Vail Daily’s View: Vail teams up for marketing success
Vail, CO, Colorado
Stock market down, unemployment up, consumer confidence sinking again? These are the big three indicators, setting up for a perfect storm across the country.
Oh, throw in house sales going south again and no wonder the same folks who didn’t see the recession coming now see us never climbing out of the downturn, which they increasingly fear could tumble into a dreaded double dip.
Yeah, well.
Meantime, lodging in our resort community is … up. Way up. Like 11 percent to 12 percent up over last July and August. Event attendance is the same or better than last year, depending on the event. And there are more events.
Among the better harbingers of the future is “help wanted” ads in the paper. Historically, at least, newspaper people see this advertising as signalling good times and bad are looming. This year, the help wanteds are up. Well before the economic crash, they signaled it coming.
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Development is in near hibernation as Vail’s big projects wrap up, although there are a number of smaller jobs. Real estate has risen just a bit, from 1994 levels to 1996. Hey, that’s progress anyway.
Back to the double-digit jump in Vail’s lodging occupancy these past couple of months. It’s a great sign, and a few digits better than other resort
communities.
Summer marketing seems to make at least some difference. Vail’s forces have teamed together to form a more consistent year-round message that appeals to visitors’ passions for what Vail offers in the way of outdoor adventure and cultural vitality.
The town dedicates part of the lodging tax to support the marketing board that promotes summer, and this board takes advantage of bright volunteers with more experience and expertise than even a resort town has a right to ask.
To a larger degree than in the past, Vail’s marketing board has aligned with Vail Resorts, no slouches in marketing themselves, for a more consistent message between winter and summer.
Higher lodging occupancy – also reported by the Vail Valley Partnership – means good things for the other businesses that cater to visitors.
The separation from the other resort communities is modest. But up by double digits is welcome news, and the difference between our resort community and the others suggests momentum that may well make a big difference headed into next winter.
Especially with the linkage of marketing efforts from separate messages to one that works with the other.
That this is being accomplished against a continuing economic headwind is all the more
impressive.
What’s most impressive, though, is the growth in teamwork among the disparate and sometimes fractious organizations devoted to improving Vail’s fortunes.
So good job! And keep it going.
