Ski Trade Issue 1 - October 2013

3 | IS SUE 01 OCT 2 01

Winter Sports Industry News

The new BASI chairman tells us where he thinks the industry should be heading 03

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October 2013 | Issue 01

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SKI TRADE IS HERE

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Welcome to the first issue of The Ski Trade, a monthly magazine for the snow sports industry and community in the UK and further afield. The magazine will cover everything that’s important and relevant to you.

Rob Stewart + Amie Postings Co-Editors

Welcome to the first issue of The Ski Trade, a monthly magazine for the snow sports industry and community in the UK and further afield. The magazine will cover everything that’s important and relevant to you.

Since announcing our new title, we’ve had a constant stream of industry insiders identifying with a publication that will reach everyone from corporate CEOs to first season chalet hosts. We’ve also teamed up with the biggest hitters in the industry to ensure our new magazine lives up to your expectations. Whilst InTheSnow is providing a great trade distribution channel for us, it doesn’t end there. Skier and Snowboarder magazine will be feeding our content digitally to their large database. Our editorial team will be at all the winter sports trade and consumer shows and events, reporting on the issues that matter most to you, the trade.

We’re also excited to be working with Patrick Thorne, a well-renowned ski journalist with over 20 years experience, and a knowledge of resorts that’s second to none. Patrick will be providing regular features on what is possibly the most important topic affecting our industry at the moment – the environment.

Amie Postings, snowboarder, Morzine resident, and an experienced hotelier, writer and publisher, brings a strong travel

and accommodation angle to our magazine, providing an insight into an essential part of our industry. We’ll also have regular contributions from a variety of operators, who will share their challenges, aspirations and expectations for their ”dream” snow sports businesses.

Rob Stewart is a qualified ski instructor for over 20 years, working in several countries both with ski schools and tour operators. He’s been writing about snow sports for over 7 years, as well as topics related to equipment, destinations and ski technique.

We’re passionate about a fantastic industry, which combines both travel and sport, where opportunities for growth continue. At the same time we’re all relying on increasing participation levels to survive in the face of economic, environmental and social challenges.

We’d like to invite you, the industry, to get in touch. Let’s share our collective experiences, knowledge and ideas.

Contributions in all sections of The Ski Trade are welcome, and we’ve already persuaded some to take up the opportunity.

Although our magazine is called The Ski Trade, we’ll be covering everything that encompasses winter mountain travel and all associated sports. We hope you enjoy the read.

Check out The Ski Trade website too!

industry knowledge, theskitrade.com is where you can have your say too.

At theskitrade.com you’ll not only find the digital version of The Ski Trade magazine, but also updated information, news and events from the four corners of the European ski trade. Updated regularly with useful

You’ll also find The Ski Trade available to download from the Apple Newsstand. rob@theskitrade.com amie@theskitrade.com

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Issue 01 | October 2013

Sir Steve Redgrave talks ski The Ski Trade talks to the British rowing legend, keen skier and BASI (British Association of Snowsports Instructors) President about the Olympics and how he likes to go as fast as possible on skis.

“You’re Mr Olympics!” Not my words, but those of Mr Franz Klammer Sir Steve started skiing before he’d stopped rowing ”… when I used to slip off occasionally during the winter”. In the modern-day this would surely mean changing his passport and donning a false moustache. Perhaps it was those sneaky trips to the mountains that made the difference between silver and gold? Maybe all Olympic hopefuls should take a ski break in January as an addition to their training programme. Don’t worry about the highly unlikely chance of injury, and the results are stunning.

During the years following Sir Steve’s retirement he started to get involved in more organised ski trips like the Crystal Ski Fest, an end-ofseason event that involves coaching from top instructors, ski racing competitions, and a bit of après-ski thrown in for good measure. This is where Sir Steve met Gareth Roberts, now BASI Chairman, who started to persuade him that he should qualify as a ski instructor. Sir Steve now has a BASI Level 1 ski instructor qualification, and has ambitions to continue further through the system.

Roberts eventually approached Sir Steve with a proposal to become BASI’s President and he accepted on two conditions: ”that they help me reach my BASI Level 2, and they start to ensure all instructors wear helmets when teaching.” ”In the US all ski instructors wear helmets while instructing,” says Sir

Steve. ”At first, not wearing one was like an ego thing, but cycling would be crazy without a helmet now. We made a family decision to all wear helmets.”

It will be interesting to see where Sir Steve and BASI take this issue and if all instructors in Europe will be mandated to wear helmets when teaching. Go to theskitrade. com to take our survey and share your opinion.

Olympic Glory, can we achieve winter sports success? ”Responding with my head rather than my heart, I know that it’s a numbers game and it would take a very special person, with the right structure and people behind them, to achieve the kind of success we’re talking about.

The achievements that our ski racers have made are special, even without winning a gold medal.

Children in Austria have to ski as part of their curriculum, we can never match that, and again it’s a numbers game.

Skiing is not on our doorstep and the travelling makes it harder. One of my passions is rugby and there is an ease of access here, just like rowing too. There are around half of Winter Olympic sports that can be practiced in the UK, and these are the ones we can focus on achieving medals in.

We have also been left behind in sports like short track speed skating. We were once one of the best countries in the world, and

with a crossover from cycling we could potentially become successful again. Investing in short track speed skating, and maybe long track, makes a lot of sense to me.”

From tourists to teachers ”More people ski in this country (UK) than in any other country without large Alpine mountains, and I’m very passionate about that.

Crystal was at the heart of cheap ski holidays back in the 1980s and they helped change the face of skiing in the UK. Also, the ski shows are bigger here than any other ‘non-Alpine’ nation. Now almost everybody has the opportunity to ski and BASI are great at taking people, training them to instruct, and encouraging them to pass that knowledge onto others.”

BASI as an organisation has certainly achieved the result of turning ”ordinary” holiday skiers into paid-up members of the snow sports industry.

Sir Steve has recently been heading out to Mürren to take part in the famous endurance challenge, The Inferno, a popular event with many snow sports industry participants. ”I should be doing some extra training! It’s the uphill bits that make all the difference. You can lose lots of time uphill and those sections are very tough. My body weight helps on the flatter downhill sections but not on the uphill ones!”

I was intrigued to know what Sir Steve thought about the chances

of him being a successful downhill Alpine ski racer in another life. Would he have been any good? ”If I was brought up in the mountains, yes,” came the definitive answer. ”I like to go fast and I think I could have been a downhill ski racer, not in the technical disciplines, but downhill, yes.” I then mentioned the great Franz Klammer and thought about how winning five gold medals in a Winter Games would have been quite something.

It turns out that Sir Steve had skied with Klammer a few years ago near Salt Lake City on a trip organised

by VISA. They were introduced to each other at the bottom of the ski run as they were being split into groups, and when Franz Klammer realised who his companion for the day would be, shook his hands and simply said, ”ah, so you’re Mr Olympics!” The way Sir Steve told me about this moment made me wonder if it meant as much as actually winning one of his gold medals. Perhaps Mr Klammer was hoping to put some false sense of security into Sir Steve, a cunning ploy to ensure he at least had the upper hand on the ski slopes, if not on the Olympic medal table.

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October 2013 | Issue 01

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TO LIST or Not To List As chalet owners and operators across the Alps enjoyed some well-earned downtime this summer, we questioned a cross-section on their use of accommodation listings websites. Our survey uncovered a huge reliance on directory websites to generate bookings. What does this mean for the future of independent chalet operators?

View the full results at theskitrade.com •

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On average, accommodation providers will feature their property on two or three websites.

Almost 30% list on up to seven.

Over 50% of chalets rely on directories for over 50% of their total winter enquiries. Also, over 50% of operators spend £500+ per year on listings.

Online booking facilities were the most important feature, followed by collecting guest reviews.

Find out which listings sites are favoured by the ski accommodation industry on theskitrade.com.

There’s been phenomenal growth in the number of small, owner-operated chalets across Europe over the last decade. ”I need to feature on directory websites, simply because my competitors do,” an operator in Méribel told us.

Building and maintaining a stand-alone website can also be expensive. ”If it costs me £350 to list on a directory website, this gives me an online presence for far less than building my own website,” explains a property owner in Verbier.

Many European chalets are lifestyle businesses for their owners. Time is precious in this industry, and some directories offer useful tools to help manage payments and guest profiles, easing some of the burden.

website means my chalet is more likely to be seen,” believes a La Plagne chalet operator.

For most, the ski accommodation industry runs on narrow profit margins and high levels of taxation, especially when employing staff. To help you decide whether to invest, here are a few industry opinions on the future of accommodation websites. ”Holidaymakers now have less time on their hands. They’re also more aware of using the internet to get better value for money, and more choice,“ believes Gerry Lovick of White Blancmange, a luxury travel website featuring over 100 high-end European ski chalets.

on a directory website will book directly with us.” ”Our site takes a different approach to traditional chalet directories,” says Alex Narracott, Co-Founder of MuchBetterChalets. ”It’s free for chalets to reply to enquiries that come through our site, and they’ll pay a smaller than average commission, should a booking result.” ”January each year sees the highest traffic to our website, which features 1150 European ski properties,“ Daniel Harrison of ChaletFinder tells us. ”We’ve completely redesigned the front end, we’re improving the owners administration area, and we’re placing more emphasis on summer, with our new ChaletFinder Cycle site, coming soon.”

A further opinion from the industry was the leveling of the playing field. ”I can’t compete with the big tour operators with huge SEO budgets. Being listed on a

”We have 16 chalets and apartments, I list about half of them on a selection of websites,” explains Sam Dredge of More Mountain in Morzine. ”They’re a great source of new business. I find that the following season, clients who previously found us

Spaces Still Available For The Snow-Camp Challenge

New Tour Op Launches Despite Tough Conditions

Snow+Rock's Claire Collins Eco Bamboo Towel & Leaves For Primark Bathrobe Range In Chalets

Youth charity Snow-Camp has space on their annual Morzine-based, 150km, GPS-tracked Alpine Challenge from 16–19 January 2014. With the help of sponsor Ellis Brigham, its aim is to raise over £50,000 to give children from underprivileged backgrounds the opportunity to experience snow sports and potentially gain qualifications. The Challenge, including flights, accommodation, ski hire and lift pass costs £1000 per team, and the fundraising target per team is £5000. Snow-Camp is well supported by the UK winter sports industry and the Alpine Challenge is becoming a fun, mid-season opportunity to catch-up with industry peers. The Ski Club GB, World Snowboard Guide and Snowboard Club UK have all previously entered teams. To enter visit snow-camp.org.uk

Fraser Wilkin, ski journalist and Founder of weather and snowfall site weathertoski.co.uk, has launched a new bespoke tour operator specialising in the high-end hotel market. Wilkin is joined by another ski industry stalwart, Richard Visick, who takes on the role of Operations Director. Snow-wise will operate in 70 hotels over 35 resorts, combining big names with a number of “original and unique” offerings, including Hintertux, Kappl and Warth-Schrocken – the snowiest resort in the Alps! Wilkin told us, ”The skiing industry might be having a tough time, but we’ve identified a gap in the market to provide a tour operator that prides itself on quality, flexibility, knowledge and service.” Wilkin and Visick have personally visited all the hotels they offer to ensure they meet the criteria required for the Snow-wise experience.

Claire Collins, Group PR and Marketing Manager at Snow+Rock for the last 7 years has left the company for a new roll at the clothing retailer Primark. The Ski Trade spoke to Collins shortly after her final day, and she told us she was looking forward to her new job but was sad to be leaving the snow sports industry. Collins also said that she’d been "looking for a while" to find something new, and believed that there was a vacancy for her old position available at the company. Snow+Rock has also recently announced the opening of a new concession in Selfridges, London, this October where they will showcase their favourite brand partners, as well as re-opening the newly-renovated High Street Kensington store, first opened in 1982.

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It’s clear that accommodation directories are here to stay, and unique ways are being developed to better serve the market and the chalet owner. That’s a good thing for us all surely?

In response to requests from chalet owners, tour operators and winter accommodation providers across the Alps for eco-friendly guest amenities, Linge des Alpes, the French distributor for ”best of British” Mitre linen, has added the Bamboo range of towels and bathrobes to its collection of chalet and guest supplies for accommodation providers across the Alps. The Bamboo range accompanies Linge des Alpes luxury, comfort and essentials product ranges, which include the Cow Hide range of furnishings, H2K of Harrogate skincare and Vogue Beds, in addition to Mitre bed linen, towels and soft furnishings. Delivery is available across the Alps in time for the coming winter season. Visit the Linge des Alps website for further information (lingedesalpes.com).

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Issue 01 | October 2013

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Going For GREEN Up to 20% commission for chalet companies

Patrick Thorne Columnist When I first started writing about ski resorts nearly 30 years ago we were, although I didn’t know it then, still in a period of growth in Europe and North America. New resorts, such as Beaver Creek and Valmorel, were still opening and the news each winter was always of new lifts, new runs. The environment was sometimes mentioned, but usually in the context of some long-haired environmentalists having the audacity to slow the development of one ski slope or another – curse them.

By the 1990s the expansion was over, the news was not of new runs, but of better lifts on existing routes, and always more and more snowmaking.

Then in 2005 the world’s media cottoned onto climate change. Somehow ski resorts became not the victims of it, but the epitome of all that was wrong with mankind’s excess, destroying our own planet. Suddenly resorts became very environmentally aware, not exploiters but stewards of their local patch.

I realise I have included an awful lot of generalisations for which I apologise; there are many ski resorts that have always had a green ethos, most of which were ahead of increasing media coverage on the global warming issue, but I wanted to give this context as a background to how things have changed, and continue to change.

More importantly, some major capital investment by ski resorts, and the travel companies that serve them, has helped our industry to become world-leading, if we weren’t before, in environmental responsibility.

Examples? In Aspen a new waste gas recycling scheme from an old coal mine both generates power and cuts CO2 emissions, which dwarf energy consumption by the resort, so it can claim to save more CO2 than it generates. At Whistler a new hydroelectric scheme also generates more electricity than is needed by the resort, and on the US east coast giant new wind turbines produce all, or nearly all, the power requirements of a few smaller ski areas you may not have heard of: Berkshire East and Jiminy Peak.

They’re not all in North America either; a giant photovoltaic solar array at the Austrian resort of Werfenweng (it’s in the Crystal brochure!) is part of a comprehensive project to make the resort carbon-neutral. There are many more examples.

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Around the time of that explosion in media interest I had been building a database of the world’s top 250 resorts, and what they were each doing on the environment (you can still see the Green Resort Guide online in the resorts section of skiclub.co.uk, although it hasn’t been updated for a few years), and I did have to cut through an awful lot of guff about ”ethos” and ”principles” in some cases to find any hard facts about what some resorts were doing about the environment.

Sometimes it boiled down to zero.

And more important still, for each of these big capital projects there have been 1000 smaller initiatives.

The growing snowmaking systems, and the new replacement lifts, are invariably far more efficient than those they replace – so newer is happily greener. The recently announced massive snowmaking system at Lech in Austria uses the same amount of green energy in a season as a single 100-bed, 3 hotel.

And remember, hotels in ski resorts use less energy on heating than equivalent buildings by the Med do on their air con, and in most cases you produce less CO2 reaching them too as they’re closer – especially if you go by Eurostar.

But in the 8 years since, things have changed.

Although the credit crunch and the lack of an instant catastrophe has pushed climate change down the public agenda, the subject and, most importantly, the attitude has visibly become a part of ski resort DNA. No new project is announced now without a preamble about the environmental aspects.

More new projects are being announced for 2013–14 too, including a carbon-neutral ski resort that is being developed at the site of the old Kobla ski area, near Bled in Slovenia (2864. si/en), continuing the trend for ”green” to be ”mainstream”, rather than something first fought against, and then grudgingly accepted and added on as an afterthought.

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October 2013 | Issue 01

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The State of the Industry

encouraging for this coming winter season,” David Manley, Snow Express Director told us.

Crystal Ski & Snowboard The UK’s biggest ski tour operator “We’ve increased our capacity for this coming season by a few percentage points,” said Marion Telsnig, Head of Public Relations at Crystal Ski. “As we stand at the moment, we’re ahead of last year’s bookings for peak dates, while all other dates are on a par with last year.”

The Crystal Ski report told us that the industry grew by 1% last year. How are things looking for this winter season?

Eurostar Operators of the ski train “We’re expecting our French ski service to have similar sales results this year as last,” a Eurostar spokesperson told us. “Initial sales results have been very positive, and we're expecting another spike in bookings in September and October when we'll launch our station adverts to promote ski.”

Ski-Lifts Airport Transfers Alps-wide airport transfer company

skis and boots – there’s a real buzz about skis specifically at the moment,” explained Managing Director Mark Brigham. “We like to always be optimistic and plan for growth and given last winter’s fantastic snow conditions we think this is achievable this winter.”

Ski Famille Ski chalet operators across 5 resorts

“Our advance bookings are significantly up on this time last year. The trend of booking earlier continues, and we’re about 2 months ahead of the curve for last year,” Managing Director Richard Smith explains.

Snow Express

“Our committed capacity in terms of chalet beds has remained the same, however we’re working with two new hotels and a self-catering residence,” Chris Thompson, Managing Director, told us. “Our bookings are slightly up on last year right now, and we expect to see modest growth on the back of great conditions last winter.”

Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports

Ski coaches to 40+ French resorts

24 stores across the UK “Our ski coach seats went on sale 6 weeks earlier than usual this year, on 1 August. There hasn’t been an overwhelming uptake in the intervening time, but we’re considering the sales that we have had as very

“We are one of the first retailers in the UK to receive new winter product in August, and we’ve seen a lot of interest in new

Ski Club of Great Britain Consumer Research Survey Publisher “In the new 2013 Ski Club Consumer Research 91% of people said they were planning to increase or maintain their skiing habits in the next five years and 71.5% said they were planning to go next year’ Frank McCusker, CEO of the Ski Club of Great Britain told us. ‘We expect to see continued growth in the wintersports market. Snow conditions have been fantastic in recent seasons, the economy continues to stabilize and the Winter Olympics and a nationwide initiative to increase participation in skiing are on the horizon. All these factors will contribute to people's confidence to book and inspiration to ski. More people are booking six months or more before they travel and frewer are booking one to three months before. The late Easter may be a challenge but fantastic April snow conditions in recent seasons will help the perception of Spring skiing.”

Have your say at theskitrade.com

Avalanche Talks With Hat To Be Held In Several Ellis Brigham Stores

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Once again, Henry Schniewind of Henry’s Avalanche Talks (HAT) will be embarking on a tour to bring his expert knowledge of mountain and snow safety to UK skiers. Often seen as an opportunity to meet with industry peers, as well as getting that all important safety briefing before the start of the season, the talks will take place in several Ellis Brigham stores.

Anyone who takes their mountain safety seriously, and is considering skiing off-piste this winter, including instructors, should consider attending one of Schniewind’s talks to learn or refresh their snow safety knowledge. Head to theskitrade.com for talk dates and venues.

Go Ski Go Board Initiative Launches The Ski Trade attended the recent launch of the new Go Ski Go Board initiative at The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead. The campaign, orchestrated by Snowsports England (SSE), is the largest ever to entice people to either learn to ski for the first time, or return to the sport after a long break. For the snow sports industry, we think this campaign could prove to be the spark that encourages growth once again, after several years of declining numbers. School ski trips, in particular, have seen the biggest drop in numbers, down over 11% in the last 3 years.

We’ll be watching the events, including the Slide2Sochi Roadshow that compliments the Go Ski Go Board campaign, with interest and there will be further coverage of the initiative in our second edition, including comments from Tim Falke of SSE and other industry members.

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Issue 01 | October 2013

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Equipped For Business How hard is it to innovate in this challenging climate?

12K

8K

6K

4K

No. of Snow Sports Paricipants

10K 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

2K

0 Alpine Ski

Snowboard

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to walk around the offices and factories of Atomic, Rossignol and Head. Every year, these three companies alone produce over 2m pairs of skis, and anyone who loves snow sports can’t help but get excited by the piles of wood that sit around waiting to be crafted into our favourite tools to slide on.

But during the last few years, they’ve all seen a decline in production as fewer skis get sold, and smaller ski manufacturers spring up around them. Despite this fact, we continue to witness the launch of yet more ”exciting” innovations in ski

Cross-Country Ski

Freeski

technology. The big manufacturers invest millions in R&D, constantly pushing the boundaries to create equipment that improve our on-snow experiences.

So how can these manufacturers innovate when the hardware sales continue to decrease? When fewer people are buying skis, but there are more ski brands in the market, how can any brand survive and grow in that environment?

Focusing on what was a niche area in the market, but is now the fastest growing sector – freeskiing – companies like Scott Sports has targeted

Snowshoe

Telemark Ski

aspirational skiers and found themselves at the heart of what’s now a mainstream area. A recent report from the SnowSports Industries America showed the category of freeski has grown by nearly double since the 2008–09 winter ski season, to over half a million participants in North America. Every other category, with the exception of telemark, has shrunk during the same period.

InTheSnow asked Herve Maneint, Chief Product Manager at Scott Sports how it manages to invest in innovation, whilst predicting what the consumer wants. ”You must stay specific in the market and then

consumers will put trust in you. A brand cannot play one day here and then the next over there, the online community generation have already accelerated the trends process with faster communication.” ”The sport drives the lifestyle choices of consumers today and skiing or snowboarding reflects their identity. Styles change, but what’s really important for people passionate about their sport are the technology benefits and today that means weight, mobility and forgiveness. But it’s not hard to innovate, you just need to get close to your environment and have passion.“

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October 2013 | Issue 01

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How my business grew …

Feature Sponsored By

Emma Lambourne, Mountain Mavericks training new staff, can be a juggling act. Many of our guests return to our chalets year after year, and we get to know everything from their children’s birthdays to their favourite après tipple.

I really didn’t want to lose that personal touch as we grew our business.

ChaletManager is a web-hosted management system that has helped us run our business in so many ways. We started using it in 2011, and I really can’t remember a time without it. As is usually the case with many chalet operators, our winter team changes each year.

We love the ChaletManager ”guest” function, which enables us to record all the various likes and dislikes of our guests. It means that when they come to stay with us they have the most perfect holiday possible, because we make sure everything is just as they desire.

Emma Lambourne at Hotel L’Aubergade

Time is precious out here in the Alps. We moved to Morzine to start our chalet business in 2006, and we hoped that the pace of life would be somewhat more relaxed

than back in the UK. In reality, we’ve taken on more and more accommodation as new properties have become available, and at the start of last winter we added Hotel

L’Aubergade, a 1954, 17-bedroom hotel to our business.

Staying on top of reservations admin, while growing your business and

Back when we had a few smaller chalets, I’d use a spreadsheet to manage our reservations.

The ChaletManager ”calendar” function now means that I can check availability in an instant, and take bookings very quickly. Our reservations team has grown with us, and we’re now really efficient

at recording enquiries and better managing our availability. The time saving really is phenomenal. It gives me more opportunities to get to know our guests and make them feel really welcome.

Knowing that our reservation information is stored in one central point also gives me enormous peace of mind. As we were opening L’Aubergade at the beginning of last winter, I’d be taking reservations in between moving furniture, and all details were stored safely in one central place.

I’ve also found ChaletManager to be very responsive as a company. They listen to our ideas and requests for new developments and modifications, and they’ll then make system improvements that are rolled out to all users. Every growing chalet business will save time by using ChaletManager.

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Meet the trade at these great shows …

LISTEX (London Int Ski Travel Exchange) London Rowing Club 28 – 29 October 2013 Open to tour operators, travel agents and other buyers meet resort reps, hotels and other suppliers LISTEX launched last year to positive reviews and we’re looking forward to see how this event develops in year two. The organisers tell us there’ll be more buyers, extended forum sessions, and social events too. listex.co.uk

There have never been more opportunities for the winter sports trade to meet and do business. The Ski Trade will be at all of these events, get in touch if you’d like to meet us.

Telegraph Ski Show North EventCity, Manchester 25 – 27 October 2013 Open to members of the public, snowsports community and industry

Kicking off this winter’s round of events, there are high expectations for the first Ski and Snowboard Show North, organised by VOS Media.

A consumer show this may be, but a lot of business-tobusiness networking is expected to take place with involvement from industry-wide exhibitors. skiandsnowboard.co.uk/manchester

Telegraph Ski Show London Earls Court 2, London 30 October – 3 November 2013 Open to members of the public, snowsports community and industry Long-established as the UK’s largest and most visited ski show, the London event offers trade networking opportunities on the exhibition floor, particularly at quieter times such as press day. Organiser VOS Media recognise that the London ski show lost its way in recent years, but feel it put the buzz back into the event last year. skiandsnowboard.co.uk

World Travel Market ExCel London 4 – 7 November 2013 Open to global travel operators, destination marketers and tourism organisations from the global winter sports industry Organiser Reed Travel Exhibitions tells us that £2bn worth of travel industry deals are done at WTM, and ski contracting is a significant percentage of this. You’ll find destination marketing agencies and large ski tour operators.

There’s a lot of ground to cover at WTM, so spend time working out who you want to visit in advance. wtmlondon.com

and we’re looking forward to seeing how this new event develops. istm.co.uk

ISTM (International Ski Travel Market) A-ROSA Hotel, KitzbÜhel, Austria 17 – 18 March 2014 Open to suppliers - hotels, resorts and tourist offices. Buyers - tour operators and agents A new winter sports trade event organised by Reed Exhibitions, buyers pre-schedule appointments with suppliers and vice versa. We’re told several buyer and supplier brands are already on board,

Slide Telford International Centre 18 – 20 February 2013 Open to action sports and streetwear retailers, distributors and buyers This is the UK’s only winter sports product trade exhibition. Slide offers a unique opportunity to catch up with industry contacts, and to learn about new products and brands launching in the industry. slide.uk.co.uk

ISPO Messe München, Munich 26 – 29 January 2014 Open to winter sports equipment manufacturers, clothing brands, agents, distributors and buyers Pretty much every global winter sports brand exhibits to the trade at ISPO, making the show your opportunity to check out who is innovating and developing. 80,000 visitors from 100 countries pass through the event each year. ispo.com/munich