El Niño, a friend to the ski industry!

I will be heading up to the Canadian Rockies soon to promote my new book ‘Winter Sport Tourism’, and it is great to hear about all the early-season snow in North American ski resorts – especially after such a dry winter last year for ski areas in the West. Some say this is due to El Niño, which often brings higher than average snowfall to the Rockies, but regardless of the reason, skiers – and those that make a living out of the ski industry - are rubbing their hands in delight. Early season snow conditions and skier perception of these conditions hugely influence the momentum and success of the overall season. Demand is often the greatest at this time (over the New Year period, in particular), so poor snow conditions can be expensive for resorts; the ski industry in the U.S. lost over $1 billion in aggregate revenue because of poor snow seasons between 2000 and 2010. Skiers and snowboarders can be a fickle bunch – it is hard enough to tempt them to get up to the mountains in the first place. In fact, in America only 4.3% of the population takes to the mountains each winter. Compare this to the percentages in Switzerland (37%), Austria (36%) and Norway (25%). Easily the most important factor for skiers/snowboarders is the quality of snow conditions, with more than eight in 10 skiers indicating that this is extremely important or important to them in terms of destination selection. So El Niño – bring it on!!!

If you would like more information on the book Winter Sport Tourism please click here

To celebrate all the fresh snow, the publishers are offering a special 15% discount on purchase, using code SNOW15 at checkout!