This winter was supposed to be the 12th edition of a ski and snowboard trip that I do every year with a group of friends from both Canada and the US. Last winter we were in
I spent this morning booking the last leg of my flights for my annual ski and snowboarding trip this February. It’s a tradition that a few of us started during grad school at Penn. We call it the “Penn Annual” and we’re now into our fifth year. This year we’re going to Jackson Hole, which has been on the top of my list of places to snowboard for a number of years now.
We started the Annual because we obviously love to ski and snowboard, but we also did it as a way to reconnect at least once a year. It’s a forced reunion. We pick a spot and all convene. The core group is about 4-5 people. But depending on where we go, it often expands as local friends and family join in.
Interestingly enough, we’re apparently a defined target market known as the "brocation" segment. Or at least this is what a marketing guy told us during the Third Annual in Lake Tahoe. So far we’ve been to Tremblant, Stowe, Lake Tahoe and Whistler. We usually alternate between Canada and the US. Next year we’re already thinking it’ll be Banff.
Fernie, British Columbia
and this winter we were planning to go to Europe. But for obvious reasons, the trip has been cancelled. It's going to be a tough season for the ski industry.
According to this recent FT article, the European Alps are home to more than a third of the world's 2,084 ski resorts. Typically, these resorts bring in about €28 billion in revenues over the course of a season, which is similarly about a third of the global total and almost 7% of the value of the European Union's overall tourism market.
But many/most resorts are closed right now. France has shuttered all ski resorts until at least January 7, 2021. And Switzerland, while "cautiously open," is apparently getting pressure from its neighbors to close down again as further quarantine restrictions are put in place.
Interestingly enough, some resorts are already reporting higher than normal early bookings for the 2021-2022 season. This is according to the same FT article. Instead of several hundred early bookings, which would be typical, they're reporting several thousand. And many of the bookings have moved upmarket compared to prior years.
What this starts to indicate is that we are likely to see an explosion in travel and leisure spending as soon as people feel safe and as soon as these restrictions are lifted. Demand is getting pent-up right now and that can mean only one thing: the 12th annual ski and snowboard trip needs to be a banger.
One of the things we’ve talked about doing since the beginning is turning the The Annual into a larger Penn alumni reunion and networking event. In fact, we’ve parked pennannual.com. If we did this, we could bring down the per person costs, as well as create a much larger pull for participants. I love the idea of staying connected and meeting new Quakers (as well as others).
Of course this is one of those ideas that usually loses air once the trip is over. But this year I thought I’d put it out there on my blog, and also send the idea over to Penn Alumni. So if you’d like to join us in Jackson Hole, drop me a line.
