Why are People Attracted to Jackson Hole?

SOURCE: Jackson Hole

 The economic principle I’m exploring is: People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways. 

My research question to help me study the economic principle is What are the most profitable resorts, and how did they achieve this growth? 

 The article published in Forbes titled The Top 10 Ski Resorts In North America For 2016 demonstrates this economic principle by displaying the top ten ski resorts in America with a specific algorithm. This will help us determine one, what the most popular resorts are, two, what goes into this algorithm, and three, how the most popular resorts advertise.

 First, we are only going to focus on the top three resorts on Forbes list. At the number one spot they list Jackson Hole, in Wyoming. With a PAF score of ninety nine. This resort is at the top of the list because of the vast amount of snow, the Aerial Tram, a lift that is praised for its difficulty, and an easily accessible airport and lively town. At the number two spot is Snowbird, a resort in Utah. This resort received a 98.41, and for most of the same reasons that Jackson Hole took first place. Third on the list is Whistler-Blackcomb in Canada. This resort is known for being extremely large and getting more snow than other resorts. It received a 97.4, due to the lively environment of the town and the vastness of the skiing terrain. We can see that Jackson Hole was placed first on this list because it contains all of the important features for a ski town.

Second, Examining all of the factors that went into choosing the best skiing in 2016 is a large task. Forbes claims that they have an expansive algorithm that has the ability to rank these ski resorts. When examining this algorithm, it is a combination of thirty categories, including “inputs from well-traveled experts”, snowfall rates, and even types of snow. This algorithm is very expansive and includes a variety of important factors in how well your skiing experience is.

Third, These three resorts are relatively similar in their features. Two of the three have an aerial tram, all three have a very large, expansive area, and all three have a great town for once you get off of the mountain. However, these resorts attract their customers in a variety of different ways. Jackson Hole actively publishes on their Instagram account and provides a variety of videos to watch on their you tube channel. They also provide sales and advertisements for season long lift passes. It seems like the most profitable way to advertise and attract customers to your ski resort is to be active on social media and occasionally pay for advertisements on pages. In this day and age, technology plays a very large part in our lives, and in order to bring people to Jackson, they relied on social media.

 In my next blog post I will research the question: How profitable are snowboard brands and resorts?