Colorado ski resorts and their home towns are hoping social media sweethearts can bring the crowds again.
In Vail Resorts’ most recent quarterly report, newly re-hired CEO Rob Katz said the company is doubling down on paid social media influencers.
“We plan to increase our exposure within digital and social platforms, and expand our influencer partnerships,” Katz said. “This shift will allow us to reach guests where they are, and to fully utilize our guest data to create content that resonates and drives action. In addition, we are also aiming to elevate the individual brands of our resorts by tapping into the emotional connection guests have with our unique destinations. We believe this is an important differentiator in a competitive landscape.”
Now the town of Breckenridge is doing the same. Breckenridge Tourism Office, the town’s in-house destination marketing team, recently told local businesses it will pull money from broadcast and print to entice social media personalities.
“BTO is pivoting our approach from more traditional media to a heavier focus on social media by hosting more influencers, targeting a younger demographic, and more,” office leaders said in a press release.
This comes after a lean year for the company and the town. Summer lodging was down 11% in Breck. This was far below other ski towns, what the tourism office calls “extremely unusual.” At Vail Resorts properties, where snowfall was about average this past season, skier visits were 3% companywide, leading to layoffs at the company’s Broomfield headquarters. Katz is still waiting for the turnaround the come — early-season Epic Pass sales for this season are down again.
The right stuff
One questions lingers: Who is the right social media influencer for a ski company and its neighboring ski town?
Vail’s marketing teams are already thinking through this, but with no confirmed direction yet. On one side are influencers with industry ties — those guys and gals already embedded in ski culture. On the other side are “never-ever” ski influencers with large but untapped (and uninitiated) audiences in coveted markets like Texas or the East Coast.
The tourism office promises to reveal its plan after the 2025-2026 ski season at its annual summer preview.
This strategy comes with risks, like the unplanned and possibly unsanctioned content an influencer might create. In 2020 local snowboard influencer Jonatham Buckhouse posted a damning video about his run-in with mountain security at Keystone. Today it has 1.7 million views. Buckhouse’s Youtube channel has 255,000 subscribers with another 178,000 on Instagram.
Preview image via @micajahmccurry on FB.
