vs^s v SVaiTs status as summerdestination on the riseByScott N MillerVail Daily

VAIL — Vail may be onthebrink of becoming as popular inthe summer as the winterFor just about as long as Vail

has existed ifs been a summerweekend getaway for FrontRange visitors —if s easytoget to cooler than Denver inAugust and room rates arepretty reasonable compared towinterFor just about as long peo

ple who market Vail in the summer have tried to draw destination guests — peopleflyingin from out of state or from other countries Front Rangeguests are welcome alwaysbut the people who fly in generally stay longer and spendmore

Luring those guests has always been tricky primarily because of money Just a few TVor radio ads in a major mediamarket would quickly drain virtually any summer marketingbudgetThat s why the Vail Local

Marketing District this yearhas some different plans to attract those visitors making thebest possible use of its moneyIn some cases summer marketing is using the Internet toreach as many people as possible In other cases thoughthere s some serious sidewaysthinking going on

For instance when IindseyVonn came back to Vail in earlyMarch she hosted a SM GirlsRock session that includedone of Brazil s top young skiracers That invitation hasturned into a feature story inBrazil s top teen magazineThat in turn will turn into atleast a few Daddy I want to goto Vail too conversations inupscale Brazilian householdsVail Mountain Marketing Di

rector Adam Sutner a member

of the local marketing districtboard said the group did something a bit similar for the Mexican market The district purchased a back page ad in a newfood and travel magazine inthat country which said essentially If you love Vail in thewinter you ll love it in the summer

The district then bought anextra 2 000 copies of the magazine and distributed it to Mexican guests in Vail this past skiseason

Vail ought to be a naturalsummer vacation spot for theMexico City market Sutnersaid

Ifs a three and a half hourflight it s a place you knowyou re welcome and a placeyou re likely to run into some ofyour countrymen Sutner saidWhile visitors from Mexico

or Brazil are likely to fly intoDenver at the moment marketing district chairwoman BethSlifer said that group is working with Eagle County officialsto help bring a U S Customs facility to the Eagle County Re

gional Airport That will create an enor

mous ability to attract charterflights from those countriesSlifer saidWhile direct summer flights

from Chicago or particularlyMiami aren t on the schedulethis summer Sutner said he expects those flights to return incoming yearsBeyond the drive to draw in

ternational visitors in the summer the marketing district isalso using new ways to tap intothe minds of people who mightwant to fly in from Chicago orNewYorkThese days Vail Resorts

grabs video footage of virtuallyeverything that goes on in thevalley That video is put on thecompany s website Facebookpage and other social mediachannels of course but the videos are also likely to turn up inads on say The New YorkTimes website And that Sutner said can be very effective

Vail plays better in videoSutner said It really portraysthe brand

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Dominique Taylor | TheVailYasser Montes left helps his son Yasser Montes Jr 3 righttry on a watch at the Moose s Caboose Jewelry and Trading Coin Vail Village on Aug 5 2011 The family is part of a growingnumber of Mexican tourists vacationing in Vail this summer

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