Biffa 0 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Im a newbie to this forum but not to Hakuba. There is an increasing amount of foreign investment going into Hakuba year over year. Probably not a huge amount on a grand scale however step by step foreigners are seeing the value of investing into Hakuba and that translates into more accommodation options, bars, restaurants and international feel. There is a core group in the town that are really trying to make a difference. The astute investor knows that now is the time to snap up the prime locations in Hakuba and turn them into something special. OK, it's not going to happen overnight but out of all the older resorts in Japan, Hakuba is enticing the cream of the international investment crop. Not many other places in Japan right now can say that. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 That sounds like a fantastic investment opportunity. Can you give me a discount please? Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Yeah that taking down of the website thing is very curious. Can't think what the logic is there. Link to post Share on other sites
tripler 0 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 The astute investor knows that now is the time to snap up the prime locations in Hakuba and turn them into something special. That line really showed you up, sales robot! You're new to the forum, so let me try and guess your name - Kevin? Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Or, Richard perhaps. Speak with people up here in Hokkaido and there seems to be a general acceptance that lots of little wee places need to close up. Easy to say and suggest that when it's not your job going for the chop though isn't it. Link to post Share on other sites
tokabochi 9 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 A small hill near Tokamachi tried some novel ideas a few yars back. What was it, free (or cheap) if you were gay and went on a Gay Day.... Free (or cheap) if you went in fancy dress. can't quit remember the details. Stuff like that. They got a fair amount of publicity out of it. That skijo has since closed down. I just feel there's a lot of apathy about getting out there. Though the sample around me are lots of locals for who generally skiing or boarding doesnt excite. Ah yes. Those ideas didn't get the place anywhere sadly. Link to post Share on other sites
tokabochi 9 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Over in Tsunan it was not actually Tokamachi. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 On the subject of foreign ownership and what it might achieve, a number of Japan's golf courses are now under owned by o/s companies. I guess turning one of them around would be much easier than a ski resort, but it might be an indication of what foreign management can achieve. I had a bit of a google and it was much bigger than I expected. It sounds like Golden Sacks themselves bought up a load and had an IPO to raise some cash. They sold up and got out earlier this year, and from the stock price, it looks like it had been on the slide for quite some time. Another o/s equity fund has a big holding in a company called PMG. That one's also taken a big tumble. The Japan baby boomers have already started retiring, so demographically this is as good as its going to get for golf. Japan Times said yesterday that a 4 million yen gross household is going to get 130,000 yen less in their hands in 2013 to pay for the recovery. I guess most folks' electricity bill will go up a fair bit too from next year. If these forecasts are true, the outlook for domestic tourism is grim. http://search.japant...20111017a1.html Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 It's hard to remember a time in recent history when the outlook didn't seem really grim. That's grim in itself! Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Yeah, falling population, ageing population, fewer young people, .... not exactly great conditions for growth! Things looked a bit brighter before the GFC with Toyota number one. Even this year, it wasn't too bad before the Tohoku disaster. Its been another big kick in the nads. Link to post Share on other sites
best skier in hakuba 5 Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Good job we are in the flourishing exception where things are better than ever , hey, Mr Wiggles..... Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Some funny stuff in this thread. Still. A grim story. ( And when will Arai re-open? ) Link to post Share on other sites
ILoveZao 8 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 The last 10 years or so has seen a lot of smaller places go under. There will be more of that, as well as perhaps a few larger stories. But really there were too many places. By the time some places were built, the peak of the ski boom was already over. Link to post Share on other sites
tripler 0 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 The other day someone with experience in ski resort finance told me often it's the mom & pop operations which make a healthy profit. Whereas the big resorts are weighed down by debt from installing expensive lifts, which is almost impossible to pay off. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Glenshee must be making a killing!! Link to post Share on other sites
maestro 0 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Glenshee? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 shitty "resort" in Scotland, haven't invested in new lifts since Jesus was a boy edit**apparently I'm wrong........they actually are installing a new chairlift (albeit an old one cannabalised from a French resort) Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I imagine some of those tiny places have very low costs, well relatively anyway. They don't do marketing, don't have the big machine behind them and probably family or local low cost few staff. They probably do the farming thing outside of winter and have a shop as well. Probably locals who go there as well. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 It all certainly is a "riddle" as original poster put it. Link to post Share on other sites
gnarly-dude 1 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Got to wonder what these people who buy crappy small places have in mind. Do they do anything drastic or just keep them running? Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Certainly not heard of anything you could call 'drastic'. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 So much to say on this subject. Perhaps when things calm down here a bit I'll post more, but one thing that really amazes me every year is how some resorts still whip down there "winter season" websites when the ski resort closes and only get them back up there in November or even December. The reasoning behind it seems to be that they don't want 'old information' up there, but surely they could just put a note on their site to say that. But taking all their information about their ski resort down from the web for 7+ months a year is just madness. Further to this, the Utsunomiya thread put me in mind that one easy and cheap thing resorts can do is maintain a regular blog on their web pages, including in the off-season. I think this can really help to keep a rapport with their visitors, building up and maintaining a core customer base. It is probably pretty hard to find new ways to express, for the 20th time, how lovely the autumn leaves are now, but what the heck, it doesn't cost anything, and shows that you are making an effort. Just a thought. Link to post Share on other sites
HighlyTrainedNovaTeacher 2 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I don't get that either. Some fairly big resorts too - even now it's all autumn and not a single mention of winter or even a link to their previous season site. Totally crazy. Link to post Share on other sites
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