During the SnowSports Industries of America (SIA) '99
trade show last Thursday in Las Vegas, presenters of the
"Minorities: Expanding Your Customer Base" seminar said that
Asian-American, African-American and gay and lesbian
populations "have the sheer numbers and financial power that
should make the ski industry take notice," according to Penny
Parker of the DENVER POST. SIA Dir of Marketing &
Communications Mary Jo Tarallo said the ski industry "has a
hard time recognizing diversity and speaking to markets other
then white, well-off people." Research conducted by Brenda
Pitts, Dir of the Sports Administration program at FL State
Univ., concluded that the gay and lesbian community "alone
has an estimated spending power" of $514B. Also, 11-13
million gays and lesbians participate in a sport and 5,000-
15,000 participate annually in a gay and lesbian sporting
event in the U.S. Pitts "recommended" that ski resort
companies make financial donations to gay and lesbian groups
and advertise in publications that "target a gay and lesbian
audience." Booth Creek Ski Holdings VP/Marketing Julie
Maurer said that its Northstar-at-Tahoe resort "increased"
its Asian-American customers from 3% to 10% in five years by
placing ads in Chinese language newspapers distributed in
S.F. Meanwhile, sports marketing analysts Bob Bradshaw said
that ski resorts should also target the African-American
market, as he said that African-Americans "spend more money
on travel and leisure than white people" (DENVER POST, 3/13).
