Thoughts on Snowsports

Iain Martin, The Ski Podcast

The sad demise of the catered chalet ski holiday
Ideas / Tour Operators

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...
Will ChatGPT make ‘ski experts’ redundant?  
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’),...
'Parrots in the Snow: the rise and fall of Bladon Lines' - article in 'Ski+Board' magazine
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...
Ski Touring in Morocco: A Photo Essay
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...
'I'm a modern-day Batman' says anti-ESF campaigner
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...
Why do chalet girls bake a cake every day?
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,...
Latest entries
What can Google Autofill tell us about the ski industry?
Ideas

What can Google Autofill tell us about the ski industry?

by iain on Sep 27, 2012 • No Comments
Just for fun, we thought we’d see what we can learn from Google Autofill about the ski industry, and whether it can give us any SEO pointers. Scotland more popular than Austria and France This was a surprise. Apparently the search ‘ski holiday in scotland’ is more popular than ‘ski holiday in austria’.    ...
The first ski holiday adverts of the autumn...
Advertising / Tour Operators

The first ski holiday adverts of the autumn…

by iain on Sep 24, 2012 • No Comments
As the nights draw in, and the leaves fall from the trees, so the ski supplements start to appear in the printed media. Here’s a selection so far:     And what of online… While press ads become fewer and fewer, increasing advertising spend is going online. Scott Dunn have been using the Google Display...
Why your earned media and paid media should be merging...
Advertising / Social Media

Why your earned media and paid media should be merging…

by iain on Sep 21, 2012 • No Comments
You probably already know that social signals are increasingly important in influencing your organic search engine rankings. But with new research showing that trust in paid advertising lags significantly behind recommendations, many brands are combining their paid and earned media. More than 9 in 10 trust recommendations The recent Nielson survey shows that while 92%...
Heinz show that QR codes can work
Marketing / Mobile

Heinz show that QR codes can work

by iain on Sep 21, 2012 • No Comments
A recent survey has shown that QR code use continues to rise in the UK – although only around 10% of smart phone owners have used them. Scepticism remains of their effectiveness, but many companies have seen great results. Heinz QR codes scanned over 1 million times Last year Heinz put QR codes on ketchup...
Inghams and Crystal Ski offer beer tokens as ski holiday incentive
Tour Operators

Inghams and Crystal Ski offer beer tokens as ski holiday incentive

by iain on Sep 14, 2012 • No Comments
Sometimes ski holiday offers can be like buses – you wait for ages and suddenly two arrive at once! An unlikely coincidence? This winter, the big two – Crystal Ski and Inghams – want to pay your bar bill for you. Coincidentally both are offering a EUR150 bar credit in certain properties. This looks like...
Tesco Korea increase online sales by 130% with QR campaign
Ideas / Mobile

Tesco Korea increase online sales by 130% with QR campaign

by iain on Sep 13, 2012 • No Comments
When Tesco wanted to grown their market share in Korea, they were looking for options that would not involve increasing the number of stores. After some super-brainstorming, they created a truly innovative multichannel campaign that combined outdoor advertising, mobile commerce and QR codes.  And the results were extremely impressive. Koreans are very hard working and...

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The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. Please feel free to support or disagree with me in the comments section of each blog entry.