Situation
Drowling Mountain is a community resort, situated 45minutes away from Syracuse, New York, one of the larger cities in New York, with a population of 145,170 people in 2010. Drowling Mountain was also located near some surrounding communities in Onondaga County, which has a population of 321,830 people. Drowling Mountain offers snow related activities such as snowboarding and skiing, along with operating a full service chalet, which has equipment rentals, food and beverage for sale, ski instructions and lodging rentals available for overnight guests. Drowling Mountain has a close connection with the city of Syracuse and its local businesses, however, over the past couple of years, Drowling has been struggling to cover its fixed assets and operational costs, which is a reflection of their lower top-line revenue sources. Being a community resort, they find themselves competing against the other 34 resorts inside the state of New York and they need to establish some points of differentiation, “only here” type of activities and services that would make them unique and sustainable against the other rivaling resorts in the state.
Objective
Drowling Mountain needs to develop a new marketing plan, which is focused on top ling growth for the company. Increasing sales and having new pricing schemes would be very beneficial for the company, as they attempt to lower their financial debt and increase their cash flow on hand. Analysis
Environment:
Porter’s five forces industry analysis:
• Threat of New Entrants: o Minimal to No threat of new entrants – with the right type of conditions needed to be available for a new resort to establish themselves, no real location available o Large Capital Requirements – needing a large sum of money to start a resort posses a problem for new firms entering the market
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: o Drowling has a close relationship with its suppliers and together