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The purpose of this study is to discover the extent to which the marketing practices of Greek ski centers take into consideration visitors' preferences and the interests of other stakeholders in order to improve their tourism product. The existing ski centers and destinations are crucial for the ongoing development of winter tourism in Greece.

The study is exploratory in nature and data were collected by carrying out semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with key managers in 14 ski centers in Greece.

The results revealed that the majority of ski centers do not have a marketing department and only a few receive consultation from consultants. Additionally many ski centers do not use specific planning or strategic tools, and about 20 percent of their directors are not in a position to identify and measure customer segments. Individuals who pursue recreation, skiers, and various associations are ski centers' most frequent customers. Finally, respondents have defined customer satisfaction to be of a high level in those ski centers that conduct customer research.

This is a limited exploratory study restricted to one country. Suggestions are presented for future studies and especially for generalization of the findings.

Today's business environment requires the application of a robust, enterprise‐wide plan at Greek ski centers and particular management practices should be explored as possible causes of the inadequate advancement of the tourism product at Greek ski centers.

This study offers empirical findings from ski centers in Greece, where studies are limited. It also broadly creates the need for future research about this particular area and in areas with similar tourism characteristics in the Mediterranean.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth of the early ski market and the marketing strategies that the Union Pacific Railroad took in promoting Sun Valley ski resort, one of the most popular early destination ski resorts in the USA.

The paper uses primary and secondary source material, including ski periodicals, national magazines and the manuscript collection of W. Averell Harriman, the Chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad during the creation of Sun Valley.

This paper finds that Sun Valley pioneered the western ski vacation by conducting careful market research into not only the snow and weather conditions of western mountains, but also into the habits and economic potential of skiers and winter tourists.

Scholarly work on skiing has primarily looked at the sport from the social and cultural perspective of skiers. Work on entrepreneurial objectives of ski resort designers has largely focused on the period after the Second World War. This is among the first works to analyze entrepreneurial activities and marketing strategies in the ski industry before the Second World War. As a result, the paper challenges the idea that big business only began to shape the ski industry during the Cold War. Instead, this paper shows that large corporations like the Union Pacific Railroad were influential in growing the ski market by building resorts that illustrated the importance of market segmentation to the success of ski areas. In this way, the paper challenges the popular idea that Sun Valley was merely a media sensation and shows that it was a carefully designed business that exhibited a nuanced approach to changes in the ski market.

The purpose of this paper is three‐fold: first, to propose a model for measuring service quality in a skiing resort; second, to investigate the contribution of place attachment on the prediction of customers' loyalty, and third, to examine the influence of service quality on the development of place attachment.

A total of 264 (n=264) recreational skiers participated in the study, and filled the two‐dimensional place attachment questionnaire and a service quality questionnaire, which was based on Brady and Cronin's three‐dimensional service quality model (physical environment quality, interaction quality, outcome quality).

The results of the study indicate that skiers' loyalty was significantly predicted by both the place attachment dimensions (place identity and place dependence). Furthermore, place attachment was significantly predicted by the interaction and physical environment service quality dimensions.

The research was limited because it was based on one skiing resort. Testing it on many would give a more accurate result. Expansion of the theoretical model in other tourist destinations would also provide a more accurate result.

Strategies to develop customer loyalty and for the development of place attachment are discussed. A model of measuring service quality in skiing resorts is presented.

The paper proposes a model for measuring service quality in skiing resorts. It also introduces the construct of place attachment and its value for predicting customer loyalty.

Despite recognizing the importance of eReferral in shaping tourists’ behavioral intentions, researchers have rarely explored its dynamics. In the recent years, interest in the superiority of interactive eReferral over eWOM has burgeoned, thus increasing theoretical and empirical quest, which has generated many inconsistencies. Drawing on social identity, trust transfer and social tie theories, the purpose of this paper is to explore an integrative model that investigates the impact of interactive eReferral on tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit. Besides the direct influences of interactive eReferral on tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit, the authors assess the mediating role of tourist engagement on the relationship between these concepts.

Utilizing survey data, variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM) was applied to diagnose the proposed model.

VB-SEM results suggest that interactive eReferral has a positive impact on tourist engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit. Tourist engagement mediates the link between interactive eReferral and eReferral sharing behavior, and intention to visit.

By examining the relationship between interactive eReferral, tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit, the model departs from existing views to shed new light on the interactivity of eReferral. Implications for marketing practices and research are discussed.

The aim of this paper is to analyse how the impacts of tourism are perceived by a local population and which factors affect the relationship between impacts and perceptions' formation, with specific consideration of the framework in a mountain resort. For this purpose, the paper explores the existing literature on issues related to host perceptions and attitudes and involves a primary data collection in the mountain community of Folgaria in Northern Italy.

The number and quality of the questionnaires collected allowed a quantitative analysis of the hosts' perceptions and attitudes to be performed, and a cluster analysis has demonstrated the existence of different groups within which members have common features and similar perceptions and attitudes.

In general, this research work has revealed a recognition by the residents of the positive economic impacts of tourism. Also, the social and cultural impacts are recognized to be positive, but at a lower degree. In terms of the future tourism polices, the different groups identified in the cluster analysis exert different positions.

The paper presents the first study of residents' perceptions and attitudes applied to a small mountain community.

The paper seeks to provide insights into network‐based perspectives of farm attractions, evaluating their effectiveness for destination development. The specific purpose is to uncover relationships between entrepreneurship, network marketing and management strategies, and sustainable tourism policies.

Qualitative case‐study method generates holistic understanding of complex networks and networking activities. In‐depth interviews allow exploration of entrepreneurial processes.

Cross‐comparisons reveal network effectiveness related to common goals shared among network members. Benefits such as problem solving, information dissemination, and opportunities to learn were important for members of a specific network, but may be undermined by individual entrepreneurial aims and differences.

The results concern a mature destination but the approach might be used for similar work in other sectors and settings. The network models should be assessed for destination planning in other parts of Europe, especially emerging tourism regions.

Identified patterns and issues generate ideas for policy makers for current practice; with the need for public policy to work with, seek to build on, and support existing enterprise initiatives, rather than developing new collaborations.

The paper contributes to debates on visitor attraction marketing with a focus on a theory of co‐operation in marketing networks. Many studies focus on specific types of attractions or tourist destinations, or specific strategic approaches.

A fully integrated and responsive instructional management system, based upon a continuing analysis of data, is necessary if the “whole is to be greater than the sum of its parts”. This outcome‐based system (in this case for the management of mathematics instruction) consists of: (1) An empirically validated curriculum for mathematics instruction, pre‐school through algebra (quadratic equations); (2) Individual assessment and criterion referenced evaluation instruments (pre‐test, post‐test, placement, cumulative review tests) for all 231 clusters of skills and mathematical concepts, that have been established for validity, reliability, item discrimination and efficiency; (3) A hierarchy of mathematical objectives that graphically displays all skills and concepts and describes the dependency and prerequisite relationships found among the objectives; (4) Computer management software that: maintains an individual history for each student in the programme; identifies objectives in greatest demand; identifies each student′s changing eligibility; matches and optimises individual eligibilities with programme options; monitors each student and signals anomalies if and when an individual student exceeds a historically generated norm.

The paper seeks to determine the relative importance of motivational forces in the decision to go skiing, their influence on the “needs” of skiers and subsequently their role in the choice of resorts. The skiing population studied is that of Grenoble in the French Alps. The analysis indicated that motivations are reflected in certain skier “needs” and have a spatial expression in the choice of resorts. The results illustrate the potential usefulness of studying recreationists' motives as an antecedent to a better understanding of what sorts of experience recreationists look for and where.

The case was developed from two 2-h interviews with the Chief Operating Officer of A-Basin, Alan Henceroth; there is no CEO of A-Basin. The second interview was recorded on a Zoom call to provide accuracy of quotations and information. A variety of secondary sources were used in terms of better understanding the current state of the ski industry, as well as its history.

Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin) is a historic, moderately sized, ski area with proximity to metropolitan Denver, Colorado. For over 20 years A-Basin partnered with Vail, allowing skiers to use the Vail Epic Pass, for which A-Basin received some revenue from Vail for each skier visit. The Epic Pass allowed pass holders unlimited days of skiing at A-Basin. More and more skiers were buying the Epic Pass, thus increasing the customer traffic to A-Basin. However, the skier experience was compromised due inadequate parking, long lift lines and crowded restaurants. The renewal of the contract with Vail was coming due, and A-Basin had to consider whether to renew the contract with Vail. The case is framed primarily as a strategic marketing case. The authors use Porter’s five forces model to assess the external environment of A-Basin, and the authors use the resource-based view and the VRIO tool to assess A-Basin’s internal strengths. Both frameworks provide useful analysis in terms of deciding whether to continue A-Basin’s arrangement with Vail or end the contract and pursue a different strategy. In 2019, after consultation with the Canadian parent company Dream, A-Basin made the decision to disassociate itself from the Epic Pass and Vail to restore a quality ski experience for A-Basin’s customers. No other partner had ever left its relationship with Vail. An epilogue details some of A-Basin’s actions, as well as the outcomes for the ski area. Generally A-Basin’s decision produced positive results and solidified its competitive position among competitors. Other ski areas have since adopted a similar strategy as A-Basin. A-Basin’s success is reflected in a pending offer from Alterra, Inc., to purchase the ski area.

The A-Basin case can be used in both undergraduate and graduate strategic (or marketing) management courses. It is probably best considered during the middle of an academic term, as the case requires students to apply many of the theoretical concepts of strategy. One of the best books to enable students to use Porter’s five forces is Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). Magretta was a colleague of Porter for many years and was an Editor of the Harvard Business Review. For a discussion of the VRIN/VRIO concept, see Chapter 4 of Essentials of Strategic Management by Gamble, Peteraf and Thompson (New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2019).

The aim of this paper is to present the relationship between climate and tourism development data as an example of an emerging winter and ski tourism destination in Slovakia.

The method aims to discover the relationship through snow-reliability and regression analyses and to further implicate the consequences of such established relationship under a changing (warming) climate.

As a result of the research, the authors can predict that a 1 per cent fall in snow depth and visibility would erode the ski demand by 1.2 and 0.12 per cent, respectively, a 1°C rise of the mean temperature, on the other hand, would indicate a 6 per cent loss of skipass sales. The latter finding translates into a further 6.6 to 19.2 per cent loss of sales on account of the anticipated temperature increases for the twenty-first century. The capacity of the resort for the utmost adaptation strategy, snowmaking, is also to deteriorate with the daytime/fulltime annual good quality production range to reduce from 33/45 days to 10-26/14-34 days, according to the emissions-related warming scenarios and in terms of the commonly available current technology.

The results of the study can help the management of ski resorts to adopt strategies for the future development by taking into account the predicted climatic changes.

This study is the first type of study performed in Slovakia and can contribute to the better understanding of the relationship between climate change and the performance of the ski tourism resorts. It also delivers innovation by considering wet-bulb temperature in snow-reliability analyses and also by coining the “climate elasticity” concept.