INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

SkiBig3 is mainly operating in the Leisure, Travel & Tourism market, however, the market for
the company has changed dramatically from its first establishment in the 19s. In 1938 the
Lake Louise Ski Resort started with a Temple Lodge and with time goes by more
infrastructures and facilities being constructed Ski Resorts have changed a lot, and in 1978
with the SkiBig3 company being founded which aimed to attract customer attraction and
promotion. Entering the 21-century market again has been changed by the internet, this
means it allows the company to attract more customers from all around the world. For
example, in 2015 SkiBig3 introduced Spotlio solutions which brought the customers a step
closer to the company. This as a result have increased the online sales of the company and
a higher customer engagement (SPOTLIO | CASE STUDY | SkiBig3, n.d.). At the moment
the company’s customers are mainly attracted from the US and Canada, moreover there are
also customers from other countries such as Australia, UK, Germany and Netherlands. On
top of that customer attraction is also very largely decided by the international currency
exchange rate, as if the Canadian dollar gets cheaper a rise of customers should be
expected, as it would be cheaper for foreign customers to come. (SkiBig3, 2021c)  

Understanding the market is important for a business, especially when they have the
ambition to be on top of everything else in their sector. So we have analysed the market
around.

Political

The Pandemic has been a hard time for everybody, and Canada is not an exception.
Lockdown has created new problematics for all the activities, and tourism has been the most
affected sector by far, “According to the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism
Barometer, the near-total containment imposed in response to the pandemic resulted in a
98% drop in international tourist arrivals in May compared to 2019. The Barometer also
shows a 56% year-on-year drop in tourist arrivals in the January to May period. This
translates into a drop of 300 million tourists and USD 320 billion in lost international tourism
revenues”. But today, Canada’s politic regarding COVID-19 is better for tourism (“the
Government of Canada announced the removal of all COVID-19 entry restrictions, as well as
testing, quarantine, and isolation requirements for anyone entering Canada, effective
October 1, 2022”.), and people are able to travel freely, which means that for SkiBig3, it’s a
great opportunity to have a good amount of clients, that want to get out of their home, and
discover the mountains, but also have some fresh air during their vacation. 
 
Economical
 
As explained in the documents that the company gave us, we understand that during the
pandemic, ski attendance has grown. But, thanks to the pandemic, people were consuming
less in terms of leisure activities (“In 2020, household final consumption expenditure falls by
7.1% in volume due to the Covid-19 health crisis and the measures taken to combat the
spread of the epidemic.), which means that they were saving more money. “The slight
increase in the purchasing power of household disposable income combined with the sharp
decline in consumption will lead to an exceptional increase in the savings rate in 2020 (+6.3
points on average per year).” All those circumstances create a need for people, and that
need is to enjoy their vacations, and consume. This fact is important for SkiBig3, because
their clients will be able to spend more money in activities, drinks, restaurants, and the
economic microcosm of the company will be able to grow in a very prolific way. Because
people that are consuming are people that are creating benefits for SkiBig3, and the fact that
they are consuming is also a great fact because if the clients have a good moment, they will
for sure bring new clients, thanks to the reviews that they can give on the internet, or by
talking about it to their friends. Moreover, when the change of the Canadian dollar is low, it
can be interesting for Europeans and Americans (who are the people that frequent the ski
resorts), which gives to the SkiBig3 an advantage compared to some of the ski stations
available in Europe or America, because it will be cheaper.
 
Social
In terms of the population that are in the ski resorts, we see that most of them are the same
personas. The company informed us that most of the time, it was a “baby boomer” (age 55
years and older), a white male, college-educated, and upper-middle-class income level. For
this population, health problems and old age will limit future growth.” But the example for
Europe (where most of the famous stations are, is that the typical clients tend to be younger
(“the population of the ski resorts is (rather) getting younger, since the first-time visitors to
the mountains are between 18 and 29 years old”). Which means that it will be possible to do
more events and targeting younger people can be a good option for the company. 
Moreover, a good point for SkiBig3 is that they also offer good hikes, and walks, which is
clearly an advantage, because “the share of non-skiers continues to grow, reaching 17%, up
from 13% in 2012” (skieur.com). Finally, because we saw that people were saving money
because of the pandemic, the client will be coming from a bigger horizon, which means that
the potential of the client is bigger, because a lot of people have enough money now to go
on a ski vacation. The Canadian observatory of inequalities, explained that “When net
income is taken into account (once taxes and government transfers are taken into account),
61% of Quebecers would be included.” This means that potentially, more people can come
to SkiBig3.