With these new message centers, advertisers can tailor and deliver messages with greater frequency to guests waiting on lift lines and at base areas by sponsoring reports that can be instantly updated by ski resorts on trails, traffic, weather, safety and special events, and provide other timely information.

Debuting in the 2006-07 ski season at resorts nationwide, these large-screen, full-color LED signs that work with schedule-based software linked to the Internet can display text messages, logos and animated video, and are easily viewed in direct sunlight and at great distances.    

The first advertisers for the centers include ConAngra Snack Foods’ Slim Jim, Bel Group’s Mini Babybel cheese and General Motors’ Chevrolet division, with others in negotiations.

"These message centers make the days of communicating to guests on dry erase or chalk boards at the lift a thing of the past," said Monte Rios, president and CEO of Sitour USA. "This creates enormous opportunities for national and local advertisers alike to truly reach the highly attractive demographic of skiers and snowboarders, who are affluent, educated, active, health conscious and committed to the sport."

These new signs from Sitour will be installed at more than 80 resorts nationwide this year, after successful test installations. Wintergreen Resort in Virginia is the first U.S. mountain to install a comprehensive system covering all lift lines, tubing and base areas.

Personalized, Timely, Frequent Ads
Using technology similar to that employed by the New York State Lottery to update its bulletin boards, ski resort operators can update messages on impending snow storms, traffic updates for the trip home, trail closures, missing children reports, and even sports scores on busy ski days like Super Bowl Sunday so skiers don’t have to leave the slopes to find out what’s going on.

Each message center will generate 1.5 million impressions per ad/season. The messages are repeated in cycles based on wait patterns on lift lines for multiple and lasting impressions.

Individual signs in the system can be personalized with tailored messages to reach the desired demographic; for example, placing ads geared toward parents in the children’s ski area or those for entertainment or dining close to the main lodge.

"These message centers create a highly visible and effective marketing tool for promoting current and future events and other activities at the mountain," said Anthony Lanza, superintendent at Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills region of New York. "The graphics really get the attention of our guests. The targeted impressions we get from the Sitour LED wireless reader boards deliver the best value in advertising."

Sitour brings a long history of pioneering new ground in advertisements on the snow, beginning with inventing the trail map concept more than 40 years ago. Since then, it has introduced panoramic trail maps and the first integrated ski resort advertising packages in the 1980s, multi-use ski and snowboard rack displays in the 1990s, and vertical tower ads and wireless LED message centers in the 2000s.

About Sitour USA
Sitour USA is a leader in advertising and event promotions to skiers and snowboarders, offering advertisers media placements at 215 resorts in many major ski areas in North America and an international network of 900 resorts in 11 countries. Sitour reaches 70 percent of the market’s total skier visits with advertisements that deliver complete saturation both on the mountains and inside the resort lodges. Its clients include General Motors, Dannon, Kraft Foods and other Fortune 500 companies, as well as leading national and regional companies.

Editor’s Note: photos and media interviews are available.