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The sad demise of the catered chalet ski holiday

by iain on Sep 25, 2023 • 8 Comments

Looking through a recent survey from Le Ski, I was struck by one stat in particular. While it was encouraging to read that the number of UK skiers and snowboarders is predicted to grow by 14% in winter 2023/24, the fact that only 13% stay in catered chalets highlighted how...

Ideas

Will ChatGPT make ‘ski experts’ redundant?

by iain on May 11, 2023 • No Comments

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing fast. A few years ago, it was just the name of one of Steven Spielberg’s less good movies, but in 2023 AI has moved from the world of ‘futurologists’ into the mainstream. The chances are that even if you haven’t tried ChatGPT (or Google’s ‘Bard’),...

Iain / Ideas / Tour Operators

‘Parrots in the Snow: the rise and fall of Bladon Lines’ – article in ‘Ski+Board’ magazine

by iain on Mar 8, 2023 • 3 Comments

Iain’s article ‘Parrots in the Snow: the rise and fall of Bladon Lines‘ has now been published in ‘Ski+Board’ magazine. It’s also now available as a special episode of The Ski Podcast My first experience of working in the ski industry came 35 years ago when I went to Chatel...

Iain / Resorts

Ski Touring in Morocco: A Photo Essay

by iain on Feb 8, 2019 • No Comments

Iain from Skipedia recently went ski touring in Morocco. Flying into Marrakech, and then travelling to Imlil (1740m), Iain then spent three nights at the Refuge des Mouflons (3207m), ski touring to different 4000m peaks. Ski hire was from Braemar Mountain Sports, guiding and logistics were organised by Toubkal Guide. You...

Resorts / Tour Operators

‘I’m a modern-day Batman’ says anti-ESF campaigner

by iain on Nov 2, 2014 • No Comments

These are difficult days for the ESF in the UK. The current legal cases against Simon Butler and Le Ski have stirred up plenty of negative sentiment within the British market against the ESF. Both cases – which deal with different aspects of the law – are currently at different...

Tour Operators

Why do chalet girls bake a cake every day?

by iain on Aug 13, 2011 • 2 Comments

Okay, not strictly anything to do with marketing, but just for fun… So why do chalet girls bake a cake every day? As far as I know chalets have always left out a cake for their guests to tuck into for ‘afternoon tea’. After a long day on the slopes,...

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Advertising / Branding / Marketing / Resorts

Why Les Menuires are wasting their advertising budget

by iain on Jun 15, 2011 • 3 Comments

This advert by the French ski resort of Les Menuires (taken from ‘Ski and Board’ magazine) struck me as a classic example of an advertiser thinking about what works for them rather than what will work for their target market. On the face of it , it’s a cute idea. What is the inscrutable Bombadier...

Marketing / Social Media

Search goes Social – Google, Twitter, Bing, Facebook +1

by iain on Jun 9, 2011 • 1 Comment

It’s a fast moving reality that search is becoming more social. And companies need to wise up before they get left behind. Let’s look at where we are in terms of the big two that matter: Twitter and Facebook. Google + Twitter The supra-dominant Google has been drawing information from fan pages since 2009. Facebook...

Branding / Marketing

How Quechua make you feel you’re in the mountains…

by iain on Jun 2, 2011 • 3 Comments

Quechua is a brand I’ve always liked. Founded in 1997 in an apartment in Sallanches, it grew quickly to become one of the top ten mountain gear brands within just six years. How? Well, distribution via Decathlon as their official mountain wear brand helped. But the key lies in the three tenets of the Quechua...

Branding / Marketing / Resorts

Why sex sells in Tignes…

by iain on May 29, 2011 • 2 Comments

Ten years ago Tignes was the ugly duckling sister of Val d’Isere. A bunch of purpose-built apartments whose only appeal was their proximity to the Grande Motte glacier. But this French resort has become a swan. Tignes is exciting. Tignes is the location of X Games Europe – the only X games event in the...

Branding / Marketing / Resorts / Social Media

The Top 10 Austrian Ski Resorts on Facebook

by iain on May 20, 2011 • 4 Comments

Following on from my previous look at the Top 10 French Ski Resorts on Facebook, this week I’ve been looking at Austrian resorts. Being mindful that that social media marketing is much more about quality than quantity, here’s the top ten: The Top 10 Austrian Ski Resorts on Facebook 1. Saalbach Hinterglemm (22184 fans) 2....

Branding / Marketing / Social Media

Will tagging brands in Facebook make marketing easier?

by iain on May 18, 2011 • 6 Comments

Last week Facebook announced that pages can now be tagged in photos, as well as friends. When tagging a photo, users can scroll through a list of people and companies, and once selected, the tag will appear in news feeds and the photo will also appear on the fan page’s photo section. On the face...

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The sad demise of the catered chalet ski holiday

Will ChatGPT make ‘ski experts’ redundant?

‘Parrots in the Snow: the rise and fall of Bladon Lines’ – article in ‘Ski+Board’ magazine

Ski Touring in Morocco: A Photo Essay

‘I’m a modern-day Batman’ says anti-ESF campaigner

Why do chalet girls bake a cake every day?

Why Les Menuires are wasting their advertising budget

Search goes Social – Google, Twitter, Bing, Facebook +1

How Quechua make you feel you’re in the mountains…

Why sex sells in Tignes…

Will tagging brands in Facebook make marketing easier?

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