stemik 14 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Originally Posted By: thursday who do you need to convince the bus companies to go direct from Narita to Hakuba on a scheduled basis. That is the difference. or for the travel agents to sell packages from Saturday to Saturday then scheduled service might work Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 Thursday you always talk like no one comes to Hakuba and that Niseko is easy to access. Niseko is now in a worse boat than Hakuba with a good chunk of it's customer base having to transfer airports. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Originally Posted By: Go Native As far as I understand the domestic skier market has been decreasing dramatically since the days of the bubble. I'm surprised there are still so many ski resorts able to operate as it is. I'd reckon there will be many more closures over the coming years. That's all true. Resorts also charge far less now than they did during the bubble, so revenue is much less than the visitor numbers might suggest. People also spend less on food, less on lessons, less on souvenirs, etc. Its a pity though when good resorts close simply because of unnatural competition from completely unviable resorts that are only open because 1. They are being used as a tax writeoff by a large company 2. They are being pumped full of taxpayers money. 3. Operating losses every year are more palatable than the massive one-time cost of removing the lifts. I've never been to Hachimantai, but it sounds like a little gem. No ropes probably means not very much terrain that is steep enough to slide regularly, but I reckon you could have a lot of fun there all the same. Probably good vibe too. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 it slides all over the place. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Originally Posted By: thursday well the operators don't help there. They buy loads of season tickets at the very reasonable season ticket rate or lower since they'd be with the chamber of commerce or something, and then sell them to their guests. Say a 10 day pass would normally cost 38,000Y The operator will offer the season ticket for 10 days at say, 35,000, saving the guest 3,000 But hold on, the seson ticket costs 87,000 for the whole season (lets say 5 months or 150 days) so that works out at 580Y per day. So IF there are guests for every day of the season, then the pass has a potential of turning over 15x35000 = 525,000. Take out the cost of 87,000, then you have a nice little profit of 438,000 per pass courtesy of Niseko United. Actually Thursday this doesn't happen anymore. Last season Tokyu put a stop to this. Operators now get tickets at a discount and what price they sell them on at depends on how much commission per ticket they want to make. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Glad to hear it GN. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Originally Posted By: Fattwins Thursday you always talk like no one comes to Hakuba and that Niseko is easy to access. Niseko is now in a worse boat than Hakuba with a good chunk of it's customer base having to transfer airports. Fatts, you know I'm talking only for myself and all my selfishness. As long as it's easy for me, then I'm happy. But not so easy for me to get to Hakuba unless Markie drives and I sit in the back drinking. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Thur, I am always the D.D. (designated drinker) in FT's, BPs, and Ewoks car Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Share Posted November 14, 2007 Look it is important for places to close and it is important for places to succeed. A big part of Hakuba's recent success is due to the out flow or over flow from Niseko. With former customers branching out and trying new places. Although im not making much of a point I am driving at something. To state that we need a bus from the airport to solve certain problems is not really the answer. The tour companies do organize buses. They do it for bigger groups they have arriving at certain times. If you want you can take a taxi from the airport to hakuba for 11000 yen, that is door to door. That is pretty, convient and when you look at how cheap the overall trip is compared with say a N.A. or European resort,, it is a great option. The fact is many people that choose to come to Hakuba choose to do so also to see some of Japan. For them buying a JR pass is the best option. They get to travel to and from the resort plus get a day or 2 extra to travel in Japan. Markie is good at arranging anything! im sure he can organize it so that you can drink a beer. Heck I even go pick him up in Nagano cause it is markie. Link to post Share on other sites
Ewok 2 1 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Markie is the man with a plan. FT, Yanik's sayonara party on Nov 23? CB, Thu or Fri? Link to post Share on other sites
jeanlucpoutine 0 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 'twins, does the Nagano area make much off accomodation or is it really only the Niseko area? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Share Posted November 14, 2007 Yes and no. There are some people saddled with so much dept that they really cant make money. Others with no dept the new owners mostly can make more money saddled with very little dept. Link to post Share on other sites
Senator 0 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 You mean debt, right? Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hey, Senator, that's my job.....jumping on Fattwin's typos. Link to post Share on other sites
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