Download Holiday Valley Resort

Holiday Valley
A Strategic Marketing
&
Research Plan
Prepared by
Katelyn Gensler
May 7, 2010
1
Contents
Listen of Illustrations......................................................................................3
Executive Summary........................................................................................3
Introduction.....................................................................................................3
Background...........................................................................................4
Vision....................................................................................................4
Mission Statement.................................................................................4
Values....................................................................................................4
SWOT Analysis...............................................................................................4
Research Objectives........................................................................................7
Limitations .....................................................................................................8
Method............................................................................................................8
Results.............................................................................................................8
Recommendations.........................................................................................11
Indentifying Target Audience.......................................................................12
Developing Strategies & Tactics...................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................13
Appendix & Citations
2
List of Illustrations
Figure
Page
Favored Season with
Outdoor Activities..................................7
Activities at Holiday Valley
(I)...............................................7
(II)..............................................7
Awareness of Events
(I)...............................................7
(II)..............................................7
(II)..............................................8
Individual Income..................................8
Promotions Seen or Heard about
Holiday Valley
(I)...............................................9
(II).............................................9
Executive Summary
Within this research plan I give Holiday
Valley insight on what this company can
do to make positive changes for
awareness and increase of sales. To do
this I started with the Introduction. Here
I laid out my plan for Holiday Valley
and what I used in terms of research and
the sample size. From there is the
background information on Holiday
Valley and how it became a successful
business for over 50 years. Research
Objectives are then stated, which will
guide me in the right direction to help
make Holiday Valley successful for
more years to come. I then have the
limitations, the pieces that held back this
research from being as great as it could
have been. If I didn’t have these
limitations, the sky would have been the
limit in a perfect world.
Next is the Method. From the research
objectives, I break down those objectives
into specific questions I would like
answered to help make decisions about
Holiday Valley later on. I also want to
use these questions to find out more
about potential customers. After the
method, come results. The results give
insight to the important questions in the
method. From these results, I can give
recommendations to Holiday Valley on
to make this company more appealing to
future consumers while broaden the
resorts awareness. Finally, after giving
my recommendations is my conclusion
on this research plan and my confidence
within Holiday Valley.
Introduction
“Holiday Valley in Ellicottville New
York is a cutting edge Resort with
modern lifts, snowmaking, new Lodges,
Terrain Parks and quaint downtown
Restaurants and Nightlife.” (The Forum)
How do you make this location even
more amazing than it already is? This is
the question I asked myself when
researching this resort. With the
information and research throughout this
report, I’ll give recommendations on
how to make Holiday Valley a leading
resort on the East Coast.
I looked at a survey in which I had
created by SurveyMokey.com. The
survey titled Holiday Valley Resort was
distributed by E-mail and taken by 146
people from various towns and cities.
With information I have determined
some helpful recommendations for
3
Holiday Valley to become bigger and
better.
Background
It was 52 years ago in the winter of
1957-58 when the brand new ski area
named Holiday Valley first opened for
business. Skiing wasn't new to
Ellicottville; Doc Northrup and Karl
Fahrner started the first organized skiing
in Ellicottville on Fish Hill in 1935. The
Ellicottville Ski Club was formed in
1938 and adventurous men and
women began to flock to Ellicottville
from Buffalo, Rochester and Cleveland.
The all-important social aspect of skiing
took place in the Lincoln Hotel, now the
Ellicottville Inn. A rope tow was built on
Greer Hill where the skiing and the ride
up were more demanding.
In 1956 Dick Congdon, John Fisher and
Bill Northrup decided to pursue their
dream of opening a larger, modern ski
area. Shares of stock were sold for $100
from a card table in the parking lot in
1956 and 1957, 4 slopes were cut and a
T-bar was built. A mild early winter
delayed opening until January 7, 1958
when the first skiers rode the T-bar up to
ski down Yodeler, Champagne, Holiday
Run and Edelweiss.
Now, Holiday Valley boasts 13 lifts, 56
slopes and trails, 3 base lodges, two
hotels, a golf course, pools, and
numerous amenities. The resort has
become a leader in the ski industry and
ranks among the favorites of skiers in
the East.
Vision
Our vision is to make Holiday Valley the
leading destination for tourism in the
Northeast by 2012.
Mission Statement
We strive to recreate the tourism and
excite people about outdoor activities at
Holiday Valley and its surrounding area
(Ellicottville, NY) by the summer of
2012 and beyond. By focusing on
Holiday Valley’s packages, events,
atmosphere, activities, and reputation I
will rebrand Holiday Valley as a
modern, energetic, vibrant national
leading resort.
Values
Our values are to promote family
togetherness and human wellbeing
through the sharing of interests like
outdoor activities, nature, and events to
bring family and friends together. By
rebranding Holiday Valley, we are able
to promote these ideals in a peaceful and
sustainable manner. We want to
embrace the area of Ellicottville, NY
though our strengths as a resort and
welcome all, which work, live or visit
beautiful Holiday Valley.
We are committed to:
• Welcoming and inviting to all visitors
from across the nation and Canada.
• Devoted to hosting exciting and
outstanding events and promoting being
active.
• Dedicated to increasing and improving
winter and summer activities.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Packages
Holiday Valley offers a number of
packages that saves on cost if you’re
commented to enjoy the great outdoors
in both the summer and winter seasons.
4
Golf packages at Holiday Valley have
three options for lodging: The courseside Inn at Holiday Valley, the new
Tamarack Club Condominium/Hotel or a
rental condominium, townhouse or
chalet for the Holiday Valley Rental
Management. Guests can choose one of
the specially designed golf packages and
they can add anything from the list of
amenities to customize their golf
package like: Falling Waters Spa
treatments, Dinner/Lunch at the John
Harvards Brew House or a half or full
day Mountain Bike rental. Golf packages
also include 18 holes of golf per day,
cart use for one round per day, an arrival
gift and the advantage of guaranteed tee
times.
Season passes for both ski and
snowboarding are the more popular
packages. Holiday Valley season passes
offer an entire season of winter
excitement plus the ultimate luxury –
flexibility! “Hit the slopes first thing in
the morning or instead relax by the fire
during the day and ski by moonlight.”
(Holiday Valley). As a full season pass
holder, you’ll also enjoy many discounts
and special privileges throughout the
resorts.
If people do not know how to golf or do
snow sports, Holiday Valley offers great
lesson packages for golf, ski,
snowboarding for both children and
adults. Beginner Packages for snow
sports and include beginner’s area lift
ticket, equipment rentals and 1-1/2 hour
group lesson and/or private lessons.
Holiday Valley also offers “Learn-to
Ski/Ride Better Packages” that include
the same amenities as beginner
packages.
Events
Holiday Valley hosts a number of
spectacular events throughout the entire
year. The Eastern B Freestyle
Championships is a thrilling event for
athletes between the ages of five and
fifteen who have been invited according
to their standings throughout the
competitive Freestyle season, which
includes slopestyle, moguls and aerials.
Other winter events include the Red Bull
Buttercup and the Winter Carnival. To
hit off the spring season, Holiday Valley
hosts the Pond Skimming Party which is
a day of fun that includes the Bump or
Burn Dual Mogul Competition, the Pond
Skimming competition, music, cookout
and a Margarita bar.
In the summer of 2010, Holiday Valley
will host the prestigious International
Bow Hunters World Championships.
Over 2,000 Bow Hunters from 20
countries will qualify for the privilege of
entering this competition.
Holiday Valley also hosts an annual beer
and wine festival with the Ellicottville
Brewing Company and Southern Tier
Brewery at the resort’s Yodeler Lodge.
Guests are able to sample a variety of
hand-crafted beers from over 30 of the
best US and imported beers and wines
from New York’s best winemakers.
Beautiful Atmosphere
Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, NY is a
beautiful location for weddings or
receptions. Enjoy the sense of nature
while hiking or biking through one of
Holiday Valley’s mountain trails that are
breathtaking with fresh, clean oxygen.
During the winter, enjoy the fluffy white
snow while breathing in the clean crisp
winter air.
Family Friendly
5
“Kids rule at Holiday Valley” (Holiday
Valley). From Holiday Valley’s great
children’s ski and snowboard programs
to the family-friendly Inn at the resort to
the fun loving Village of Ellicottville.
Holiday Valley Tubing Company is also
great for kids because the resorts offers a
free shuttle from the Inn at Holiday
Valley so kids ages 10 and up can go
have fun on their own. For children
under seven and/or under 42 inches tall,
there’s a special free tubing area.
To get the whole family on the slopes,
Holiday Valley has 10 family-friendly
quad chairs to ride and once you get to
the top, almost every lift has an easier
way down so that families can ski
together. Families on the slopes should
also check out the “secret fort” that’s
hidden away in the woods of the
Tannenbaum area and build for just kids.
You’ll find a maze, slides, and other fun
stuff to explore. Holiday Valley even
offers a “Mommy Page” on it’s website
to answer the frequently asked questions
parents may have about ski school,
instructors, and even how to dress their
children for curtain activities.
If your children to young to enjoy the
exciting activities, Holiday Valley offers
their Children’s Learning Center during
the ski season. This day care center
accommodates up to 50 children, six
months to two years of age and rates are
very reasonable. The deal of all is that
when parents buy a midweek ski
package, up to two kids ski and stay free.
Weaknesses
Event Awareness
Further into this proposal, you’ll see
from my results that hardly anyone from
my sample size is aware of the
spectacular events hosted by Holiday
Valley. As you previous read, Holiday
Valley has a number of great events all
year around and it’s a shame that not a
lot of people know about these fun,
entertaining events. Holiday Valley does
not currently have effective
advertisements to gain awareness and
increase it’s return on investment.
Cost
Holiday Valley is a fabulous resort all
year around but in this economy, cost is
everything. The resorts top activities are
down hill snow sports and golf, which
are very costly to college students and
families recovering from the economic
downfall. Not only are the activities
costly but also the lodging to stay
overnight and everything else
unfortunately. After adding everything
for an overnight stay and even an
afternoon of fun can be quit expensive
for people these days. This a huge
problem for Holiday Valley and the only
way to over this weakness is to lower
prices to profit margins.
Current Activities
Holiday Valley has a reasonable amount
of both summer and winter activities but
unfortunately from my results you’ll
read that most are not enjoyed. Activities
such as mountain tours, mountain
biking, and snowshoeing are some of the
activities that were rated poorly by
people who were surveyed. Out of the
137 people who answered the activities
question, 9.5% said they would like to
see addition activities at Holiday Valley
and all gave informative comments.
Opportunities
6
More Promotions &
Advertisements
To increase awareness and profit
margins, Holiday Valley needs to:
 Add both summer and winter
activities
 Promote a student weekend
 Create a positive ad campaign
These three things are an effective way
to implement positive change in Holiday
Valley’s business. They will entice
potential consumers to visit while
inspiring them and also current
consumer to come back more often. This
means that there is a great opportunity
for Holiday Valley to get high returns on
their investments.
Green Effort
Recycling is the most effective way to
do something about our environmental
problems, as it reduces the amount of
garbage that ends up being buried in
local landfills or incinerated. The
challenge is to change workers and
visitors attitudes and behavior towards
reducing and reusing more. If each
person takes it one step at a time, we can
all help make a real difference and save
Holiday Valley’s beautiful surroundings.
To start this process, Holiday Valley
should place a recycle bin next to every
garbage bin with pictures indicating
what is garbage and what can be
recycled to help workers and visitors
take the right step.
Holiday Valley has an opportunity to
help the environment around the resort
through its green sustainability efforts.
Threats
Competition
While trying to attract potential
consumers, Holiday Valley has always
been in competition with other ski
resorts while also competing with
country clubs and other golf courses.
Some of its local competitors are Kissing
Bridge, Bristol Mountain, Holimont,
Allegany Sate Park, Springville Country
Club, Gowanda Country Club and public
local golf courses close to customer’s
homes. The primary Northeast
competitors are Stowe, VT, Lake Placid,
NY, Mount Washington Resort in New
Hampshire, Killington, VT, Bethpage
State Park in Farmingdale, NY and
Paine Valley Golf Club in Clementon,
NJ.
Economy
Due to the fact that the Western New
York area is still recovering from the
recent recession, many people are trying
to save still and get a head financially.
Because of this, many potential
consumers are not looking to spend
money on a weekend vacation in the
mountains. As of February 2010 the
national unemployment rate is 9.7%%.
While also in the same month, New
York State’s unemployment was 8.8%
which a 1.3% jump from February 2009
rates of 7.5%.
Research Objectives
With the research objectives, we want to
close the information gap and will
become the basis for the marketing
research on Holiday Valley. After
considering all the current information
the objectives are:
1. To what extent will
prospective customers want
7
different or more activities
and events?
2. Will Holiday Valley be more
attractive than competing
resorts both summer and
winter if there were
additional activities and
events?
3. Find a target audience.
In rebranding Holiday Valley, my
marketing objective is to increase the
interest of consumers in the both the
summer and winter season before and
after the year of 2012. Therefore, I want
to increase consumer attendance by 20%
and the amount of consumers who stay
over stay over night by 10% within the
next 5 years. These objectives are
specific, measurable, achievable and
challenging to London.
Limitations
Regarding all aspects of this research
there are some limitations that have
impact on these results and further effort
to help Holiday Valley really become the
“Aspen of the East” and more.
Limitations that were faced during this
process were lack of time, money,
sample size, and further secondary
research. Financial information, which
would have been very helpful, was
missing from the secondary research.
This information would have help when
giving recommendations because I could
have calculated whether or not Holiday
Valley had the money to support my
ideas for this resort.
The sample size of people who took my
survey comes into effect because having
a much higher size than 148 would help
in every aspect. You can never enough
input on a project of this magnitude.
Lastly, time and money are by far the
biggest limitations because with more
time, we could have done a lot more
research both primary and secondary.
Then there is money, which would have
made it a lot easier to get it all done.
Method
To have a solid plan Holiday Valley, a
series of questions were asked about
actives, events, lessons, packages and
the lifestyles about potential customers.
The questions asked are as followed but
not limited to:
-Which season are you more involved in
outdoor activities?
-What activities would people enjoy at
Holiday Valley?
-What event(s) hosted by Holiday Valley
are you aware of and how likely would
you attend?
-What is your age and income?
Along with these types of questions,
others were based on how current
customers heard of Holiday Valley so
we can properly promote the resort in
the future and increase brand awareness.
Along with where else people have gone
so we can pin point the competition.
Such questions were asked by not
limited to:
-Have you ever seen or heard certain ads
about Holiday Valley?
-How did you hear about Holiday
Valley?
-Have you ever skied at another location
other than Holiday Valley?
-Have you ever stayed overnight at
another resort other than Holiday
Valley?
8
For full questionnaire, please refer to the
Appendix.
Results
Here are my results from the questions
above. From the chart below, we can see
that 66% of the people who took the
survey are more like to be involved in
outdoor activities during the summer.
Even though Holiday Valley is known
for its love of winter, maybe it’s time to
invest in summer activities while adding
some winter ones to increase these
numbers.
Favored Season with Outdoor Activities
3%
Summer
26%
Winter
Both
5%
66%
I'm not interesting in
outdoor activities
These next two graphs shows what
activities customers will enjoy more
often than others. From these graphs, we
can see where Holiday Valley can
improve as far as current activities.
Activities at Holiday Valley (I)
When asked if people would like to see
activities other than those listed in the
graphs above, 9.5% said yes. A high
percentage of this group said they would
like ice-skating while others suggested
hunting/fishing and even a St.
Bonaventure student weekend.
While going through these results I
noticed that people were suggesting
events that Holiday Valley already hosts
which brings to my attention of brand
awareness. Not so much the Holiday
Valley brand itself, but promoting events
far much more than the resort does now.
The next three graphs proves my point
exactly because when asked, “What
event(s) hosted by Holiday Valley are
you aware of?” The percentage of the
answer “No” is shocking.
These graphs clearly show that
something needs to be done about the
awareness of these events. When people
were asked how likely it would be that
they attend all the same events listed in
the graphs above, these percentages
changed greatly to somewhat likely or
very likely to attend IF they were aware.
These events hosted by Holiday Valley
are fantastic but people need to be aware
Awareness of Events Hosted
by Holiday Valley (I)
Weddings & Banquets
Pond Skimming
Mountain
Biking
Awareness
Winter
Carnival
Not Enjoy
Hiking
Somewhat Enjoy
Enjoy
Golfing
Dining
Penguin Paddle
Yes
of Events Hosted by Holiday
No
Valley (II)
Somewhat
Boarding for Breast Cancer
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Very Much Enjoy
Acitivites at Holiday Valley (II)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
USASA
C hampionships
Tubing
Spa Treatment
Not Enjoy
Somewhat Enjoy
Snowshoeing
Enjoy
Shopping
Very Much Enjoy
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
No
Somewhat
International
Bow Hunting
0%
Mountain Tours
Yes
Beer & Wine
Festival
50%
100%
9
Awareness of Events Hosted by Holiday
Valley (III)
that the people who took this survey are
at an average age 24 with a mode of 21,
it’s obvious that my target audience is
college students and recent graduates.
Red Bull
Buttercup
Yes
Scouting Days
No
Somewhat
Freestyle
C hampionships
0%
50%
When it comes to how Holiday Valley
should promote and broaden awareness
for events and the resort as a whole, my
results were helpful in this aspect and
also in finding competing resorts. When
people were questioned about if they
skied at or stayed at another resort,
54.9% answered yes to skiing at another
location other than Holiday Valley while
only 26% said yes to staying overnight
at a resort other than Holiday Valley.
When looking at CATPAC competing
ski areas are Kissing Bridge, Bristol
Mountain and Swain.
100%
in order to attend.
This next chart give answers to the
lifestyles of potential customers. Here
we evaluate each person’s income that
took the survey. This will help us
determine some of the types of people
whom we want to target.
1%
Individual Income
For Full CATCAP Analysis, please refer
to the Appendix.
2%
2%
2%
1%
These next two bar graphs illustrate how
the current promotions of Holiday
1%
6%
8%
77%
Less than $25,000
$25,000-$35,000
$35,001-$45,000
$45,001-$55,000
$55,001-$65,000
$65,001-$75,000
$75,001-$85,000
$85,001-$95,000
Greater than $95,000
When looking at these results of income,
having 77% of my sample size with an
income of less than $25,000 was not
ideal. However, this does change my
target audience. After seeing these
results, I looked at the mean of ages
whom took this survey. Now noticing
Promotions Seen or Heard the about Holiday
Valley (I)
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes
No
Billboards Facebook Magazine MySpace
Ads
Valley are going. From this we see can
some promotions are doing better than
others. This helps us to see where
Holiday Valley needs to improve it’s
advertising.
10
Promotions Seen or Heard about
Holiday Valley (II)
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
Yes
30.00%
No
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Newspaper
Ads
Radio
T.V.
Twitter
When it comes to how these people
heard of Holiday Valley specifically,
33.9% said they heard about the resort
from friends, which is the highest
percent. 24.4% heard about it from
family members and 15.7% percent said
other, which included St. Bonaventure
University and ski club from either
middle school or high school.
Recommendations
Based on these given results, my
recommendation is that Holiday Valley
should add some summer activities to
make the resort an all year round getting
away. Even though there’s beautiful golf
course, which does not seem to be
enough to accommodate the 66% of
potential customers who like outdoor
activities during the summer. From the
activities charts, it’s clear that most
people are not in favor of Holiday
Valley’s current summer activities
besides golf. My recommendation here
is Holiday Valley should add fishing or
sporting games like tennis because those
activities were suggested by 9.5% of
people who said they would like more
activities added at Holiday Valley.
It’s shown in the results that 26% of the
sample size like both winter and summer
activities but only 5% like winter. To
change these numbers, I want to excite
potential customers with more than just
skiing on fluffy white snow. My next
recommendation is to add an ice rink for
ice-skating and also for hosting events
like hockey tournaments.
It’s clear from the results that hardly
anyone is aware of all the different
events hosted by Holiday Valley. These
events are fun and entertaining and it’s a
shame that the awareness is so low
because people will come, they just
don’t’ have the knowledge about them.
To heighten awareness Holiday Valley
needs to promote more, a lot more. From
the results, we can see that newspaper
ads, radio commercials and even
Myspace are working the best with
getting awareness out there. Holiday
Valley needs to start promoting events in
these three areas. Due to the fact that the
target audience are people within a 20 to
30 age range, it would be smart of
Holiday Valley to run T.V. commercials
as seeing how much this demographic
watches television and also promote
with Facebook. This is the number one
networking site with this type
demographic and Holiday Valley should
not pass on this opportunity.
Another event to promote would be a
SBU student weekend once in the winter
and again in the spring/summer. With
this I think Holiday Valley can bring
some great revenue from looking at the
results on this demographic.
11
Lastly my aim is help Holiday Valley
workers and visitors improve their
environmental performance through:



Waste prevention, creating less
Recycling the waste you do
create into new products
Coming up with creative ways of
using what’s left over
Identifying the Target Audience
When identifying the target audience we
want to focus our attention towards those
most likely to visit Holiday Valley. I
determined that the target audience
should be anyone looking for a resort
destination that have an interest in
outdoor activities, nature, shopping, and
even relaxation through the United
States and Canada. Within this spectrum,
Holiday Valley should specifically target
men and women ages 20 to 30 and St.
Bonaventure students.
Marketing Communications
Objectives
Marketing objectives for Holiday are to
increase the interest of current and
potential consumers by 2012. Therefore,
we want to increase visitors by 20% and
sales by 15%. These objectives are
specific, measurable and achievable for
Holiday Valley.
Developing Strategies & Tactics
In order to market our objectives
properly, we need to develop strategies
and tactics that will be successful with
our target audience. Our target audience
of anyone looking for a destination for
pleasure within the Holiday Valley
resort gives us the type of person we are
targeting and the specific areas we need
to market.
The branding effort will be used to
further attract to Holiday Valley and will
be used through events, activities and
promotions It’s appropriate that we
brand ourselves accordingly. This is a
huge task but one that we must start
shaping immediately. When reviewing
the SWOT analysis you can see that I’m
are on target with what is important. My
strategies and tactics are to combine the
strengths of Holiday Valley’s events
along with its atmosphere to propose a
plan that will entice people to rethink
about the brand of Holiday Valley.
My proposal is to rebrand Holiday
Valley as The Nation’s Resort of the
Northeast. The Holiday Valley campaign
will consist of new and recognized icons
of Holiday Valley to entice and draw
people to the idea that as The Nation’s
Resort of the Northeast, Holiday Valley,
has something to offer to them. Anyone
interested in what Holiday Valley has to
offer can go to its Facebook page. This
new page will combine the current
website information and new quick
information in order to relay a consistent
message. This Facebook page will allow
viewers to know more about Holiday
Valley, book a stay, find out about prices
and events, buy packages or just daily
tickets for golf in the summer and skiing
in the winter.
The plan is as follows:
 A series of iconic images with
different slogans showing how
Holiday Valley is the Nations
Resort of the Northeast. Each
will advertise the new Facebook
page for more information.
 A series of “Be Active” campaign
slogans to entice people to get
outdoors and help with both child
and adult obesity.
12
 I’d like to place these images on
billboards, in magazines and tape
T.V. commercials to be seen in
major cities throughout the
nation and parts of Canada.
 We also want to target large
sporting events that draw large
crows and nation-wide television
audiences throughout our target
market this includes:
o The 2010 Masters held at
the Augusta National Golf
Club
o The 2010 X Games held in
Tremblant, Qc to attract
Canadian consumers.
We are certain that this effort will draw
national attention to Holiday Valley,
rebranding it as The Nation’s
Northeastern Resort and for all to work,
live or visit, leading up to year of 2012
and into the future.
Conclusion
To emphasis on creating a more amazing
resort for one that has been thriving for
more than 50 years, lets first look at how
to brand a company and all the
wonderful accommodations it offers.
Branding is the process by which a
product or service is developed, A brand
is one of the most valuable elements in
an advertising theme, as it demonstrates
what the brand owner is able to offer in
the marketplace, or in this case, the
mountains of Ellicottville, NY. Careful
brand management seeks to make the
product or service relevant to the target
audience. Therefore cleverly crafted
advertising campaigns, can be highly
useful.
You must know whom you’re branding
to and what they want within your
services. Results show that the target
audience is young, active people
between the ages of 20 and 30. With this
knowledge Holiday Valley can find the
path to make this business a successful
and outstanding resort.
It is far better to be bold and memorable,
even if it draws criticism from outside
the target audience. Focusing on the
customer and heeding their views will
ensure that a brand retains creditability
and the consumer wanting to come back
for more excitement. I am confident that
by following my recommendations,
Holiday Valley will be able to become
the leading resort on the East Coast
while enticing current and potential
consumers to enjoy themselves more
often.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Appendix
I. Strategic Business Plan
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Strategic Business Plan
for
Holiday Valley
This document comprises a strategic plan for Holiday Valley. It reviews its strengths,
weaknesses, threats and opportunities; presents a series of fundamental statements
relating to Holiday Valley’s vision, mission, values and objectives; and sets our proposed
strategies, goals and action programs.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats & Opportunities
This strategic plan addresses the following key strengths, weaknesses, threats and
opportunities which apply to Holiday Valley now and in the foreseeable future:
Strengths:
-Packages
-Events
-Beautiful Atmosphere
-Family Friendly
Weaknesses:
-Event Awareness
-Cost
-Current Activities
Threats
-Competition (other summer & ski resorts)
-Economy
Opportunities
-More Promotion
-Student Rates
-Green Efforts
Vision
Our vision is to make Holiday Valley the leading destination for tourism in The North
East by 2012.
Mission Statement
We strive to recreate the tourism and excite people about outdoor activities at Holiday
Valley and its surrounding area (Ellicottville, NY) by the summer of 2012 and beyond.
By focusing on Holiday Valley’s packages, events, atmosphere, activities, and reputation
I will rebrand Holiday Valley as a modern, energetic, vibrant national leading resort.
Values
Are values are to promote family togetherness and human wellbeing through the sharing
of interests like outdoor activities, nature, and events to bring family and friends together.
By rebranding Holiday Valley, we are able to promote these ideals in a peaceful and
sustainably manner. We want to embrace the area of Ellicottville, NY though our
strengths as a resort and welcome all, who work, live or visit beautiful Holiday Valley.
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We are committed to:
• Welcoming and inviting to all visitors from across the nation.
• Promoting events and awareness through a series of creative advertising campaigns.
• Devoted to Being Active.
• Dedicated to increasing winter and summer activities.
Objectives
In rebranding Holiday Valley, my marketing objective is to increase the interest of
consumers in the both the summer and winter season before and after the year of 2012.
Therefore, I want to increase consumer attendance by 20% and the amount of consumers
who stay over stay over night by 10% within the next 5 years. These objectives are
specific, measurable, achievable and challenging to London.
Key Strategies
In order to market our objectives properly, we need to develop strategies and tactics that
will be successful with our target audience. Our target audience of anyone looking for a
destination for pleasure within the Holiday Valley resort gives us the type of person we
are targeting and the specific areas we need to market.
The branding effort “will be used to further attract to Holiday Valley and will be used
through events, activities and promotions It’s appropriate that we brand ourselves
accordingly. This is a huge task but one that we must start shaping immediately.
When reviewing the SWOT analysis you can see that I’m are on target with what is
important to the rebranding Holiday Valley. My strategies and tactics are to
combine the strengths of Holiday Valley’s events along with it’s
atmosphere to propose a plan that will entice people to rethink about the brand of
London. My proposal is to rebrand Holiday Valley as The Nation’s Resort of the
Northeast. The Holiday Valley campaign will consist of new and recognized icons of
Holiday Valley to entice and draw people to the idea that as The Nation’s Resort of the
Northeast, Holiday Valley, has something to offer to them. Anyone interested in what
Holiday Valley has to offer can go to its Facebook page. This new page will combine the
current website information and new quick information in order to relay a consistent
message. This Facebook page will allow viewers to know more about Holiday Valley,
book a stay, find out about prices and events, buy packages or just daily tickets for golf in
the summer and skiing in the winter.
The plan is as follows:
• A series of iconic images with different slogans showing how Holiday Valley is the
Nations Resort of the Northeast. Each will advertise the new Facebook page for more
information.
• A series of “Be Active” campaign slogans to entice people to be get outdoors and help
with both child and adult obesity.
• I’d like to place these images on billboards, in magazines and tape T.V. commercials to
be seen in major cities throughout the nation and parts of Canada.
• We also want to target large sporting events that draw large crows and nation-wide
television audiences throughout our target market this includes:
o The 2010 Masters held at the Augusta National Golf Club
o The 2010 X Games held in Tremblant, Qc to attract Canadian consumers.
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We are certain that this effort will draw national attention to Holiday Valley, rebranding
it as
The Nation’s Northeastern Resort and for all to work, live or visit, leading up to year of
2012 and into the future.
Citations
Analyze Results. Survey Monkey. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
<https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=CpPZhA9W%2bLmT
CfYTwFe7%2bhSRrk7UL0QXTJT%2fkk1vHJ4%3d>.
Burns, Alvin C., and Ronald F. Bush. Marketing Research. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River:
Pearson Education, 2006. Print.
Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm>.
The Resort. Holiday Valley. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.holidayvalley.com/HolidayValley/info/the-resort.aspx>.
Ski Centers and Resorts. WNY Ski Resorts and Skiing in Buffalo, NY. Web. 13 Apr.
2010. <http://www.wnyskiresorts.com/>.
Ski Resorts - Eastern United States. America's Best and Top Ten. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.americasbestonline.com/skiresorts.html>.
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