Indoor ski slope facilities have emerged as a major anchor attraction for retail and mixed-use districts. There are numerous precedents for integrating major attraction venues with retail centers. Such hybrid facilities are now quite common, with a remarkable array of alternative attractions and entertainment programs to augment the core appeal of destination retail centers.
Indoor ski facilities have become relatively commonplace over the last twenty years, and there are now more than 50 indoor ski and snow facilities in operation worldwide. Like many consumer products and experiences that were once all new, indoor ski facilities have evolved from a status of exotic new facility, to an acceptance among skiers as an experience worthy of a place in the ski industry. With the substantial number of facilities in operation around the world, the indoor ski industry can be considered relatively mature, with a substantial operating experience and lessons-learned that is useful to any new facility being developed. A sign of the maturity of the industry is the emergence of companies that now specialize in building and operating indoor ski facilities. X-leisure is a U.K. company with three mid-size indoor ski facilities now in operation, among an owned portfolio of 19 leisure and entertainment facilities.
We believe that indoor ski facilities are likely to increase in popularity, as the ski industry learns more about how these facilities can work to propel overall participation in ski and other snow sports. As an example of this, the ski industry has recently seen a growth in skier/snowboarder visits, which the industry has attributed to three critical factors:
A significant increase in levels of trial among consumers and gains in beginner conversion rates;
An increase in lapsed skiers and boarders returning to the sport; and
An overall increase in the average number of days per season that skiers and snowboarders participated. An indoor ski facility such as Ski Miami at Envista, offers a downhill ski and snowboarding experience within a major urban area, eliminating the usual travel and time commitment of journeying to a mountain snow ski area in order to participate in the sport.
Indoor ski facilities can play a helpful role to the ski industry as a whole, using year-around facilities to introduce new consumers to the sport, facilitate beginners in honing basic skills, and keeping snow sports at top-of-mind throughout the year, to skiers of all levels
The ski industry has unique issues affecting participation, since participation is physically challenging and requires a time commitment. Each year as new skiers and snowboarders try the sport, other older skiers drop out due to physiological and sociological reasons. Indoor ski facilities offer an experience, due to its unique facility and physical location that effectively challenges the dropout scenario among women over 40 years of age. According to the National Ski Areas Association, at that age, women begin to leave the sports and take their families with them, due to lack of a peer group to ski/snowboard with, safety concerns, a desire to spend leisure time in warm weather destinations, and a perception that a skiing and snowboarding vacation is not a relaxing vacation.
Indoor ski slope facilities can play an instrumental role in positioning a project as a major visitor destination, and is likely to command significant interest among meeting planners and travel companies, as a place to book group event travel.
Characteristics of Indoor Ski Facilities
Indoor ski facilities typically include a combination of downhill ski runs, snowboarding areas, and snow play parks, along with support facilities including themed food and beverage.
Ski Runs - Indoor ski facilities typically include several ski runs, of varied lengths and configuration to allow beginner through expert skiers to enjoy the experience. Special slopes for children are also included at many facilities. The Alpincenter indoor ski facility (Bottrop, Germany) claims to have the longest indoor ski run in the world, at a length of 640 meters.
Snowboarding - Over the last 20 years, teens and young adults have created an industry of alternative recreation activities and extreme sports. Snowboarding is one such activity which is popular with young people.
Snow Park - Snow park areas are an interesting area of opportunity for these indoor ski facilities. At Ski Dubai, the developer retained Thinkwell Design to create a themed snow park with downhill toboggan runs. A basic capacity to allow virtually any Envista visitor to have an easy snow experience, would like increase paid ski and snowboard participation.
Themed Food and Beverage - Restaurants and quick food and beverage are typically situated at the top or bottom of ski runs, overlooking the ski area, or at half-way stations along the ski slope.
Ski and Snowboarding Schools - Indoor ski facilities typically operate with ski school programs, private lessons, and such, to allow new consumers and beginners to acquire basic proficiency as expeditiously as possible. These programs can also be expanded for serious skiers, providing strength/flexibility training regimens, ski clubs for frequent visitors, and competitive events for skiers and snowboarders of all levels.
Equipment Rental and Retail Shops - Many guests to indoor ski facilities require equipment rental, which provides a regular means of additional revenue for the facility. As well, branded logo merchandise is also an opportunity, so long as the core ski experience is terrific.
Operating Performance
Major indoor ski facilities typically achieve 400,000 to 500,000 skiers per year, although some facilities report attendance at more than a million skiers a year. The attendance levels at various facilities are influenced by the location of facility as it relates to available market support, the seasonality of the local market, and the facility's specific guest capacity.
Related Topics
About Recreation Facilities
About Mall Entertainment
About Extreme Sports
About Urban Entertainment Centers
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Stonecreek Partners Resource pages are provided freely and without limitation for personal, private, non-commercial use, and may be linked to as a source page. All resource page information is based on 30 years of practitioner's experience of Stonecreek Partners' principals, in the retail, entertainment, hotel, residential, and commercial real estate industries.
