Big lodging businesses focus on value rather than discounts

Adding extra oomph to your vacation

While other ski resorts slash prices and advertise big discounts, Crested Butte Mountain Resort will continue its value-oriented strategy going into the 2009/10 winter ski season in an effort to entice visitors to stay longer and spend more money in the local economy.

The upper valley’s second-largest lodging operation, Crested Butte Lodging and Property Management (CBL), is taking a similar strategy with its winter deals.
This winter CBMR will also return with several familiar strategies, including the buy two get/one free airline ticket promotion (Friends and Family Fly Free), the Grandest Christmas, and Stay and Ski Free promotions.
CBL is partnering with CBMR in the Stay and Ski Free promotion, which provides visitors with a free lift ticket when staying at local lodges and condos early in the season.
CBL is also offering discounted rooms before Christmas, and encouraging visitors to stay longer by offering two free nights with the purchase of a five-night stay.
Both businesses are offering lodging discounts for customers who book their winter vacations in the fall.
Some of the new strategies at CBMR include a “Kids are Free in CB” deal. CBMR vice president of sales and marketing Daren Cole says the resort has offered free lodging for kids in the past, and on occasion has special deals for free airline tickets.
This is the first time free lodging, lift tickets, and airline tickets have been offered for kids under 12 (with an accompanying, paying adult, of course).
“Our position in the market is providing the highest and best value possible,” Cole says. “That means we’re not going to be the cheapest, but we like the concept of providing families a higher level of value for their vacation.”
Cole says some resorts are trying to offer the cheapest possible rooms and lift tickets. “We can’t drive the volume to compete at that level,” he says of the discount strategy.
Crested Butte Lodging is following a similar strategy of adding value to a vacation with their two-for-five lodging deal—customers pay for five nights of lodging and get two more nights free. CBL sales manager Matt MacDonald says, “That’s probably the best bang for the buck out there… It’s a bit more aggressive than what we’ve done in the past.”
One of CBL’s other strategies for the early winter season is capitalizing on the timing of Christmas, which falls on a Friday this year. MacDonald says many schools across the country will be starting winter breaks on Friday, December 18. CBL is encouraging people to come to Crested Butte to vacation the week between December 18 and December 25. Room rates will go up on and after Christmas Day, MacDonald says.
“Things are still down, but I think things are going to be stronger this winter. There’s a lot of optimism on how the year is going to shake out,” MacDonald says.
Cole still expects visitors to book their vacations “close in” this winter, rather than weeks or months in advance. It is a trend that began last winter and has continued through the summer. “That’s what carried us through the entire summer,” Cole says. “We’re going to have to watch it on a daily basis this winter. It’s going to be interesting.”
For information on Crested Butte Lodging’s deals, check out crestedbuttelodging.com and click on the “specials” link in the middle of the page.
For CBMR’s deals, visit skicb.com/cbmr/lodging-specials.aspx.
And don’t forget: The deadline to get discounted season passes at CBMR ends on Monday, September 7.