Gondola Gossip

Hey have you heard millennials spend more on travel and entertainment than Baby Boomers? Did you hear some resorts are actually shifting focus trying to attract and connect with the emerging millennial audience more? Almost everyone has heard something about it, but…talk is cheap… actions speak louder than words…and today's look at me real-time millennials expect more than the same old same rhetoric, advertisements, après and special events.

First…who is a millennial? Everyone is using the word, but do they have any idea who they are talking about? It's important to understand millennials are from 18 to 34 years of age. Now if you're trying to draw customers and build relationships with this audience is it really your best strategy and approach to advertise you've done the same thing over and over for 20 or 30 years? Doesn't that mean in the best case scenario your targeting an audience that is at its youngest 41 years of age. In the worst case scenario you're telling everyone your brand or business is not interested in millennials and is too lazy or stubborn to change with the times.

So let's get this straight… the expectation is millennial audiences should like the same food, music and entertainment you like… because you liked it for 20 or 30 years? Or maybe you expect them to accept the same old song and dance… because you claim its something new? Even worse some so called community leaders, business owners and marketing executives with their "take it or leave it" attitude believing they don’t need to change anything to connect with millennials. However, the word on the slopes, at the bars and on the local streets is the first thing that needs to be replaced is people with horse and buggy thinking like that!

What millennials like and want is often in direct conflict with what baby boomer business owners, local politicians and real estate investors are willing to offer or accept. From halfpipes and terrain parks to music and special events the points of contention are many… and are on and off the mountain. Some resorts drag their feet building pipes and features until after the holidays forcing the "undesirable" millennials seeking such amenities to other resorts more willing to welcome them and their dollars. Other resorts and communities hide behind ridiculous fees, permits and high production costs to deter new ideas, entertainment and special events.

This struggle is illustrated by the efforts of some to keep millennials out and to "do no harm", while a growing number of others believe the damage has already been done by people who are too focused on the past and unable or unwilling to look to the future. The views of what a shrinking number of individuals perceive should be allowed or left to the next generations versus what those next generations actually want and enjoy. One thing is certainly clear…numbers never lie… and millennials are spending more than baby boomers and money talks…so the real question is how long it will take some to listen…and will it be too late when they do?

Its time for resort executives and local politicians to stand up and put the vocal handful of selfish special interests in check for the over-all benefit of the resort and community to connect with the largest numbers of future consumers. The resorts and communities with the courage and foresight to integrate millennials today already have a head start building relationships with them and their families as future loyal customers. Those resorts and communities who continue to ignore them are falling further behind and will be forced to try to catch up… if they can.

This debate rages on and will escalate in today's global digital society with the power and reach of social media.