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Show Utah Skiing The Sleeping Giant Utah, the sleeping snow giant, has at last begun to stir. The current legislature has appropriated one and a half millions dollars to be used for tourist publicity. pub-licity. Of this expenditure $60,000 will go directly into skil publicity and advertising. Ski-Utah Associates, an independent corporation, has developed a budget of $40,000 a year to be spent on promotion of Utah's ski areas and skiing-potentials. It must b.e recognized that Utah is now in the 7 process of developing the promotion of skiing as a vital resource in the economic development of the state. However, how does Utah compare to its neighboring neighbor-ing state, Colorado? Colorado spent through its various ski promotional efforts $411,000 last year as compared to Utah's $40,000 There are 17 major ski areas in Colorado with a total lift investment of $15,000,00 while Utah has five : major areas with a total lift investment of $8,000,000. The chief difference in the development of the state's ski-industries lies in the area of overnight accommodations. ac-commodations. Areas in Colorado such as Vail or Crested Butte are self-sufficient in that the number of lodges can nearly accomdate more than half the skiers on the hill. While Aspen, Colorado has accommodations for - over ten thousand sk iers night, Utah can look to Park City as having the highest number of facilities for overnight guests, and this number is approximately ; 1,000 per night. Granted Salt Lake City lies close enough to all the major ski areas that the overnight guest can easily find accommodations in the city. However, most individuals who are planning a skiing holiday desire the atmosphere atmos-phere and mood that only the resort itself can offer. !: The overnight skier wants to be at the scene, not 30 or 40 miles away from the center of his specific activities. Why hasn't there been a greater development of overnight accommodations and related shops and enter-prizes? enter-prizes? It may be due to a lack of cohesivesness among i the resort owners themselves to sell their respective areas to investors. Until Park City came into operation, the lack of communication between the various resorts to develop and build a foundation to entice the investor was most , noticeable. Utah is now in the midst of promotional ac tivity designed to entice the Winter Olympics to ij its slopes. Before the Winter Olympics Commissi Commis-si sion can give a nod toward the Utah sIop.es, it must :1 be assured of accommodations for athletes and the public, and facilities for all types of winter sports as well as skiing. It is up to the Utah Tourist Council, Ski-Utah, and Pro-Utah, to "sell" Utah to the Olympic Commis-sion. Commis-sion. However, it is also the responsibility of the citi-" citi-" zens of Utah to publicize the fact that Salt Lake City is the largest metropolitan area in the world with four major ski areas within a half hour's drive, that Utah has one of the longest ski seasons anywhere, and that the out-of-state visitor will find a jet-age airport a few miles from the lift line. It is the responsibility of skier and non-skier alike to make sure that the increased amount of money ap- - propriated by the Legislature is spent in a constructive ., program that will increase the awareness of Utah's - fabulous ski potential to both resident and out-of-state skier alike. The state and private concerns should organize their efforts into a unified whole. Billboards advertising adver-tising all ski areas should be placed at all entrances to the state and maintained attractively. Increased advertising should be done in Eastern and West Coast newspapers and publications to inform the out-of-state skier of Utah. All efforts should be made to interest investors in the economic potential of Utah. It is not enough to have the "greatest snow on earth" unless an awareness can be generated. Now that there is an increased amount of funds for developers to work with, there is no reason why Utah cannot give its neighboring states more competition and give an added boost to Utah's economy. |