You talk about the challenges of a ski vacation, you talk about the logistic, you talk about the juggling of kids and gear and attitudes and tired legs and empty stomachs and…and…it’s hard not to let your mind drift to an idea.

An idea that’s been done successfully in other industries, but not so much ours.

The idea of an all-inclusive vacation.

Club Med
This is Club Med’s jam. And, according to Peter from Lift Blog (and Wikipedia), they’ve tried this a couple times at resorts before.

With more lessons under their belts, they’re trying it again in Quebec.

“Bringing its established ski expertise from Club Med’s Alpine ski resorts to Canada, Club Med Québec Charlevoix’s all-inclusive winter packages ensure peace of mind and a robust experience, including all-day gourmet dining and open bar options with local and international specialties, as well as après-ski activities and entertainment. Ski and snowboard passes and classes encourage every guest to hit the slopes, no matter what level. Guests can take advantage of a full roster of activities included in their stay: snowshoe and Nordic walking, ice-skating, indoor pool access, fitness classes, cardio and weight room access, yoga and meditation and the quintessential Club Med circus classes, with juggling, fixed trapeze, acrobatics and trampolining.”

Honestly, I hope it succeeds. Not necessarily as a new blueprint for all resorts, but an option for some resorts (or, at the least, an option for some guests).

It’s one thing to consider offering some sort of all-inclusive package, it’s another to be able to pop over to Quebec with your team and experience it for a few days first hand.

Not All or Nothing
I love to see this kind of experimentation. But I think it’s important to remember that you don’t have to go all inclusive to make your experience more so.

While our industry may move slowly at times, I’d rather see us move than stand still. Every resort includes some things when folks book a trip – maybe breakfast or parking or ski storage – but decreasing the logistical hurdles of a ski vacation can be done with incremental improvements – rentals or lunch – rather than going all the way.

Either way, I’m excited to see this attempt and hope that in a year or two we’ll have lots of insights to guide every resort’s efforts to offer a smoother, less complicated experience to skiers.

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.