News
Is sustainability marketable in the winter-sports industry?
May 24, 2007
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alpMedia
The aim of the SkiSustain research project is to help create efficient and sustainable business models for ski resorts in the face of climate change and socio-economic changes. Its researchers are looking at ways of developing sustainability as a marketable product and as unique selling propositions for skiing destinations. One product under consideration is a customer-oriented benchmarking which would serve as a guide to snow-sports enthusiasts when selecting the ski resorts of their choice.
The Project's managers are conducting research into the offers available using interviews with mountain railway and cable-car operators, hoteliers, tourism experts and associations, and then drawing up potential scenarios for ski resorts. They are also researching demand by testing the compiled scenarios among customers, i.e. winter-sports enthusiasts, on www.save-snow.com (de/fr/en). Each respondent has the possibility of expressing his or her preferences as part of the "Future of Ski Resorts" online survey. Initial results are to be posted on the internet in late autumn, with the complete results of the Project to be published in spring 2008. SkiSustain is a research project of the Environmental Council of the German Skiing Association in co-operation with the German Sport University Cologne and the University of Zurich/CH.