posed a "what if" scenario to Ted Curtin and Penny Smith of Rocky Mountain Tours (Ski The West.com).

"What if," we asked them, "the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak slammed into the peak of the past winter season?" They had plenty to say.

"Certainly, if there is one thing our industry - and in fact the greater travel industry as a whole - has seen a lot of over the past two decades, it's challenges. I actually think we're getting really good at these. If only we could predict them a little better," Curtin, vice president of marketing, told The Industry Report.