If I Were Your Resort, I’d Build My Own Groupon Getaways Tool and List

I sometimes feel I do too much critiquing and too little suggesting. Like, somehow, I’m the 400 pound, mullet-sporting guy on his 3rd beer at the baseball game yelling at the 2nd baseman to hustle. So, every once in a while on a Wednesday I’ll try to balance the scales a bit and put my [...]

TwoTwo Tuesdays: Should Your Resort Sponsor Skiers & Using OTAs for Lodging

A big thank you to all that took the time to answer the previous question. Before we get to today’s question, let’s take a peek at the results from last round. Round 5 – RESULTS: Does your resort sponsor athletes? YES: 67% NO: 33% Only a few of those that responded to the question provided [...]

A Popular OTA Tactic Comes to Resorts with Whistler’s Suite Secrets Feature

I’ve never used this feature, but I know it’s a popular one based on the number of friends that have. Made famous by Priceline I believe (though you lodging folks likely know much better than I), the idea of seeing the price on a lodging search but not the hotel name has become a popular [...]

Last Minute Resort Deals: Hotwire, Meet Your Snowy Twin, “Vail on Sale”

Exactly how popular this site actually is, I don’t know but the idea is interesting. Run by the Vail Valley Partnership, Vail on Sale is a last-minute lodging site specific to Eagle County, including both Vail and Beaver Creek resorts. Rather than hiding the property’s name like some last-minute sites, it does open the door [...]

Behold, the Power of Traditions: When Skiers Start Vacation Streaks

“Shoot til you make it. Shoot til you miss.” That was the free throw mantra of my youth. At the end of any sort of shoot around session, pick up game, or driveway H-O-R-S-E battle, I’d do one thing before putting the ball away: shoot free throws til I made one, they keep shooting until [...]

Why a Guest Staying an Extra Day is About Much More Than Just Revenue

I want guests to stay longer at your resort. You want guests to stay longer at your resort. And, honestly, the guest should want the same…regardless of cost. If the goal of any given vacation is to have as good a time as possible, then you may want to see this graph from this week’s [...]

Sugarloaf Zoom Rooms: A “Why Didn’t I Think of That” Resort Marketing Moment

An industry has been built around last minute, “name your price” / “fill empty rooms” deals. Another industry has been built around advanced purchase / “we’ll give you a discount if you commit now to coming later” type deals. My brain honestly never tried to find a crossover between the two, but that’s exactly what [...]

Free Shipping Thresholds and Resort Marketing: Does it Work for Length-of-Stay?

To quickly intro this post, one of the things I’ve been doing with Ryan Solutions as of late is a weekly series of blog posts we call The Stash. We ask a new resort marketing question then dig through the database for an answer. It’s absurd how much I am learning from the data we [...]