4-1206-Niche Markets.qxp - Travel World News

THE PROFITABLE WORLD OF NICHE MARKETS
SKI FROM PAGE 11
Innsbruck, Austria – 1976 and 1964
The single most popular winter destination in Austria
for Americans, in part for its easy access from Munich,
one hour away, and for its seemingly unlimited choices
of slopes and accommodations. Innsbruck is not a ski
resort, but a cosmopolitan city with a rich history that
includes a Hapsburg royal palace, a major university,
museums and a zoo.
The skiing is in the quieter villages surrounding the
town. Igls, Tulfes, Mutters and Axamer Lizum, where
the most famous Olympic slopes are situated, are connected
to the city by tram and free ski bus. It is also
easy for your clients to spend a day or more in the
equally famous Tyrolean resorts of St. Anton and
Kitzbuhel, and the lesser-known Kufstein.
Another interesting daytrip side-trip is to nearby
Wattens to the Swarovski World of Crystals, a combination
museum and performance space of walk-through
kaleidoscopes and exhibits of all things crystal, in the
company’s headquarters town.
Insbruck Tourism, www.insbruck.info
Lillehammer, Norway – 1994
The downhill slopes and extensive cross-country terrain
of Kvitfjell, Hafjell, Skeikampen and Gala are accessible
on a single skipass. Nordic, or cross-country,
skiing is a family affair in Norway, and many groomed
trails around Lillehammer feature picnic areas for allday
excursions. This is the country’s premiere winter
resort area, with a combination of long-standing snowsport
traditions and a long season of dependable snow.
New this season is a skier-cross course at Kvitfjell,
where four skiers or snowboarders at a time race one another
(this event made its first Olympic appearance at
Turin this year as a snowboarder-cross). Off-slope activities
include a ‘romperaciade’, racing downhill on
old-fashioned wooden sleds, ice climbing lessons on a
frozen waterfall, and dog sledding.
Lillehammer long has been a favorite of British skiers,
and has widened its appeal with Americans and
Canadians since the Games a decade ago. Norway had
such a good time hosting the festivities that they want
to do it again. Your clients will be interested to know
that Oslo and Lillehammer are is bidding for an
Olympic return in 2018.
Norwegian Tourist Board, www.visitnorway.com
RESORTS WITH OLYMPIC
CONNECTIONS: NORTH AMERICA
It is likely that this year’s Winter Olympic
Games in Turin, Italy, will keep interest
in all things snow peaking this season
for the U.S. and Canadian resorts where
competitions have been held in past years.
Salt Lake City – 2002
Events were at resorts within a 30-minute drive of
Salt Lake City, which capitalizes on its unmatched
proximity to an international airport by offering free
skiing to guests on day of arrival. Most skiers head to
Park City, where there are three resorts, each with a different
ambiance and an immense network of lifts.
Park City Mountain Resort includes one lift from the
town’s Main Street. Improvements this year include an
expanded terrain park for snowboarders and improved
snowmaking which will reduce both water and power
consumption. Deer Valley, best known for its impeccable
grooming and gourmet dining, has expanded its
gladed terrain, through a forested area. There is also a
new chairlift accessing intermediate terrain. Privately
owned Deer Valley does not permit snowboarders.
The third resort in Park City is The Canyons, which
did not host events, although it garnered prominence
and publicity as the location from where the NBC
“Today” Show broadcast its coverage.
Snowbasin, just north of SLC, had been a little-known
favorite of locals for more than 60 years until it burst
onto the national scene as the site of the men’s and
women’s downhill races, with modern high-speed lifts
that skiers love. Snowbasin has the same owner as Sun
Valley, with similar spacious and elegant mid-mountain
log lodges decorated with Venetian glass chandeliers and
bronze animal sculptures. The town of Park City is
lined with restored 1880s buildings, vestiges from its
heyday as a gold and silver mining capital, although,
today, most of the buildings contain boutiques or
restaurants. This is where the Sundance Film Festival
is held every January, started by Robert Redford, whose
Sundance Resort is nearby, when the celebrities take
over town, although not the slopes.
Competitors train for future games at Olympic Park,
where amateurs can take a ski-jumping lesson or take
an adrenalin-charged 60-second ride on the bobsled
run. The Soldier Hollow cross-country facility also is
open to the public.
Ski Utah, www.skiutah.com
Calgary, Alberta – 1988
Calgary gained international stature from hosting
Canada’s first winter games, and is sure to pass on
its experience to Vancouver, where the next event is
being held in 2010. Downhill events were
held in Banff, a pristine area within the Banff
National Park, neighboring Lake Louise, where
World Cup events continue to be held, and Mount
Norquay, smallest of the three. The trio now
markets itself as SkiBig3, with an interchangeable
12 • TRAVEL WORLD NEWS • DECEMBER 2006