What does Habuka need?

[panhead_pete 27]

With every day I come to work I get one day closer to giving up my day job and perhaps following the lead of some of you other guys.

For those of you that are currently there or have been regular visitors what business oppurtunities do you see in Habuka. To date I have had suggesstions of self contained accomadation and perhaps a pub at echoland (so we can have a party there )

[Yuki's Passion 1]

mixed onsens and good pubs

[Oyuki kigan 0]

A good apres place.

[cal 6]

Less gaijin

[eskimobasecamp 0]

there already is a mixed onsen - you can hire it out and invite who you like

 

a bit more apres ski would be good

 

would also be nice if the resorts got their acts together and did week long/10 day tickets and other good deals instead of 1 day and 3 day tickets suiting the weekend japanese market... a bit off topic there

 

actually more ski shops - you can't find everything here, you can order it, but ski boots and stuff are the kind of things you want to try on for half a day, not pick from a catalogue!

[fjef 0]

a mixed onsen with a pub might make things interesting...

[eskimobasecamp 0]

so panhead pete, all you need to do is open a gear shop with EVERYTHING imaginable, with a pub attached to the back and a mixed onsen on the side

[Yuki's Passion 1]

yeah, well, I had something more like Hira Yu or Chise Yu in mind with a really nice atmosphere. Ive got a mixed onsen at my house too - just without the view.

[Fattwins 0]

before any of that a master plan that would organize things better. everything is already here really its just not organized.

[cheeseman 1]

Hakuba needs to think about cheese.

 

All the possibilities that are there to be had if you just cater for all those cheesefans out there.

 

[Fattwins 0]

already have cheese mate that is covered at the 3 supermarkets and the wine bar

[AK 77 0]

bigger snowparks to avoid the lines.

 

a cordinated resort plan to break out of its parochial mould.

 

a skatepark.

[sanjo 2]

 Quote:

a cordinated resort plan to break out of its parochial mould.

Definitely so. The same with lots of places. But is this going to happen anytime soon I wonder. There just seems to be way too many separate organisations looking out for themselves and a nightmare to get things agreed on.

[AK 77 0]

not going to happen soon.

 

so i'll settle for a skate park.

 

or cheese! mmm raclette mmmm tartiflette.

[chop 0]

Shinkansen link to Niseko! only kidding.

[me jane 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by chop:
Shinkansen link to Niseko! only kidding.

One to Tokyo would be good though

[Mantas 3]

More Aussies, burping and farting around the place!

[misorano 1]

It looks there will 4 foreigned owned acommodation places in Echoland this winter. The would be perhaps 100 - 120 beds. At this stage there is a couple of bars on the main street (Rock Bar and one in front of the Shakespear Hotel).

There is also 1 Izakaya with no English whatsoever, and a smaller place (with a smaller menu) a bit lower down.

I would think a place to chill out, have a beer, and a meal would be the best bet.

[Fattwins 0]

Hakuba shouldve begged and pleaded for a train line directly from Nagano before the olympics really.

 

here are thoughts

 

better access from Osaka to stop the outflux to Gifu.

 

A resort plan between 47 and happone. That would force the other resorts in the valley to think about team work.

 

instead of Tsugaike/Norikura Cortina being separate they should be linked. you could do this without even putting in a chair.

 

A valley pass that is partly refundable. If the person gets hurt/sick etc then they can get money back.

 

A shuttle service untill 12pm at night. It doesnt have to be many shuttles it just has to be there.

 

For the gajin market english signage: onsens, bars, heck everywhere you can think of.

 

That said the great thing about hakuba is its size. Youll never really solve every problem in that regaurd.

[Mantas 3]

Fattwins, sounds like youv'e spent a lot of time around Hakuba. Never been there myself but I'm going in Feb.

Do you think the potential for growth from the international market is big?

Certainly from down here it seems it could easily go the way of Niseko.

[eskimobasecamp 0]

very much agree about the resorts being linked and also the train line from nagano.

 

as for english signage - they need to sort that out, english is the world's international language and hakuba has a growing foreign market from different destinations. when i was in new zealand this summer i noticed japanese signs everywhere, all over the ski resorts, toilets, restaurants..... everywhere, i couldn't believe it!

[gerard 6]

"a cordinated resort plan to break out of its parochial mould."...

 

"Definitely so. The same with lots of places. But is this going to happen anytime soon I wonder. There just seems to be way too many separate organisations looking out for themselves and a nightmare to get things agreed on."

 

Japanese resorts like Hakuba seem to be a real hodgepodge of shops and hotels etc –mainly because ownership is diversified and the towns existed before the resorts. The polar opposite is a place like Whistler which is owned by Intrawest (which I heard might be helping to develop the Hanazono side of Niseko). Whistler village is convenient and the architecture is uniform, mainly low-rise and attractive. It’s a resort. It’s got lots of family stuff as well as good beer on tap and the cheese is OK too. But the whole village has a kind of ‘Disney’ like feel and if you look beyond the façade it’s got a very ‘corporate’ feel to it. If Intrawest bought a chunk of Hakuba they’d tear it all down and rebuild it. They slap some tiles on the roofs to give it a ‘Japanese’ feel. They’d probably throw in a couple of ‘teppanyaki’ restaurants too like we see on TV in the West where the chefs throw the food around while the customers watch. It would be like a Japanese ski resort theme park. It would be convenient. The other think that a company like Intrawest would do is completely redraft the lift system and try to expand the terrain as much as possible. They would try to claim large amounts of backcountry. That too would be... convenient.

There may be a happy medium but its difficult to get people to agree on things and a lot of freedoms would have to be sacrificed. I think the haphazardness and even occasional ugliness of Japanese ski towns is kind of refreshing.

[AK 77 0]

yeah, but loads of the most famous resorts in Europe were small agricultral towns before they were ski resorts, that hasn't stopped them developing.

It's amusing in a country (self)famed for collective attitudes and collaborative working, that they can't do some of things FT suggests above - which would benefit the Japanese skier as well as local economy, not to mention the international market.

[damian 0]

Last night when the SJ forums went down I went about looking at some other ski forums that I have never really looked at before (TGR). I found these two links.

 

Perhaps Hakuba (resorts) could collude to lead the way in Japanese environmentally sensitive resort management policy.

 

- Here’s whats going on at the Aspen Ski Company: http://www.savesnow.com/

- And an example from the National Ski Areas Association (America) http://www.keepwintercool.org/

 

It is kind of a tough one, considering that most new business ‘solutions’ for Hakuba’s supposed lackings will depend upon cash flow from foreigners flying to Japan in future season.

[chop 0]

indoor wave pool