Diamond Peak evolving in to year-round playground
Diamond Peak Ski Resort is moving forward with its Master Plan update, with the goal of being a year-round community recreational resource.
The Master Plan, created by the SE Group, explores opportunities for maximizing the existing winter business, while assessing the potential for new summer activities that will generate additional revenue.
The Master Plan will serve as a blueprint for future development of multi-season activities at Diamond Peak. There will be presentation of the draft Master Plan on Feb. 12 at 3pm at the Chateau in Incline Village.
So, one more ski area does the lemming act and plans on a year ’round resort. I haven’t seen the plan, but it no doubt has elements of the well known “Mountain Village” with shops and restaurants charging over normal retail for everything there. Summer activities will certainly be in the outdoors arena, biking, hiking, zip lines, etc like everybody else. More an amusement park than a mountain playground.
while this is a business model that worked well for the earlier operations, it is not working for many. Poor attendance is a large issue. Just read the news.
The resort owners are free to attempt whatever they wish to grow their business, but in our current economic situation, I think the bigger question is who is going to come?
Unless we can develop a better plan than selling advertising to one another for fractional cents per click, I don’t see a good outcome. The number of people able to purchase the advertised goods is shrinking.
There is obviously an economic gulf developing between the shrinking middle class and the wealthy. In the United States, fewer dollars are available to the middle class than before the meltdown. I continue to see written statements that the recession was over in 2009. I don’t know what the writers who say this are looking at, but it is not held up by fact.
If Olive Garden (as an article in this issue of Tahoe News states)is having a problem due to shrinking middle class discretionary income, where are the customers for the upscale development at ski resorts and many other similar projects going to come from?
The truly wealthy can spend money anywhere they want, but there are fewer and fewer of them to go around, and while I have no hard data, I expect they are generally older than the average age of the middle class, therefore past their skiing and athletic activity prime.
As a long term local, with more experience in the local resort industry than the average bear, my observation consistently has been that the key to success is making all the guests feel valued, appreciated and important. This is something the Tahoe work force is definitely NOT good at.
I can’t wait to see how Diamond Peak works out.