Traditions, man. Holy smokes.

If there’s anything I’ve been consistently impressed by in terms of influence on human behavior, they’re it. The lengths people will go to preserve them are completely incredible

And rightly so, there’s something extremely satisfying about preserving one, especially against tall odds.

It’s part of the reason after moving to Utah we drove back to Colorado with two cranky kids just to cut down a scrawny Christmas tree on Tigiwon Road like we had the three Christmases before.

Sprinkle with Data
But the data make this even more interesting because when you look at the return rate of guests based on how many years in a row they’ve come to a resort…well…the trend ain’t tough to spot.

Let’s compare the first column on that chart to the last by putting that in one sentence.

If someone started such a streak six years ago, they’re 6x more likely to return next year than someone who started theirs last year.

The Tweet
So, within that idea, wouldn’t it make sense to encourage and highlight and put such behavior on a pedestal?

After all, the more people who have traditions of coming to your resort, the easier it gets to bring them back.

And here’s the tweet.

This family has discovered their #lakelife tradition and for that we are entirely grateful. Cheers to celebrating many more! #familytravel pic.twitter.com/EcMAiM8iBB

— Purity Spring Resort (@PuritySpring) July 13, 2017

Of all the content I’ve seen shared on social media during the last couple years, this may have some of the deepest potential behind it.

Imagine if a resort could fill their feed with smiling families like this one, reinforcing the value and satisfaction of traditions, encouraging others to do the same, and building a brand around being the place families choose to do so?

I can think of worse things to be known for.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.